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SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L
THOMAS PIERSON ON PSALMS XXVIL LXXXIV. LXXXY. LXXXVIL

AND

WILLIAM GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION.

W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology, Congregational Union, Edinburgh.

JAMES BEGG, D.D., j\Iinister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh.

THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University, EcUnburgh.

D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh.

WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Bibhcal Literature and Church History, Reformed

Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.
ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh.

THOMAS SMITH, D.D., Edinburgh.

DAVID'S BLESSED MAN

A SHORT EXPOSITION ON THE FIRST PSALM,

DIRECTING A MAN TO TRUE HAPPINESS.

SAMUEL ;^MITH,

EAriIEK OF TUK WORD AT PRTTTI,EWELI, IN F.HH

EDINBURGH: JAMES NICHOL.
LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO. DUBLIN: G. HERBERT.

M.DCCC.LXVm.

SAMUEL SMITH.

FOE any subject of a Memoir to bear the name of Sjiith is by itself to declare a Biographer's task
formidable, however willing and patient he be. To be a Smith of a century or two back is to
add perplexity to toil. To be a Smith, and to share name and surname with numbers of contem-
poraries, is to turn perplexity into bewilderment. To be a Smith, and to have an orthography
alternating plain Smith with Smithe, and Smythe, and Smtthies, and to be mentioned as ' Mr
Smith ' (only) is absolutely to distract. Yet such are literally a few, and only a few, of the condi-
tions under which I have essayed to furnish an Introduction to the present reprint of one of the many
golden little volumes of Samuel Smith. Passing over other elements of entanglement that have
made our researches a very maze, — and which those alone who have pursued siTch investigations can
appreciate, — there were at least nine Samuel Smiths contemporary, and every one of them a
' Preacher ' of the Gospel, and in lesser or larger form a religious author. In all the usual
authorities I have found our Samuel confounded with one or other of these contemporaries. It is
therefore needful, in the outset, to distinguish each. There was, first of all, the Samuel Smith, a
' gentleman's son,' and ' accurate disputant,' and ' profound philosopher ' of Anthony a- Wood — whose
small Latin treatise on Logic is among the rarities of the Bodleian, (Oxford) and one of those
' missing,' over which the Marsh Library (Dublin) mourns. But he ched in 1620.^ Then there was
a Samuel Smith, who was ' minister in Oliver's time in St Bennet, Grace-Church, London,' as well
as a ' Preacher' in Essex. He was of the Two Thousand of 1662 ; but subsequently conformed,
and ultimately became ' Ordinary ' of Newgate. There are now before me Sermons by him —
, viz, ' Character of a Weaned Christian ; or, the Evangelical Art of promoting Self-Denial,' (1675),
and ' Light in Darkness,' (1680.) These dates shew — as will appear — that he was not our Samuel,
although these ' occasionally ' preached and published Sermons have much of his uncommonness of
thought and quaintness of wording, if less rich and fervid in their evangelism. His folio ' Sheets,'
giving ' Account of the Behaviour of the Prisoners in Newgate,' have the matter-of-fact truthfulness,
touched with tenderness, of De Foe in his ' Plague.' - A third Samuel Smith became Rector of
Sandon — which is also in Essex — in succession to the profoundly-learned, but beyond all dispute,

' Logic : The following is the title of this very scarce book : — ' Aditua ad Logicam in Usum eorum qui primo Acadenjiam
salutant,' 1613. See Wood's Athenae (by Bliss), ii. 283.

' Wood, as before, iii. 698. His son, Lawrence Smith, published a number of excellent books— c.gr., ' Conversation in
Heaven,' (1693,) 'Sacramental Devotions,' 1694,) 'Practical Discourse of the Sin against the Holy Ghost.'

VI MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

to the (then) supreme authority of the nation — the Parliament — turbulently disobedient, Brian
Waxton. But this Samuel, though of Essex and of the ' Ejected,' again was not ours, for he died
in 16G2. He wins from Calamy the epithet inevitable in association with Kichard Hooker, of
' judicious.'^ A fourth Samuel Smith was another of the 'Ejected' — from Glooston, Leicestershire.
He must have been a ' good man ; ' but the details that have reached me concerning him — slender
though they be — satisfy that he is distinct from the others being enumerated.'- A fifth Samuel
Smith was one of four to whom the Cathedral of Hereford was given as a Church, and by whom many
' ministers,' and apparently ' missionaries,' were sent forth over England and Wales. He was ' cast
out' on the Kestoration in 16G0, and again among the ' Ejected' in Berkshire in 1662. But he lived
till 1685, and so was not our Samuel.* A sixth Samuel Smith was ' silenced ' in 1662 at St Olave's,
Southwark, London. He was assistant there with the celebrated Kalph Venning. But he settled
at Windsor, and only died in 1714.* A seventh Samuel Smith was 'curate' of Edgeworth or
(corruptly) Edgeware, to which he was 'nominated and donated' by Lord Coventry in 1661. But
he was ' the present curate' in 1700, when Newcourt wrote. 5 An eighth Samuel Smith was Vicar
of Henham, in Archdeaconry of Colchester, Essex ; but he too was ' the present vicar ' in 1700. 6
Besides these eight Samuel Smiths — bearing such strange coincidences of outward circumstance,
residence, and authorship — our Samuel, because of his relations with Essex, is often mistaken for
John Smith, the ' Essex Dove,' as — in the fine old quarto of his inestimable ' Works' — he is called ;
and a certain Sida Smith, and another Sim Smith — both given as S. Smith — sent me in bootless
inquiry elsewhere. ^ It were vain to tell the tantalising number of ' Mr Smiths ' who provoked (dis-
appointing) researches in all the three Counties with which our Samuel Smith was known to have
been connected — viz. , Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Essex. Smiths who were also ' clerics ' are
found everywhere therein ; and it was vexatious to come on full accounts, and even splendid
memorials, of Smiths who were merely Smiths, and scarcely a scrap concerning those of the name
who had done good service in their generation.

But now we turn to our Worthy. He was, Anthony a- Wood states, ' a minister's son,' and was
'born in Worcestershire.' ^ Calamy specifies 'Dudley,' in Worcestershire, as 'the place of his
nativity.'" Palmer gives the year of birth ' 1588 ' — a mistake, as will be shewn — but is uncertain of
the place, saying ' at or near.' lo Chambers, in his ' Biogi-aphical Illustrations of Worcestershire,' uses
the same words.n So the difi"erent ' Biographical Dictionaries,' home and foreign. You look in vain
in the ' County' Histories for any notice of liim. You have elaborate pedigrees of a thousand and
one Squire Smiths ; and most erinlite discussions of the original of the name ' Dudley ' — tracing it up ■
to one Dodo, a Saxon prince — and about as valuable as like discussions on the wondrous extinct bird
of the name.^'- But none ever seem to have dreamed — whether Historian or Biographer — of consult-
ing the ' Records ' of the Parish. Even Chambers, in a book specially devoted to the ' Biography '

' Davids' Annala of Evangelical Nonconformity in the County of Essex, pp. 452-457 : Calamy, Account, 313.
' Palmer's ' Nonconformist's Memorial,' ii. 387 ; Nichols' History of Leicestershire, ii. 586.

^ Calamy, an before, 352. ■* Calamy, Cvntinuation, 18. ' Newcourt'a ' Repertorium,' i. 920. '' Ibid., ii. 325.

' In Newcourt, as before: Sida Smith is associated with John Preston, A.M., 1C42, in succession to Nehemiah Rogers,
as Vicar of Messing, Essex, ii. 474 : for Sim Smith, i. 4S0.

* As before, iii. C57, 058. * As before, Account, ii. 567. '" As before, ii. 144, 145.

'1 I am indebted to Sir Thomas E. Winnington Bart, for a transcript and reference to Chambers, in loco (page 115).

" See Notes and Queries, 1st Series, (General Index, i. to xii.,) for curious notices of persons of the name of Dodo.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

of the Shire, lazily contents himself with the traditional ' at or near,' and erroneous birth-date of
1588. The ' Kegisters ' of Dudley are fragmentary, worn, dim ; but fortunately they contain those
dates that have hitherto been desired rather than expected. The indefiniteness of Anthony a-Wood
and the rest is changed into certainty, and the current birth-date corrected, by the fii-st entry in the
' Registers ' of the ' Parish ' church of St Thomas, Dudley. Whoever made it must have been an
earnest disciple of those pioneers of the Astronomer, the 'Astrologers,' else he had not imported into
such a document his credulous jargon. I give the words verbatim et literatim — ' 1583 [iiot 1588]
Samuell, sonne to S" Will" Smithe, Clarke, Vicare of Duddly, was born on Friday morninge at 4 of
the clocke, being the xxviii day of February : the signe of that day was the middle of Acpiaris :

the signe of the monthe : the plenet of that day : plenet of the same ower [hour] .1

The ' Sr ' here means ' Sir,' which reminds us of the recentness of the Reformation in England,
when ' Sir ' was prefixed to the name of a ' priest ' or ' parson,' as ' Rev.' is now.- I have been
baffled in all my endeavours to ascertain the family whence the father of our Samuel came. I place
below notices of other ' children ' from the same Register.^ All of these — as well as the entry of the
appointment of the paternal Smithe as ' Vicar,' which was on ' 26 of March 1574 in the time of D.
bulingarne, bishoppe of Worcester ' — are inscribed very legibly, and illuminated in the style of early
Missals, indicative either of weight and importance, or of the profound respect of the scribe. In every
case the names of the Smiths iswi-itten in a much larger hand than any others in the Church-Books, and
kept distinct from all. The particular record of Samuel suggests memories of the story of Hannah's
' Samuel,' and (probable) like dedication of the child to that Master he was to serve so faithfully.

We know nothing of the home-training or of the school-learning of Master Samuel. It was not
until much later that Dudley received its somewhat famous school, with Richard Baxter for first
' Master.'* Our next date is of his being entered a ' batler' of St Mary's Hall, Oxford — the college
of John Locke — in the beginning of 1603, (1 Jac. I.) aged 15.5 That he was thus entered a ' ser-
vitor,' or attendant on the wealthier undergraduates, indicates narrow paternal means, — such as placed
after the lustrous name of Jeremy Taylor those two words that have ennobled the name ever since,
' pauper scholaris.' Nowhere is it more needful than at the University to remember ' rare Ben's'

counsel :

• Boast not the titles of j'our ancestors,
Brave youths! they 're their possessions, none of yours.
When your own virtues equall'd have their names,
'Twill be but fair to lean upon their fames,
For they are strong supporters ; but till then
The greatest are but growing gentlemen.'

This is the solitary College memorial — his entrance as 'batler' — which the industry of Wood has

• I have to return my best thanks to Mr Warrington, solicitor, Dudley, for his persistent painstaking in the matter of the
St Thomas, Dudley, ' Registers ;' and to Rev. T. W. Davids of Colchester for kindly putting me in communication with him. By
the way, it may be remarked that there seems to have been a kind of fatality in blundering over the scanty details of Smith's
life. Thus even Calamy speaks of Dudley as in Essex, and Mr Davids (as before) as in Warwickshire.

* ' Notes and Queries,' as before, gives examples and illustrations.

' These are as follows : — ' Sara, daughter to S' William Smithe, Clarke, Vicare of Dudley, was baptizede the xxvith of July
1581:' 'Mary, dawter to S' William Smithe, Clarke, Vicare of Dudley, Baptized January, last day.' No record is preserved
of the marriage of the Vicar, nor of hia wife. The Vicar himself must have died in or before 1610, as a ' Henry Jackson,' in
1610, is entered as ' Vicair of Duddley.' * ' Eeliquise,' as before, i. 9. ° Wood, as before, iii. pp. 657, 658.

MEMOIR OF SASIUEL SMITH.

recovered : and I have faOed, after no perfunctory effort, to add to it.i He appears to have left the
University without taking a degree : perchance the death of his father, not later than 1609-10, hin-
dered. Though John Davenport, B.D., had a well-to-do father, he had to postpone his degrees from
— as it would seem— temporary pecuniary difficulties. 2 It may have been thus with him. The
Church-income of the Vicar of Dudley was at no time very great.

By 1613-1614 at latest Samuel Smith was in ' holy orders:' in all likelihood some years prior,
for by 1614 he had reached his 31st year. Be this as it may, on the title-page of the first edition
of ' David's Blessed Man,' — herein reprinted, — he is designated— albeit it has escaped the notice of
all the authorities — ' Minister of Eoxwell in Essex,' — a name dear to all who hold in loving re-
gard the memory of Eichard Younge, the wise, genial, chatty, original, loveable ' Florilegus,' all
whose little books are as ' fine gold of Ophir.'^ He cannot have remained long in Koxwell,^ for in
November of 161.5 — the very month and year wherein Eichard Baxter was born, afterwards
destined to be his friend and eulogist 5 — he was admitted Vicar of Prittlewell, also in Essex. The
following is from the Eegister : —

' Sam. Smith, der. admiss. ad vie. de Prittlewell, com. Essex, 30 Nov. 1615 ad pres. Eob. dom.
Eich.' 6

Lord Eich, of the noble House of Warwick, was the friend by pre-eminence of the Puritans.
His name occurs in many old ' Epistles Dedicatory ' with words of deepest esteem, and praise too
grave and scriptural to be suspected of flattery. Perhaps the ' presentation ' by tliis nobleman may be
interpreted as indicating the Puritan character of both father and son. Every page of Sajtoel
Smith's books shews him to have been of the antique cast of Puritan.

Prittlewell, over whose ' parish' Church our Worthy was thus installed Vicar, was formerly
' appropriated ' to the Priory of the same name, and in the gift of that Priory and Convent till their
suppression : after which Henry VIII. granted the whole to Sir Thomas Audley, by whose brother
it was alienated to Eichard Lord Eich, (5 Edw. VI.) Hence Lord Eich's presentation to it of Samuel
Smith. Newcourt and the ' county' Histories give many antiquarian details of the Priory and Parish
altogether.'' One bit of historic fact relating to Milton or Middleton, which is within the Parish of

' I have "very heartily to thank Mr T. A. Eaglesim, B.A. of Worcester College, Oxford, for most ungrudging help toward
recovering further memorials of Smith in Oxford. The ' Bodleian ' has a number of his rarer books.

" The Calendar of State Papers by Mrs Green: Domestic Series, 1623-25, page 355. This invaluable 'Calendar' and the
whole series guide to the manuscript treasures of the Public Eecord Office. No one can afford to neglect them. The Letters
of Davenport calendered are of much interest.

3 He is sometimes (mistakenly) called Kobert Younge: in the ' Prevention of Poverty,' (1655,) he has given his surname,
' Rich. Young.' On the former abundance of the surname ' Richard,' see my foot-note in Memoir of Richard Stock, prefixed
to his ' Malachi,' in this series of Commentaries.

* There is no doubt that the Samuel Smith of Roxwell is identical with our Samuel, inasmuch as in the after-editions of
' David's Blessed Man' he designates himself of Prittlewell. Eoxwell, in 1614 and long subsequently, was a chapelry annexed
to the Vicarage of Writtle, the Vicar appointing a curate for its supply. Writtle is n peculiar of New College, Oxford. The
Vicar in 1614 was Matthew Davies, B.D., fellow of New College, and brother of Sir John Davies, the well-known poet. Doubt-
less our Smith was 'curate' of Eoxwell by appointment of Davies. I am indebted to Eev. T. \V. Davids, as before, for most of
these details, and which were furnished to him by the present Warden of New College — Rev. Dr Sewell.

' Born at Rowton, Shropshire, 12th Nov. 1615 : ' Reliquiae,' i, 1.

' Wood, as before, supplemented by Bliss from Eeg. Bancroft — Kennet.

' Newcourt, as before, i. pp. 472-474.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH. JX

Prittlewell, is of undying interest — namely, that it was on ' Milton shore ' John Frith, the friend and
associate of William Tyndale, was ' taken' when he had fled thither in the vain hope of escaping to
the Continent. All know he was ' burnt' at Smithfield — dying heroically, yet very meekly.^ There
are memories here also of the Bretteridges and Purchases and Eogerses and Lawrences, that are
tenderly cherished in New England. The ' May-Flower ' sailed while our Samuel was Vicar of
PrittleweU (1620).

We have seen that while ' curate' of Eoxwell ' David's Blessed Man' was published. So far as
I have been able to trace, this seems to have been liis &st_book, one of those afterwards referred to
as belonging to his ' Spring-time,' as contrasted with his later, which he calls his ' Autumn-time.' -
He was in a manner ' constrained' to authorship: for from some of his after ' Epistles' we o-ather
that he had no little enforced leisure from sickness, — e.g., in the ' Epistle' to the ' Christian Eeader '
prefixed to his ' Christ's Preparation to His owne Death,' so early as 1619-1620, he says, ' When I
first began to lay pen to paper to write these Lectures following, I intended the prosecution of the
whole story of Christ's Agony, Apprehension, Arraignment, Condemnation, Passion, Eesurrec-
tion, and Ascension, as they follow in the story of the Ghospell [sici] But have many waies bin
hindred in the worke, principally by sicknesse : wherein _/()?• late yeares I have been much exercised.
And now, not knowing whether life and health will permit mee to finish the whole, I thought o-ood
to suffer these few Lectures to come to light.' Similarly in his ' Great Assize' he writes: and as he
at the same time expresses his conception of the office of a minister of the gospel, I cull a brief ex-
tract. ' Seeing,' he says, ' the burden of the ministry is this, to pluck men out of the kino'dom of
Satan and to bring them to the living God, sm-ely then it is the duty of all those that have taken
upon them this holy calling, to help forward this worthy work. And to this end I entertained my
spare hours in the time of my loiig sichiess, when I was not able to perform my duty in the congre-
gation of my charge, in publishing this short exposition of the 51st Psalm.' In the former ' Epistle'
he acknowledges very gratefully the kind reception given to preceding publications : ' I heartily con-
fesse, not without my thankfulnesse to God, that my poore labours in this kinde have hitherto found
such a gracious acceptation with the Church of God, above all expectation or desert : as I have no
small encouragement still, to spend some few houres, at some time in this kinde : rejoycing if by any
meanes it may doe good in God's Church.' In the latter he says more specifically, ' I present here
unto thy view the fourth public fruit of my ministry, wherein I have endeavoured that those especially

1 Davids' ' Annals,' as before. He has very kindly favoured me ivitli certain additions which I would here give, as every
little helps in such permanently important historical matters. Jlilton or Middleton (as above) belonged to the peculiar of the
Deanery of Booking. Newcourt says he finds no Dean of Becking for a hundred years after 1454. But \VoIcott {Life of Wyke-
ham, p. 393) gives Thomas Bedyll or Bedell as Dean in 1533. Bedell (Wood, as before, s. n.) was much employed by Crom-
well. He was also one of those who took part in the consecration of Cranmer. — [See of him Strype, Cranmer: Eccl. Mem. i.
299, 402.] — Though Archdeacon of Cleveland, June — August 1553, he might posisibly have been Dean of Bockin"- at the date
of Frith's apprehension. If so, we can understand how it was Frith fled thither. It is worth while working out this vein of
Reformation History.

- The words occur in his ' Epistle' to the Reader prefixed to ' Moses, his Prayer.' He acknowledges the kind acceptation
of bis former publications, whereby he is emboldened to publish this : those published in Spring-time of his ministry, this the
fruit of its Autumn should be more ripe, for ' the Lord having lengthened out my pilgrimage that I have passed the first ao'e
of man, which Jloses saith, according to the ordinary course of nature, is three score years and ten; and I have now for some
years entered upon that other age . . . [which] is but labour and sorrow.' Onward a little he calls Ba.xter his ' learned friend.'
This was in 1656. More of it again.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

of mine own hearers — those religious people and inhahitants of Prittlewell in Essex, whom I love with
my heart — might a second time take notice of these my exercises that in public I delivered unto them.'
It is difficult to find one's way through the manifold editions — reckoned not by one or two, but by
scores, literally — but the three books that preceded ' The Great Assize' seem to have been (a)
' Da\dd's Blessed Man' (1614) — (b) ' Exposition' of Hosea, chap. vi. (1617) — (c) ' Joseph and his
Mistresse, the Faithfulnesse of the one, and the Unfaithfulnesse of the other' (1619.) 1620 was an
unusually j^rolific year of publication, as our List of all his Writings at close of this little Memoir
evinces. This is to be explained by returning health and vigour, and widening popularity. Each
book that he issued was eagerly welcomed : in every ' Ejjistle' he has to make the same adoring
acknowledgment of having been used to do good. He fulfilled his purpose of preaching and pub-
lishing on other portions of the Great Life, more particularly in his ' Admirable (= ' Wonderful')
Convert ; or, the Miraculous Conversion of the Thiefe on the Crosse, with the finall impenitency of
the other' (1632.) Earlier in his ' Chiefe Shepheard; or, an Exposition upon y^ xxiii. Psalme'
(1625.) Anothei- short quotation from its ' Epistles' elucidates several points: — Presenting it 'to
Mr Edward Seabrid, Esq., and his wife,' he says, ' May it find acceptation in the Church of God, as
other my jyoore labours and endeavours in the same kinde have done! And again, ' to the Keader ' —
' Having of late handled in my pastoral charge this short psalm of the prophet David, and meeting
with many things of singular use for the times wherein we live, and Juxving heretofore received no
sinall encouragement in my publications of some of my meditations on some other of the Psalms, I
resolved of some spare houres to revise the same again.' Here we learn that his preaching was very
much expository, and that previous to the ' Chiefe Shepheard ' he had preached and published ' in the
same kinde : ' and so we are guided to his ' David's Blessed Man,' which is now reprinted, and his
' David's Kepentance,' already referred to — the one consisting of an 'Exposition' of the 1st, and the
other of the 51st Psalm, to which was added later ' Moses, his Prayer ; or, An Exposition of the xc.
Psalm' (1656.) Taking these successive books as specimens of the ' preaching' to which the par-
ishioners of Koxwell and Prittlewell listened from Sunday to Smiday it is very plain that they were
' fed' with ' the finest of the wheat:' or (to change the metaphor) if the Well which gave its name
to the hamlet sprang clear and freshly in its bosky nook —

' A pleasant walk, when singing bird
LTpon the bending twig is heard,
And rustling leaf that bids you hush !
And hear the slow, still waters gush

Far down below unseen

Beneath the branches green' i —

certainly the good Vicar gave them from day to day full cups of the very ' water of life.' It will be
seen that in the ' Epistle' to ' Sir Eobert Eich, Kt.,' the ' sonne and heire' to his patron ' Robert,
Lord Rich,' prefixed to ' David's Blessed Man,' he states the main design and end of his preaching
and writing : ' In preaching I have ever courted plainnesse, the best eloquence, and the carriage of
matters, so that those of the lowest forme may learne somewhat the soundest and the surest learning.'
Privately he must have held very genial relations with ' high and low' in his parish. Long after
he had left he writes softly and lovingly of them. To one, ' Mary, widow of Maister John Lawson

1 The Bishop's Walk, p. 9.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

of Milton, Prittlewell,' in dedicating his ' Christian's Taslce,' preached at her husband's funeral, he
says, ' Ingratitude in the Scripture is a thing much condemned, and odious in the sight of God. I
desire therefore, in some poore measure, to shewe my thankfulnesse to my wel- deserving friends,
amongst whom if I should not number you, I should much forget myselfe, your house having beene
as the house of Onesiphorus to me and mine.' The last two words ' and mine' would seem to inti-
mate marriage : but there is no record whatever of such an event. Perhaps, as his father had died
in 1610, he removed liis mother and his sisters, Sarah and Mary, to his own Vicarage.

It is uncertain how long Samuel Smith remained in Prittlewell. Newcourt places one ' John
Negus ' after him, but gives no date. Then follows ' Thomas Pecke, cl. 2 Mail 1033, per mort. Negus.'
So that he must have left before 1633.1 In 1632, on the title-page of his ' Admirable Convert,' he
is designated simply ' Minister of the Word of God,' not as hitherto ' at Prittlewell in Essex.' What
were the circumstances under which he parted from his devoted Flock in Prittlewell it is impossible
now to tell. It must surely have been with a pang he sundered a tie of seventeen years' continuance.
Wood, to his notice of our Worthy's being ' beneficed at Prittlewell,' adds, ' and afterwards, about the
beginning of King Charles I., in his own county.'^ Charles succeeded his father James in 1625 ; and
therefore unless ' about' was used in the Athenaj with considerable latitude, in this instance the usu-
ally accurate though atrabilious Chronicler, is inaccurate.-^ Moreover there is no confirmation, no
trace whatever of his having held a ' living' in his ' own county' of Worcestershire. Later — as we
shall find — he is described as of ' Kinver,' which is in this County : and probably Wood mistook his
dates. He proceeds, ' Where \i.e., in his own county] continuing till the Kebellion began in 1642>
[he] did then or the year following retire to London for shelter, sided with the Presbyterians, and
became a frequent preacher among them.* Afterwards he returned to his cure, had another con-
ferred on him in Shropshire, viz., Cound.' With Cound was then combined Cressage, or Cressedge,
one of the most ancient and historically interesting of English churches — as Eyton in his admir-
able and authoritative ' Shropshire' abundantly proves, albeit with an antiquarianism, somewhat
overdone — he has not a word to tell of person or event younger than a couple of hundred years
before Smith, and so nothing of him. The Eegisters of Cound and of Cressage alike have been
searched in vain for notices of Samuel Smith. As in other cases, some Koyalist successor or other
Vandal appears to have eliminated every trace of him. That he was ' Perpetual Curate' or 'Vicar'
of the combined parishes is indisputable. He signs the adherence of the ' Ministers' of ' Shropshire'
to the ' Testimony' of the ' London Ministers' in 1648 — as ' Pastor of Cound.' This Bliss confirms
from a MS. note by Wood in Ashmole.^ The Shropshire ' Testimony' is itself in my collection ; and
I can attest the fact. Again, Calamy in his ' Accoimt' places him among the ' Ejected,' as having
been so ejected from ' Cound and Cressedge.'^ Further, Richard Baxter in his ' Eeliquife,' in a

1 Newcourt, as before, ii. p- 474. Ou Peck see Davids, as before, pp. 268, 318, 445, 569. His father is one of the ' Wor-
thies' of New England. " As before, iii. pp. 657, 658.

3 This does not appear. The fact that the successor of his successor was admitted in 163-3, is not inconsistent with the
statement that his incumbency ceased about 1625. — Ed.

•> That our Worthy did flee to London, as Wood states, is certain : for in his ' Epistle Dedicatory' of ' JIoscs, his Prayer' to
Samuel Freborne, he gratefully refers to his great kindness and generosity in his own and other ministers' behalf, ' when it
was not my case alone, but the condition of many hundreds of the ministry in this nation to fly to London, as that city of refuge
to which they fled when it was not safe for them to live at their pastoral charges.' * Wood, as before, iii. pp. 657, 658.

* Samuel Smith, like most of his contemporaries, came into conflict with the Quakers. In the ' Abstract of the Sufferings

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

very valuable notice of Smith — of which anon — describes him as ' sometime of Prittlewell in Essex,
but then of Cressage in Shropshire.'! Once more, it was as being a ' minister' in the county of
Shropshire, that he was appointed — as from Wood and elsewhere we know he was — ' one of the com-
missioners for the ejection of scandalous and ignorant ministers and schoolmasters.'^ It is very
grievous that we have no memorials of this Shropshire ministry and public service, and annoying
that the Booksellers continued to republish his books with either the old designation ' of Prittlewell'
or simply as author of such and such. Thus the edition of ' David's Blessed Man,' from whence our
reprint is taken, though dated ' 1635' — when he had certainly left Prittlewell — still describes him as
of it, and so the 12th edition of ' David's Eepentance' in 1642: and his 'Moses, his Prayer' (1656)
and ' Looking-glass for Saints and Sinners' (1663) have 'Samuel Smith, Minister of the Gospel, and
Author of David's Eepentance and the Great Assize,' &c. In the 14th edition of the ' Great Assize'
in 1649, we read, ' Samuel Smith, Minister of the Word, and yet living.'

The details now gleaned and gathered — culminating in the Ejection of 1662— inform us that
in the national thi-oes on the Birth of Liberty, Samuel Smith elected to side for the Kingdom rather
than the King, for the Parliament and Law as against Charles and Laud and Prerogative. It is to
be regretted that the utmost research has yielded no record of his abundant and ' j^opular ' preach-
ing in London, or of his part in ' siding ' with the Presbyterians. Among the mass of contemporary
tractates you do not come on his signature to any of the intolerant ukases (so to say) of the dominant
Sect, whether earlier of the Presbyterians, or a little later of the Independents. You do_not find him
in any way accused in the virulent polemics of John Goodwin and his ' many adversaries.' You do
not either find Edwards of the notorious ' Gangrrena,' or the scarcely less notorious Pkynne, claim-
ing him as an ally. The whole tone and ' savour ' of his writings, the entire character of the man
as impressed unconsciously on his books, brings before us a gentle, shy, retiring, meditative soul,
to whom the 'sturt and strife' of the age would be dissonant, one who could not but be sei'enely
obedient to conscience, but quietly, undemonstratively : one to be compassionated as the poet has
another —

of the People called Quakers,' [vol. i. 1C50-1660,] a work in 3 Tolumes, (Svo,) compiled by Joseph Besse, though it does not
bear his name, he is called ' priest of the Parish ' and of ' the steeple-house of Cressedge.' This was in 1656. The disturbance
described, according to Besse, must have been an unseemly one ; but it is to be remembered that the account is with emphasis
ei parte, and that in the outset Quakerism was not the meek thing it became later. The matter is only valuable biographically
as attesting that S. S. was the ' parson ' of Cressedge.

1 As before, p. 9.

3 Wood, as in last reference to .ithena. I have to thank the present Eector of Cound (Rev. Augustus T. Pelham, M.A.) for
his earnest endeavours to aid me, and for repeated examinations of the Registers. He found no mention of the officiating min-
isters between 1615 and 1662 in connexion with baptisms, burials, or marriages; neither in the church-accounts. In 1652 Mr
James Cressett is called ' minister at Cond :' he has a son born named Edward. In 1654 another son, James, is baptized, when
Mr James Cressett is again called 'minister at Cond.' The Register is very neatly kept to April 1657; after which, till 1662,
careless and bad writing. As in the ' Sufferings of the Quakers' Smith is called 'priest' of ' Cressedge,' but not of Cound, it
is possible that he may have given up the latter to this Cressett. But he [Cressett] must have left Cound for some reason or
other, or been 'deprived.' For in the memorable year of 1662 we have these 'entries' concerning him — '1662. Mr James
Cressett, Rector of Cund, did publicly in the time of divine service read the 39 Articles of the Church of England,' &c. ' The
17th day of August 1662. Mr James Cressett, Rector of Cond, the same Lord's day in time of divine service, did publiquely read
the declaration in the Act of Uniformitie expressed touching the unlawfulness of the Covenant, after the reading of his Cer-
tificat of his subscription to the aforesaid declaration, and did the same day solemnly and publiquely read the morning and
evening prayer appointed to be read by the said Act, and did declare his unfeigned assent and consent thereunto, and to every-
thing therein contained. In the presence and hearing of Robert Cressett, Edward Dod, Rd. Langley,' iS.c.

MEMOIR OB' SAMUEL SMITU. XUl

' Beautiful spirit ! fallen, alas !
On times when little beauty was ;
Still seeking peace amid the strife,
Still working, weary of thy life.
Toiling in holy love.
Panting for heaven above.' '

In accord with all this it is what we would look for to learn that, while he may have preached, like
the most of the illustrious Two Thousand, a ' Farewell Sermon,' he did not publish it, but bore his
cross meekly, and retreated to his native Dudley — where he remained until he died. It was during
his closing residence here that he so won the love of Richard Baxter. At this point I would
bring together liis tender and winsome notices of our Worthy and his birth-place. First of all of
the latter: ' At that time' [about 23d year] ' old Mr Richard Foley of Stourbridge, in Worcestershire,
had recovered some alienated lands at Dudley, which had been left to charitable uses, and added
something of his own, and built a convenient new school-house, and was to choose his first school-
master and usher. By the means of James Berry — who lived in the house with me and had lived
with him — he desired me to accept it. I thought it not an inconvenient condition for my entrance,
because I might also preach up and down in places that were most ignorant, before I presumed to
take a pastoral charge — to which I had no inclination. So to Dudley I went, and Mr Foley and
James Berry going with me to Worcester, at the time of ordination. I was ordained by the bishop,
and had a licence to teach school : for which, being examined, I subscribed. Being settled, with an
usher, in the new school at Dudley, and Uving in the house of Mr Richard Foley, junr., I there
preached my first publick sermon in the upper Parish Church.' 2 Renown surely worth cherishing
by now busy and prosperous Dudley — that in it was born and died Samuel Smith, and that in it
the author of 'The Saint's Everlasting Rest' preached his 'first Sermon.' The folios of Nash's
' Worcestershii'e ' over-pass both facts : but they outweigh in interest the multitudinous ' chronicles '
of so-called greater events. Again, in giving an account of his unthinking ' Conformity ' in the out-
set, Baxter thus ingenuously tells us the process and result together, introducing our Worthy:
' About twenty years of age I became acquainted with Mr Simmonds [Symonds ?], Mr Cradock,
and other very zealous, godly Nonconformists in Shrewsbury and the adjoining parts, whose fervent
prayers, and savoury conference, and holy lives did profit me much. And when I understood that
they were people prosecuted by the Bishops, I found much prejudice arose in my heart against those
that persecuted them, and thought those that silenced and troubled such men could not be the
genuine followers of the Lord of Love.' . . . . ' Withal the books of the Nonconformists were then
so scarce and hard to be got, because of the danger, that I could not come to know their reasons.
Whereas, on the contrary side, Mr Garbet and Mr Samuel Smith did send me Downham, Sprint,
Dr Burges, and others of the strongest that had wrote against the Nonconformists.' 3 This send-
ing of books by our Smith to strengthen Baxter in his Conformity, is one of many incidental proofs
that turn up that the Nonconformists of the Ejection were made so by ' constraint, not willingly,' that

' The Bishop's Walk, as before, page 16.

' ' Reliquiae,' as before, i. 9. Mr Stoughton has given some touching extracts from the unpublished Baxter MSS.
relating to Dudley. See his ' Ecclesiastical History of England from the opening of the Long Parliament to the death of
Cromwell,' ii. 191.

^ Ibid., i. 9, 13, &c.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

they loved the Church of England, though they loved the truth too well to sacrifice it to an impos-
sible Uniformity. We have still another and finely touched notice in the ' Reliquife ' : — ' At that
time also [as before] God was pleased much to comfort and settle me by the acquaintance of some
reverend peaceable divines : Mr Garbet (aforesaid) and Mr George Baxter of Little Wenlock — (very
holy men and peaceable, who laboured faithfully with little success till they were above four score
years of age a piece:) — especially old Mr Samuel Smith, sometime of Prittlewell in Essex, but
then of Cressage in Shropshire.' . . . . ' This good man was one of my most familiar friends, in
whose converse I took very much delight.' i

When the 'ejected' Vicar of Cound and Cressage retired to his native place, he was in his
79th year. What a fine sight to one's imagination is this white-headed old man giving up his all
of worldly ' living ' in fealty to conscience ! Would that we had his portrait in its setting of silver
hair reverently to study ! How he was engaged after his ' Ejection,' it is idle to conjecture. We
may be sure of tliis, that he laid not down his ' office ' of a ' Preacher ' of the Gospel. To that,
holier, than prelatic hands had consecrated him : and whether in settled ' congregation ' or as an
' occasional ' helper of ' the brethren,' he doubtless continued ' faithful ' even ' unto the end.' One
other glimpse have we of him in association with Richard Baxter — but, alas ! Kinver, which is in
Worcestershire, retains no 'memorial' at this late day — 'October 19th 1652 was a thanksgiving
day kept at Tresle upon the settlement of a ministry there : and at Womborne, upon the desire of
the inhabitants of Tresle, Mr Eichard Baxter of Kidderminster, and Mr Samuel Smith of Kinver,
prayed and preached.' ^

In the year after the 'Ejection,' viz., in 1663, was published his last book, 'A Looking-Glass
lor Saints and Sinners ; or, an Exposition on the Second Epistle of Saint John.' It bears on the
title-page to be ' a most needfull treatise for these apostatising times wherein we live,' and perchance
is over-vehement in its rebukes of Papists and Quakers : but otherwise has many memorable things
in it, and altogether is an extraordinary effort for one so aged. Prefixed to it is a ' copy ' of Verses
— as the phrase runs — addressed to the venerable author by a brother minister, 'John Taylor of
Dudley,' concerning whom I can gain nothing. Intrinsically they are of no great value, but as
bringing the ' old man eloquent ' before us as he looked to one who knew and loved him, they cannot
be withholden : —

' To my reverend friend, the Author.
Sir,

' If books — the issues of the mind — like children be
To shew the parent to Posterity,

Then you— though childless otherwise — shall live and siiew,
Fruitful in children, pretious to the view
Of all succeeding ages ; and the holy men
That know the worth and price of things divine,
Shall love and praise the reverend Author and his pen,
That holy Te.vt and Truth thus make to shine.

' ' Reliquiae,' i., 9, 13, &c.

' Shaw's 'Staffordshire,' ii. pp. 216*. 217*. A number of Smiths or Smyths — one Edward Smith, Registrar of Wom-
borne, (1653,) and in 1701, another Edward, Rector of a London Church are here mentioned.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

You have been plentiful! and painfull in your works,

A powerful Preacher and a Writer both ;

Discovering sin ; ah ! sin, which in man's nature lurks,

A pattern to us for avoiding sloth.

For when your age — now great — might challenge quiet ease

From toilsome studyes, lo ! here comes to sight,

A pretious piece, a work, a book that well will please

The godly, as a babe of sweet delight.

Thus we may see how grace weak nature doth excell ;

The latter fades and with old age decaj-es,

The other fertile grows; for still your years can tell,

How to unfold God's will and teach His wayes.

Go on, dear Sir, thus to make plain God's word and mind.

Whilst we injoy you on the earth below;

Thereby you comfort now, and more shall after find,

When dying, you eternall joyes shall know.

So prayes your very friend and neighbour,

JoEN Tatlob, Minister of the Gospel in Dudley.'

' He was Kving,' says Wood, ' an aged man, near Dudley in Worcestersliire, in 1663.' i Oalamy
having summai'Lly characterised him as ' a very holy, judicious man, and greatly esteemed,' adds in
the ' Continuation ' — ' I am informed he spent his last years in Dudley, in Worcestershire, (which
was the place of his nativity,) and there died very old in 1664, and was buried at the end of the
chancel, as his grave-stone witnesses.' 2 Baxter in the ' Keliquiaj,' notes, ' [he] was buried but this
winter 1664, at his native place at Dudley, in Worcestershire.' 3 It was with peculiar pleasure I
found there was an ' entry' in the St Thomas, Dudley 'Eegisters' of the ' end: ' all the more that
the ' grave-stone,' which was extant when Calamy wrote (1727), has long disappeared. It is as
follows : —

' Old Mr Samuel Smithe, buried irth March 1665."

Well might he be called ' old,' and even ' very old,' for, born in 1583, {not 1588 as hitherto erroneously
stated,) he was in 1665 in liis 82d year, and so went to his grave beside his Vicar-father ' in a full
age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season,' (Job v. 26,)—

' A genuine Priest,
The Shepherd of his flock ; or, as a King
Is styled when most affectionately praised.
The father of his people. Such is he ;
And rich and poor, and J'oung and old, rejoice
Under his spiritual away.' — [Wokdsworth.]

I have now to submit a List of the Writings of Samuel Smith, taken — with two exceptions noted —
from the books themselves, and much more full and exact than hitherto. From the more rare— and
they are very rare — I take brief extracts, the others being readily met with I simply describe.*
I. David's Blessed Man ; or, a Short Exposition upon the fu'st Psalme, directing a man to true

1 As before, Athena;, iii. pp. 6,')7, 658. * As before in last reference to him. ' As before.

•< I beg to acknowledge the obliging attention of the officials of the British Museum Library, Sion College, and Williams,
London ; Bodleian, Oxford, and Trinity College, Dublin.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

happinesse. "Wliereiii the Estate and Condition of all Mankinde is lay'd downe, both for this
life and that which is to come. The ninth edition, profitably amplified by the Author, Samuel
Smith [as before in all save No. 8.] London: [as in No. 7.] 1635. [ISmo.]

%* I have not been able to see the first edition (1614) : the 15th appeared in 1685. See
the ' petitions ' for the Koyal Family, with names given in the appended prayers. There
are changes in successive editions.

II. Exposition of Hosea, e. vi. 1617. [4to.]

*^* See note at end of this List.

III. Joseph and Mistresse : the Faithfulnesse of the one and the Vnfaithfulnesse of the other ; laid
downe in five Sermons upon the thirtie-nine chapter of Genesis, the seventh, eighth, and ninth
verses, &c. By Samuel Smith, Minister of God's Word at Prittlewell, in Essex. Heb. xiii. 4,
Marriage is honourable, &c. London : Printed by G. Purslowe for John Budge ; and are to be
sold at his shop in Paul's Churchyard, at the signe of the Greene Dragon. 1619. [ISmo.]
Title-page. To the Eeader, pp. 6. Table, pp. 5. Treatise, pp. 305.

*jit* In speaking of the licentiousness of liis age in this powerful treatise, there are some vivid
sketches of manners, and severe ' rebukes' of the ' women.' The following is a charac-
teristic example of his style : — ' In these days and times iniquity doth so abound, that
women's veQ of modesty is for the most part out of use ; and instead thereof, they set
out themselves by all means they may, by frizzling their hair, starchings, smoothings
and ruffs so deep that their heads must stand like an apple in a charger in the midst of
them, more liker flirt-like women than sober matrons. Let, then, all godly and sober-
minded women learn to keep on their veils, I mean to be watchful over their eyes and
other senses.'

IV. The Great Assize, or Day of Jubilee, in which we must make a generall accompt of all our
actions before Almighty God. Delivered in four Sermons, upon the 20 chapter of the Kevelation,
plainly shewing the happy estate of the godly, and the woful condition of the wicked. Where-
to are annexed Two Sermons upon the first chapter of the Canticles, w. 6, 7. By the Author,
Samuel Smith, Minister of the Word, and yet living. The 14th impression. London. 1649.
[18mo.]

*^* I have not seen the first edition ; but as it was his 4th publication [See Memoir, ante,] it
must have been issued in 1618-19 or 1619-20.* The 'Two Sermons' annexed were
extremely popular, and formed a separate volume, — viz.,

V. A Fold for Clu'ist's Sheepe : delivered in Two Sermons [as before in No. 4.] The 12th impres-

sion, corrected and amended [as before.] 1649. [18mo.]

VI. Christ's Last Supper ; or, the Doctrine of the Sacrament of Christ's Supper, set forth in five
Sermons. Wherein is taught the great necessity of a godly preparation before men come to
the Sacrament. Wherein it doth consist; with the condemnation threatened against the
unworthy receiver of the same. By Samuel Smith [as before.] John vi. 27, ' Labour not for
the meat that perisheth,' &c. London : Printed by T. D. for John Bellamie, and are to be sold
at the South Entrance of the Royall Exchange. 1620. [18mo.] Title-page. Epistle Dedicatory
to Sir Ferdinando Dudley, &c., pji. 7. Table, pp. 21. Treatise, pp. 357.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

*^* la speaking of the comforts arising from our imion with Christ, he makes tliis quaint

remark,- — ' Moses may marry an Ethiopian, but he cannot change her colour ; but the

Lord Jesus Christ shall make to himseK a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle.'

Of imperfect communion, he says, ' Neither would I be so understood, as if there

were no hope that God will accejit of our service unless it be absolute in the manner

of performing. God forbid we should so think: for then what would become of

the best duties even of the best ? No ; better to hear in weakness than not to hear ;

better to pray with infirmity than not to pray, and to communicate with some defect

than utterly to forbear. Better it is to limp and creep in the way than not to come

at all.'

YII. Christ's Preparation to His Owne Death. Delivered in three Sermons vpon the two

and twentieth chapter of S. Luke, the 39, 40, and 41 verses. By Samuel Smith [as

before.] London: Printed by Nicholas Okes. 1620. [18mo.] Title-page. Epistle

Dedicatory to Lady Mary Weld, pp. 4. To the Keader, pp. 4. Table, pp. 4. Treatise,

pp. 150.

VIII. A Christian Taske: a Sermon preached at the Funerall of Maister John Lawson, Gentleman,
at PrittleweU in Essex, on the 28th of December 1619. By Samuel Smith [as before.]
London: [as in No. 7.] 1620. [18mo.] Title-page. Epistle Dedicatory, pp. 3. Sermon,
pp. 78. [Test, Psalm xc. 12.]

IX. Da\-id's Eepentance ; or, a Plaine and Familiar Exposition of the 51st Psalm, first preached
and now published for the benefit of the Church. The 13th edition, newly revised ; most need-
ful for this time. By Samuel Smith [as before] London. 1642. [18mo.]

%* I have been unable to see the fii'st edition.

X. Noah's Dove; or, Tydings of Peace to the Godly: a comfortable Sermon preached at a Funeral!.

The second impression, corrected and amended by the author, Samuel Smith [as before.]
London : [as in No. 7.] 1620. [18mo.] Title-page. To the Eeader, pp. 5. Table, p. 1.
Sermon, pp. 51. [Text, Psabn xxxvii. 37.]
XI The Chiefe Shepheard ; or, An Exposition upon y® xxiii. Psalme. Wherein is set downe y^
most excellent priviledges of those y' have y^ Lord for their Shepheard, and that live vnder
his most gracious protection. Most neechul for y® time. By Samuel Smith [as before.]
London: [as in No. 7.] 1625. [ISmo.] Title-page. Epistle Dedicatory to 'Mr Edward
Seabrid, Esq.' Treatise.

XII. The Admirable Convert ; or. The Jliraculous Conversion of the Thieve on the Cross, with the
Finall Impenitency of the other. By Samuel Smith, Minister of the Word of God. London :
1632. [18mo.] Title-page. Epistle Dedicatory to ' Sir Eichard Greaves, Kt., and Lady.'
Treatise.

XIII. The Ethiopian Evnvch's Conversion ; or. The Summe of Thirtie Sermons upon part of the
Eight Chapter of Acts. By Samuel Smith, Minister of the Word. London : Printed by
Thomas Harper for Thomas Alchorne, and are to be sold at his shop in Paul's Church-yard at
the Signe of the Green Dragon. 1632. [18mo.] Title-page. Epistle Dedicatory to Sir
Eichard Newport, pp. 6. Contents, pp. 8. Treatise, pp. 540.

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

XIV. Moses his Prayer ; or, An Exposition of the Nintieth Psahne. In which is set forth the
Frailty and Misery of Mankind. Most needful! for these Times.

( 1. The Sum and Scope.

,,,. .2. The Doctrines.
Wherein o mi x.

3. The Eeasons.

[ 4. The Uses of most Texts are observed.

By Samuel Smith, Minister of the Gospel, Author of 'David's Eepentance and the Great

Assize,' and yet hving. London : Printed by W. Wilson, and are to be sold at his House in

Well-yard neare West-Smithfield. 1656. [18mo.] Title-page. Epistle Dedicatory ' to the

truly religious, and his much honored Friend, Mr Samuel Freborne, and his religious consort

in Prittlewell in Essex,' pp. 2. To the Eeader, pp. 2. Treatise, pp. 544. Table, pp. 6.

%* Two short extracts from this extremely uncommon volume will be acceptable : the first

reminding of Cragge, the other of Jeremy Taylor : — ' Seeing there was a time w'hen

there was no mountain, earth, or world, but that God was the creator of them all :

then the heavens that are above us, and the earth that is below us, and all the creatures

that are in the world, they may serve to teach us this lesson, that there is [a] God !

Though these teach us not this lesson as the Scriptures teach us, yet they are as a

Christian's primer to teach us to spell. For God teach eth us two ways. 1. By his

philosophy-lecture in the creature. ... 2. By Ms divinity-lecture in the Word.' . . .

' Eiches require pains to get them, care to keep them, and have their vexation to part

with them. They are of a flowing nature like water : they have their wings, and many

times of a sudden fly away : physic, lawsuits, fire, water, and the like, are the moths

that consume them. This flower also fadeth away.'

XV. A Looking-Glass for Saints and Sinners ; or, An Exposition on the Second Epistle of Saint
John : a most needfuU Treatise for these Apostatizing times wherein we live, fit to be read, but
[to be] practised by all Christians. By Samuel Smith, [as in No. 14.] London: Printed by
W. W. for Nathaniel Brookes at the Angel in CornhiU. 1663. Title-page. Verses by Taylor,
[as in Memoir, ante.] To the Eeader. Treatise, pp. 299. Table, pp. 4. Curiously enough
the running title throughout is ' A Looldng-Glass for Ladies.'

XVI. The Christian's Guide. [ISmo.] This passed through many editions : but I have not met
with it, and therefore place it last, though probably published early.

*»* With reference to the Exi^osition of ' Hosea c. vi.,' it is mentioned by Baxter in his
' Eeliquia?,' (p. 9,) and by Calamy, (as before:) but I have not been able to trace it
anj'where, either in our great Public Libraries or private collections. In the ' Catalogue
of our English Writers on the Old and New Testament,' (2d edition,) 1668, it is duly
entered iii loco thus, 'Hosea chap, vi., on the whole. Samuel Smith. Quarto. 1617.'
K correctly dated, it must have been his second book. It is greatly to be desu-ed that a
copy may turn up.

Such is the modest Story and such the Writings of Samuel Smith. It is, after all our anxious
seeking, but a small and slightly-scented wreath that we have been able to twine around his holy

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL SMITH.

memory. Nevertheless, as for Hues liitherto we have given as many pages, and made certain the
uncertain, and correct what has been told incorrectly, our votive offering may perchance help to
revive the name of the ' good old man.' A single volume of this Series would include all he
published : but there is matter in his little books that his contemporaries and ours now, would have
beat from massive gold into tinsel-leaf. His writing is not mere sentence-making or pretty
sentimentalisms, but living and quickening thoughts. Neither is it book-making, but intense,
passionate, wistful pleading as for very life with perishing souls, or gentle, tear-soft, devout consola-
tion for the smitten and lorn, and hurt and weary ' by reason of the way.' Ever and anon there are
melodious sayings, terse apophthegmatic or aphoristic statements of ' doctrine,' unforgettable remon-
strances, odd illustrations, quaint and archaic words, — through all a dominating purpose to bring
men to the Cross of Jesus, to Jesus on the Cross. While, therefore, dear old Miles Smith did
mightier service in our ' English Bible,' and Henry Smith the silver-tongued had more of the
mystic gift of genius, and John Smith the ' Essex Dove,' and John Smith of the ' True Patterne,'
and — the greatest of all — John Ssiith of the ' Select Discourses,' were more learned, and other Smiths
earlier and later have made more noise, and been more on men's tongues, our saintly Samuel Smith
has this record ' on high/ that in a sliding age he stood firm ; in an age of making big books
without end he chose the tiniest size ; in an age of Conformity in Chui'ch and State he asserted the
Divine peculiarity of the Christian, and spoke and wrote straight out of his own ' good and honest
heart' of ' the things' that ' belong' to ' everlasting life.' Sure we are that the more his little books
are studied the more will their former boundless popularity be understood, and the more a Avish be
cherished — if not a hope — that the present small reprint may send readers in search of all. And so
Thomas Mace may close our Memoir, and speak for plain but wise, unpretending but solid, lowly
but Divinely-taught, outwardly rough but inwardly rich Samuel Smith : —

' Look for no painted outside here.
But for a work devotedly sincere ;
A thing low prized in these too high-flown days
Such solid sober works get little praise.
Yet some there be
Love true solidity.

And unto such brave, noble souls I write
In hopes to do them and the subject right:
I write it not to please the itching vein
Of idle-headed fashiouists, or gain

Their fond applause :

I care for no such noise.

I write it only for the sober sort.

Who love right learning, and will labour for 't ;

And who will value worth in art, though old,

And not be weary of the good, though told
'Tis out of fashion
By nine-tenths of the nation.

I writ it also out of great good will
Unto my countrymen ; and leave my skill
Behind me for the sakes of those that may
Not yet be born ; but in some after day

May make good use

Of it, without abuse.'

Alexander B. Grosart.

THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

HITHERTO the name of the author of the good book called ' Excellent Encouragements against
Afflictions ; or Expositions of Four Select Psalmes,' — now ' after so long a time ' reprinted, — has
been found in none of the usual som-ces of information, except in the very slightest way: and when asked
to prepare a Memoir, the present Writer feared — after considerable research — that in this case the
volume had proved at once monument and grave ; bearing, indeed, the name down for loving regard
by those who prized its ' apples of gold in basketwork of silver,' but leaving the man himself to
turn to dust, unknown, unknowable. Persistent inquiries at last resulted in a few names and dates
that guided me to the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum ; and there I found, all unused, a
Slemorial consisting of pleasant and garrulous ' Notices,' by a nameless contemporary, of the Eectors of
Brampton-Brian, and so, among the rest, of Pierson. This led to other subsidiary discoveries ; and I am
thus fortunate enough at this late day to give, for the first time, a Memoir of one who is never named by
those who knew him without 'famous,' or 'learned,' or ' faithful,' or other noticeable or kindly epithet.
It was provoking to find an Edmuxd Calamt using the former, with other equally appreciating words,
and Christopher Harvey, — whose ' Synagogue' is for all time associated with the ' Temple' of George
Herbert, — editing his book with the veneration and tenderness of a son towards a father ; not forget-
ting that to him "William Perkins and Thomas Brightman confided their 'Workes' for 'the presse,' —
and yet to know nothing, or no more than these facts, concerning him. If henceforward it will not be so
that elaborate 'county' Histories, while recording with fulness, even to superfluity, names that the world
should have been very willing ' to let die ' — your merely ' ancient ' Smiths, Browns, Robinsons, and
Joneses, in so far as word of power, or beneficent deed goes — have not a line for this Cheshire ' Worthy '
and Herefordshire ' Pastor ' of the fine old type, perchance our little service may be remembered too,l

* After I had discovered, or recovered, the Harleian MS., and transcribed it for my purpose, I had the pleasure to receive
from Lady Frances Harcourt a family MS. volume, which, along with various other most interesting Papers, contains a care-
ful copy of it : and through ' Notes and Queries ' I had been previously directed, by Sir Thomas E. Winnington, to one of the
Camden Society's publications, viz., • Letters of the Lady Brilliana Harley, wife of Sir Robert Harley, of Brampton Bryan,
Knight of the Bath, with Introduction and Notes by Thomas Taylor Lewis, A.M., Vicar of Bridstow, Herefordshire, 1853.'
The ' Introduction ' and ' Notes' by Mr Lewis are careful so far as they go ; but that is not far, and as concerning Pierson,
they are meagre and careless. I wish very cordially to thank Lady Harcourt for her spontaneous kindness in forwarding
her valuable Family MS. to me. The original is Harleian MSS. 7517. I had hoped to have added to my materials from the
MSS. of the industrious Cole. In Wood sAlhenm, under Christopher Harvey, Dr Bliss has added to his mention of Pierson
the following note, ' Vide my MS. collections in the British Museum Vol. P., p. VS.— Cole.' But with all the assistance of the
authorities at the Britiih'Museum I could not find such a volume, or any volume marked 'P.' Moreover, the only reference
to Pierson in the Cole MSS. consists of one line, merely.stating that he was of Emmanuel College. I turned up ' Emmanuel
College,' and every other conceivable heading — in vain.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M A.

nil the more, that even the all-comprehending ' Athenaj Cantabrigienses ' of Messrs Cooper has not
a single word to tell.^

The old Manuscript, on which mainly is our dependence for this Memoir, begins quaintly, 2 ' To
write the story of a wicked person is to execute his memory, and sprinkle ashes -w-ith the blaynes of
Egypt. To write the life of a good man, is to perfume the world, and to repeat y*^ presents of the
queen of Sheba with nobler spices.' Then after classical allusion to Cjesar and other mighty ' bad '
men, in contrast with suffering ' saints,' we have a glimpse of the desolation and terror of the period
during which the ' Notices ' were drawn up— probably while the Civil War was raging. ' Oh, the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdome and knowledge of God : ye Garden enclosed of God is ruined
into a wilderness, the howling wilderness is become a Paradise, the balm of Canaan is transplanted
into the desart of Egjqit, the wild Gentile olive hath sucked away the fattness and sweetness from the
natural branches,' — a bit of sermonising that seems to half-mourn, half-hope, over the ' changes '
accomplished and threatened. Subsequent 'Notices' shew sympathy with the 'Ejected' of 16G2.

We now reach the 'Notice' 'pro'per thus : 'Mr Thomas Pierson, whose name and memory deserves
alwayes to be honoured, was born at Weaverham in Cheshire, in or about the year 1570.' The
Eegisters of Weaverham contain no notices of Piersons : none of the ' baptism ' of our ' Thomas.'
From after-facts it is pretty certain his parents were humble— As Habington sung of ' Castara : ' —

" Folly boasts a glorious blood,
He is noblest — being good."

The ' hamlet ' of Weaverham may now add to its annals a name of worth, if not in the vulgar sense
as ' great ' as that Earl Edwin of whom it boasts ' before the Conquest,' or that Hugh Lupus, who
held ' the manor ' at the Survey of ' Domesday,' — may place it beside that of Edward Marburt,
the racy and spiritual ' Commentator ' on Obadiah and Habakkuk — sprung of the Marburys of
Marbury, to whom the ' lands ' passed, and by whose collateral descendants they are owned at this
day. It was meet birthplace for one whose best fame is that he was a ' faithful ' imder-Shepherd
of the Master-Shepherd. Meadows sloping down to the ' Weever ' — which gleams through sylvan
coppices, — and now, as then, the grand old cathedral-like Church the centre object — compose a sweet
Landscape. The village-town itself, on the road leading by Acton Bridge from Tarporley to War-
iugton, deserves a visit. Narrow in its streets, its houses old timbered, its aspect Elizabethan, not
Victorian. The long-standing ' May-poles ' reminded many generations of the conflict excited by
James and Charles and Laud, between the Book of God and the Book of Sports.^ At the time
j\Lastcr Pierson made his advent, ' William Holcroft ' — whose name I think I have met with in
some old title-pages, unless it be that it is the echo of William Holbrooke, the chosen friend of
John Randall — was ' parson ' of Weaverham.

Situated conveniently near to ' Northwich,' where was a School that afterwards gave it celebrity,

^ 2 Vols. 8vo. Vol. ii., 158fl-1609, covers Pierson's term. Are we never to get Vol. iii. ?

» All quotations not otherwise marked are to be understood as taken from the Harleian MS.

» See Omekod's History of the County Palatine and City of Chester. 3 Vols., folio, 1819. According to him, the
' Itcgisters' of ' Baptisms ' at Weaverham begin in lG9i : marriages, 1695 : burials, 1678.' [Vol. i., 59.] This is a mistake,
as I learn from the present Incumbent : they go back more than a century farther ; but a search gave no Piersons under any
of the headings.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

youDg PiERSON went thither— Says our MS., 'by the care of his parents and friends [he] was brought
up to learning at Northwich, a market-town about three miles from Weaverham.' The ' Will ' of
our Worthy shewed that he never forgot the scenes of his birth and boyhood — as we shall see.
George Whitney, whose ' Emblems ' have recently been reproduced with rare lovingness, and
not less cunning skill, by Mr Green ; John Gerarde the ' Herbalist ; ' Thomas Harrison, who is
made to stand out so livingly by Guizot in his ' History,' without the legend beneath his name of
' regicide ' lessening his estimate, and grander than all that other ' regicide ' ' President Bradshaw,'
whom the mighty portrait of Milton has made immortal, and Mrs Milton {tertki)} — all belong to
the immediate district, earlier and later than Pierson.2 Whether he knew any of these contemporary
with him is not recorded : but the whole make of his mind may assure us that if a copy of the
' Emblems ' found its way anywhere from Holland, it would be to the ' Rectory ' of his fellow-
countryman in Brampton-Brian.

He ' profited ' so well at Northwich that ' he was removed to Cambridge, and admitted there into
Emmanuel College, which was newly founded a few years before by that religious and renowned
Knight, Sir Walter Mildmay.' Elsewhere I have described Cambridge, and the ' men and things '
of this particular College.^ The selection of ' Emmanuel,' which was Puritanissimum Puritanorum,
probably indicates the home-nurture. ' There he continued,' proceeds our old Notice-writer, ' being
maintained partly by his own industiy, partly by exhibitions from others — his parents' estate being
too small to defray such a charge — untlll he had commenced Master of Arts.' It would seem that the
previous steps have not been preserved — doubtless by the neglect of that Master ' Smith,' or one of the
same class, so characteristically ' blamed ' by Thomas Fuller.* He ' was admitted into sacred orders
on the 11th of March 1598, according to the custome of the Church of England, by the then Bishop
of Colchester, suffragan to the Bishop of London.' Following on this— like John Goodwin, later, in
his native Norfolk— he proceeded homeward as a Preacher, occupying, no doubt, first of all the
pulpit of Weaverham, having father and mother in his auditory. ' The next year,' being 1599, ' he was
entertained to preach as a constant Lecturer at Northwich, and so continued two yeai-s, there sowing
the seeds of religion first where first he had taken in the seed of learning. The next two years
[1601-1602] he spent in the like manner at Weaverham, where he was born.' Very pleasing is
this ' beginning ' of his ' preaching,' and abiding for four years ' among his own people.' Mr Hol-
croft had been succeeded by a Mr Shallcross on 'Dec. 7th 1575,' who continued until 1614. In
1602-3 he returned to Cambridge, ' where he had formerly contracted intimate acquaintance with
divers of the best repute for learning- and religion, especially with that famous example of a faitliful
minister, Mr William Perkins, who held him in a very dear esteem.' Perkins died in 1602 ; and
Pierson was appointed by his Executors to publish certain of his hitherto unpubhshed writings, and
to collect his ' Workes ' into the well-known three folios, which are as ' quick ' to-day with great

' It has escaped the Biographers of Milton that in the ' Sermons ' of Isaac Kimbeb, is one preached at the funeral of
Mrs Milton at Xantwich.

" See Green's reprint, as above, with a scholarly and most interesting Introduction; Omerod, as before ; Guizot's ' History
of tlie Revolution ;' Milton's ' Defensio.'

3 In Memoirs of Sibbes and Brookes ; Sibbes' Works, Vol. i. pp. xlviii-lvii ; Brooks' Works, Vol. i. pp. x.\iv-vi.

* Brooks, as before, Vol. i. pp. xxii-iii.

VI MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

thoughts and burning love and tenderness as of old, if it must be confessed only the ' few ' read them
now, as compared with tlie multitudes who hung on his lips, and who, at home and abroad, welcomed
his volumes as priceless legacies.

Turning to the ' Workes ' of Perkins, as thus given to the world by our Worthy, it is only in
volumes ii. and iii. that his hand appears. In the former is the very remarkable 'Treatise' of
' Man's Imagination,' shewing ' his natural evil thoughts : his want of good thoughts : the way to
reform tliem.' To this is prefixed an Epistle Dedicatory ' to the Eight Worshipful! Sir Thomas
Holcroft, Knight, with the vertuous Lady Elizabeth, his wife.' In this excellent ' Epistle ' — which
has the aroma of Sibbes about it — he excuses any lengthened observations of his own, ' because my
gates may not be great before so small a city ;' then speaking of God's asking of the heart, ' My son,
give Me thy heart,' he has some fine touches on the heart — e.g., 'But what is man's heart that it
should be so desired ? Surely in substance little, but for employment almost infinite. It is a
treasure whereout man bringeth all his actions, good or evil : it is a temple wherein is placed either
the ark of God, or Dagon for the devil. Yea, it is a place wherein dwelleth, and a throne whereon
sitteth, either Christ or Satan, the King of glory, or the prince of darkness ; and he that keeps posses-
sion will there exercise dominion.' He tells with becoming pride the cliarge committed to him, at
the same time turning it into a felicitous compliment, which was more than a compliment, to the
Holcrofts. ' The publishing hereof being committed unto me,' . . . . ' the first-fruits of my
labour in this kind, wherein I had full power of free choice in my dedication, it may intimate to you
both [the dedication of it] mine unfeigned heart's desire of that everlasting good I wish unto your
souls, and also testifying in part my thankful mind for your manifold favours to me and mine, who
depend upon you.' i Then to the Header, ' Know, good reader, that for my furtherance in the
publishing of this tractate I liad the author's Own draught of the platform of it, beside two perfect
copies of all his sermons. I have for plainness' sake divided it into chapters and sections, for the
better effecting whereof I was constrained to transpose two of the uses ; otherwise, I doubt not but
every one that heard it preached will judge me to have dealt faithfully with the godly author. The
Lord prosper it to thy good.' ^ This is dated ' Cambiidge, August 20, 1606.' In volume iii., there
is the ' Godly and learned Exposition of Christ's Sermon on the Mount,' which Pierson dedicates to
' The Eight Honourable Oliver Lord St John, Baron of Bletso ; ' and he herein notes that ' This
Sermon containeth twelve several heads of doctrine, answerable, indeed, to the number of the twelve
apostles, to whom it was principally intended upon their calling to that office ; ' and he modestly
describes his part in the publication, ' My pains herein hath been chiefly this, as near as I could,
out of mine own and others' notes, to commend unto the public view the author's faithful labours in
his own meaning. Only I have here and tliere, upon good occasion, fliough private to myself, added
some references in the margin unto classical Popish writers for such opinions as are herein charged
upon them. Mine interest for the publishing of this work I hope I shall approve unto any gainsayer.' 3
In an ' Advertisement ' to the Christian Eeader, concerning the Works of Perkins, he explains why
certain others were not given, and appeals to all possessed of MSS. to submit them to him and the
other executors.' * This is dated ' May 1608.'

Following this is the ' Crowd of Faitliful Witnesses leading to the Heavenly Canaan ; or, a

1 Vol. ii. p. 454. = Ibid., p. 455. ' Vol. iii. pp. 1,2. ' Ibid., pp. 3, 4.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A. VII

Commentary upon the Eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews,' in the editing of which he was associated
with William Crashaw, father of the poet Richard Crashaw,i and as staunch a Protestant as
was his son a Papist.'^ Working out the conceit of the ' Pillar of Cloud ' which Israel followed, in
contrast with that we follow, in the Epistle Dedicatory, ' to the noble and virtuous gentleman. Sir
John Sheaffield Knight, and Mr Oliver St John,' the two like-minded editors remark, ' We have a
notable light in this learned Commentary, which we must confess is much obscured for lack of the
refining hand of the godly author himself. But now, seeing that shining light is quenched, use this
our lamp. It is fed with such oil as we received in the Lord's sanctuary, from that olive-tree whence
many an one did fill his vessel.' 3 This is dated ' Nov. 10, 1G08.' Next there is the ' Godly and
learned Exposition or Commentary upon the three first chapters of the Revelations ; ' ' the second
edition, revised and enlarged after a more perfect copy.' This is dedicated to Lady Elizabeth
Montagu of Hemington in Northamptonshire, from ' London, December 10th, 1606,' and besides has
a golden little address ' to the godly and Christian reader,' explaining how the additions are no
' reflection' upon him who first published those 'Sermons.' ^ Finally, there is the ' Combate betweene
Christ and the Deuill displayed ; or a Commentarie upon the Temptations of Christ,' also ' much
enlarged by a more perfect copie.' This is inscribed to Sir William and Lady Russell. It is dated
' Cambridge, Emmanuel College, 25th June, 1606.' 5 Besides the first preparation of these several
treatises, Pierson ' corrected the faults of the press, and composed the tables ' of the whole. ' He
was likewise employed in publishing some of Mr Brightman's workes, especially in correcting the first
most extreme faulty impression of his ' Commentarie on the Apocalyps.' Of these two ' labours of
love,' Calamy takes special notice in giving his ' imprimatur ' to the publication of ' Excellent
Encouragements,' — the book here reprinted. I place the testimony below.' ^

Throughout, on the title-pages of Perkins, Pierson is designated ' Preacher of God's Word ;'
and this extending from 1605-6 to 1608-9. Two influential events occurred during these years:
one more personal and private, the other public — viz., his marriage, and his appointment as 'chaplain'
in the noble family of St John. The former, which I notice first, has simply been known from the
fact that Pierson left a ' widow;' but when it took place, or to whom, has never before been ascertained.
By one of those lucky chances, — of which in the course of these biographic studies I have had my full
share, — it is my good-fortune to be able to give it authentically. For, called on to 'search' the
Registers of Bunbury in preparing my Memoir of Samuel Torshell, I obtained other memoranda,
which for the first time determined who was the father of Christopher Harvet, the ' sweet singer '

1 Cf. Turnbull's Crashaw.

- On the title-page it is added, ' who heard him preach it, and wrote it from his mouth.'

■* Works of Perkins, Vol. iii., 2nd Part, pp. 1, 2.

< Ibid., p. 205. 5 Ibid., Fart iii. pp. 363-65.

* ' The Authour of these ensuing Sermons, Mr Thomas Pierson, was so famous "in his generation," such a "burning and shin-
ing light," and so instrumentall to the good of the Church, both by his own indefatigable labours in the ministry of the Gospel,
as also by the publishing of divers Treatises of Mr Perkins and Mr Brightman, that I could not but do him this right, not only ta
give an Imprimatur to this Com[mlentary of his upon some Psalmes, but also to signifie to the reader the pietie, learning,
and worth of the authour, and to commend these his Sermons to every good Christian, as holding out many orthodox and
savoury truths, and by obedience to which truths many souls went to heaven, without entangling themselves in the many un-
edifying janglings of these sad, divided times.' — Ed. Calauy.

July the 6th, 1647.
This gratifying ' Note' of the Presbyterian minister to his Episcopalian brother is carefully transferred to the Harleian MS.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

of the ' Synagogue,' to wit, the Rev. Christopher Harvey of Buohnry ; i and now another ' entry ' in
the same Registers informs us that the elder Harvey's widow became the wife of Pierson. It is

as follows : —

Matrimonia, 1608 [1609 according to our style.]

I'eb. 21. Thomas Pierson of Weaverham, presbyter : and
Ellen Harvie of Bunburie, Wid[oTX.] °

Thus the mother of the younger and more famous Christoeher Harvey became the wife of one
every way worthy to rank with the saintly ' pastor ' of Bunbury ; and here we have the explanation
of the poet Harvey editing the ' Excellent Encouragements' of Pierson, and writing such charming
' Epistles Dedicatory ' — of which more in the sequel. Such a step-father could not fail to win the
love and revei'ence of such a step-son — the more, perhaps, that the good ' pastor ' of Brampton- Brian
had no family of his own.

The second and more public event of this period was his appointment, as stated, of ' household
chaplaine to the Right Honourable Oliver Lord St John, Baron Bletso in Bedfordshier,' whose name,
along with that of his eldest son, 'then Oliver St John, Esq., afterwards Eaiie of BuUingbrooke,'
[Bolingbroke] appears in the ' Epistles Dedicatory ' to Perkins. Here he remained in the greatest
honour, and with much usefulness, until 1612. Afterwards, describing his ' industry,' our Manuscript
gives a glimpse of him at Bletso : — ' His industry was exceeding great, both in the publike exercise of
his ministry, and in his private preparation for it. When he was chaplaine to my Lord St John,
his usuall time for study was from four in the morning until eleven at night, meal-tymes excej^ted,
and such intermissions as were occasioned by others during that time. He did ordinarily preach to
the publike congregation at Church twice every Lord's day, and in the weeke dayes to the family, every
Tuesdaj' and Friday in the evening before supper : and besides all that, for the last year of his being
there, to the end that the kookes, aud others whose employments were like to hinder them from the
j^ublike congregation, might be partakers of the like means of grace which others should enjoy, he did
catechise and pray with them early in the morning every Lord's day, and after supper repeat both
the morning and evening sermon, with singing of psalms and prayer, at which the whole family was
present. Nor did he — as many doe— ^ntertaine his auditourswith rawe, undigested rhapsodies,
and so offer sacrifice unto God of that which cost him nothing for paines of preparation ; but the
heads of his sermons he wrote beforehand, usually carrying his notes with him into the pulpit, many
times revising them afterwards, and copying them out anew. He was of the same mind with Mr
Perkins, who (as he reported) was used to say that he would never satisfy himself concerning any
of his owne sermons, untill he had preached it — all the time he lived in Herefordshire.'

While ' chaplaine ' at ' Bletso,' Pierson went and came between Cambridge. Probably, if
we had the facts, it would prove that he did so as overwatching the University education of his step-
children. The elder, Christopher Harvey, had died in 1601, leaving behind him, it is believed, a

• I may be allowed to refer here to a foot-note (§) in my Memoir of Tokshell, page xix., wherein, first of all, this long-
missing bit of information was supplied— viz., the name and locale of the father of t!ie Christopher Harvey who wrote the
Synagogue. Anthony a- Wood had mentioned that he was 'son of a minister in Cheshire,' but neither he nor his erudite
editor, (Dr I31i»s,) nor the various editors of Herbert, Icnew his name or church. He is now found worthy son of worthy sire.

" 1 have again to thank the present Vicar of Bunbury (Rev. William Lowe) for kindly sending me additional ' entries,'
which may be used elsewhere.

MEMOlU OF THOMAS PJEUSON, M.A.

large family, who would naturally come under the care of their new father. Be this as it may, in 1G12,
he was ' presented' by Sir Robert Harley, of ' famous memorie,' to the Rectory of Brampton-Brian, in
the county of Hereford.i This, as it was the central tiling in the story of our Worthy, so it was at-
tended with circumstances that made it memorable for his whole life. . These circumstances are told in
our Manuscript with a beautiful piety and a quaint Scripture-wording, that remind of better than the
' Age of Chivalry,' of which the later Kenelm Digby writes with such fine touch, even the ' Age of
Faith.' The father of Sir Robert was vehemently opposed to the new Rector, and after the grand
Puritan pattern of godliness, ' prayer was made ' that the grutf old knight might be made to relent
as well towards his son as Mr Piersou. I cannot think of changing in any way the antique narrative,
spite of its lingering and 'twattle' (not twaddle ;) and so it follows in full, prologue and all : —
' The Holy Divine Spirit hath, in the Scripture of Truth, denounced most severe threatenings against
those who neglect or refuse to make due observation of the particular actuall providences of God in
effecting and accomjjlishing the continuall instances of the severall, both gracious and judiciall, acts
of the soveraign government of the world, which sin is the nurse and cradle of wretched and sottish
atheism. " Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink ;
that continue untill night till wine inflame them ! and the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe,
and wine, are in their feasts ; but they regard not the work of the Lord. Therefore my people are
gone into captivity, becaiise they have no knowledge." (Isa. v. 11-13.) Also, " The wicked, through
the pride of his countenance will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts," (Ps. xvi. 4.)
Also, " Because they regai'd not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall
destroy them and not build them up." Sir Robert Harley (as was mentioned) presented Mr Pierson
to the Rectory of Brampton-Bryan, which could not have been performed had not the speciall Provi-
dence of God, diverse years before, upon a settlement of marriage, caused the Rectory of Brampton-
Bryan to be conveyed to Sir Robert Harley : otherwise, Mr Pierson had not been placed at Brampton-
Bryan. He cUd, indeed, succeed that rnost worthy person, Mr Thomas Peacock, of Brazen-Nose
Colledge in Oxford, [Wood's Athena3, s.n.l who was a blessed instrument of converting Mr Robert
Bolton : but it pleased God by a sudden feaver to determine the life of worthy Mr Peacock ; upon
which vacancy Mr Pierson, as before expressed, was presented to, and settled in the Rectory of Bramj:!-
ton-Bryan. Though there were no cause to be justly assigned to any failure in Mr Pierson's minis-
terial! functions, or decent behaviour and conversation, yet Mr Thomas Harley, father of Sir Robert
Harley, and grandfather to Su- Ed. Harley, was instigated to grievous bitterness against holy and
wise Mr Pierson, insomuch that Mr Harley made many vehement complaints against Mr Pierson, to
that excellent prelate. Bishop Bennett, then Bishop of Hereford : who declared with great trouble
that he received letters from Mr Harley, the father, against Mr Pierson, and letters from Sir Robert
Harley, the son, on behalf of Sir Pierson. This was, then, the sad case of that family and jjlace.
But it pleased God, who is rich in imdeserved mercy, to vouchsafe a most gracious answer to a day

1 Full information on this and the other Harlejs will be found in the Camden Society's volume already mentioned, in
elucidating the ' Letters' of Sir Eobert's gifted and devoted wife. The 'character' of Sir Robert in the Funeral Sermon by
Froysell is also given. Historically and biographicaUy, this is one of the most interesting and valuable of the Camden
Society's issues. It is a pity it should be limited to the (comparatively) few subscribers. With regard to the old geutleuieu,
Thomas Harley and Pierson, there is a Letter to his son, in which, refusing to allow Sir Eobert to visit the Netherlands, he
speaks in the most confiding way of the Kector, (p. .xliii.)

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

of prayer for that eud, solemnly observed at Staunage Lodge, a place in Brampton parish, then
rented by Sir Kobert Harley, where he and his most pious and vertuous then lady, sister of Sir
Kichard Newport, (afterwards Lord Newport,) and Mr Pierson and his godly wife, and some few
others, presented supplications to the Lord, to turn the heart of Mr Thomas Harley to express kind-
ness unto his son Sir Robert Harley, and friendship towards Mr Pierson. It pleased the Lord, who
is the God that heareth jirayer, to giv^e an answer of peace concerning the foremen tioned particulars: for
within a very short space of time Mr Harley, by a trusty servant, sent thus to Sir Robert Harley — ' Tell
my son, I ivill take care of the concerns of his estate and pat/ his debts ; and tell him I ivill befriends
tvith Mr Pierson — and then you will be a welcome messenger to my son.' Accordingly, Mr Thomas
Harley began and continued all expressions of high esteem and reall friendship towards Mr Pierson:
and as a testimony of his kindness, Mr Harley gave a copyhold estate in Brampton-Bryan, of about
the yearly value of £13, to Mr Pierson and to his wife for their lives ; which was accordingly en-
joyed by Mr Pierson, and after his decease by his widow, Mrs Hellen Pierson, for about twenty
years untill her death. Also Mr Harley, when his weakness and great age, exceeding fourscore
years, disabled him from attending the publick worship, received with great regard the continuall
ministeriall visits of Mr Pierson. The glory of all this free grace is humbly presented to magnify
the mercy of Him who hath compassion on whom He will have compassion, though wretchedly
offended and provoked to y® contrary.' Without at all seeking to explain away the happy coinci-
dence of these prayers in the chamber of Staunage Lodge, and the reconciliation and friendship
after persistent 'enmity' and provoking spitefulness, it must yet be remembered that both' Sir
Eobert and Pierson had always shewn the profoundest respect toward the irate old gentleman,
' answering not again ; ' so that he could not but be touched by their inoffensive, uncomplaining
gentleness.

Further on in the Manuscript we have one token of this which places both the elder Harley
and Pierson in a favourable light. After some remarks on Luke xxi. 19, — which I place in a foot-
note as not unworthy of preservation,^ — and of the reward of the ' patience ' therein commanded and
commended by the Lord, om- Chronicler proceeds : ' This -hee of whom I am now speaking had
evident and plentifull experience of, in one who was most likely, as most able, to have done him dis-
pleasure, and did it earnestly as then was conceived, not out of any distaste to his person, but dis-
affectioa unto his ministeriall fidelity : and not out of his own inclination so much as through the
instigation of others, to whom, notwithstanding, Mr Pierson carried himself with such meekness of
wisdom, according unto the direction of St James, that in the height of his spleen he complained to

' ' His [Pieraon's] meekness was such that maugre the malice of his most mischievous adversaries — whereof ho had some
to whom he never gave cause to he such — he still possesst his soule in patience, according to that, whether precept or promise,
of our Saviour, (Luke xxi. 19,) " In your patience possesse yee (or, according to the Syriack, "you shall possess '') your souls :"
where that annotation in the margin of the Bible printed at London, 1592, is such I cannot let passe without taking special
notice of it: quamvis vos undique mala circumsisteut, fruimini nihilominus virtute vestra hsec omnia fortiter sustinendo;
5. d. non jubeo vos prsetextu Evangelii gladios aut convitia in adversaries distringere : sed jubeo patientes esse : persequentur
Tos sed non nocebunt. " Although many evils compasse you about, yet neverthelesse doe you maintaine your courage, bearing
all these things patiently. As if he should say, I do not bid you under pretence of the Gospell bend your swords or words of
reproach against your adversaries : but I bid you be patient. They shall persecute, but they shall not liurt you." The perform-
ance of whicli promise they have little reason to expect who care not or rather profess not to practise obedience to the precept :
for the benefit presupposclh the duty, according to that of our apostle, (Heb. x. 36,) " Yee have need of patience," ' &c., &c.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

some of his confidents, that he knew not what to do by Mr Pierson because he could not anger him.
The same partie afterward, when he came to himself and saw his errour, did not forbear to say, as
St Paul did of himself (Acts xxvi. 11) when he was a persecutor, that then he was mad. And to
his dying day no man (except his nearest relations to him) was more in his esteem, more dear unto
him, or iu whome he put more confidence than Mr Piei'son: so true is that of Solomon, " when a
man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." This person here
intended is the same who was before mentioned, Mr Thomas Harley, whose conversion was the
gracious answer to solemn humiliation and prayer on that behalf : and with humble adoration it is
supplicated that the goodness of God, whose mercy endures for ever, may be continued the blessing
and happiness of that family.'

Thus reconciled to the ' lord of the manor,' — whose sympathies with the ' old religion ' which the
Reformation overthrew, explain his dislike of the new Rector and his own son's Puritanism — Pier-
son's daily ' walk and conversation ' filled up the ideal of the saintly ' Priest ' of Bemerton — in
character England's Leighton — nay, to the letter, that of the New Testament, ' a good minister of
Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine' (1 Tim. iv. 6.) He seems to
have modelled himself upon the twofold counsel of the Perirrhauterium : —
' Pitch thy hehaviour low, thy projects high.'

And

' Sum up at night what thou hast done by day,
And in the morning what thou hast to do.''

He was a ' faithful,' a ' painful,' (in the fine old sense,) a rousing Preacher, and at first it would
seem a Boanerges, or ' son of thunder,' but John-like mellowed ultimately into a very Barnabas or
' son of consolation.' Outside the Church he was all that he was within it, presenting no sorrowful
contrast to those who ' marked ' him as he went hither and thither ; nor did he sink the man in the
' priest ' or ' parson,' but was shrewd, keen-eyed, and ' wise ' in counsel among his parishioners. His
wiseness seems to have specially impressed the ancient ' Notice ' writer. I omit his overflow of
texts, lauding ' wisdom ' itself, and select the ' good words ' about him : — ' This most worthy servant
of the Lord [was] a wise man— not only " wise unto salvation," but likewise in other things, or rather,
indeed, in all things wise ; both prudent, circumspect, discreet, and well-advised in his own business,
and willing as well as able upon all occasions to give good advice unto others, not only for their
spiritual, but likewise for their temporal states : so that not only in the parts where he dwelt, but
likewise from other places where he was known, men made their addresses unto him for counsell,
not only in cases of conscience, but likewise upon other important occasions. And no man, I think,
ever went away from him unsatisfied in anything wherein either rules of religion, or principles of
reason, or instances of experience could aS'ord satisfaction. And whereas Solomon hath said, (Prov.
xxiv. 26,) " Every man shall kisse his lips who giveth a right answer," he found it true by ex-
perience, that as he was alwayes ready to give good counsell unto others, so his counsell had a more
than ordinary influence upon the minds and hearts of men, or rather a prevailing power over them
for its own entertainment.'

Pierson, as a disciple of Perkins, could not be other than a ' Preacher ' of the Gospel with heart

' Herbert, Works, Vol. ii. pp. 13, IS. 2 vols. 8vo. 1853. (Pickering.)

XU MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSOif, M.A.

and soul, rather than a ' stickler ' for the ' ceremonies ' of the Church after the school of Laud.
But here, also, he shewed his ' prudence ' and wisdom, as we learn from our MS. :— ' His modera-
tion was such, that although he was generally reputed, as the times then were, a Nonconformist,
and his adversaries thought to have a great advantage of him that way — using their utmost en-
deavours to that purpose — yet he alwayes carryed himself so discreetly, with such reverend respect
unto those in authority, that he was well accepted of by them, and never in all his time was so much
as once silenced or suspended, but alwayes enjoyed the liberty of his ministry. And although he had
great acquaintance and intimate familiarity with some of the strictest and most eminent of that
way, [Nonconformists,] yet he was so far from any passionate promoting of them, that some who had
nearest relation with him did neither in his lifetime understand how he stood inclined, nor since
his death could find any inclination in his papers. [This is a mistake, as will appear.] Peradven-
ture he was of the same mind with him that said, it is a miserable commendation to be a witty dis-
turber ; and thought that the Gospel of peace would never gain anything by violent contention.
But for Mr Pearson, the gesture of kneeling in the act of receiving the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, he did both use himself, and when occasion was offered, endeavour to satisfy others by whom
it was scrupled. And for the other ceremonies, whatsoever his own opinion was, he did not by an
obstinate professed refractoriness offer any affront unto them that were then in place of authority to
urge them, but still kept a curate, one or other, by whom they were used.' If there was more of
Melanchthon than of Luther in all tliis it is not ours to judge him, in absence of a knowledge of the
circumstances that determined his line of conduct. Still it looks somewhat odd to find him employing
' curates ' to carry out those ' ceremonies ' which he himself could not take part in. To him it would
have been ' sin ' as against his own conscience ; but per se he cannot have regarded them as sinful.
Thus alone is to be explained his semi-compulsion of his curates to perform these ceremonies. Our
' Notice' writer thus puts it: — ' Mr Pierson was not a Nonconformist to the Liturgy, or any part
thereof, for he read the whole in the absence of his curate, but only in respect of those two cere-
monies — the cross in baptisme and the surplasse : yet he blamed and 2y>'esented his own curate to the
then Chancellor for refusing to weave it, having no reason against it, but only Mr Pierson's practice
and example ; withall telling his curate that he must weare it, unless he had cogent argument
wherein he could not satisfy his own conscience.' And again : — ' When any would aske him about
the lawfullness of the surplasse he would thus answer. Have ye any argument against it ? If they
said none, then he would tell them againe. Neither will I put any into your heads. So careful was
he to preserve uaity in the Church.' So far so good. Nevertheless, as actions speak louder thau
words, it does seem hard on the poor curate to be ' i^resented ' to the Chancellor for doing what his
' Kcctor ' did. It must not, however, be sujiposed that Pierson was pusillanimous in the assertion
of his principles, or that he never came in conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities. In such an
age that had implied less than fidelity, more than compliance. It is with a sense of relief, accord-
ingly, that we find these words in the funeral sermon of Sir Kobert Harley by Froysell of Clun: —
' He [Sir Robert] was a great honourer of godly ministers : he carried them in his bosoms ; of all
men in the world they sat next to his heart ; he did hug them in his dearest embraces. I must tell
you he was their sanctuary in evill times. Hoio oft hath he interposed hetiueen them and danger's !
When sinful! greatnesse did frown upon them, this great man would shew himsclfe upon the stage

MEMOUi OF THOMAS PIERSO^, M.A.

for them. When Mr Pierson was questioned before the Bishop, Sir Kobert Harley was not afraid
to appear constantly in his defence. I could tell you that he felt the frowns and displeasures of a
near relation rather than he would desert that servant of Jesus Christ.' l That Pierson had suffi-
cient reasons ' against the ceremonies he scrupled,' is evident by a Paper which was found among
his MSS., and which qualifies an earlier statement that he left no ' inclination,' i.e., indication, be-
hind him. It is as follows : — •

' Grounds of Keasons against the Ceremonies.
' 1. I desier to see good warrant for a proper ministering garment under the Gospell.
' 2. That a proper Massing garment can be decent for Christ's ministers of the Gospell in his
service.

3. Good warrant for the use of significant ceremonies in God's service, such as ours be.

4. Whether these, being idolatries in Rome, should not be rejected as idolatries out of God's

service ? '

But passing from these more outward matters, the service by which the Rector of Brampton-
Brian most of all impressed his generation was what may be called his home-missionary work,
within and all around his own Parish, in combination with the ' training ' of the younger clergy for
their duties. This is told garrulously enough, still so interestingly, in our Manuscript, that I cannot
think of withholding the admiring Narrative, and therefore, as before, give it untouched — the more
that these ' Lectures ' were practically a revival of those ' prophecyings ' which had given such
deadly offence to Elizabeth, exciting her displeasure with Archbishop Grindall, and calling forth
liis intrepid ' Letter ' to Her Majesty ,2 and giving the world also Jeremy Taylor's immortal ' Liberty
of Prophesying,' our theological Areopcujitica. As already mentioned in relation to the chaplaincy
at Bletso, our Notice-writer magnifies the ' industry ' of Pierson, and continues where we left off,
thus : — ' Besides his constant preaching at home, twise every Lord's-day, and all dayes appointed
for humiliation by publike authority, he ordinarily kept course himself, and sometimes supplied
other men's courses, in many week-day lectures, whereof one at Leintwardine, two miles from
Brampton, as it led the way to all the rest, so for some remarkable circumstances might well deserve
not only to carry the credit from them all, but likewise to be a pattern to others.' Then more speci-
fically : — ' Mr Pierson at his first comming into Herefordshire observing the countrey to be slenderly
furnished of able ministers, especially of such as tooke care to discharge the duties of their places
dihgently, when he was growne into acquaintance with them that were willing to promote the cause
of religion — amongst whom the very reverend, religious, learned, and faithfull servant of God, Mr
Stephens, vicar of Bishop's Castle, in the county of Salop, was one of the chief — he procured them
to joyne with him in obtaining a license from the then Bishop of Hereford, Dr Bennet, for a monthly
lecture to be held at Leintwardine, a parish adjoyning unto Brampton, and bordering upon Shrop-
shire : wherein there had been a great religious, or rather superstitious house, which— as others of
that nature in other places — having robbed the Church of the greater tieths, left the vicaridge of a
very great parish reduced to a very small proportion of means ; and the Vicar accordingly being but

^ Lady Harlcy's ' Letters,' as hfforc, p. xxxiv. - GriiKiaU'a ' Remains,' (Parker Society,) p. 376.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSOX, M.A.

meanly qualified there was little encouragement to liope tliat his successors should be much better.
The choice of the place, though in this and some other respects very convenient for the purpose,
was not all that care was taken for ; but likewise the choice of the persons that should preach the
Lecture — whereof the number was resolved to be eight, all such as were allowed by authority to be
publike preachers and benefited within the same deanery. Of these eight, foure, of whom Mr
Pierson was one, were appointed to be moderators ; and they had liberty granted unto them by the
bishop to call before them such as they thought fit, within the same deanery, whether benefited
men or curates, that were not preachers publikely licensed : whom — allowing them a month's time
for preparation — they enjoyned to exercise before them and the rest of the ministers privately, ap-
pointing each man in particular some article of the Creed, or petition in the Lord's Prayer, or one
of the Tenae Commandments to dilate upon. Which course was willingly and readily submitted
unto by some ; others who had better abilities, (in their own conceits,) and thought (as themselves
said) to be dealt with like school-boys [was rather too much] refused to exercise before the ministers
privately, but offered, if they might be admitted, to preach to the publick congregation : to whom
was answered, that if they would first shew their diligence at home in preaching to their own con-
gregations, they should be entertained unto the publick Lecture, otherwise not ; and that if they
would not conforme themselves to observe such directions as were given for the private employment
enjojTied them, they must expect to answer their refusal to the Bishop. This Course was the means
of so much good that by degrees in time the country thereabouts came to be furnished in most
places with ministers of commendable abilities, and such as were careful! to take pains in their own
places. For whose further encouragement and assistance, when first the Lecture at Leintwardine
was set up, there was course likewise taken for an ordinary, at a reasonable rate, to be provided, where
the ministers might dine together by themselves without any other company : and that after dinner
some question of controversy, or some case of conscience, or the interpretation of some difficult place
of Scripture should be propounded : and those that were present intreated to consider of it, that
they might be provided to deliver their opinions that day month. After this many other Lectures
were set up by license from the same Bishop and his successor, Dr Godwin, in divers other places
of that countrey neer adjoyning, in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Kadnorshire, in some of which
Mr Pierson was himself an assistant constantly, and alwayes an encourager, at least, to others : so
that it is not easy to conceive how much the cause of religion in those jiarts was promoted by his
industry, diligence, and prudent discretion in managing the afi"aires thereof.' i Further: — ' Nor was
his care confined to the publick only; but his family [= household, for he had no children of his
own] was a nursery both of learning and religion : wherein many were brought up and fitted for the
Universities, and others, when they were come from the Universities, were by his directions and
example trained up for the ministry — he being a most exact grammarian in Latine, Greek, and
Hebrew: a perfect artist to all who understand, as it doth appear by his short posthume Notes upon
some select Psalms,' [i.e., ' Excellent Encouragements,' here reprinted.] Coincident with this

' Our MS., in a 'Notice' of Stephens, gives an inciJent.-vl confirmation of the urgent need for Pierson's scheme: — 'Mr
Gwaltcr Stephens of Bishop's Castle, who had lighted his candle at famous Mr Pierson's of Brampton Bryan, used to say
that when he preached in his younger days for a great space, there was never a preacher between him and the sea one way,
and none near him the other, but one in Shrewsbury.'

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSOX, M.A.

supervision of the ' Lectureships ' was a feature to a great degree peculiar to Pierson and his
circle ; for the Piu'itans as a rule thought rather lightly of ' seasons ' and ' days,' including Christ-
mas itself, viz., his ' courses ' during the Fasts of the year. Our Notice- writer speaks of this reveren-
tially : — ' Mr Pierson zealously, with great profit to the countrey, kept the four Ember Fasts yearly,
which were the four yearly quarterly termes, according to the appointment and practise of the Chris-
tian Church, wherein by solemn fasting and jirayer the grace of God was implored for the due
ordination of pious and able persons for the ministry of the Gospell in the Church.' Again :^
' Concerning the observation of those Ember Pastes, the great and constant resort of many godly per-
sons from remote places, was as the flight of doves to the ^vindowes of holy light.' Further: — ' He
refreshed many of the poore by the distribution of monej'e collected at Ember Fasts and Communion
days, into which church-treasury, or poore man's box, he himseK cast his own offering.' i

That the good Rector's relations with his ' brethren ' the clergy were of the kindliest there is
abundant evidence. Our Manuscript makes his bearing in this a text for praising his humility.
' For his humility,' (so it runs,) ' if not the fairest yet the sweetest flower in the garland of Christian
virtues and graces — it was very observable in his general deportment and carriage towards all men
with whome he had occasion to converse, especially thoseofliis oion ranke : amongst whom — notwith-
standing his own great abilities — there was none so meanly qualified but if he found in him any
disposition to fidelity and diligence in the office of the ministry, he would treat him, not as an in-
feriour but an equall ; not only in private familiaritie, wherein his conversation was both friendly,
free, and ingeniously facetious, but likewise in publike observance, it being his ordinary use not
only to be a constant auditor at other men's sermons, without discovering any difference that he had
made between the person's preaching, but likewise to take notes of their sermons himself, encour-
aging others by his own example to esteem what they heard, well worthy of their heedfuU attention.
He had not — as too many have — " the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with re-
spect of persons," (James ii. 1,) which is especially forbidden by St James, but valued the Word
of God as His Word for its own sake, (1 Thes. ii. 13;) and he made account of the ministers of
Christ as " stewards of the mysteries of God, esteeming them very highly in love for their works
sake," as the apostle Paul enjoyned the Corinthians and Thessalonians to doe, (1 Cor. iv. 1, and
1 Thes. v. 12, 13 ;) the want of which equal indifferency is taxed by St Paul in the Corinthians,
not only as an evidence of their carnality and babe-like want of spirituall strength and growth in
grace, but likewise as a great cause and occasion of those divisions that were amongst them, (1 Cor.
iii. 1, &c.,) " while one said I am of Paul ; and another, I am of ApoUos ; " yea, the sharp contention
which happened to be between Paul himself and Barnabas, and grew to such a height that " they
departed asunder one from the other," (Acts xv. 36, &c.,) arose from Paul's dislike of John, sur-
named Mark, whom Barnabas determined to take with them, having formerly been minister unto
them both (Acts xiii. 5.) A dangerous thing it is for any that themselves are embassadours for
Christ, to slight or shew any want of respect to others who are employed in the same office with
them : the people will quickly take notice of it, and easily learn to doe the like by all. It was pru-
dent as well as religious advise that one, who himself was afterward a reverend prelate in our

' See Introduction to Lady Harley's ' Letters,' as be/ore, for details on these Ember Fasts, and a curions ' license ' from
Pierson to her to ' eat flesh on fast- days, by reason of her great weakness,' (pp. xlvii-viii. )

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

Church, gave to all of that order then : Clerum vestrum compellate comiter, excipite familiaritei',
ut qui vos noveritis clignitate patres, fratres ministerio : " Intreat your clergic kindly, use them
familiai'ly, as knowing yourselves to be fathers in dignity, brethren in service," — which, had it been
well observed and practised, peradventure might have been a means to prevent that confusion wliich
was brought upon a famous, flourishing Church, by the extirpation of that order which might have
defended as well as adorned it.'

One other public service Pierson rendered, which indeed was but the extension of his own
more local efforts — viz., ' he had a hand in that pious business of the London Feoffees to buy out
Impropriations, that able and godly ministers might be placed and maintained in them.' I have
told the story of the planning and marring of this beneficent scheme in my Life of Dr Richard
SiBBES, and thither I refer my readers. But inasmuch as every ray of light on such a historical
proceeding is helpful, I place in an Ajjpendix the account given in our MS. It confirms our verdict
on Laud's pestiferous interference. ^ I assume that our Worthy aided in raising funds, and
otherwise seconding the devoted Clerics and laics who set the work a-going, only to fetch down
upon them rebuke and persecution.

We must now look at our Rector in his own Parish, and engaged in ordinary duties. As
a 'Preacher' and as a 'Pastor' he manifested rare skill in knowing when to speak and when
to be silent ; specially when a ' word ' would be ' in season.' ' His wisdom,' recurring once
more to our 'Notice' writer, 'did most clearly shew itself in his words: " The tongue of the
just [is] as choice silver, and a word fitly spoken is like to apples of gold in pictures of
silver." Those apophthegms that proceeded out of his mouth witness it.' The specimens of
his ' words ' thus characterised must have been ill selected, and must have lost in the telling
— e.g., ' Speaking of the methods of preaching [he] say'd that doctrine without application is like
to a point without dagges,' which being interpreted, seems to mean that there is no use in
having a dagger if you don't thrust with it, merely decking it with tassels. Again : — ' Preaching
upon this text, Mat. v. 13, "Ye are the salt of the earth," [he] tooke occasion to reprove the cor-
ruption of the clergy thus : a bad taylor may make a good botcher [that is, " patcher," or mender] ;
a sorry shoemaker a good cobler ; but an evill minister is good for nothing at all' Once more :
— 'In a sermon of sinne and the sad consequences of it [he] sayd, " Sinne is the great make-
bate [= a stirrer up of strife, the opposite of 'make-peace'] between God and a people;" and
speaking at another time of the true and genuine character of God's servants, say'd that " all
God's servants be in ordinary, not retayners." ' Again : — ' Mr Pierson's moderation [was not] seen
only in matters of publike concernment but of private also. As he would not with too much re-
missness strengthen the hands of the wicked that he should not return from his wicked way, by
promising him life — which God complaineth of and threateneth by his prophet (Ezek. xiii. 22) — so,
neither would he with too much rigour " breake the bruised reed, or quench the smoaking flax," nor
" make the heart of the righteous sad whom God had not made sad," by loading them with " heavy
burdens, and grievous to be borne," as the lawj'cr did, against whom our Saviour upon that account
denounceth a woe. " Some men hang salvation on so high a pinne that many poore soides can never
reach it," was a speech which he often would repeat as used by Mr Perkins, of whom it was observed
that in his older age he alter'd his voice, and remitted much of his former rigidnesse, often profess-
ing that to preach mercy was the proper office of the minister of the Gospel.' Further: — 'Nor is

' Aiipciulix A., [1. IS.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

y® choise of matter only, but of method also, a considerable point of ministerial fidelity. Ut jam
nunc dicat Jam nunc debentia did, pleraque differat, et proesens in tempus omittat, They that
may not be time-servers must yet notwithstanding be observers of times, and consider which are the
most opportune and seasonable for the business of religion and the works of grace. Some men
presume' of themselves, as if they were privileged to speak their minds in any matter as they list,
quicquid in huccam venerit, without any respect had to persons, times, or places ; but he was not
such.' Of this a verypn^ instance is given: — 'A yong gent[leman] wearing his haire extraordinary
long, some of his friends, well-affected to religion, and tender of his good, iutreated Mr Pierson to
deal with him about it : whose answer was to this effect, " Let him alone till God renew his heart,
and then he will reforme his haire himself." Where grace is not inwardly rooted in the heart,
all outward conformity to precepts and examples of preciseness will rather be apt to make men rest
themselves satisfied with their present hypocrisy, and to bring them to be secret atheists in the end,
than fit either to entitle them sincere professors, or any way to facilitate the worke of their conver-
sion.'

I have I'eserved until now, near the close, our Manuscript's Pepys-like delineation of the good
Eector's ' daily life.' We have already had a noble interior in the household of Bletso — strange to
think that one of these St Johns, later, was the scoffing infidel Bolingbroke, as strange to think of
the living Shaftesbury descending from the sceptical Authony Ashley Cooper (3d Earl.) In this
we are given a glimpse of his own golden-lighted home and life. It were to blur the nice lines of
the portrait in any way to alter, and so again I leave it complete : — ' He rose constantly about four
of the clocke, unless prevented by siclmess, and then he went immediately to his study till five : then
he called up his servants, and thereupon he and his house, Joshua-like, served the Lord. When,
after the reading of a psalme, a short but fitting explication being given, he prayed, the heads of his
last sermon being therein repeated. The duty being ended, his servants tooke their breakfast, and
after betooke themselves to their labour, receiving directions from then- master. And he, for the
space of an houre or thereabouts, betooke himself, for the exercise of his body and the preservation of
his health, to the cutting, cleaving, or sawing of wood, wherein he had very excellent skill in
proving all the ^Darts thereof to the best for the futiu-e uses. Then, after this corporeal exercise,
he returned to the study till almost dinner-time. After dinner, before the returning of thanks, he,
like another St Austin, had a chapter read out of the New Testament, and that not only at his own
table, but also at his servants, and that in the midst of harvest. After dinner he betooke himself to
his former recreation, or in the summer to y® fields for a short time, and then to his study till supper-
time. After supper. Divine worship with his family, when a chapter being read and briefly ex-
pounded, to the duty of prayer, then he and his family went to their rest.' •

' He spent one evening exercise in the weeke in catechising of his house. He spent the Lord's
day wholly in the duties of piety and charity, excepting only the workes of cogent necessity. By
such continual dropping he watered as well as planted, and God gave him such a ijlentiful increase
that he had the happiness to be not only a guide of the blind, a light of them which were in darknessi
an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher of babes, as the apostle speaketb, (Eomans ii. 19, 20,)
but a teacher of teachers, and a builder up of them that should build up others.' Then ' He was
not vir bonus only, but likewise commune honum, and as a "good steward of the manifold grace of
God," did minister as himself had received the gifts of wisdome and knowledge and utterance, not

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

sparingly, but bountifully, not grudgingly or of necessity, but as a cheerful giver,' (2 Cor. ix. 6, 7.)
Further, elsewhere, ' a liberall-minded and free-hearted man he was, not only to devise liberal things
as the prophet Isaiah (xxxii. 8) declareth such a one, but likewise to performe the doing of it, which
the apostle requireth of the Corinthians, (2 Cor. viii. 11.) Notwithstanding his means was in com-
parison but small, some three- score pounds per annum or thereabouts, [= to perhaps about £250
now,] yet his hospitality was great, not only in relief of the poor and those that were in need, but
likewise in the entertainment of strangers : provident frugality and discreet disposition maintaining
a more constant current from a little spring than riotous disorder or careless negligence is usually
supplied with from great revenues.'

Our little life-story is well-nigh told. Thus the ' good man' lived, ' serving his generation' as
one of whom it might as truly be said as it was of Hananiah, ' he was a faithful man, and feared God
above many,' (Nehemiah vii. 2.) In his end he got what he wished. ' Visiting an old gentleman,
his ancient friend and acquaintance, who had layu bed-ridden for some time, being unable to help
himself, he [Pierson] spoke these words to another friend then present, at their going forth, " I
desier that I may live no longer than I may be serviceable to my God,"' and, adds our Manuscript,
' he had his request of God ; for his deathbed sickness was not a fortnight.' He died on October
16th, 1G33, ' either in or very neer unto the grand cUmacterical year of his age, 63.' He left
behind him a widow, of whom there are incidental notices in Lady Brilliana Harvey's ' Letters ' as
noted in Appendix.'! She continued in the closest and tenderest intimacy with the Harley family,
and must have won the love and veneration of her admirable husband's successors, as she had of the
Parishioners. In his Will, Pierson remembered his native county of Cheshire — especially Northwich,
and otherwise 'devised,' in his circumstances, ' liberal things.' I give details in our Appendix. 2

Our Worthy does not appear to have published anything ; for ' Excellent Encouragements ' was
posthumous. In our Manuscript, mention is made and a copy given of a sermon on ' Care,' which
seems to have served its end unto his widow ; but I have not traced it in print. The Notice-writer
thus speaks of it : 'I will not say that this worthy person had the spirit of prophecy in a strict
sense ; j'et his little tract entituled, " A Cure against Carkinge Cares," dedicated to his loving wife,
proved a prophecy to her, by the sad events when her dwelling-house at Brampton-Brian was
burnt, and the whole town lay'd desolate in the late warres,' — the 'sad events' herein hinted at
having long since taken their place in History. Further, ' The ensuing Sermon, entituled the Cure
of hurtful Cares and Fears,' represents a specimen of the constant tenor of the most excellent,
intellectual, and spiritual method of preaching the everlasting Gospel, and making known the joyful
sound of eternal salvation, which was the continual practice in the observance of every Lord's day,
by Mr Thomas Pierson, during his ministry, for more than twenty years in Brampton-Brian. The
text is Philippians iv. 6, ' Be careful for nothing,' <fec. ' Reasons ' are given, from which I cull
these few words : —

1. Every child of God hath a heavenly Father that careth for him ; and so his own worldly
carking care is needless, (1 Pet. v. 7.)

2. Worldly care is very disgraceful to a Christian, arguing either their shameful ignorance of

' Appendix B., p. 19. ' Appendi.x C, pp. 19, 20.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON M.A.

God's Providence, or else their great weakness, if not their total want of true faith, in God, through
Jesus Christ.

3. Worldly care is a great burden to the soul ; not only vain and unprofitable, but also exceedingly
hurtful. 1

Of ' Excellent Encouragements,' the volume herewitli reprinted, the ' Epistles Dedicatory ' of
Christopher Harvey, which will be found in their resjiective places — viz., prefixed to the complete
volume, and to the ' Notes' on 85th Psalm,2— attest his high estimate. Without his bias of personal
affection, the ' Expositions ' of these four Psalms will be pronounced valuable by every one who has
really studied them. They are somewhat medifeval scholastic in their form, but the learning is
genuine: the thinking independent, the exegesis as a whole accurate, the exposition true, the
insight keen, the teaching sound, the practical truth ' weighty and powerful,' some of the sentences
such as stick to the memory, the informing spirit gracious and delicate. As a book in the market
it has hitherto been rare and costly when known ; wherever known speedily sold on appearing at
Sale or in Catalogue.

And so it has been given to us to recall to mind the good Rector of Brampton-Brian. He has
long gone to his account and reward. ' The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance,' (Ps.
cxxii. 6. ) Ay, and the holy fame of Eternity far outweighs that of quick- vanishing Time and narrow
Earth. Nevertheless, as we turn to the fine old tome, and out of it fetch 'Excellent Encouragements'
let us be grateful —

' Now his faith, his works, his ways,
Nights of watching, toilsome days.
Borne for Christ, 'tis meet we praise.' — [Paradisus Animce.]

ALEXANDER B. GROSART.

Liverpool.

' The Sermon is a full one, extending from page 43 to 83 of the (quarto) MS.

' With reference to this Dedication to Sir Robert Whitney, it may be noted that the poet of the Synagogue named one of
his sons ' Whitney Harvey.' Cf. Herbert's Works, as be/ore, Vol. ii., pp. '289-292.

APPENDIX.

A. — The Feoffees of Impropriations. Page xvi.

The following is the account in extenso of this matter from our Manuscript : —

' He had, moreover, a hand in that pious business of the London Feoffees to buy out Impropriations,
that able and godly ministers might be placed and maintained in them.

' It is here requisite to represent what was the pious, religious design of those called the London
Feoffees to buy out Impropriations. In the times of anti-Cluistian idolatry and Papall tyranny the Popes
usurjied an authority to annex unto the Popish monasteries and convents parocliiall benefices, not only
with power to dipose of the rectories and incimibencies respectively, but further, the Pope gave authority
to the severall religious houses — as they were called — to appropriate to the benefit of those convents the
tythes and profitts of the severall parishes, whereby the maintenance of the ecclesiasticall ministers of aU
those parishes were wholly aliened from the parishes, and settled upon and enjoyed by monasteries and
convents, as the Popes pleased. This was the case and condition of the generality of the ecclesiasticall
benefices throughout England. When the Abbeys and Eeligious Houses were, by Act of Parliament, in the
time of King Henry the Eighth, settled upon and annexed to the Crown of England, [they] accordingly
were sold indifferently to any purchaser. By these means a sufficient maintenance for a Gospell preaching
ministry was utterly deprived in very many places of the kingdome, and no capacity left in the parishes to
obtaine a supply for the maintenance of persons able and sufficient to discharge the ministeriall function
of the Gospel preachers. This being the sad case almost over all England, it pleased God to put it into the
hearts of many pious Christians, especially such as lived about London, to endeavour to obtain, through the
blessing of God, a happy remedy. Upon serious, religious, and loyall consideration of what is before men-
sioned, many able and worthy persons summed up their thoughts to this point — that is, to chuse an equall
number of reverend Divines, of worthy Lawyers, of Gentlemen, and of Citizens, who should be Feoffees,
intru.sted with the receiving and managing all charitable benevolences for the purchasing of Impropriations,
which might be by sale and purchase obtained in any part of England, the profits of all to be employed for
the maintenance of godly preacliing mhiisters, where such were destitute. But to give this a legall, nominall
title or fund, it was primarily called the Feoffees for the maintenance of the Lecturers of St Antholine's,
London. This Christian design was applauded and embraced over all England, as being a most hopeftill
project to promote the gloiy of God in bringing " life and immortality to light by the GospeU " in such
places as sate in the region and shadow of death. Nor could there justly be imputed any shadow of pre-
judice to the government of the Church of England ; for not any person could be allowed to preach as a
Lecturer in any place whatsoever, without the license of the respective diocesans. Notwthstanding all the
foremontioned Christian and pious reasons, the fury and rage of Archbishop Laud and his complices pre-
vailed in the Star-Chamber to divest the Feoffees of their rightfull purchased possession of severall Impro-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON M.A. XXI

priate Tythes, and to seize upon them to the King's use. But in the Parliament commenced 1040 the Lords
assembled in Parliament reversed the proceedmgs in the Star-Chamber against the Feoffees ; which judg-
ment of the Lords was confirmed by Act of Parliament (which confirmed former judiciall proceedings) upon
the Restauratiou of King Charles the Second. This is the true representation of that most pious project,
religiously begim but most wickedly defeated and frustrated.' Cf my Memoir of Dr Sibbes, Works, Vol. L
pp. Ixxiii-lxxx ; also, to see how your High-Churchmen can pervert simple matters of fact, and spit upon
names of his o^vn Church the most venerable and illustrious, ' Simony. In two Parts. Part the Fu-st,
Its History and Effects. Part the Second, Some Account of the Puritan Feoffees, a.d. 1622, and of the
Simeon Trustees, A.D. 18.3G. By William Downes Willis, M.A., Prebendary of Wells and Rector of Elsted,
Sussex. Second edition, revised and enlarged. 1865. 8vo. (Ei\T.ngtons.) '

B. — LETTER.S OF L.UJY Harley. Page xviii.

Under date 'Nov. 30th 1638,' in \vritiug her ' deare sonne Mr Edward Harley,' as to sending certain
household pro^'isions, ' a coold pye or such a thmge,' she says, ' Mrs Pirson tells me when her sonne was
at Oxford, and shee sent him such thinges, he prayed her that shee would not' (page 13.) This refers to
her 'soime' by her fonner husband, probably to ' Cliristopher.' Under 'January 19tli 1638,' she writes,
' Mrs Pu-son is still ill' (page 22.) Again onward, 'Mrs Pirson has quited her ague' (page 26.) Further
on, ' Mi-s Pirson is so well that she goos abroode ' (page 29.) Still later, ' May 7, 1642,' one is mentioned
as 'horded at Mrs Pu'son's ' (page 1.58.) The Editor of these Letters was unaware that Mrs Pierson was
also the widow of Harvey of Bunbury. In an earlier ' Letter ' to her husband Sir Robert, Lady H. adds a
second F.S., ' I pray you remember me to Mr Pirson. I thanke God all at his howes are well.' July
7th 1628.

C. — Legacies of Pierson. Page xviii.

' He left, at his death, a competent estate, where\vith to give evidence of his thankfidness to some unto
whom he had formerly been beholding, and to manifest his care for others in future promotion and perpetuall
propagation of learning and religion. At Northwich, in Cheshire, there being a Free Schoole, where first
he was brought up to learning, he in his lifetime had taken care that there should be a place fitted for a
librarj', which he furnished with some bookes, such as he then thought convenient for the use of the school-
masters and scholars ; and at his death he bequeathed twenty pounds' worth of books more unto the same
school, partly m div-inity, paitly in humanity, for the benefit of the preachers and schoolmasters there.
Four pounds' worth of bookes more he gave to y" Free Schoole at Kingston in Herefordshire, founded by
the Honoui'able the Lady Margeret Hawkins, relict of the famous seaman, Sir John Hawkins, and one of the
Ladies of Queen Elizabeth's bed-chamber. One MS. of the Prior of Berlington, entitled Comjntatio PaPrum,
for which he had been offered twenty pounds, he bequeathed to the publick library of the University of
Cambridge ; and another MS., a libel, [UljeUum ?] of a large quarto, to the library of Hereford. Most of
his library besides, which was farre better than is usuall amongst private country ministers, he left in ti-ust
ivith some of his friends, to be left unto thirteen of his acquamtance, neighbour ministers, during their
continuance in those places where then they were settled, and whither by his means especially they had been
brought. To the poore of -f parish of Bromton, [Brampton,] and others of the next adjoyning parishes, he
bequeathed severall summes of money, to be put to their severall stocks, besides what he gave unto particular
persons, to the value of an hundred pounds and upwards. He likewise, by his WUl, gave order for the
raising of three hundred pounds out of his personall estate, whereof he directed fifty pounds to be bestowed
for the better maintenance of a preacher at Northwich aforesaid, where first he himself had been imployed
in the office of the ministry. And two hundred and fifty pounds thereof he directed to be imployed

MEMOIR OF THOMAS PIERSON M.A.

towards the perjietuall maintenance of a preacher at Whitley Chappell, in the county of Chester ; which,
having been long before demolished, and almost quite worn out of memory, was built by Mr William Tucket,
Lord of the Manor and one of them by whose liberality chiefly Mr Pierson in his youth had been main-
tained at Cambridge. In grateful! remembrance whereof, Mr Pierson was not only very fonvard and
diUgent upon all occasions to doe all the good offices he could for Mr Tucket's posterity ; but, likewse, the
aforesaid chappell being againe through neglect gone to decay, he did himself bestow some charge for the
repaire thereof, and for the space of divers years before his death, allowed six pounds per annum towards
the maintenance of a preacher there, whose entertainment he did not only by his persuasion excite, but
likewise by his example encourage and assist others unto.'

I am sorry to say, that inquiries at Wiitley and elsewhere shew that these ' Legacies ' of Pierson have
been absorbed by some private parties to the wrong of the legatees — one instance out of very many similar
that, in the prosecution of these biographical researches, I have come on, involving large amounts, and
demanding investigation, exposure, and redress. Bishop Gastrell in his ' Notitia ' notices Pierson's legacies
to ^\^litley, and complains that even then they were inoperative. A. B. G.

TO THE HONOURABLE

SIR ROBERT RICH,

KXIGHT OF THE BATH, AND SON AND HEIR TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ROBERT

LORD RICH ; AND TO THE HONOURABLE AND VIRTUOUS

LADY, THE LADY FRANCES RICH, HIS WIFE,

S. S. AVISHETH ALL TRUE COMFORT IN THIS LIFE, AND ETERNAL HAPPINESS IN THE LIFE TO COME.

IT is credibly reported, Right Honourable, that
when one presented unto Antipater, King of
Macedou, a treatise of happiness, that he rejected it
with this answer : I am not at leisure. Your
Honour shall find this a treatise tending to happi-
ness, and shewing the way to everlasting blessed-
ness. Yet I assure myseK it shall find better
entertainment at your Honourable hands, and that
you will find leisure at your leisure to peruse and
read it. I must ingeniously confess that many have
divers times handled many points of doctrine de-
livered m this treatise, yet have done it after
another method. If the water I have drawTi from
this well shall delight you, I hope it will not taste
the worse being brought unto you in this vessel. I
offer here unto your \'iew the Anatomy of Da-\dd's
Blessed Man ; or, A Short Exposition of the First
Psalm, directing a man how he may be ti-uly blessed.
It is not without desert that St Jerome doth call
this book of the Psalms the treasure of learning ;
for out of it most frequent testimonies are brought
by our blessed Sa\-iour himself. -And this first
Psalm is a compend, or an abstract, of the whole
book of Psalms, directing to true happiness.
The text, I am .sure, is excellent for the purpose ;
but for my manner of handling it, I leave it to the
censure of God's church. In preaching, I have ever

counted plainness the best eloquence, and the car-
riage of matters so that those of the lowest form
may learn somewhat, the soundest and the surest
learning. For surely we are so ftillen into the dregs
of time, which, being the last, must needs be worst,
that security hath so possessed all men that they
■will not be awaked. But if at any time the word
of God, or any good motion of God's Spirit, hath
met with them, presently security whispers them in
the one ear, that though it be fit to think of such
things, yet it is not yet time. Youth pleads a pri-
vilege, though many millions of young men are in
hell for want of timely repentance ; and presump-
tion warrants them in the other ear that they may
have time hereafter. And thus men spend their
days, until at last their hour-glass be nm, and time
then is past. Now, if your Honour shall lay this
to heart in the strength of years, it shaU be your
chiefest wisdom. And if to be religious in all ages
hath been held to be tiiie honour, how much more
honourable is it ia so impious an age 1 It is reli-
gion and godliness that shall embalm your name,
and make it shine before men, and glorify your soul
amongst angels. Marj' her box of omtment shall
never be forgotten. For godliness hath the promise
of this life, and that which is to come, and •without
it is no internal comfort to be found in conscience,

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

nor external peace to be looked for in this world,
nor eternal happiness to be hoped for in the next.
Now, how can religion but promise to herself a
zealous patron of j'our Honour, being the son and
heir of so gracious and religious a father, who hath
shewed himself a faithful door-keeper in the house
of God ] Let his godly example teach you not to
drink of those stolen waters, or rather indeed the
blood of soids, where^vith too many in these gold-
thirsty days do purchase Aceldama unto them and
theirs. The Lord keep this ever from the purpose
of heart in his servants, who have so honourable
and weighty a trust committed unto them ! Let
this exliortation of Da^^d to his son Solomon be ever
in your honourable mind : ' And thou Solomon, my
son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve
him with a perfect heart, and with a calling mind.

For the Lord searcheth all hearts, and he under-
standeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If
thou seek him, he will be found of thee ; but if thou
forsake him, he wiU cast thee off for ever.' The God
of heaven so vouchsafe to water you and j'ours with.
the dew of heaven, that, with the godly man in this
psalm, you may prosper as trees of his planting ;
and so bring forth fniit in due season in this Ufe,
that at the end of this life your reward may be the
beginning of this psalm, even true blessedness !
Thus, in all dutiful humility, I rest,

Your Honour's remembrancer

To the Throne of Grace,

SAMUEL SMITH.

Prittlewell, this 25th of March 1635.

TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.

CHEISTL^ READER, as it hath ever been the
practice of wicked men to make their pros-
perity an argument of God's favour, reasoning after
this manner; Is it Hkely that I should enjoy so
many blessings from God, if my conversation were
not pleasing in his sight 1 &c. ; not considering that
these common gifts are given alilce both to the
godly man and to the sinner, and that Esau, though
he was a man hated of God, yet enjoyed the fatness
of the earth as well as Jacob ; —

So the cliildren of God, beholding the outward
prosperity of the wicked, and their own miserable
condition here Ln this life, have hereby been much
troubled ; and have been moved to call God's judg-
ments into question, how it could stand mth his
justice that wicked men should so abound in
wealth, that rebelliously transgress. This proved a
sore temptation unto Da\'id, insomuch that his steps
had weU-nigh slipped. And the same thing per-
plexed the prophet Jeremiah, that he was bold even
to reason the case with God, sajing, AVlierefore doth
the way of the wicked prosper 1 and why are they

in wealth that rebelliously transgress? Many of
God's servants are not a little affected heremth, not
understanding the reason how the Lord will not
suffer his children in this life to go unchastised for
their sins, but thereby brings them to a greater
measure of humiliation. As for the wicked, the
prophet assigneth a reason of their prosperity, —
namely this, ' that thou mayest pull them out like
beasts for the slaughter, and prepare them for the
day of destruction.' This truth is most clearly set
down in the thirty - seventh Psalm, a portion
whereof I have handled in the sermon following.
My desire herein is to comfort God's people, that
notwithstanding their present condition may seem
to be miserable, yet the Lord doth ever uphold his
in time of greatest danger, and of this they shall be
sure, that their latter end shall be peace. I wish
thee comfort by it, and by all other holy helps.
And so remain.

Thine in every Christian office,

SAMU. SMITH.

A SHORT VIEW AND METHOD OF THE FIRST PSALM,
FOLLOWED IN THIS EXPOSITION.

The
Psalm
hath in
it two
parts.

1. A de-
scription of
all mankind
divided into
two ranks,
ver. 1, 2, 3,
4, 5.

1. Godly,
ver. 1, 2,
described

two wavs.

2. Wick-
ed, who
are like-
wise de-
scribed
two ways.

2. The chief cause of the
happmess of the one, and
the misery of the other,
two ways.

1. By theii-
virtues,
which are of •
two sorts.

1. Negative, f I. He doth not walk in.
which are \ 2. He doth not stand in.
three. [ 3. He doth not sit in, &c.

the

2. By

recompense
of then- vir
tues.

1. By their
estate in this
life two way .s.

2. By their
estate and
condition in
the life to
come, two
ways.

1. For the
godly.

2. Affinna-
tive, which
are three
likewise.

1. By a simi-
litude, by a
Tree.

Described.

2. By the
prosperous
svccess of all
he doth.

1. He meditates much.

2. The object of his meditation,

The law of God.

3. The time. Day and Jiight.

1. By the nature of it.

It is a tree planted.

2. Projierty,

It hringeth foiih fruit, etc.

3. Contrary property.

Her leaves do not fall.

It shall prosper.

1 . Generally, It is not so icith them.

2. Particularly, But as the chaff which the wind,

&c.

1. Tlu-i/ shall not stand in judgment.

2. Neither he associates with the just.

I The Lord hwireth the way of the riyldeoiis.

2. For the f
wicked, set

down by an -j The way of the xciched shall peiish.
indefinite
sentence.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

VER. 1. Blessed is the man that doth not walk in the
counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Concerning the book of the Psalms, it is an
epitome of the whole Bible, teaching us what we are
to believe and do both to God and man ; in which we
may, as in a glass, most clearly behold the nature of
almighty God, his wisdom, goodness, and mercy to-
wards his church and children ; as also most notable
spectacles of his fearful wrath and vengeance against
the wicked and ungodly.

If men would learn to pray unto God, and crave
for any mercy and blessing at his hands, lo, here
be excellent platforms of true, hearty, and earnest
prayers. If men would give thanks for blessings
received, or for judgments escaped, or for deliver-
ance fi'om -ivicked and ungodly men, here be most
worthy examples and dii'ections. Again, if men
would find comfort in temptation, trouble, and
affliction, and learn mth patience to bear them,
there is no part of the Bible more sweet and com-
fortable than this book of the Psalms. And there-
fore it should be our delight and study, and we
ought to spend the more time in the reading and
in the meditatmg of so excellent and worthy a
book.

This psalm is set down before the rest as a pre-
face to stir up every faithful Christian to the dili-
gent and careful study of the holy Scriptures, and
the blessed book of God, as our Sa\'iour saith :
' Search the Scriptures,' &c. ; because that will
bring a man to true happiness in the end — namely,
to know God to be his God, to know Jesus Christ,

to know himself, and to direct him in the narrow
way which leadeth unto life eternal.

This first Psalm is set down without any inscrip-
tion, and therefore it is uncertain by whom it was
pemied ; whether by David, as most like it was, or
by Esdras, who is rather thpught to have gathered
them together, and joined them thus in one volume
or book, as now we have them.

This psalm doth teach us these two worthy
points — namely, how the godly man lives and walks
in this world, what manner of life he leads on
earth, and also what happiness and blessedness is
reserved for him in the life to come in heaven, ver.
1, 2, 3. The second part shews the contrary life
of the wicked and ungodly, as also what fearful ven-
geance and eternal judgments are prepared for them,
ver. 4, 5.

And the parts of this psalm are two : in the
former part is a description of the contrary estate
of the godly man and the wicked man — namely,
that the godly man is certainly blessed, and the
wicked man cursed, in the five first verses. The
other part shews the chief cause of the happiness
of the one, and the misery of the other : ver. 6,
' Because God knoweth,' — that is, likes, loves, and
allows, yea, doth bless and prosper the way of the
one, but he hates, abhors, and dislikes the way of
the other ; and God doth curse it, and make it most
unhappy and miserable unto them. So that we
see the sum of this psalm is this, that those are
blessed whose way, that is, whose life and conver-
sation, the Lord loves, likes, and allows of, so as he
doth direct and bless it ; but the Lord allows and

SAJIUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

takes care of the way of the righteous and godly
man, therefore the godly man is blessed.

Now seeing this is the main proposition of this
psalm, to prove that the godly are blessed ; there-
fore the projihet doth first shew who be tnily godly,
as ver. 1, 2, and then wherein their blessedness
doth consist, ver. 3.

The godly man is described two ways : first.
Negatively, shelving what he doth carefully shun
and avoid, ver. 1 ; secondly, Affirmatively, shewing
what he doth carefidly embrace and follow, ver. 2.

Concerning the things which the godly man doth
ever carefully shun and avoid, they are here laid
down to be three in number, by a most excellent
kind of speech, laid . do^vn by way of graduation,
wherein the prophet shews how men proceed by
degrees to be wicked ; for there is an increase and
proceeding in sin, as we may see in every step of
this graduation : first. In the persons ; secondly, In
the manner ; and thu-dly. In the fniit itself.

And indeed there is a variety and multiplicity of
sins ; and as they are divers, and of divers kmds, so
the variety of number causeth a diversity of names :
' The counsel of the wicked,' ' the way of sinners,'
' the seat of the scornful.' For as one saith well.
There is a fruitful croj) of sin, and there is none of
the sons of Adam but may say with Manasses in
his prayer, ' I have sinned above the number of the
sands of the sea.'

First, He doth not ' walk in the counsel of the
wicked ; ' where we see the persons are said to be
wicked, the original word signlfieth a man that is
never quiet, but ever thinking or doing something
that is e\'il, like the raging sea, whose mind is ever
troubled and tempted vnth evil thoughts and per-
turbations. By coimsel he understandetli here the
crafts and subtleties of the mcked, by which they
push themselves forward, and labour to di-aw others
to the like, according to that of Solomon ; ' My son,
if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say,
come, let us lay wait for blood,' &c., Prov. i. 10.
So that the prophet meaneth here, that he is blessed
that joineth not himself to commit sin with the
ungodly, nor by liimself doth commit the same as
sinners do.

The second sort of e\'il men whose comjiany he
doth avoid are called sinners; the word signifies

such as not only are of a naughty heart, and, being
seduced by bad counsel, live in sin, but such as
delight in sin, and have in them a constant and
settled purpose to live in sin.

The thii-d sort of evil men whose company he
doth avoid are called scorners. And they are such
kind of vdcked men as, being hardened in heart, do
stUl confirm themselves in their ivicked life, and get
such a habit and custom in sin, that they shame not
to make a mock of God and all godliness, and even
to blear out the tongue at religion and Christian
piety ; so that as they are mcked in heart and lewd
in life, so be they also hardened and confirmed in
both of them ; for by seat he noteth the fellowship
and society with the ungodly.

Secondly, concerning the action, the fir-st is, To
^ walk in the counsel of the wicked.' '.To walk is to
live and frame his life to afiect and approve of the
ways and counsels of ■wicked men ; neither will he
once listen or lend his ear to the perverse and
naughty counsel of ungodly men, much less will he
be brought to frame his life after then- wicked
way§^

The second action or proceeding of a sinner is
standing ; as the former is in heart to like, love, and
approve of the ways of the mcked, this is to obey
them and follow them into the same excess of riot.
So that the meaning of the prophet is, that a godly
man doth not like, love, nor follow that kind of life
or conversation which vsdcked men do use, and such
as be given to sin — according to that of the apostle,
' Fashion not yourselves like unto the world,' Eom.
xii. 2 — but doth by all means possibly shun and
avoid it.

The third evU, wliich the godly man doth most
carefully avoid, is in these words, and ' hath not sat
in the assembly of the scorners ; ' that is, -will not
be familiar and have acquaintance -with such as be
mockers of God and all good duties ; he will not be
their companion, nor keep them company, who do
openly profess impiety, who make a scoff at religion,
scorn the word of God, and contemn the servants
of God. These be the three evils which the godly
man doth most carefully shun and avoid.

In the whole we may observe the wonderful
growth that sin hath in the heart of a sinner; it
stands not at a stay, but is ever growing, and never

Ver. l.J

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

suffers any winter-tide of lilasting, but ever prospers.
It first beginneth in the heart of the sinner with a
double walking, wandering, as it were, up and do'wn,
as being uncertain what to do ; the next step that it
maketh is from walking to standing, which signifies
a determination after the former uncertainty, and
where sin is not stayed neither in the conception
nor in the birth, ' When it is finished it brings forth
death,' James i. 15, ever ending in hardness of heart,
obstinacy of mind, and obduracy of both. Oh that
all wicked and ungodly men would lay this to heart,
that making once shipwreck of faith and a good
conscience, and wounding their souls by sin, this
spiritual disease of sin grows daily to be more in-
curable, and the more sin groweth to a head the
more the Spirit of God is quenched in a man, and
the work of grace is diminished. It behoves us all,
therefore, to keep a dUigent watch over our own
ways, to cut off the occasions of sin, and to slay the
beginnings of iniquity : for a fire new kindled may
easily be quenched ; when the ship begins to leak
it may easily be stopped ; and at the fii'st, sin and
Satan may easily be resisted, and we may with the
less difiiculty withstand the force of it, whereas the
more it is practised the more the heart is hardened,
and sin grows stronger, and the sinner himself
weaker, according to that of the prophet, ' Can the
blackmoor change his skin, or the leopard his spots 1
then may ye also do good, which are accustomed to
do evil,' Jer. xiii. 23. And therefore to this end the
Lord laboured with Cain to stop his sin in the con-
ception, or at least in the birth, when that he saw
that his countenance was cast down, and that he
had conceived some evil against his brother, the
Lord tells Cain, ' If thou doest well, shalt thou not
be rewarded? if thou doest evU, sin lieth at the
door,' — q.d., Cain, Cain, be warned betimes ere it be
too late ; there is a reward that will follow thy
righteous dealing, but if thou go on to kill thy
righteous brother, thou shalt find that thy condition
will be far worse than now it is. This is the woeful
and miserable condition of those that run from evU
to worse, as it were, adding drunkenness to tliirst,
and be a warning unto us to take heed lest at any
time we give any entertainment to sin, and so our
' last end be worse than the first,' Mat. viii.

In the second verse the prophet describes a godly

man affirmatively, shewing what he doth most care-
fully embrace and follow. And as if he should say,
He is a blessed man that abstains from evU, if so be
mthal he delight to do good, so he do willingly
yield himself to perform obedience unto the will of
God, and conform all his thoughts, words, and deeds
to the will of God.

Now the good things which he must do ai-e con-
tained in two words : first, ' His delight must be in
the law of the Lord ; ' secondly, He must ' meditate
therein day and night.'

But his cleUgM, — that is, the godly and upright
man, who is truly happy and blessed indeed, doth
wonderfully love the law of the Lord, that is, the
word of God, and that heavenly doctrine wherein
is revealed the will of God, whereunto all our
thoughts, words, and works must be conformed, and
which maketh known unto us the way to eternal
life and salvation.

Secondly, In this law he meditates day and night, —
that is, the godly man doth set his heart and mind
upon the word and doctrine of God, so as he doth
think often, and much muse upon it ; it is Ids daily
meditation, so as he sets some time apart every day
to study it — both to learn out of it how God must
be purely worshipped, his own life ordered ; as also
to learn thereby how to maintain and keej) faith and
a good conscience before God and man. And thus
the godly man is described by both parts of his life,
his eschewing of evil, and his careful and religious
performing of good duties.

Secondly, We have seen a godly man described, so
now foUoweth wherein the happuiess of this man
consists.

This happy man is described two ways.

First, By a similitude.

Secondly, By the prosperous and good success of
all he doth.

The happiness of the godly man is described by a
similitude, whereby a godly man is compared to a
tree, which tree is described,

First, By the place — namely, that it is a tree planted,
not of its ovra gi-owing. By the water's side ; even
by the fresh and springing rivers, which is a resem-
blance of our ingrafting into Jesus Christ by faith,
and the Spirit of God ; so as we receive and draw
juice and nourishment from him continually.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Yer. 1.

Secondly, It is described by an effect — namely,
that it brings forth fruit in dm season ; and this is a
resemblance of our regeneration, or of our obedience,
because the godly man, being ingrafted into Jesus
Christ, doth by virtue of his resurrection bring forth
the fruit of faith and obedience both to God and
man. In due season, that is, in time convenient,
when it may best seem for the glory of God and the
good of our neighbour.

Thirdly, By a contrary property, that her leaves do
not fall— thai is, in tinie of winter and storms her
leaves fall not. And this is a sign of our persever-
ance, that the godly man is not offended nor daunted
with crosses, persecutions, or afflictions, or any other
calamity whatsoever, but doth by patience possess
Lis soul, and by faith wades, as it were, tliroughout
all these dangers.

Secondly, The happiness of a godly man is de-
scribed by that blessed success that God gives to all
his affairs he takes in hand. It shall p-osper, because
he takes them in hand according to God's command-
ment, and in his fear, mth prayer and calling on the
name of the Lord, Josh. i. 8, to the glory of God
and the good of his neighbour.

In the second part of the psalm, the prophet de-
scribeth the most miserable and cursed estate of the
wicked and ungodly, ver. 4, 5. That it is clean con-
trary, that as their ways and lives be contrary, so
their reward is contrary.

The prophet, describing the cursed and miserable
estate of the ■«dcked, saith first, // is not so with tliein,
— that is, that wicked and ungodly men are in a far
contrary estate and condition ; they cannot in any
case be compared to a tree that is planted by the
rivers of waters, that brings forth her fruit ui due
season, and whose leaf shall not fall, neither do they
prosper in their actions, neither doth God give suc-
cess unto them.

But he setteth out the cursed and ■nTetched estate
of all wicked and ungodly men by a contrary simili-
tude, comparmg them to chaff ichich the wind drives
cnvay, — that is, even as chaff hath no root in the
earth, and wanting all juice and nourishment, must
needs be fruitless and dry, so as the wind doth most
easUy scatter it away ; even so the wicked are not
rooted nor grounded in Christ, whereby it comes to
pass, they being utterly void of all grace of God's

Spirit, that they can bring forth no fruit of good
works, neither can they persevere in time of tempta-
tion, whereby again it comes to pass that they be
earned away with every blast of vain doctrine ; and
Avith the least storm of temjjtation, and blast of ad-
versity, they are tossed to and fro. And when the
■wind of God's judgments shall blow upon them, they
are clean scattered away. This is their estate and
condition here in this Ufe.

And for their estate and condition in that to come,
the prophet layeth it do^^1l likewise, ver. 5, in these
words, ' They shall not be able to stand in judgment,'
— that is, they shall not be able to stand ■ndth com-
fort before the face of the judge, but shall tremble
and quake, as not bemg able to endure the angry
countenance of the judge, Rev. vi. 1 3.

Neither is this all, but they shall likewise be
severed and secluded from the blessed company of
the godly. That as here in tliis life they could not
abide a godly man, but did hate him, persecute him,
and shun his company, so at the last day, so just
shall their reward be, that they shall be separated
from them, and as goats cast on the left hand, there
to remain for evermore in torments, which are ease-
less and remediless. ' Neither the sinners in the
company of the just,' — that is, in the company of
those that be justified and reconciled to God in
Jesus Christ, which shall then inherit the kingdom
prepared for them.

Hitherto we have opened the fii'st part of the
psalm, containing the estate and condition of a godly
and a ivicked man here in this life, and in the life
to come.

Now foUoweth the second part of the psalm, in
the last verse, containing the confirmation of that
doctrine ; and that our prophet doth by shewing
the efficient cause, both of the happiness of the one,
and the misery and wretchedness of the other.

The first efficient cause of the happmess of the
godly man is in these words, ' Because the Lord
knows the way of the righteous,' — that is, he likes,
loves, and approves of it, so as he doth du-ect and
bless it : and therefore it shall prosper.

And the cause why the estate of the wicked is
unhappy, and their way shall perish, is, because the
Lord doth not know theu- way, — that is, he taketh
no delight in the way or in the life of a wicked

Ver. 1.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

man ; he loves it not so as lie should du-ect and
jirosper it : and therefore it shall perish.

And thus much for the meaning of the words ;
now let us come unto the doctrines.

Ver. 1. Blessed is the man that hath not, &c.

Blessed is the man, or, oh the blessedness of that man,
or as it is in the original, ' Oh the blessedness ^ of
that man ! ' They seem to be the words of a man
musing and meditating vnth. himself wherein man's
blessedness should consist, as if he should say. Some
pronounce him blessed that is in honour ; some
count them blessed that have abundance of riches,
some that live in pleasure ; some place it in one
tiling, some in another. But oh the blessedness of
that man that fears the Lord, that is truly religious,
of the godly and righteous man !

Bod. 1. Hence we learn this doctrine, that, of all
men under heaven, the godly man alone is blessed,
and the ungodly and wicked man is cursed. The
righteous man is a happy man m the sight of God,
when the wicked is wretched and miserable. This
doctrine is very apparent in the word of God. It
is the scope and diift of the whole Scriptures to
prove this one point, that the godly man is blessed,
and the wicked man is cursed. ' Blessed is the man
that fearetli the Lord, and delighteth in his com-
mandments.' ' Blessed be they that be upright in
their way, and walk in the law of the Lord.'
' Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and
seek him -s^dth their whole heart.' Again, ' Blessed
is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose
sin is covered. Blessed is he to whom the Lord
imputeth no sin, and in whose spirit there is no
guile.' Read the thirty-seventh Psalm, which
seemeth to be penned of purpose to confirm the
everlasting truth of this doctrine : that the godly
are blessed and the wicked are cursed. And tliis
blessedness of theirs doth not reach only to this life,
but also to the life to come, according to that of the
apostle, ' Godliness hath not only the promise of
this life, but also the life to come,' 1 Tim. iv. 8.
Yea, if we obser\-e the course which the Spirit of
God taketh in the course of the whole Scriptures, it
shall make tins doctrine so much the more apparent
unto us, — that is, that wheresoever there is a com-
' Query, 'blessednesses ' ? — Ed.

fort laid down in the word, the same comfort is still
restrained to the godly. As that of the holy apostle
St Paul, in the eighth chapter and fii-st verse of
his Epistle to the Eomans, ' There is no condemna-
tion.' A marvellous comfort to hear that we are
freed from that heavy and grievous curse which we
had incurred by reason of sin : yet lest the wicked
should presume hereby and take it unto themselves,
unto whom in nowise it doth belong, the apostle
rcstrainetli the comfort in the same verse, ' To them
that are m Clmst Jesus ; ' and lest men should de-
ceive themselves, to take this comfort to themselves,
unto whom it doth not belong, he marketh them
out, as it were, in their foreheads, saying, Tliey are
such as 'walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.' The like of David, Psalm xv., ' Lord, who
shall enter into thy holy tabernacle 1 &c. He that
hath clean hands and a pure heart,' &c.

Besides, none are blessed but such as be in the
favour of God, as the prophet David saith, ' In thy
favour is life,' such as be reconciled to God in Jesus
Christ. As for such as be out of his favour, they
be cursed and miserable, be they what they wUl be.
Now, only the godly man that is humbled, that is
sanctified, that is born anew, is he alone that is in
the favour of God : therefore only the godly man is
blessed.

Ohjccf. Wherein stands the blessedness of God's
cliildren, of a godly and a righteous man 1

Ansiv. I answer. In this, that a godly man that is
humbled for his sins is now reconciled to God, so as
God the Father becomes his Father, adopts him to
be his child, loves him, and deUghts in him as his
child ; ' Behold, what love hath the Father given us,
that we should be called- the sons of God.' And
hereupon come the amiable and love-titles that
Clirist giveth unto his church, ' Open unto me, my
sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled,' Cant. v. 2.
Great are the affections of fervent love that parents
bear towards their children, which none can express
but they that feel ; and yet all their love is nothing
in comparison of the love of God towards his chil-
dren; this the prophet teacheth, Isa. xlis. 15, ' Can
a woman forget her chUd, and not have compassion
on the son of her womb? yet will I not forget thee.'

Another part of the happiness of a godly man
doth consist in this, that he hath assurance of the

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

pardon of his sins, that they are all done away, and
shall never be laid to his charge, but are washed
away in the blood of Jesus Clirist, according to that
of the projjhet David, Ps. xxxii. 1, 'Blessed is he
whose ■\vickedness is forgiven.'

He hath all his sins, original and actual, mth the
guilt and punishment belonging unto them, freely
and fully forgiven unto him ; and all the righteous-
ness of Clu-ist freely and fuUy imputed unto him ;
and so God is reconciled unto him, and approveth
him as righteous in his sight. And thus the apostle
reasoneth, Eom. viii. 33, ' Herein was that love of
God made manifest amongst us, because God sent
his only begotten Son into the world, that we might
live through him. Herein is that love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
to be a reconciliation for our sins.'

Another part of the happiness of a gotUy man
doth consist in this, that he hath peace of conscience,
whereas the wicked and ungodly man hath a dead
and sleepy conscience, or else an accusing con-
science : ' There is no peace to the wicked, saith
my God,' Isa. Ivii. But the godly man that is re-
conciled to God in Jesus Christ hath the fi-ee par-
don of all his sins ; he hath sweet peace of conscience,
wliicli doth not accuse, but excuse him to God ; yea,
he hath exceeding great joy in the Holy Ghost,
that he knoweth his sins are pardoned, ''^ accordmg
to that of the apostle, ' The kingdom of God standeth
not in meat and drink, but in righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost.' And, indeed, whom
should he fear, or whereof should he be afraid 1 - God
is become his Father ; the angels are become his at-
tendants, they pitch their tents round 'about them,
and have a charge of them ; the saints of heaven and
earth are fellow-brethren ; the creatures of almighty
God - are their friends, yea, their servants, to do
them good all their days.

The devils nor all the power of darkness shall not
hurt them. For Clu-ist hath ' sjioiled principaUties
and powers, and hath made show of them openly,
and hath triumphed over them upon the cross ; ' yea,
that which is more, the Lord Jesus Christ (to whom
all judgment is committed) is become their Lord and

' Pax est hsDreditas Christianorum. — Aug. Serm. De Temp.
" Perfecta et absoluta cuiusque excueatio testimonium con-
scientias suw. — Ber.

Saviour. So that ' they shall never come into com-
demnation, but shall pass from death unto life,'
John V. 24.

Lastly, The godly man is assured that the king-
dom of heaven and eternal life belongs unto him,
and that he shall be partaker of eternal glory, life,
and salvation, and shall hve in the presence of God
the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost for evermore.
And tliis assurance in the godly is no presumption,
but faith ;i for every godly man hath in him the
spirit of grace and adoption ; and he that hath the
spirit of adoption knows that he hath it, and is able
through the same spirit to say, ' I live, and Christ
liveth in me,' Gal. ii. 20. This was in Job when he
said, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth,' &c. This
was in St Paul, ' I am persuaded that neither height
nor depth,' &c., Rom. viii. In these and the like
privileges stands the happy and blessed estate of
God's children.

Use \. The use of this doctrine is ntost excellent,
for seeing the privileges of God's children are so
great and so excellent, that therefore they must
needs be most happy and blessed. For howso-
ever the world account them miserable, grinning at
them -with their teeth, nodding at them with then-
heads, hissing at them with their tongues, and every
way most contumeliously reproaching them ■with their
words ; yet we see here how dear and precious they
are with God, and in the reputation of Jesus Christ,
who bought them at a price, and redeemed them
even with his own blood. ' Behold what love the
Father hath given to us that we should be called the
sons of God. And for this cause the woi'ld knoweth
you not, because it knoweth not him.' God is be-
come their Father, the Son their Redeemer, and the
Holy Ghost their sanctifier, the angels their attend-
ants, the Scriptures then- evidences, and the sacra-
ments seals unto the saine : tliis the apostle teacheth
when he saith, ' All things are yours, and ye Christ's,
and Christ God's,' 1 Cor iii. 21. They are blessed then
that are thus reconciled to God in Jesus Christ ; they
are blessed that have theit sins pardoned and not
imputed unto them ; they are blessed that enjoy this
sweet peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy
Ghost ; they are blessed that have attained to this
assurance that the kingdom of heaven, eternal life,

' Non arrogantia est, sed fides, &c. — Aug., Serm. viii.

Vek. 1.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

and salvation shall be their reward. But the godly
man is partaker of all these ; what then sliall hinder
his happiness 1

This serveth then to confute three sorts of men :
first, The voluptuous man, who placeth his felicity
and happiness in delights, pleasures, sports, and pas-
times ; he loves and likes them above all other things,
andmost eagerly doth hunt after them. This ajjpeared
in that rich man in the Gospel, Luke xii., who bade
his soul ' eat, drink, and be merrj',' as if there were
nothing else to be looked after, or as if man's chief
felicity did consist in these things. And this was
the case of Solomon in the days of his vanitj', until
he saw that all was but in vain, Eccles. i. Let us
then be careful we be not deceived with these sinful
pleasures of this life, as to think therein we are
happy ; but let us take heed unto this hook of Satan,
lest we be taken -srithin his snare. Jt is ^vTitteu to
the everlasting commendation of Moses, Heb. xi. 24,
that he ' refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, and chose rather to suffer adversity with
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season ; esteeming the rebuke of Clirist greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt ; for he had re-
spect unto the recompense of reward.'

The second sort of men here reproved are the am-
bitious, that makes honour and preferment their god,
as if man's chief felicity did consist in that. This is
their care and study, how to climb up to preferment,
like Absalom, that sought to steal the hearts of his
father's subjects ; and Ahithophel, that was so
proud that he could not endure a man in favour but
himself, and therefore, when he saw Hushai's counsel
received, and his rejected, went and hanged himself.
So proud Haman, Esth. iii. 3, was so vexed with Mor-
decai, that he could not be quiet till he had wrought
his O'ivn destruction. And the reason of all is this,
pro.sperity puffeth up and stealeth away the heart of
man, making a man both to forget God and himself,
and therefore prosperity is a very dangerous and
slippery estate ; and howsoever it be much desired
and admired, yet it is full of dangers, and hedged in
with many peiils ; and howsoever many are dra^ni
away from God through persecution and affliction,
yet prosperity is more dangerous, for by it many
more are drowned in sensuality, and even luUed
asleep in carnal security.

The third sort of men here reproved are the cove-
tous cormorants of the world, such as make gold
their god, love it and delight in it more than God,
as if their chiefest happiness did consist in the multi-
tude of their riches ; whereas indeed godliness alone
hath the promise of this life and that which is to
come. And of all other sins, our Saviour gives this
caveat against this sin, saj-ing, 'Take heed and
beware of covetousness,' Luke xii. 15. And this
is that which the prophet David doth pray against,
Ps. cxix. 36, when he saith, ' Incline my heart unto
thy testimonies, and not unto covetousness.' Here-
unto agreeth that exhortation of the apostle, ' If any
man love this world, the love of my Father is not in
him.' So then, whether we consider that covetous-
ness is the root of all e-sal, or that there is a flat op-
position between God and the world, we must hold
this as an e\'ident truth, that there is no blessedness
to be found in them.

Use 2. This may seem to prove i that cursed, yet
common opinion of the world, — namely, that of all
men the godly man is most miserable. We see
here that the Lord himself doth proclaim from
heaven, that he accounteth the godly man a blessed
and happy man ; but yet the world, that is, wicked
men in the world, judge and deem the godly man
wretched and miserable. Such a man as truly fear-
eth God hates all iniquity, disliketh lewd company,
makes conscience of good duties — as to pray in his
family, to instruct his servants and children — is dili-
gent and careful to frequent sermons ; this man is
an owl amongst birds, hooted at and pointed at; men
reproach him, and of all men he is most contemned.
But as Paul saith, thus it must be ; we are brought
upon the stage, we are made a gazing-stock to
wicked men, and accounted as dung for Clirist's
sake.

Use 3. This may serve to stop their mouths that
say and think it is in vain to serve the Lord, that
it is lost labour to be religious, that there is no good
got by hearing of sermons and leading of a godly
life. It is, and ever hath been, the cursed thought
of man's heart to think so, as in the time of the
prophet Malachi, ' It is lost labour to serve the Lord ;
and what good comes there by serraig of God ? '
Mai. iii. 14. So in these days it is clear men think

' Qviery, 'reiirove ' ? — Ed.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Vek. 1.

it is in vain to be religious, to live godly, and in
all things to labour to keep faith and a good con-
science before God and men.

Note. — But it is manifest here that it is not in
vain, to serve God ; nay, it is that alone that brings
a man "to happiness and true comfort here, and an
eternal measure of glory in the world to come. And,
withal, this may serve to comfort every jjoor child
of God against all the discomforts and discourage-
ment of the world by Satan and his cursed instru-
ments, — namely, that whatsoever thy estate, be never
so poor in this world, and subject to never so many
afflictions and troubles, yet if thou be a godly man,
certainly then thou art blessed. Thou that art in
God's favour, thou that art reconciled to God in
Jesus Christ, and hast thy sins and offences par-
doned, eternal life belongs unto thee ; and therefore
fear not, be not any whit discouraged, hold out unto
the end ; certain it is thou art a blessed man, and in
so doing thou shalt have a crown of life.

Use 4. Hence we learn, that as many as desire to
be truly happy and blessed, may here behold the
way to be happy and blessed. Wouldst thou be
truly happy and blessed here in this life, and here-
after m the life to come ? wouldst be assured that
thou art the child of God, in his favour, reconciled
unto him in Jesus Christ 1 wouldst thou be assured
of the salvation of thy soul? Oh labour then to
become a godly and a religious man ! repent of thy
sins past, amend thy life, walk before God in new
obedience, labour to keep faith and a good conscience,
hate every evil way, cleave unto the Lord, delight in
his word, let it be the joy of thine heart; then cer-
tainly thou shalt be blessed and happy for evermore.

Use 5. To conclude, if the godly man be blessed,
then the wcked man must of necessity be cursed ; if
the estate of the righteous and religious man be so
comfortable and blessed, then the estate of the
wicked and ungodly must needs be miserable and
cursed, according to that of Moses unto the Israel-
ites, Deut. xx\'iii. 1, ' If thou yn\t not obey the voice
of the Lord thy God,' — as indeed obedience is far from
a wicked man, howsoever he may come with Saul's
painted sacrifice ; what follows ? — ' thou shalt be
cursed in body, and cursed in soul,' &c. Again, Ps.
xi. 21, 'Thou hast de.stroyed the proud, and cursed
are they that err from thy commandments.' And

this misery of a wicked man doth consist in these
things especially : —

First, That he can have no assurance that he is
the child of God, that he is reconciled to God in
Jesus Christ, or in his favour ; nay, he may assure
himself that he is out of his favour, and that God
hates him as his enemy, and that he will manifest
his wrath and displeasure upon him, by plaguing
him here in this life, and by damnmg him for ever
in the life to come.

Yea, the Lord begins that condemnatory sentence
in the heart of a wicked man in this life. For
every sin which a wicked man doth commit, there
ariseth many times within their consciences accus-
ing thoughts ; and there is also a sentence within
him, given out against him presently after he hath
committed sin ; there is a sentence within him gone
out against him — by themselves judgment is gone
out against themselves ; which sentence albeit the
wicked and ungodly man do not mark, yet the
voice of his o^ai disordered affections crying out so
loud, that he cannot hear this voice of his own
conscience accusing and condemning him ; yet many
times in this Hfe affection is silent, as to Belshazzar,
Dan. v., and Judas, Mat. xxvii., and then the con-
science doth pronounce sentence against him ■with a
shrill voice. Now if a man's conscience do con-
demn him, God is greater than his conscience, and
wOl much more condemn him, 1 John iii. 20, 2L But
assuredly in the day of judgment it will cry aloud
in the ears of the Lord against the sinner for judg-
ment and vengeance. And this is not the least
misery under which the ■ndcked man remains, being
out of Christ.

Secondhj, He can have no assurance that his sins
be pardoned, but rather may be assured that his
sins stand up in account against him, and that he
shall be condemned for them. For it is that pre-
rogative which belongs only to the godly man, to
have his sins covered, Ps. xxxii. 1, 2 — even the
blessed man. But as for the wicked and ungodly,
the Lord is far from justifying them ; but their sins
remain yet in God's book of account, and shall
assuredly one day be laid to their charge, when the
book shall be opened, and their honible sins made
manifest to the whole world, even to men and
angels ; even these their most secret sins, which now

Ver. 1.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

they have committed never so closely in the dark,
shall then come to light, and they shall not have so
much as one fig-leaf to cover theii- nakedness, or one
friend to speak so much as one word to the Lord
Cliief Justice of heaven and earth ; but their own
consciences, being as a thousand witnesses against
them, they shall then be held even speechless, and
the Lord will manifest upon them the fierceness of
his wrath in that day.

Third! I/, He can have no peace of conscience ;
' For there is no peace to the mcked,' Isa. Ivii. 21.
But always carries about him an e^dl conscience,
that •n'ill never give him rest, but is as the flashings
of hell-fire unto him ; or else he hath in him a dead
and sleepy conscience, seared, as it were, with, a hot
iron, that he feels not the weight and burden of his
sins ; which judgment is no way inferior to the
fonner. Oh miserable then is the state and con-
dition of the bricked, that have no true peace in life
nor death, nor after death ; for the Lord himself at
the last shall be a judge and a witness against them ;
Moses and the righteous servants of God shall be a
■\ritness against them ; yea, the dust of their feet that
brought the glad tiduigs of peace shall wtness
against them ; the stones of the field, the posts of
their houses, tliis moth-eaten garment, all shall
come in against them to hinder their peace vnih
God ; and their own conscience, will they, nill they,
shall cry aloud, and say, ' Eighteous art thou,
Lord, and true are thy judgments.'

Fonrthh/, He can have no hope nor any assurance
that he shall be saved, but is either carried away
■vrith a carnal persuasion or presumption, (which
wUl deceive him in the end,) their consciences being
seared ; or else most justly fear that they shall be
damned, their consciences being awake. Now then
if this be the fearful and most woeful estate of all
wicked men, that live in sin without repentance, who
then would live in such an estate of life to gain a
kingdom, in so great danger of eternal death and
damnation every day they arise ? ^^Hiy do not such
repent and turn imto God, that so they may be saved?

Fifthly and lastly. If a man be out of Christ,
unregenerate, let him abound never so much in
wealth, live in honour, bathe himself in pleasures,
yet remaining still in his sins, he can take no sound
comfort in aiiv of these. For ' to tlicm that are

defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even
their minds and consciences are defiled,' Tit. i. 15.

Their sweet savours and pleasant smells are
stench, their meats and drinks are gall and worm-
wood, their delicate fare is poison, their costly
apparel as menstruous cloth, and their life a deatTi,
and they shall one day answer for every bit of bread
they have eaten, as thieves and usurpers of those
things that are none of theirs, for of proper right
they belong unto the godly man. And thus have we
briefly seen wherein the wicked man is cursed and
miserable.

That doth not walk in the counsel of the, &c.

Here the godly man's virtues be first set down by
a negative contestation in these words, ' He that
walketh not in the counsel of the wicked ; ' out of
which we may observe that there is a counsel of the
wicked, and this is either private amongst them-
selves, or else public with others.

Doct. The counsel of sinful and wicked men,
which is private in themselves, is a rumination, or
some other preparation in every ^vilful and intended
sin. And hence it is that the schoolmen aflirm that
co)isilimn, actus, exitus, must concur in every mlful
intended sin : and this is very apparent by the
example of Jezebel, 1 Kings xxi. 10, that when she
perceived the king to be so heavy for that he could
not get the vineyard of righteous Naboth, she coun-
selled with herself what she might do, to the end
she might obtain it ; and at last determined to-vvrite
to the governors of the city in Ahab's name to pro-
claim a fast, and to cause Naboth to be brought
forth before the assembly and stoned to death.
This is clear again by the example of David, 2 Sam.
xii., when he, walking upon the roof of his palace,
had cast his eyes upon the beauty of Bathsheba, he
did first take this counsel within himself concerning
an ecjuityi what she was; secondly, sent messengers
unto her to move her to lie -vvith him ; and lastly,
committed the act itself This might be further
cleared by the example of Cain, Judas, and all to
confirm the truth of this point unto us.

Besides this private there is a counsel of the
wcked public -with other, as in the days of Omri,
when cruel and wicked statutes were made against
the Lord and his people. So in the days of Jero-

' Query, 'enquiry?' — Ed.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

[Ver. 1.

boam, how did he take counsel, 1 Kings xii. 28, and
at last concluded to make two calves for divine wor-
ship, the one whereof he set at Bethel, the other at
Dan? And in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan.
iii. 1, what a decree was gone forth by the king, the
lords, and nobles, touching the worship of the
golden image that was set up in the plain of Dura,
in the pro\ince of Babylon 1 So in the time of our
Saviour Clirist, under the New Testament, the Jews
had agreed together that all that confess Christ
should be excommunicated, John ix. 22, and forbade
the disciples from jDreaching any more in liis name,
Acts iv. 18. And also in their council was our
Saviour Clirist condemned to death. Mat. xxvi. 66.

Beas. And the reason is clear for the further
manifestation of the truth of this point : for as no
man doth gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles,
so what other fi-uit can be expected from such an
unsavoury root, whose ' very minds and consciences
are defiled,' Titus i. 13, but that all their whole con-
sultations and actions should be imputed unholy and
unclean.

Use. Hence, then, we may observe that the doc-
trine of the church of Rome touching this point is
most false, that general councUs cannot err. But
we have cleared this before, that they may eri" and
do err ; for what should I speak of the second Nicene
Council, which set up idolatry, and gave bodies to
angels and the souls of men ? Councils therefore have
been misled, and may err.

Now the prophet proceeds further to shew who is
a godly man, and what be his properties, and teacli-
cth us in these words, that the first step and entrance
to the leading of a godly Ufe is to renounce the
counsel and company of lewd, wicked, and ungodly
men : whence we observe this doctrine.

Bod. 2. That he that would preserve himself from
sin must carefully avoid all the occasions thereof.
The wise man teacheth this doctrine, that ' he that
walketh ■with the ^vise shaU be wiser ; but a com-
panion of fools shall be worser,' Prov. xiii. 20.
This doth appear by the example of Jonathan, who
by the friendship and familiarity which he had with
David changed liis life to better : whereas Solomon,
by society and conjunction witli the idolatrous wives,
fell into idolatry ; and Rehoboam, by walking irith
his young counsellors, and following their advice,

became worse and worse, 1 Kings xi. If, then, we
would avoid evil, we must beware of all occasions,
and no occasions more dangerous than e^-il company ;
every man therefore must take heed to himself, and
beware how he joineth himself with acquaintance
with all men indifferently, lest by their means he be
corrupted. For every man by nature is hke dry
wood, which is apt to kindle so soon as fire is put to
it, so give a man the least occasion, and presently
he yieldeth to sin. There needs not indeed any
devil to tempt us,i but let the least occasion that
is be offered unto us, and straightway man becometh
a tempter unto himself And this is that which
the apostle saith, James i. 14, 'Every man is tempted
when he is drawn away and enticed by his own
concupiscence.' The enemy by which we are over-
come is in our own bosom, — that is, man's natural
coniiption, wliicli is fuel for the kindhng of the fire
of Satan's temptations. Tliis appears in Eve, the
mother of us all, in the first transgression : first. She
saw the fruit ; secondly. She conceived a liking of it ;
thirdly. She desired it ; fourthly, She ate of it.
Dmah, the daughter of Jacob, wandering abroad,
laid herself open unto sin, and so fell, which might
have been prevented had she avoided the occasions
thereof. Gen. xxxiv.

And David, a man after Clod's own heart, ha-vdng
set open the casement of his soul, his eyes, (by the
which the de\'il did easily wind himself into liis
heart,) and beheld Bathsheba washing herself,
2 Sam. xi. ; but by and by he lusted after her, sent
for her and lay with her : so -violent is man's corrupt
nature in comprehending every occasion that might
draw him to sin. It is therefore a point of great
wisdom to discern between the deceit of sin and the
fruit of sin before it be committed. flattering
enemy ! In the action of committing, it is sweet as
poison : after it is committed, a biting serpent. It
comes to a man ■with a smiUng countenance, as Joab
unto Amasa, ' Art thou in health, my friend '? ' but
withal it strikes to the heart and wounds unto
death.

Use 1. This doctrine serveth for the reproof of
those who are so far from the avoiding of the occa-
sions of sin, as that they do freely and of their own
accord seek and follow after them ; they will not

' Mecum est quicquid mihi noccre potest. — Bernard, Med. xi.

Ver. 1.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON I'SALM I.

tnrrj- with Josppli till they be tempted by others,
but they seek all occasions, and watch all opportu-
nities to tempt others. Never ravenous beast did
more eagerly pursue the prey than some do hunt
after the occasions of sin ; which is madness with a
witness, as if the flesh were not prone enough of
itself unto that which is evil, but that pains must be
taken to help it forward to sin. Oh, then, how
carefid ought we to be to watch over our ways, and
to avoid all tlie occasions of sin ! Counterguard thy
heart, saith Solomon, and keep it with watch and
ward, Prov. iv. 23 ; look unto the casements of thy
soul, tliy eyes and thy ears. Pray wdth David,
' Lord, turn away my eyes from beholding vanity,'
Ps. cxix. 37 ; make a covenant with them with Job,
chap. xxxi. What foUy, nay, what madness is it
tlien in them that dare come into any company, that
dare look and pry into the beauty of a woman, as
though they were so strong that they were out of
all danger to sin ! But art thou more holy or
strong than David, Peter, &c. 1 If not, thou must
faU.

Uf:e 2. Let all godly men and women take heed,
let them fear themselves and doubt the worst.
' Blessed is the man that feareth always, but he
that hardeneth his heart shall not prosper.' We
must at all times have especial regard to the heart,
or else we cannot stand. Such and so many are the
assaidts that Satan doth lay against our souls ; this
is that wholesome counsel that the apostle St Peter
doth lay down unto us, who was both acquainted
i\ith tlie frailty of man's nature and the malice of
Satan, when he saith, ' Be sober and watch, for your
adversarj' the de\-il,' &c., 1 Pet. v. 8. ^^'^lere he
joineth unto sobriety watchfulness ; for thoxigh a
man be never so sober, yet if he do not watch
withal, and that against the occasions of sin, he is
easily made a prey to Satan. And for want of this
care and watchfulness, many of God's children have
been overtaken, and have fell into many horrible
and grievous sins, which they could not so easily
have done had they been watchful over their o^i-n
affections. And thus much for the first doctrine in
the description of a godly man, he must carefully
avoid all occasions of sin.

That doth not walk in the counsel of the wicked, &c.

Here the prophet Da\'id shews who is a godly

man, and what be his jiroperties. First, as we have
heard, he avoids all occasions of sin ; so now, in the
second place, the counsel and company of lewd,
wicked, and ungodly men. A godly man, and such
a one as shall be truly happy and blessed indeed,
doth distaste and dislike, yea, utterly renounce and
abhor their society and company, their counsels and
consultations, so as he doth shun and avoid them as
dangerous and infectious ; from whence we gather a
second point of doctrine.

Doct. 2. That men must carefully shun and avoid
the company of the iricked, it is very apparent, if
they themselves will not be defiled with their abomi-
nation ; for that rule of Solomon will stand, ' He
that toucheth pitch shall be defiled.' Bad company
is exceeding pernicious and hurtful, either to dis-
suade from that which is truly good, or to jiersuade
to that which is naught and wicked. Da^id maketh
it the mark of a true member of the church, that ' in
his eyes a vile person is contemned.' And the
apostle willeth all Christians who look for glory
through Christ, that they would have nothing to do
with the unfruitful works of darkness. And again,
this indeed is ' pure religion and undefiled, to keep
ourselves unspotted of the world.' This the apostle
St Paul urgeth, ' Be not unequally yoked with in-
fidels, for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness V It is the exhortation of Solomon,
' Forsake the \^^cked, and ye shall live.' Joseph,
Uvmg in the court of Pharaoh, had quickly learned
to swear by the life of Pharaoh ; and we know that
it was in the common hall, amongst the servants of
the high priests, that Peter had learned to curse and
to swear. It were no less than treason in a subject
to live in friendship vnih. one that is a professed
enemy to the king ; much more is it treason in the
subjects of the King of heaven to have society with
the wicked ; and this is observed to be the fault of
Jehoshaphat, that he would help the wicked, and
love them that hate the Lord. Such are even odious
unto God, as David saith, 'Thou hatest all them
that work iniquity.' Besides their company is ex-
ceeding dangerous, for the wrath of God hangeth
over the head of the ungodly. This we may see in
Lot, who for the fruitfuluess of the place was drawn
to live in Sodom, where the men were -(vicked. Gen.
xix. So when they were taken prisoners. Lot was

SAMUEL SMITH OX P.SALM I.

[Ver. 1.

taken prisoner with them; and had not the Lord
been exceeding merciful unto him he had perished
with them in the general overthrow of that city.
And this was the voice of God from heaven concern-
ing Babylon, ' Go out of her, my people, that ye be
not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues,' Rev. x^dii. 4. And this was the cause
why the Lord gave so strait a charge to the people
of Israel, that they should have no dealing at all
with the inhabitants of the land of Caanan, Exod.
xxiii. 32, ' Thou shalt make no covenant wdth them,
nor with their gods : neither shall they dwell in thy
land, lest they make thee sin against me, neither
shalt thou make any marriages ivith them, neither
give thy daughter to his son, nor take his son to thy
daughter, for they will cause thy son to fall away
from me, and to serve other gods.' And how true
this threatening from the Lord was, the event
maketh it manifest ; for they, neglecting this com-
mandment from God, ' were mingled amongst the
heathen, and learned their works,' as David saith,
Ps. cvi. 35 ; and woeful experience doth prove this
to be true of many who have sometime been indif-
ferently conformable to good duties, afterwards fall-
ing into wicked and lewd company, have been
corrupted and grown dissolute. Oh, what stumbling
blocks are such unto a man for the performance of
any good duty ! This did David know full well
when he said, ' Away from me, ye wicked, I will keejj
the commandments of my God,' Ps. cxix. 115, in-
sinuating thereby, as may easily be gathered, that
he could not set himself to the perfomiance of any
holy duty, as he ought, so long as such wicked com-
pany were about him ; yea, it hath been a grief
unto the godly to have been in the company of un-
godly persons. As Lot living in Sodom, when he
saw their filthy abominations, ' it vexed his right-
eous soul,' 1 Pet. ii. 7. And this was it that made
David bemoan his estate in the time of his banish-
ment, when he was constrained to abide amongst
the uncircumcised people, ' Woe is me that I re-
main in Mesech, and to dwell in the tents of Kedar.
My soul hath long dwelt among those that be
enemies unto peace.' By all tliis that hath been
spoken, it doth appear that godly and %nrtuous men,
who shall be happy and blessed indeed, do carefully
shun and avoid the lewd company of the wicked.

Use 1. This doctrine, in the first place, doth serve
to reprove all such as are careless of their company,
that can use as much familiarity, and shew as good
a countenance to the worst, and make them as
welcome as the best, be they what they ■\\ill be,
Papists or Atheists ; yea, let them be as profane as
Esau, he is, notwithstanding, for their comjiany ;
but by this means they do little think that they do
hazard both faith and a good conscience, and cause
the godly themselves to suspect them, that they are
but profane. And indeed it cannot be otherwise ;
but if they themselves did make any conscience of
sin, they would likewise make conscience of the
occasions of sin, whereof what can be worse than
lewd company, who are ready to make a mock at
every good duty, and whose nature is to have other
men to ' run into the same excess of riot ' vnth
themselves ? 1 Pet. iv. 4. Yea, when a man or a
woman hath some good things in them, as to love
the word of God, to like of God's faithful ministers,
to delight in prayer, &c., in comes a wicked man-
and breathes out his poison, seeking by bad counsel
and lewd persuasions to dissuade them and draw
them back. Oh, you love the minister too much.
He will make you precise. You need not take such
pains, but take your liberty. \Vliat need you be
afraid of them ? Oh, when such ■wretches step in,
and thus pour out their lewd counsels and persua-
sions, what do they else but draw men to perdition ;
especially when they do deal with such as be young
Christians, but coming on in the ways of godUness ?
And when they speak that to great personages, who
by nature are most inclined to liberty, oh what lets
are to a young Christian in the way of godliness !

Note. And when the Lord leaves a man or a
woman to listen to such cursed counsel, it is a great
sign that the Lord loves them not. So it is said
that the Lord left Absalom, that he should not
receive the good counsel of Ahithophel, because the
Lord would destroy Absalom. So it is said of Reho-
boam, that he listened only to the counsel of his
young men, because the Lord would bring his judg-
ments upon the house of Solomon.

Use 2. This should admonish all men to take
heed of such kind of men, as the very limbs of the
devil, and the messengers of Satan, who seek to draw
men from God, and from Jesus Christ, and from

Veu. 1.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON I'SALM I.

a gocUy life, to stop our ears at their lewd and
damnal)le counsels, not to hear them, nor to listen
to tliein ; yea, if it lie in our power, to remove
them, and to banish them our presence as the
greater enemies of our souls, and the messengers of
the devil, seeking to pervert and poison our poor
souls, to put our mouths out of taste, and to make
us dislike those that axe sent of God, who ought to
be most dear unto us.

Object. It ^^■ill be here objected, whether it be not
lawful upon some occasion to be in their company,
or to have dealings with i^dcked men 1

Anm-er. In some case it is lavrful, as thus —
first, That it be only for necessity, as that we
cannot avoid it in ordinary matters of this life
unless we should go out of the world ; secondly,
That we have a due calling thereunto ; thirdly,
That we be not silent at the conuuitting of sin, but
that ever we shew our dishke of tlieii- vain courses ;
and lastly, That we labour with ourselves to be
grieved at their sins, as Lot was at the Sodomites.

In the counsel of the nicked, &c.

Here the original word signifies such wicked men
as are never quiet in their minds, but evermore
musing and devising some mischief, which they may
utter and practise as occasion serves.

Doct. .3. And in tliis, note the very property of a
^\'icked and gi-aceless man. He is never at rest, but
still plotting and devising some mischief against God
or good men. This we may see by divers examples.
Ahithophel's counsel was esteemed like as one had
asked counsel at the oracle of God, 2 Sam. xvi.
The like we may see in Herod. "When he heard of
the birth of Clirist, as of a new-born king, what
policy did he use to de.stroy the Saviour of the
world ! The Scribes and Pharisees, how carefully
did they consult and take counsel together against
Christ to put liim to death, Mat. xxvi. Yea, they
brake their sleep about it. Wi\a\ the Jews (Jer.
xviii. 18) could not endiu^e Jeremiah to preach plain,
and to teU them of their sins, they therefore by-and-
by say thus : ' Come let us devise and imagine
some mischief against the prophet of the Lord. Let
us smite him \i'ith the tongue. Let us take no heed
nor give any ear to his preaching.' So Haman
de\iseth how to put Mordecai and the Jews out of
favour, by de\'ising a most ^ile accusation, Esth.

iii. So Doeg, that black-mouthed dog, devised how
to accuse David to Saul, 1 Sam. xxii. 9. So those
wicked rulers did devise to invent some mischief
against Daniel, Dan. iii. And the prophet Micah
sheweth that it is an old practice of the wicked
man to devise wicked things. In the primitive
church, the enemies of God's children, that perse-
cuted the Christians, devised this shameful slander,
that they worshipped an ass's head, &c. So, in
these days it is manifest that the de\al stirs up
vncked men to accuse God's children ; to devise
slanders and false accusations against them. The
devil hath one Doeg or other to accuse David to
Saul, to thrust him out of favour, and to bring him
into disgrace. And whenas they can say nothing
justly against them, then they begin to devise how
they may raise up some false report or other to
smite them vrith the tongue.

And the reason of this is, because they are foohsh
and ignorant. For they, not knowing the Lord, nor
understanding his ways aright, but being in this re-
spect worse than the ox that knoweth his owner,
and the ass that knoweth liis master's crib, (as the
Lord doth complain of them, Isa. i. 2,) they cannot
but do as St Paul did in the time of his ignorance,
even oppose themselves against God and his chil-
dren. And for this cause the Lord doth make his
moan for the foolishness and ignoi'auce of his people,
as of the well-spring of all their rebellions against
him, in these words, 'For my people are foolish,
they have not known me ; they are fooUsli cliildren,
and have none understanding. They are mse to do
evil, but to do well they have no knowledge.'

Use 1. Seeing we are taught here what is the
nature of wicked men, — namely, that they have in
them a restless desire to pervert the ways of the
godly, and to do some mischief, — this must teach us
fii'st of all to deal \visely and warily with them, lest ,
we be corrupted by them. We are here set as
upon a liill, or a stage, and professing Jesus Christ,
a small spot ■will be seen in our garment. It be-
hoveth us therefore to be as wise as serpents, and as
innocent as doves, Mat. x. IG, to the end we may
stop the mouths of gainsayers, and cut off occasions
from them that seek occasions. And to this end we
must evennore be mindful in our prayers, to pray
unto God to be delivered from them ; for unless we

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

be armed from .above, we sliall easily be overtaken
by their assaults, and tlirough the cornii^tions of our
own hearts, which are prone to all sin ; they deal
warily and circumspectly, tliey work by all means to
pervert our ways, and to make us twofold worse
than themselves the child of Satan. How much
more careful ought we to be to prevent them 1 which
we shall do the better by shunning the occasions of
sin.

Use 2. Secondly, We are taught here, that if we
labour to be the disciples of Christ, and to be
blessed, what entertainment we shall find in the
world, — namely, to have wicked and ungodly men
to stand in our way and hinder us, as they did stand
in Zaccheus's way, when he went forth to see Christ,
Luke xdx. If thou be once in God's presence, and
dost begin to call upon him for mercy, they will re-
buke thee, as they did the poor blind man in the
Gospel, Luke x\'iii. 39. If thou be sick, yea, dead
in trespasses and sins, and Christ doth begin to
come home to the house of thy soul to heal thee, and
to raise thee up from the death of thy sins, they will
stop his passage and entrance in if possible they can ;
as they did when Christ came to the ruler's daughter
which was dead. Mat. ix. 23. But as Christ turned
them out of doors, saying, ' Get ye hence,' so must
thou shake them off, and not communicate mth flesh
and blood, in matters that concern eternal life, and
the salvation of thy soul ; for if thou do, thou canst
never be saved. Neither must we look after the
love and lOdng of the world, nor hang upon men for
their applause and favour; for where there is not
the fear of God, surely such men are most uncon-
stant in their ways, turning upon everj' small occa-
sion ; yea, and the love and favour of such men
must needs be bent towards the worst, seeing them-
selves are bad, and set themselves in no good way.
Eemember what Christ said unto liis disciples, John
XV. 19, 'If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own ; but because ye are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you.' Wherefore as they that run
at tilt, look not to the \-ulgar people what they say,
but to the judges ; so care not thou for the world,
but look ever what the judge of heaven and earth
(loth allow and approve of

That hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked.

By counsel he here meaneth the subtleties and craft
of the -(vicked, by which they push themselves for-
ward, and labour to draw others to be like unto
themselves, according to that of Solomon, ' My son,
if sinners entice thee, consent not \into them.'
From whence we gather a fourth point of doctrine.

Doct. 4. Namely, That it is a most horrible and
grievous sin to give evil counsel. To commit sin is
that which highly offends the majestj- of God, and
draweth do'mi upon us aU punishments, both tem-
poral and eternal : but to counsel others to commit
sin is the very height of sin.

This is noted in the Scripture to be the sin of
Jezebel, who was a furtherer of Aliab's wickedness,
1 Kings xxi. 7, for when he could not by any law-
ful means attain the vineyard of Naboth, she said
unto him, ' Doest thou sway the sceptre, rule the
kingdom, and manage the state? Arise and eat
bread, I will give thee the vineyard.' This was the
counsel of Ahithophel unto Absalom, 2 Sam. x^-i. 21.
Fearing his reconciliation to his father Da'vid, and
therein his own just confusion, he gives such counsel
whereby he might take away aU hope of agreement,
' Go in to thy father's concubines, which he hath left
to keep the house, and when all Israel shall hear
thou art abhorred of thy father, the hands of all
that are with thee shall be strong.' This is likewise
set down by Solomon in the Proverbs, when he ex-
presseth the sin of seducers, sajing, Prov. i. 11,
' Come with us, let us lie in wait for the blood of
the innocents, we wiU swallow them up alive Hke a
grave even whole, as those that go down into a pit.
Cast in thy lot amongst us, we will all have one
purse ; their feet nm to evil, and they make haste to
shed blood.' And this doth appear in the brethren
of Joseph, when they purposed the overthrow of
their brother. Gen. xxx\'ii. 10, ' Come,' say they,
' let us .slay him and cast him into some pit, and we
shall say a bricked beast hath devoured him.' And
tliis appeared to be the malice of the high priests
and elders of the people, who moved the people to
desire that Barabbas might be delivered rather than
Christ, and persuaded Judas for a sum of money to
betray him : enticed the soldiers with a great sum
of money to noise it abroad that his disciples came
by night and stole him away while they slept, Mat.
xxAaii. 12. AU these testimonies, and many more.

Ver. 1,]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

may serve for the confirmation of this doctrine, that
it is a most horrible and grievous sin to give evil
counsel.

Seeing that it is a most gi'cat and grievous sin to
give e^dl counsel, this teacheth us our duty, that
whensoever they shall set upon us to draw us away
from God, that we be careful that we consent not
unto them. It is not enough for a man to say,
Alas, I demised it not, neither am I the first that
have committed the like, for this shall excuse no
man, that lie was not the author of an evil. For
surely if it be so great a sin to seduce, it is no less
sin to be seduced, and God will one day find them
no less guilty, but shall partake ^vith them of the
same punishment. If a man should have about him
a great sum of money, or other treasure, and should
wiUuigly and wittingly put himself into the com-
pany of thieves, and vnll be di-awn by them out of
the way, were tliis man to be pitied if he should
lose all that he had I Even so it is with a Christian,
that doth carry daily about with him a rich treasure,
his soul and conscience, which he must keep un-
spotted of the world ; if he listen to the charming of
the wicked, and will be dra'wn out of the way of
God's commandments to commit sin and to make
shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, is it not
just vfith God that this man should perish for the
same ? So, then, we see it standeth us in hand to
beware of consentmg to sin, and counselling others
to commit sin : for if we give our consent unto them
we are partakers vfith them in their T\-ickedness, and
shall be sure one day to have share mtb them in
their punishments.

Use 2. Secondly, Seeing the gi'\'ing of evil counsel
is so evil a sin, both in him that doth counsel an-
other, as also in liim that consenteth unto it, both
which we must carefuUy shun and avoid ; yet this
is not all, but we must also seek for the society of
the godly, that all our dehght may be in them ; we
must by all means join ourselves in friendship with
them, and make much of their assemblies. For
wth the upright thou shalt learn to be upright.
This Solomon teacheth us, ' He that walketh -(nth
the wise shall be wiser.' It is, indeed, a rare thing
to find a man that ^vill counsel others to follow god-
liness, and therefore such as do are much to be re-
spected ; love him as the dearest friend that ^rill

direct thee in the ways of salvation, and be a guide
unto thee in the path that shall lead unto life. Let
it be far from thee to be ashamed to follow the coun-
sel of such as are discreet and godly, it is not mate-
rial who they be, whether our superiors, or equals,
or oui- inferiors, for the counsellor is not so much
to be regarded as the counsel. If it be holy, just,
and good, receive it as from God, who thus speaketh
unto thee by his servant. If it be evil, reject it as
coming from the devil, who speaketh by liis instra-
ments.

That hath not walked, &c.

The last thing that we have now to consider out of
the first part of the description of a godly man is
this, ' He hath not walked,' &c. By walking, the
prophet Da\id here meaneth (according to an usual
metaphor in Scripture) a common, usual course of a
man's behaviour, or their ordinary trade of life.
And the word which is here used is rendered in a
tense or time, which, in the own tongue, noteth a
continuance of walldng, even all the days of then-
life. For otherwise who can say his heart is free,
but that at some time or other the counsel or bad
example of the mcked hath prevailed with him ;
but that is not meant here in this place, when a
man hath withdrawn himself from their lewd con-
versations, and betaken himself to the ways of God's
commandments. From whence we gather a twofold
doctrine : first, that the falls, slips, and infirmities
of God's cliilcben are many and great, which many
times they fall into, and yet cannot piroperly be said
to walk in them, because they rise daily out of the
same; and secondly, That 'to walk,' it is said of
the godly, in respect of God's commandments, be-
cause, as it is in the second verse, ' here is their de-
light."

JJocf. 5. It is most true that there are the seeds
of all sin whatsoever, naturally rooted and inbred with
us, which, if they be not prevented, are ready to
break out upon any occasion that shall be ofiered.
And howsoever the godly do desire to please God,
and endeavour to serve God in truth and sincerity
of heart, yet do they often stumble in their race,
through the bui'den that presseth down, and the sin
that hangeth on so fast. This trath is confessed by
Solomon in his worthy prayer at the dedication of
the temple, 1 Kings \aii. 46, ' If any man sin against

SAMUEL SMITH ON TSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

thee, (for there is none that sinueth not,) if he turn
again with all his heart,' itc. Again, Job xv. 14,
' What is man that he should be clean, and he that
is bom of a woman that he should be just 1 ' Again,
' All are gone out of the way, they are all corrupt,
there is none that doeth good, no not one,' Ps. xiv.
Most woeful and fearful was the fall of David, as
the Scripture hath recorded it, 2 Sam. xi. It may
seem very strange that a man as Da\'id was, even
after God's own heart, could possibly fall so far as
he did. For if we consider the circumstances and
degrees of his sin, it ^nll appear that (final impeni-
tence excepted) a reprobate could scarce commit a
greater. For first he committed adultery with
Uriah's wife ; when this was done he glavereth and
flattereth with the woman's husband, and bade
him go home to refresh himself with his wife, think-
ing thereby to father the bastard on him. \^1len
this succeeded not he went further, and unto his
adultery he added murder, that he might bear, as
the grief of it in his heart, so the shame of it in Iris
forehead. And in this he wrought worse than Jeze-
bel, for he makes Uriah the messenger to carry the
letters for his own execution. What shall I say of
Noali, of Lot, Peter, &c. ? I need not to stand on
this doctrine, seeing woeful experience in all the
godly doth prove it to be true.

Use 1. It may teach us that we be not too rash in
judging and condemning our bretliren. We see by
this that hath lieen delivered that the dear child of
God may fall most grievously and lowly, and yet be
restored again to the favour of God, because he
doth not walk on in sin, as the wicked do. But
whensoever, through the temptations of Satan, or
'the frailty of his own flesh, he falls into sin, forth-
with with Peter he goes out of that sin, and weeps
bitterly for the same. And therefore, as St James
saith : chap. iv. 1 2, ' Who art thou that judgeth
another man ? ' We may not set bounds and limits
to God's mercy, to say that any shall finally be
damned, howsoever a man may be in the state of
damnation for a time, — this were to sit in God's
chair. Let us all acknowledge ourselves to be but
men, and let none usurp the authority of God's
iudgment. Let us therefore consider what we our-
selves are before we cast our eyes upon other men ;
for they are the most sharp and severe judges of

their brethren that forget then- own infirmities.
And I doubt not but all the children of God do
know by ex]3erience in themselves how hai'dly sin
is subdued and mastered in them. How many
sighs and groans it requireth, how many prayers
and tears doth it cost them ! AVhat a striving and
struggling they have mthin themselves to keep it
under, and yet for all this it is very hardly sub-
dued ; so that the knowledge of our own weakness
and unwortluness must arm us with meekness to-
wards our brethren.

Use 2. By the rule of this doctrine we are admon-
ished to be very wary and cii'cumspect over our-
selves. Did David fall, did Lot, Noah, Peter, &c.,
fall? Oh, whither shaU we faU if God do but a
little leave us to ourselves 1 VTho dare presume of
his own strength and worthiness, when such worthy
pillars as these have been shaken? Yea, the
lamentable shipwreck of such men as these may
make us to fear a tempest before it do come. It is
the devil's crafty counsel and subtle poUcy to make
us overween ourselves, and to make us boast and
presume of ourselves. For the devil doth know full
well that this lifting of a man up, is the very next
way to tumble and throw him down ; as Solomon
saith, ' Pride goeth before destruction, and an high
mind before the fall,' Prov. xvi. 18. And therefore
acloiowledging our o^vn want of strength, and our
own inability to stand ^vithout the assistance of
God's Spiiit, let us ' not be high-minded, but fear,'
Eom. xi. 20. And this we have seen that the falls
and sHps of God's cliildi'en are many and great,
which notwithstanding cannot hinder their happi-
ness, because they icalk not in them, — that is, they
make it not their continual practice to live and de-
light in sin.

Dod. 6. Now we are come to the second, which
doth note imto us that the godly man, who shall
be traly happy and blessed indeed, is so far from
making his life a life of sin, as that he doth rather
in the whole course of the same walk wth God in
obedience.

For therefore indeed is our course of new life
compared to a ivay, to shew that the godly must
always be walking in it from the beginning of their
course unto the end of the same. It was the com-
mendations of Enoch and Noah that, notwithstand-

Vek. 1.]

SA5IUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

i:ig the days and times ■vvliereiii they lived were
dangerous, j-et they ' walked with God,' Geu. v. 22 ;
vi. 9, — that is, they considered more the command-
ments of God, what he had appomted, than what
was practised ; and desired rather to be approved of
God through their obedience, than through their
disobedience to piu'chase the favour of men. It was
the charge given by God unto Abraham, 'Walk
before me,' Gen. xvii. 1, — that is, let it ever be thy
care, that seeing I am present everywhere and privy
to all thy counsels, that thou walkest as in my sight.
And this was the best testimony that Solomon
could give of his father Da\'id, that 'he walked
before God in truth and m righteousness,' 1 Kings
iii. 6. Yea, this did minister comfort to godly
Hezekiah, when he thought he should die : ' Re-
member, Lord, that I have walked before thee in
truth,' Isa. xxx"\dii. 3. And to this agTeeth that of
the Apostle Paul, who ' forgat that which was
behind, and endeavoured himself to that which was
before, and followed hard towards the mark, to the
prize of the high caUiug of God in Jesus Clirist,'
Phil. iii. 12. He was not like unto a vain and
foolish man who, miming in a race, will be ever and
anon looking back to see how much gi-ound he had
rid ; but his eye was always upon the mark or goal,
to consider how much he had to run, how far off
he was from perfection, and what he had more to
do in his Cliristian com-se, that he might finish the
same with joy. It is the end that makes all : ' He
that shall endure to the end shall be saved.' Our
Sa\'ioui' saith not there, that he that endureth for a
season, but he that contiuueth to the end ; not
every one that fighteth, but he that overcometh shall
receive a crown of life. These examples do show us
how the godly have walked ; and these and the like
precepts teach us we should walk so as in the end
we may be blessed.

Use 1 . Hence we ai'e taught this lesson, that we must
never be weary of well-doing ; seeing that persever-
ance only hath the promise of reward, we must not
depart out of the Egj^t of sin, and then with the
Israehtes, and with Lot's wife, look back to the
Sodom of theii- sins, but remember that thou owest
unto God all thy days. ' The trees planted in the
Lord's house, bring forth fniit in their age,' Ps. xcii.
1 3 ; and they which do not so shall be ' \\(i\n\ down

and cast into the fire,' Mat. iii. 10. It was the com-
mendation of the church of Thyatira, that her
'works were more at last than at first,' Rev. ii. 19,
a reproof of their folly who, ha\ing kept the path
of righteousness for a time, do after walk in no good
way, but think with one jump to leap into heaven
with a Lord, have mercy on me, at the last. But know,
thou vain man, that thou must walk in the way,
— that is, thou must use all good means for the at-
taining of life and salvation, thou must hear the
word diUgently and carefully, pray, read, &c.

I doubt not but the serious thinking upon this,
that God challengeth every day at our hands, yea,
all the days of our Hfe, to be spent in his sci-vice,
win refoi-m many cori-uptions in us. For, alas ! the
care of the most is how they may keep credit with
men, though they purchase God's displeasure, which
will then stand such in little stead, when all things
shall come to receive their due trial; even 'every
work done in the body, whether it be good or evil,'
2 Cor. V. 10. And thus much for the first part of
the description of a godly man negatively, ' He doth
not walk in the counsel of the wicked.'
Nor stand in the way of sinners.
That is, a godly man doth not settle himself to
hve as wicked men do, nor frame his life after their
lewd example ; where we are to observe two points.
First, That there is a way of sinners, in which the
ungodly stand. Secondly, That the godly stand not
in it.

First, then. That there is a way of sinners, in the
which they stand and live. It is very apjJarent,
called in the Scriptures by divers names ; as by the
name of the way of the ungodly. ' The Lord know-
eth the way of the righteous, but the way of the
■wicked shall perish.'

Doct. 1. It is tenned an evil way, the way of
lying, a wicked way, &c. And by these ways we
are stOl to understand the bourse of life and conver-
sation of the wicked ; wherein we are taught this
doctrine, that notwithstanding all the means that
God and man doth use to the contrary, the wicked
man will still persist and go on in sin, which is here
understood out of the word stand. This appeareth
in the example of Cain, albeit he were admonished
and reproved of God for his wrath and malice con-
ceived against his brother, Gen. iv. G ; vet for all

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

that, Cain will please himself in his own way, and
never rest till he have shed the innocent blood of
his own brother. This is seen Ukewise in the ex-
ample of the old world, when the Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great, and all the imagina-
tions of the thoughts of his heart were only evil con-
tinually, and how they pleased themselves in this
way, the Lord stirred up Noah, the preacher of
righteousness, who warned them from God ; yet
they would continue still in their own ways, gi'ving
themselves to nothing but eating and driuking, and
all excess, till the flood came and swept them clean
away, Gen. vi. 5. This is clear Ukewise by the ex-
ample of Pharaoh, on whom all means were assayed
for his conversion, Exod. ix. 10 ; for what could the
Lord do unto him that he did not 1 He sent Moses
and Aaron unto him, warning him from God to let
the people of Israel go, and to that end sent judg-
ment upon judgment, one ujjon the neck of another,
even ten in number ; yet for all tliis, Pharaoh chose
rather to continue still in his o^vn way, and would
none of the Lord's. So it is that saying of Solomon,
Prov. xxvii. 22, ' Bray a fool m a mortar, yet will
not his foolishness depart from him.' And no mar-
vel, for the spirit of slumber hath so covered their
eyes, that they cannot see ; and then- hearts are so
possessed with spiritual fornication, which makes
them thus to go a-whoring from God, even haled
with the fury of then' own aifections, snared of the
devil, and taken of him at his ^vill. Oh miserable
and unhappy condition ! Fearful is the woe that
lies upon all those that thus walk in their own ways.
For most certain it is, that ' they who are Christ's
have crucified the flesh with the afiections and lusts,'
so far, as that they have made choice of the Lord's
way, howsoever many times they may stumble and
fall in walking therein. But of the wicked it may
truly be said of them, ' The way of peace have they
not known.'

Use 2. We heard before, that we ought not to pro-
ceed so far with any, as to judge of their final estate
and condition ; for that were to sit in God's chair,
and to take his oflice upon him. Yet to say of some,
that they are in the state of damnation and, unless
they repent, shall perish for ever, doubtless this is
not unhwful ; for as love bids me not to determine
too soon, so not to be abused too late. God bids me

look upon the tree, and judge of the fruit. I may
say thou art in the state of damnation, for I see thy
heart through thy hand. But whether thou shalt
finally be damned, there I leave thee ; for God may
have mercy upon thee upon thy last repentance. I
may come to a tree, and say. Here is Httle fruit ; or,
Here is no fruit ; or. Here is bad fruit. But I can-
not say, Never fruit grow on it more. But alas,
alas, this is not all, this is not all that wicked men
are thus discovered to men, but that the Lord will
find them out, and give them their portion in the
lake of fii-e. And indeed, this is that that ought to be
a terror to all the wicked and ungodly to consider,
that as their hearts ai'e hardened and their con-
sciences seared, so the plagues and punishments of
God attend upon them. ' If thou walk stubbornly
against me, and wilt not obey me, I will bring
seven times more plagues upon thee, according to
thy sins,' Lev. xxvi. Let us all then, as we tender
the salvation of our own souls, take heed unto our
paths, that we stand not in the way of sinners, that
we sin not with delight and dehberation ; it is the
very brand of a reprobate, and such alone as God
hath forsaken, ' Take heed, therefore, that there be
not in any of you an evil heart to depart from the
living God.' And thus much for the first point of
doctrine ; that there is a way of sinners, in which
the wicked walk, which leadeth unto death.

Dod. 2. The second point of doctrine that doth
now ofier itself to our consideration is this, that a
godly man doth not settle himself to live as the
wicked do, nor frames liis life after his lewd ex-
ample, which is here meant, when the prophet saith,
' He doth not stand in the way of sinnere.' Yea, it
is altogether impossible for a godly man, and one
that is truly regenerate, to have in him a full pur-
pose to sin, and to live in sin yriih deliberation, and
to delight in the same. For a purpose to Hve in
any known sin, is a sign of a kicked man and a
gi-aceless heart, as when a man is told of his sm, of his
ignorance and carelessness in God's service, praying,
hearing, &c., yet still he will be careless and negli-
gent in the same. So when a man is reproved for
his swearing, yet stiU will swear ; when a man is
reproved for profaning the Sabbath, yet will profane
it ; when a man is reproved for his uncleanness,
drunkenness, malice, &c., and yet for all that will

Ver. 1.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

continue in those sins. Surely this purpose to stand
in the way of the sinners, is a fearful sign of a -wicked
man, and is fai" from a godly man, and one that is
truly sanctified, which shall be blessed for ever
more. It was a cursed speech of a cursed wretch,
' I know not the Lord, neither will I let the chil-
dren of Israel go,' Exod. v. 2. This was the case of
those rebellious Jews spoken of by Jeremiah, 'We will
not hear, nor do, but as we list, &c., as we have
done,' Jer. xliv. 1 6. And this was that which made
the case of Herod so fearful, that notwithstanding
he heard John Baptist willingl}% and did many
things at his request, all which were good things
in him, yet for all that he would not leave his
adulter}', but continue in it, Mark -vi. 20 ; which
purpose to sin, of all things is far from a godly
man, as St John saith, ' He that is born of God
sinneth not,' 1 John iii. 9, — that is, ivith whole con-
sent, but in pai-t, and man being partly flesh and
partly spirit, as he is regenerate, sin proceeds not from
him, but as he is flesh. As for the wicked, it is
not so with them ; for it is meat and drink to a
wicked man to do the works of the devil. It is
worth even our best consideration what is said of
the Apostle Paul, Acts ix. 1, that he once 'breathed
out threateniugs and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord.' But when was this 1 Even in the
time of his ignorance ; but afterwards he preached
the same gospel which before he persecuted, and
laboured ever after all the days of his life, to buUd
up the church of God which before he laboured to
pull do^vn> And this appears in Da\'id, in Peter, in
Mai J Magdalene, &c., who after they had once
escaped the snares of the de^-il, dedicated ever after
their whole life to the service of God. This exlior-
tation doth the apostle give to the Ephesians,
' Ye were once darkness, but now are light in the
Lord; walk as children of the light,' Col. iii. 7,
Eph. V. 8. By these and the like examples it doth
appear, that the godly stand not in the way of
sinners, — that is, take no liberty to themselves to
live in the custom and practice of any known sin.

Use 1. This may sen-e, in the first place, to re^
prove such kind of sinners as are so far from leaving
their sins and walldng with God in obedience of
life that they are not ashamed to defend their sins.
Tell the swearer of liis swearing and blaspheming of

the name of God, he will answer, Aat he hopeth he
may swear so long as he sweoi-s nothing but the
truth. TeU the covetous man of his covetousness,
he -ft-ill answer for it, he must make the best of his
own, and he must be a good husband. So tell the
drunkard of his drunkenness and fearful abusing of
the good creatures of God, liis answer is. It is in
Idndness and good fellowship. Tell the proud man
of his pride and strange attires, his answer is. It is
the fashion, and he doth but as others do. Is not
this to stand in the way of sinners ? Is not this to
commit sin with delight, and to say as Pharaoh,
Herod, and the Jews, Exod. ix., Mark vi., Jer.
xliv., We will not repent, we will not leave our sins,
but continue in them, let God and man say what
they wiLl; yea, this is but to pay one debt by
another, and as the apostle saith, ' Heap Up wrath
against the day of ^vi'ath,' Eom. iv.

Use 1. We are all here admonished, as we love otii'
own souls, to take heed of this, that we never sin
with an high hand against God, wittingly and Avill-
ingly. But if we hear sin reproved let us leave it,
be it ever so pleasant or profitable, let us be like
that good king Josiah, 2 Kings xxii., who hearing
the book of the law read unto him, his heart melted
within him and he wept for his sins ; for so long as
we have in us a purpose to live in sin, it is impossible
that we should ever fear God or truly repent. Let
us pray with David, Ps. xix. 12, 13, 'Lord, keep
thy servant from presumptuous sin.' And let us
know, that if we regard, that is to say, love wicked
men to our hearts, and have a purpose to live in sin,
God will not regard our prayers, nay, all we do is
abomination to the Lord. Say now therefore unto
laughter, ' Thou art mad ; ' pronounce the ways of
the wicked to be but vain ; say unto thy own soul,
I will have nothing to do with the ways of iniquity^
And this will give thee courage when thou shalt
come to look Clirist Jesus in the face, when thou
canst say with the apostles, ' Lord, I have forsaken
all to follow thee,' Mat. xix. 27. Oh, blessed is
the servant whom his master when he cometh shall
find so doing. Mat. xxiv. 46.

Use 5. Last of all, we leai-n here a notable differ-
ence between the child of God regenerate and a
wicked man. He that is bom of God and truly
regenerate, he doth not commit sin with full puqjose

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

and consent of ^'ill, but against liis will, so as he
can truly say with Paul, ' The evil that I would not
do, that do I,' Kom. vii. 15, — that is, I am drawn
through the coniiption of natiu'e and the tempta-
tions of Satan to do that exH which I hate and con-
demn. But the wicked man sms with full consent
and purpose. I sin and would not sin, saith the
godly man : I sin and will sin, saith the wicked
man. Yea, what sendee soever the regenerate man
doth give unto sin it is like that service that Israel
gave unto Pharaoh in Egypt, compelled and wrung
out from them by oppression, which made them sigh
and cry unto God to be eased of the same. But the
service which he doth give unto the Lord is volun-
tary and cheerful. Well, to end this point, this is
the sum : — know this, whosoever thou art, that if
thou ' stand in the way of shiners,' — -that is, takest
liberty to thyself to live in any known sin, thou
canst have no assurance that thou art yet within
the covenant of grace, blessedness is no paii. of thy
portion : he must become a new creature that shall
enter into new Jerusalem. And thus much for the
second part of the description of a godly man, nega-
tively, he doth not stand in the way of sinners.

Nw sit in the seat of the scornful.

By 'seat of the scornful' he meaneth here the
fellowship and society of the ungodly. So that the
meaning of the prophet Da\'id here in tliis place is,
that the godly man, who shall be this blessed man
here spoken of, \vill not converse with those men,
nor be familiar with those that make a mock of all
religion, and openly profess all impiety ; and the
word sitting doth import such an habit and custom
in evU, that a man meaneth not to change his mind.
In which words, as in the foi-mer, we are to consider
the two points : first, that there is a seat of the
scornful, m the wliich the -vvicked sit ; and secondly,
that the godly do not sit in it.

For the first, the Scriptures discover unto us a
tlireefold chair or seat : first, of justice, and such a
one may that throne seem to be which Solomon
erected, 1 Kings x\T.ii.

The second is of doctiine, as our Savioiu' Christ
saith of the Scribes and Pharisees, 'They sit in Moses'
chair,' Mat. xxiii. 3.

Thirdly, we read of a seat or chaLr of the scornful,
spoken of in this psalm.

This sin of scorning hath its first being from the
root of pride, which is the root from whence this
sin of scornmg doth spring ; and, indeed, it is the
fruit of pride, and it is the nature of men who are
tainted mth this sin of pride to suppose that they
are better than others, and therefore in regard of
themselves they do condemn and despise another.
If they have wealth they despise any other that is
poorer than themselves. Honour makes them swell
in disdain of their poor brethren ; their wisdom,
learning, strength, beauty, friends, eloquence, all
these lift men up with pride, and makes them to
scorn those that are under them. ^Vnd this comes
to pass, not in respect of riches themselves, or hon- ^
our, or beauty, or the Uke, but in respect of our 1
corrupt nature, which is so ready to abuse them to
our own condemnation. But, O man, why art thou
thus puffed up with pride ? thou wast but earth, thou
ai-t but flesh, thou shalt be but worms' meat ; I pray,
what gi'eat cause hath earth, or flesh, or worms' meat
to be proud 1 We were all of us born in sin, we
live in misery, and we shall die in corraption.
What cause hath sin, or miseiy, or corruption to be
proud, but to be humbled 1 Besides the manifold in-
firmities that we ai'e subject unto here, and the mnu-
merable diseases that are ready to happen unto us
in this life. All teaching us tliis same lesson, to
be humble and lowly of mind.

And in this seat the mcked and ungodly do ease
themselves and take their delight, as sometimes
Babylon did, who vaunted so much that she did
' sit as queen, and should see no mournmg,' as it
were in scorn of all that God could do unto her.

And this was the case of cursed Pharaoh, who
seemed to mock God to his face when he said, ' I
know not the Lord, neither will I let the children
of Israel go,' Exod. ix. So then the doctrme that
we gather hence from the text is this ; —

Dod. 3. That evil men do not usually make a
stay in sin when at first they have committed it,
but they proceed by degi-ees to be worse and worse.
Falling from one mischief to another : first, the
devU will suggest evU thoughts mto a man, liis evil
thoughts do toll on consent, consent breedeth action,
action bringeth custom, and custom begetteth a
necessity in sinning, which is the forerunner of
death. Tliis appeareth in Cain, ui Pharaoh, and in

Ver. 1 J

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

Judas, wlio by steps and degrees in sinning, came
at the last to be hardened in sin. As in Judas, who
was at fii'st a cunning dissembler ; secondly, a secret
thief ; thirdly, a bold liar ; fourthly, a traitor ; and
lastly, a reprobate. And thus a ivicked man, as it
is in the psalm, ' They fall fi-om one -wickedness to
another ; ' and as we see it clear here iu the words of
this text, from walking to standing, and from stand-
ing stock-still in sin, at length through custom
come to lie down and wallow in sin. Oh, happy
then is that man that sinneth least ! yea, next, he
that returneth unto God soonest ; but most woeful
is the estate of him that goeth on in sin, that with
Aliab hath ' sold himself to work wickedness in the
sight of the Lord.' For mark what folio weth, Jer.
xiii. 2.3, 'Can the^ blackamoor change his skin, or
the leojjard his spots ? Then may they do good who
have accustomed themselves to do e\'il.' Where the
prophet sheweth that custom in sinning is almost
an incurable disease. This is a lamentable estate,
and this is a fearful judgment of God, for a man thus
to be left over to himself, to fall thus from one evil
to another, and to heap together a great measure
against the day of wrath, Ps. Ixxxi. 11. And the
cause of all this in a man is his disobedience to-
wards his God ; for this doth the jirophet make clear
when he saith, ' My people would not hear my voice,
and Israel would have none of me ; so I gave them
up unto hardness of heart, and they have walked in
their own counsels.' Where the prophet David
sheweth that seeing they would not be reclaimed
and reformed, as in mercy towards them the Lord
Almighty vouchsafed them the means of reformation,
his word ; therefore the Almighty gave them over
unto the hardness of their own hearts, that so they
might ' fill wp the measure of their iniquities,' 1
Thes. ii. 16, and that the just ^vrath and vengeance
of the Almighty might then fall upon them.

Use 1. Hence we are taught how dangerous a
thing it is to give any entertainment unto sin at the
first ; it ^vill bring a man to the height of sin in the
end, even openly to profess it, and to practise it
with dehght and greediness. Custom iu sin taketh
away all sense of sin, so as by custom men come to
judge of sin to be no sin ; yea, it makes it very
natural to a man, so as such men who at first would
have been ashamed to have been seen amongst lewd

company, yet by custom have gotten such a habit of
sin, that they have grown to be veiy impudent and
shameless ; like Tamar, who at the first did play the
whore with a veil, as being ashamed to be seen, but
afterwards grew more impudent. So many a man
would have blushed to have been heard swear, to be
seen dnink, to be found in unchaste company, but
through custom have grovni so impudent, that after-
wards would blush at nothing. And when a man
takes the chair of sin and sits down in it, and hath
got a custom, and taken delight in sin, how hard a
thing is it for a man to leave that sin ! He that
hath got a habit and custom of swearing, as he
grows shameless in it, so how hardly doth he leave
it ! Even so of drunkenness, &c. A nail knocked
into a post wth many blows is hardly pulled out ;
and sin often committed, and gro%\Ti familiar vntli a
man through custom, is hardly left. Custom is like
a strong stream, it cameth a man into all sin with
violence ; and as a man by continual labour so har-
deneth liis hand that it becometh senseless, so cus-
tom in sin hardeneth the heart, that a man's con-
science becometh senseless.

This must teach us to repent betimes, not to
sufl'er sin to come to such a head, that it is more
likely to master a man than a man it ; for if thou
dost not repent this day, thou wilt find it harder
to repent to-moiTow ; thyself groweth weaker, thy
iniquity stronger.

N'ote. Custom is a tyrant which will hardly be re-
sisted ; therefore it shall be thy wisdom to repent
with speed, to delay no longer, but while it is called
to-day to break off thy sins, and to turn to God for
mercy.

Use 2. We are taught hence, that seeing wicked
men grow worse and worse, adding sin unto sin, and
committing all iniquity, even with greediness, so
their damnation doth not sleep, but they draw
nearer and nearer their destruction. Yea, the judg-
ment of Almighty God follows them at then- heels,
and in the end will overtake them. Thus it was
with the old world. AVliat a heap of sins had they
gathered together, adding sin unto sin, as di-unken-
ness unto thirst ! But when the measure of then-
iniquity was full, the Lord God was at hand with
his judgments, and they could not escape. This was
the case of the sinful Sodomites, whose sins cried up

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 1.

to heaven for vengeance, Gen. xviii. Howsoever
they might glut themselves with sin, and drink down
iniquity like water, it was but for a season ; the Lord
would be no longer provoked by their wicked and
sinful lives, but sent down fire and brimstone from
heaven upon them. Every sin doth help somewhat
to increase the weight, and to fiU up the measure,
of a wicked man's iniquity, Mat. xii. 36. Aiid that
God which keepeth a register of the works, and who
will one day give unto every man according unto his
works, and when they shall go the way of all flesh,
they shall then say, ' What hath pride profited us,
and what hath the pomp of riches brought us to ? '
When they shall see, that all the days of their life
they have wearied themselves in vain, and then shall
be plunged into irrevocable and intolerable torments.

Use 3. This may serve to reprove such as, reljing
Upon their own writers,^ knowledge, strength, and
godliness, dare converse and keep company with
notorious atheists, pajnsts, mock-gods, swearers,
swaggerers, dnmkai'ds, &c. By which means it is
just with God, they not shunning the occasions of
Bin, are perverted by them to their own destruction.
And no less Avorthy of reproof are those kind of men
or women, that link themselves or their children in
marriage with such as be vile, wicked, profane, and
irreligious. Alas, what agreement is there between
Christ and Belial, God and the devU, light and
darkness, a beUever and an infidel, to have such
near conjunction and fellowship with them ? How
can such escape, and not be polluted wth their sin ?
And because men and women in tliis match make
no better choice, but maiTy for love of money,
beauty, or the like, rather than for reHgion, virtue,
or for the fear of God, it cometh to pass, that they
live together most uncomfortable and in great dis-
contentment.

Nor sit in the seal of scorn ers.

By scorners in this place are meant such wicked
men as are both hardened in sin, and live a wicked life;
such as are become stubborn and rebellious sinners,
professing all impiety, contemning God and man,
such as being confirmed with the long practice of
sin and a bad life, have got a habit of sin, and can
do nothing else but sin, and despise all good duties,
and make a scoff at all religion.

' Query, 'virtues?' — EJ.

Docf. 2. Hence we learn this doctrine, tliat this
is the property of a notorious lewd and wicked man,
to make a mock of all piety and godhness, to make
a mock of all religion, and every Christian duty.
And such a man is come unto a wonderful height of
sin, and is notoriously mcked and ungodly. So it
is said, that cursed Ham mocked his father Noah,
and Ishmael mocked godly Isaac, because, as it is like,
Ishmael seeing godly Isaac performing some holy
duty of religion, prayer, thanksgiving, or the like,
he laughed him to scorn. The Athenians mocked
Paul, 'What will this babbler say f Acts xra. 18.
So the Scribes and Pharisees mocked our Saviour
Christ, saying, ' Hail ! King of the Jews,' Mark xxvi.
28. The Jews mocked St Peter's sennon, saying,
' These men are full of new ivine,' Acts ii. 12. The
children of Bethel mocked Elisha the prophet, saying,
' Go up, thou bald head,' 2 Kings ii. 22. Tliis was
the complaint of godly Jeremy, ' Lord, I am in
derision daily, every one mocketh me,' Jer. xx. 7.
And as it was, so it is stUl, and will be, the world
is full of such lewd and wicked men, such mock-
gods, that mock and mow at all good duties, scoflBng
and scorning all religion, flouting and misusing J
God's faithful ministers, rail upon them and revile I
them ; j'ea, if any man fear God, make conscience of
good duties, to hear the word of God diligently
and carefully, to read, pray in family, &c. ; and
will not swear with the swearer, drink with the
dninkard, and run with wicked men into all excess
of riot ; this man shall be mocked and pointed at,
and called at by the name of Puritan and Precisian, j
and I know not what, and can very hardly endure
their company. Now these kind of men, these
scoflSng Ishmaels, and cursed Hams, though they
seem to be never so honest and civil, j-et the word
of God paints them out in their colours, as the
most Aole and wicked men that Uve in the world,
because they contemn and despise, they mock and
scorn God's word, and those that be most dear unto
God.

Use 1. Let all such scorners and scofling mates
take heed, for as they be most abominable in the
sight of Almighty God, so they seldom or never es-
cape unpunished. Look on that ciu-sed Ham,
scoffijig Ishmael ; behold God's vengeance upon
those two-and-forty youngsters that mocked the

Ver. 2.1

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

prophet Elisha. What became of them that mocked
and misused the prophets of the Lord ? What he-
came of those that mocked and misused our Sa\'iour
Christ?

And let men but observe it, and mark it well, and
they shall clearly see some token or other of God's
vengeance upon the heads of such scoffing ■\VTetches ;
yea, let all such wicked men know that they be too
much their own foes, in that they hate the godly,
mock God's ministers, rail upon his servants ; they
fare the better for them every day they rise. What-
soever wicked and ungodly men have and enjoy, it
is for the godly's sake ; for if it were not for them,
their sakes, the sun would scarce shine upon them,
the heavens would fall upon them, the earth would
open her mouth and swallow them, the fire would
burn them, the water would dro\\Ti them, and all
the creatures of God would ann themselves against
them. And therefore the children of God (as one
saitli) are like a piece of cork cast into the sea full of
nails ; the cork bears them up, which otherwise
would sink of theifiselves one by one. Now, then,
what a folly and madness is this, to hate them, to
mock them, and to misuse them, by whom they fare
the better every day they rise 1

Seeing wicked men are so ill affected to God and
his children, because they love the de\'il, and be liis
vas.sals, and these belong to God ; let us herein be
like to God our Father, and most unUke -ndcked
men ; let us love God's children, and make much of
those that fear the Lord, and let us delight in their
company ; for as the former is a sign of a notorious
wicked man, so this is a sign of a godly man. He
' despiseth a vile person, and maketh much of those
that fear the Lord,' Ps. xv. 4. Again, ' Hereby we
know that we love God, if we love the brethren,'
1 John iii. Again, ' All my delight is in the saints,
and such as excel in ^drtue.' Such as be rehgious,
fear God, and hve a godly life ; these are to be be-
loved, be they never so poor. It is lamentable to
see the course of the world. Let a lewd man come
into company, — that is, notorious wicked, an atheist,
a blasphemous wretch, one that laughs at God and
all goodness, a drankard, or the Uke, — this man
shall be too welcome, and we will eat and diink^and
be merry with him. But let a gocUy man, a prophet
of the Lord, a faithful and zealous minister, come

into our company, we are weary of him, we cannot
endure his company, he mars all our mirth, we can-
not be merry for him. Thus men say. Oh hell-
hounds and wicked wretches ! thou mayest as well
say, thou canst not be merry when God is present.
' He that despiseth you despiseth me.' These men
only dehght in the devU and his cursed instruments.
And thus much for the first of the description of
a godly man, negatively described. He doth not
' walk in the counsel of the wicked.' He doth not
' stand in the way of sinners,' nor he doth not ' sit in
the seat of the scorners.'

Ver. 2. But hk delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law he doth meditate hath day and night.

Hitherto we have heard a godly man described ;
first, negatively, shewing what evils he doth most
carefully shun and avoid. Now he cometh to his
description affirmatively, shewing what good things
he doth most carefully embrace and follow.

1. In tliis description, first note the Christian duty
and holy practice of a godly and righteous man, —
namely, to be much and often in serious and Chris-
tian meditation.

2. Secondly, The object of liis study, not his plea-
sures, preferments, or profit, as most carnal men do,
which mind nothing but earthly tilings, but he is
conversant in the Holy Scriptures, doth seriou.sly
study the word of God, his rneditation is concerning
the law, — that is, the heavenly doctrine which shews
the will of God and his worsliip, what man must
and ought to beheve and do to eternal life.

3. Thirdly, The circumstance of times is carefully
to be considered, for the godly man doth not now
and then, by starts and fits, like a man in an ague,
read, study, and meditate the word and doctrine of
God, but it is his daily study and continual exercise ;
not that we should imagine he doth nothing else,
but the meaning is, he settetli some time apart daily
to serve God, some time to read, some time to hear,
and some time to meditate ; yea, oftentimes he be-
stoweth some part of the night, when some be at
rest and sleep, and bestoweth it on God's service,
setting liis mind on heaven and heavenly tilings.

First, In that the Spirit of Almighty God de-
scribeth a godly man, not only by leaving and avoid-
ing lewd company and the counsel of the wicked.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

[Ver. 2.

but also by living well aiul framing liimself to study
the Scriptures and to lead his life thereafter.

Dod. 1. Hence I gather this doctrine, that it is not
sufficient for the leading of a godly hfe, wliich may
both please God and bring comfort to a man's own
soul, not to abstain from evil, but he must also do
well : not only not to do evil but to do good ; it is
not enough to prove a man to be a godly man and a
sound Christian, that he carefully shun and avoid
the lewd counsel and company of wicked men, but
he must also be as careful to meditate in the law of
God day and night. And therefore, as in this place,
so usually in the Holy Scriptures, they are both
joined together, ' Cease from evil, learn to do well,'
Isa. i. 16. 'Eschew evil and do good, and thou
shalt live for ever,' Ps. xxxiv. ' The axe is put to
the root of the tree, every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit' — mark, Christ saith not only every
tree that is barren and bringeth forth no fruit, good
or bad, nor every one that bringeth forth evil fruit,
but that bringeth not forth good fruit — ' is hewn
down and oast into the fire,' Mat. iii. 10. And at
the last day the Lord will say to the wicked, ' De-
part, ye cursed,' not for robbing the poor of meat,
drink, or apparel, or casting them out of doors, but
for want of shewing mercy unto them. A Christian
life doth consist of two parts, so set down by the
apostle Paul, ' Abhor that is evil,' there is one half,
' and cleave to that is good,' Rom. xii. 9, there is
the other half. If any want the former or the
latter he is but half a Cliristian, and so shall at last
come short of a reward. And therefore there is a
privilege to all the commandments of God, that
where any vice is forbidden the contrary virtue is
commanded, and where any virtue is commanded
the contrary vice is forbidden. The owner of an
orchard is not contented that his trees bear no
naughty fruit, but if they bear not good fruit he
will hew them down as fuel for the fire. It is not
enough for Zaccheus that he be no more an extor-
tioner, but if he will become a true convert indeed
he must make restitution of that he hath wrongfully
gotten, Luke xix. 8. These, and the like examples,
make this doctrine apparent unto us, That for the
leading of a godly life it is not sufficient that a man
do no evil, ' not to walk in the counsel of the
wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in

the seat of the scornful;' but he must do good. ' His
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law
doth he meditate both day and night.'

This seems to reprove most men in the world as
no godly men indeed, nor sound Christians ; for
most men do think, if they can say, I thank God I
do nobody any liann ; I am neither wliore nor tliief ;
I am neither blasphemer, drunkard, &c., all is
then well, they be as good Christians as the best,
and shall as well be saved as the best preacher of
them all. Yea, but you see here a godly man must
not only abstain from evil, but meditate in the law
of God ; not only cease from evil, but do good.
Look on the places of Scripture before named. De-
borah pronounceth a heavy curse against Merosh,
not for hurting or hindering the people of God, but
because they did not help them against the enemies
of God ; and so the axe and curse of God shall be
upon all those that be not as careful to do good as
to eschew evil. St Paul professeth that he was a
man of an upright hfe, and one that was unrebuke-
able to the world, and yet professeth that all this
was but as dung mthout the righteousness of Christ,
Phil. iii. 4. It were good if our civO honest men (as
we call them) would consider this ; they stand upon
this, they defy all the world. "WTio can say. Black
is their eye ? they say nobody harm, nor do none.
Well, grant that they say, (wliich is impossible,)
though they could abstain from all outward evil, as
swearing, l3ang, di'unkenness, whoring, pride, en^y,
&c., so as no man could lay any of these to their
charge, yet here is but a half Christian, but one part
of this hfe, for he must not only shun e\'il, but do
good. Not only to bring forth e\'il fruit is damnable,
but not to bring forth good fruit ; and in the day of
judgment Olirist will proceed against men, not only
for doing evil, but esijecially for not douig good.

Secondly, If such as abstain from gross evils be in
danger of damnation for want of doing good, that is
to say, because they have not led a godly life, be-
stowed much time in hearing and reading the Scrip-
tures, prajdng and calling on God's name, doing
works of mercy and equity to men, how much more
those that abstain from no evil, but break out into
all kinds of wickedness and profaneness. Such as
make a mock of religion, and seldom or never come
to hear the word preached or taught, but abound in

Ver. 2.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

all kind of sin and iniquit)'. If the rich man be
damned that did not give of his bread to feed the
poor, good Lord I what shall become of those that have
taken away the bread of the poor, that all their life
have drunk down iniquity as it were water I Their
damnation doth not sleep ; ' if these things be done
to the green tree, what shall become of the dry tree ? '
In a word, if the not doing of good shall be punished
so severely, as we have heard, oh, what mil then
become of those whose Hves abound in all manner of
sin and impiety, whoredom, drunkenness, &c. 1 where
shall such sinners as these appear, if the others, which
have seemed to have been just and righteous men,
shall not be saved ? ' Oh, consider this, ye that for-
get God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none
that can deliver you,' Ps. 1. 22.

But his delight i3 in tjie latv of the Lord.

That is, the godly man, who is truly blessed and
happy, doth wonderfully love, and is greatly affected
with the word of Almighty God, and hath exceeding
delight and joy in the doctrine of God, because there
is revealed the will of God, whereuuto men must be
careful to frame and conform all their desires,
thoughts, words, and deeds, because herein is
chalked out and declared, the very highway to
eternal life and salvation.

Dod. 2. Hence, then, we are taught this doctrine,
that it is a special note and property of a godly man
to perform Christian duties to God willingly and
cheerfully, and to make them his delight and joy.

Indeed it is worthy, yea, thrice worthy to be de-
lighted in, both in regard of the author of this law,
which is God, as also in respect of the authority of
it, which is manifold. In regard of God the^ author
of it, it is to be delighted in, who is the only true
and everlasting God, ' of whom are all things, and
we in him,' 1 Cor. viii. 6. Secondly, in respect of
the authority of the same, containing in it perfect
wisdom, truth, justice, wisdom, mercy, goodness, &c.
It is called by the prophet David 'a perfect law,'
Ps. xix. 7 ; to the which if any man shall presume
to add anjiihing, ' God shall add to him the plagues
written in tliis book, and if a man shall diminish
anj-thing, God shall take away his part out of the
book of life, and from the holy city,' Eev. xxii. 18.
Here and nowhere else is to be found the true Urim
and Thummim ; the Urim, that is light, and the

Thummim, that is perfection ; and the saints of God
in all ages have esteemed highly of it.

Thus did Job, ' I esteemed thy word more than my
appointed food;' thus did David when he said, 'Lord
what love have I to all thy commandments ; all the
day long is my study in them.' And David shews his
wonderful love and account of it, by the names that
he doth give unto it, calling it doctrine, testimonies,
commandments, fear, judgments, way, statutes,
word, &c. And in another place he saith, that ' it
is more desired than gold, yea, than fine gold ; that
it is sweeter than the honey and the honeycomb.'
And this is it which the Lord himself doth require,
when he saith, ' Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is
Lord only. Arid thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with
all thy might.' And so the prophet David prayeth,
' Lord, I beseech thee, accept of the free offerings
of my mouth, and teach me thy judgments.' And
this is the rule which the apostle St Paul setteth
down when he saith, ' As every man wisheth in his
heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity,
for God loveth a cheerful giver.' Now, that which
the apostle speaketli of charity and alms, may truly
be understood of ev(A-y Christian duty; when we
pray, we must pi-ay unto God cheerfully ; when we
give thanks to God, we must do it cheerfully ; and
so of all other duties of God's worship laid down in
his word. And indeed this is it which doth put the
difference between the godly and the wicked, the
service of the one, and the service of the other.
Cain will come with his sacrifice as well as Abel,
but he brought of the worst, thinking anything to
be good enough for God, and this he did very grudg-
ingly. Whereas Abel brought of the best to sacri-
fice to God, and this he did willingly and cheerfully.
And all those duties that are not thus performed, they
have no life nor virtue in them, to give them any
grace or acceptance with God. So that we see the
outward profession is not enough to assure us of
our salvation, if it be not joined with sincerity of
heart.

Reason. Now where it is said here, that the godly
man's delight is in the law of the Lord, there is
great reason why the children of God should be
thus affected to his blessed word antl heavenly doc-
trine above all things in the world, that it should

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM 1.

[Yer. 2.

be ' sweeter unto them than the honey and the honey-
comb.'

First, Because it is the broad of life, ' it is the
power of God to salvation,' Eom. i. 16. And there-
fore it is called ' the gospel of the kingdom,' and ' the
kingdom of heaven,' Mat. xiii. 44, because it is that
whereby men are brought to eternal life, and the
kingdom of heaven.

2. Secondly, It is the effectual means and instru-
ment which the Lord useth, and hath appointed to
beget all saving grace in the hearts of his cliildren,
namely, knowledge, faith, humility, obedience, and
the like. *•

3. Thirdly, It is the bread of life, even the
heavenly manna, whereby our faith is confimied, and
our souls comforted, yea, it is the staff whereto we
must lean in all dangers, as David saith, ' I had
perished in njy trouble had it not been for thy
word,' Ps. cxix. ' And thy rod and thy staff doth
comfort me,' Ps. xxiii,

4. Fourthly, The word of God is that direction
whereby we may square aU our thoughts, words,
and deeds, as David saith, ' Thy word is a lanthorn
unto my feet, and a Ught unto my paths,' Psal. cxix.
And without this we cannot live well, but shall
wander up and down as blind men in the dark.

5. And last of all, It is the two-edged sword of
God's Spirit, whereby we must put to flight all the
temptations of the devil, so as we canno.t repel them,
or withstand them, unless we be skilful and cunning
to use this weapon.

Use 1. This doctrine may seem to reprove the
greatest part amongst us as ■wicked and ungodly, be-
cause generally men have no love unto the ^yord of
God, no delight in this heavenly doctrine ; it is not
sweet nor precious in their eyes, but rather it is irk-
some and tedious unto them, it is bitter and un-
savoury. It fareth with people in these d.-vys, as it
did \vith those old people of the Jews : ' Unto whom
should I speak and admonish that they may hear ?
Behold, theii- ears are uncircumcised, and they can-
not hearken unto it ; the word of the Lord is a re-
proach unto them, and they have no delight therein,'
Jer. vi. 18. Now that men have no delight to the
word of God, which is the very power of God to
salvation, it may appear,

First, Because men and women take no delight in

hearing, reading, and meditating on the Word of
God. You shall find a great number that wiU buy
other profane books, that vrill hardly buy the Book
of all books, the holy and sacred Bible ; and if they
buy it, yet they spend no time in perusing of it, in
reading and meditating on it. Other books are de-
lightful and pleasant to flesh and blood, and this is
the reason they do so niuch desire them ; but, withal,
this sheweth that they be carnal, not bom anew ;
for if they were, then would they bestow less time
in reading and perusing those profane and unprofit-
able books, and would bestow more time in reading
and meditating on this blessed Book of God ; yea,
and the small account men make of God's ministers,
whom the Lord calls his messengers and ambassa-
dors, yea, the angels of the church.

Use 2. Secondly, Seeing all the duties that we
owe to God, either of hearing, praying, &c., must
be performed of us, not upon compulsion, but will-
ingly and cheerfully, we learn that every action
is accounted of by God, not according to the work
itself, but according to the affection of the doer.
Tliis the Lord himself doth teach, when he saith,
' This people come near me with their mouth and
honour me vnth their lips, but their hearts are far
from me,' Isa. xxix. 1 3. And therefore were their j
sacrifices abonaination to the Lord, as he again saith
in another place, ' I cannot away with your new
moon.' And this was it made the poor widow's
mite commended above the rest that offered of their
superfluity, Luke xxi. 3, 4, ' He that shall give a cup
of cold water to a disciple in the name of a disciple,
he shall not lose his reward.' Alas ! what is the
besto^v^lg of a mite, a brazen token ? or wdiat is a
cup of cold water ? Are they in themselves anything
worth to merit anything at God's hand? No, no,
but God acknowledgeth the manner more than the
matter ; how they are done, more than what is done.

\^^lich may teach us to labour to have our affec-
tions tried, that whatsoever we do in the service of
Almighty God, may be done in truth and sincerity
of heart. This was Joli's comfort when he said, '
Lord, I have esteemed thy word more than mj' or-
dinary food.' This was the prophet David's com-
fort when he could say, ' how do I love thy law !
it is my meditation continually,' Ps. cxix. 97. And
this shall be our comfort, when we shall go the wav

Ver. 2.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

of all flesh, that we can say with good King Heze-
Iviah, ' Remember, Lord, that I have walked be-
fore thee in truth, and with an upright heart.' That
we have not been jiainted sepulchres, desiring to be
accounted righteous before men, but ivithin full of
all rottenness and corruption, but have laboured
rather to be approved of God.

Oh how ought our hearts and souls to be inflamed
in a holy and godly zeal towards the word of God,
the law of the Lord here spoken of! Yea, we ought
more earnestly to long for the w-aters of this well of
hfe, than ever Da^id did for the waters of the well
of Bethlehem ; and when we have tasted how sweet
the Lord is, never, oh never, so deal with the Lord
as the people of Israel did, which loathed the manna
that was sent them from heaven. But much better
shall it be for us to cry out with the woman of
Samaria, ' Lord, give me to drink of these waters,'
John iv. 15; for those waters, being once tasted of,
will keep a man that he thirst not again, but shall
ever be refreshed by the same to everlasting life.

Use 3. Lastly, let us herein labour to manifest our
unfeigned love and liking of the word and law of
God, even by our obedience thereunto, that we de-
sire to frame our lives thereafter, to obey the doc-
trine and word of God in heart and life, to be re-
formed by it, and to be conformed to it. Clmst
maketh this to be the eaj--mark of those that are his
sheep, namely this, that they 'hear his voice and
follow him,' John x. And again, ' Hereby shall all
men know that ye are my disciples, and love me, if
ye keep my commandments.' So hereby shall men
know that we love the law of God, if we study to
keep it, to obej' it in heart and life. But if we have
in us no care to hve hereafter, but break the law of
God continually, and rebel against his command-
ments, how can we be said to love the law of God 1
If a man should say he loveth the king's laws, and
likes them well, and yet should every day break
them wittingly and -nTllingly, and be ever plajdng
the traitor, would not all men condeinn him as a
hj-pocrite and a har 1 So, though most men do say
they love the word of God, and dehght in hLs law,
yet seeing they do daily break it, and rebel against
it wittingly and willingly, by swearing, Ijdng, profan-
ing of the Sabbath, drunkenness, swilhng, pride, nn-
cleamiess, &c., it is manifest they have no love unto it.

Thus much for the first part, she\ving that the
godly man is well aflected to the heavenly doctrine
of the word of God ; it is the delight and joy of his
heart.

Now in the second part of the verse, the prophet
Da'sdd sheweth the exercise of a godly man, that as
in his heart he liketh and loveth the word and
heavenly doctrine of the law of God, so in his life he
is conversant in the same, his meditations are much
spent therein, he is said to meditate therein day and
night, — that is, the godly man doth much muse and
meditate, often exercising his mind vnth calling to
nund and remembrance the heavenly doctrines, com-
forts, and instructions of the Word of God ; and this
he doth, not slightly and carelessly, but seriously and
■with good ad\'ice, and to this end doth evermore set
some time apart every day, mornmg and evening,
two times a day at least, for the performance of this
godly duty.

Doth meditate day ami night.

Bod. 3. Here we see still, that a godly man, and
one that shall be truly blessed, the Lord requireth
that he be no stranger, and such a one as seldom, or
never searcheth the Scriptures, but that he be much
and often exercised in the holy and serious medita-
tions of God's law ; in the diligent searching, peru-
sing, and particularly applying of the heavenly doc-
trine of the word of God. And, indeed, this is here
set do^vn as a true fruit of our love to the word, as
the love of the word is made a true fruit of a godly
man ; for as it is impossible a man should be truly
rehgious, and fear God, and yet have no sound love
nor dehght in the word of God ; so it is likewise
impossible a man or woman should truly love the
word of God in their heart, that seldom, or never
bestow any pains in the serious and earnest medita-
tion of the same. David calls God to witness, that
the love he bore to the law of God was exceeding
great, when he said, ' how do I love thy law ! '
Ps. cxix. 97. And in the same verse he seems to
prove the same to God, ' It is my meditation con-
tinually ; ' which indeed is a note of true love, to be
ever thinking of the thing beloved.

And in veiy deed, the careful and diligent study,
the often and earnest meditation of the word of
God, is the very life and strength of all our worship
and service of God. For if men should read much,

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

[Ver. 2.

and never meditate, it would do them no good. If
men should hear much and often, and never medi-
tate, they should be little the better. If men should
pray much and often, and never meditate, tliey should
find small comfort. If men come often to the sacra-
ment, and do not before and after meditate of the
covenant of grace, they should not receive much
good thereby. So that you see this meditation is
all in all, it puts life to our reading, hearing, pray-
ing, receiving, and without it all our reading, hear-
ing, praying, and receiving wdll stand us in small
stead.

For ■without tliis meditation this law, which is the
word of God, will either in time be forgotten,
whereby we shall become unmindful of it, or else it
^T^11 prove as a talent hid in the ground, uttei-ly un-
fruitful unto us, for this meditation indeed is the
third step of a true convert. The fii'st is to hear
the word of God readily ; the second to remember it
diligently ; and the third to meditate on it seriou.sly ;
and this is compared to the ' chewing of the cud,'
Deut. xiv. 6, 7, wliich is never found in the unclean
but in the clean beasts.

True it is, that hearing and reading the word will
beget knowledge, but meditation is the especial
means to work upon the affection, for else all our
knowledge shall only be in general, idle and swim-
ming in the brain, wliich may well be called brain-
knowledge, but no heart-knowledge ; but by serious
meditation we do apply that we hear to our own
selves in particular, laying the doctrine to our own
hearts, appljiug it to ourselves to comfort our sad
souls, to humble them for our sins, and to square
our lives thereby, that we may in all things keep a
clear conscience before God and man. The Lord
gives Joshua a strait charge to do thus, ' Let not the
book of the law depart out of thy mouth ; but medi-
tate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe
and do according to all that is written therein : for
then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and thou
shalt have good success,' Joshua i. 8, and Deut. vi.
7, 8. And thus the servants of God have been
much exercised in meditation, and thereby have
grown wonderful not only in knowledge but in prac-
tice, as we may see in Dand, Ps. cxix., who took
great delight in God's law, and made it his medita-
tion continually. And of Isaac it is reported that

he went out into the fields in the evening to medi-
tate, Gen. xxiv.

Use 1. This reproves the common fault in the
world, that most men utterly neglect this duty, sel-
dom or never settle themselves to meditate in the
law of God and his heavenly doctrine. It is hard
to find a man or woman that makes any conscience
of this duty, to set themselves apart and set them-
selves in God's presence, to call to mind what they
have heard and learned, to apply it to themselves in
j)articular, to humble them or to comfort them.
And that is the cause why most men, hearing and
reatling so much as they have, have yet profited so
little in knowledge, faith, repentance, and obedience.
They can be content to hear the word preached and
taught, and, it may be, now and then to read a
chapter, but to think upon it, to ruminate upon the
word of God, and, as it were, to chew the cud, to
call the same to mind again, to apply it to them-
selves, to labour to profit by it, this they cannot
endure, this they care not for. For if men did care-
fidly meditate of the things they heard and read,
how could they be so ignorant in God's word as
most be ? So void of knowledge, faith, rejientance,
humility, zeal, patience, and the Uke gifts and graces
wliich accompany godly and holy meditation 1 For
books of statutes men will not only have them in
their houses but at their fingers' end, but Bible they
have none. And if they have, it lieth upon the desk
or table, and they read it not. And if sometimes
they read, yet they never meditate thereon.

Use 2. This may admonish all men, as they love
their own souls, to make more care and conscience of
the performance of this duty, to call to mind that
we do hear or read, to think and muse upon it, to
chew the cud, to lay it to heart, yea, and to apply
it to our o^vn souls and consciences in particular.
This is like the rumination or chewing of the cud
to be found only in the clean beasts, whereas they
wliich chewed not the cud were unclean, Deut. xiv.
6, 7. This is the mai'k and jiroperty of a godly and
blessed man, whereas the not doing it is the mark of
a wicked and ungodly man. Let us then remember
that we make the word of God our meditation con-
tinually. Many men meditate much, some in one
tlung and some in another, as they are led by fond
affection, some thinking of honours, some of plea-

Ver. 2.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

sures, some of riches, some of one thing and some of
another. And of these they doat and dream, talk
and speak continually. But here we are taught
another lesson, — namely, that our miiids must
especially be set upon the word of God, that must
be our dehght and the joy of our heart.

The last point of tliis verse is the circumstance of
time, — namely, not by fits. But the godly man
keeps a continual course in the study and medita-
tion of the word of God, so as he setteth apart some
time for the worship and ser^'ice of God, at least
twice a day, to meditate and study in God's book.

Doct. 4. Hence we learn that every one that will
live a godly life and so please God, that he may find
comfort to his o-\vn soul and be blessed in the end,
must set some time apail; every day for the worship
and senice of God, to read, pray, and meditate ;
and at the least t-\vice a day to call upon his name,
to read the word of God, and to study therein.
Tliis is that the Lord commandeth his people to
offer unto him every day, the morning and the even-
ing sacrifice. At the least twice every day they were
commanded to worship God, and so the holy patri-
archs were wont to worship God morning and even-
ing. So we read in Gen. xxiv. 63, that godly Isaac
went out into the fields in the evening to pray or
meditate, to make himself fit to pray. And ' Job
rose up early to offer sacrifice, and called his family
together ; and this did Job every day,' Job i. 5.
And Da%'id in many psalms shewed that he did set
some time apart every day to worship God, in pray-
ing, reading, meditating, &c. Cornelius 'worshipped
God continually,' Acts x. 2, that is every day, ac-
cording to the rule of the apostle, ' Pray continu-
ally,' 1 Thes. V. 17. And that we should not be
weary of well-doing, Clirist spake the j)arable of the
unjust judge and poor widow to tliis end, that we
ought always to meditate, pray, &c., and not wax faint
and weary, Luke x:\aii. 1. The meaning is, not that
men should leave their callings and other business
altogether to attend upon hearing, reading, meditat-
ing, &c., but that we should be much and often in
meditating, in jirayer, in reading, &c., and in per-
forming these blessed duties unto Almighty God;
and at the least tliree times a day to pray and call
upon the name of God : in the morning when we do
rise, to give unto God hearty thanks for keeping us

the night past, and to crave for a blessing at his
hands over the day following. At noon again, even
when we receive his good creatm-es ; and at night
when we go to rest. And this godly practice the
word of God prescribes us, and the examples of the
godly do teach us. Daniel prayed three times a day
upon liis knees to God and praised him, as his man-
ner was, though the king had made a strict law
against it, Dan. vi. 10. 'Evening, morning, and at
noon will I pray unto thee,' Ps. Iv. 1 7. And again,
' Seven times a day %vill I praise thee,' Ps. cxLx. 164 ;
that is, many times. For the morning, ' Early in
the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee ; ' and
thus did Abraham, Isaac, Job, Gen. xxii. 2 ; Job xv.
Secondly, at noon or mid-day, so did Peter. ' Peter
went out to pray about the sixth hour,' Acts x. 9 ;
that is, about twelve o'clock, or noontide. Thirdly,
at night ; in the evening when we go to bed to take
our rest we must then remember likewise to render
the Lord thanks for the comfort of the day, and to
crave his blessing for that night. Neither is this all,
but in the night time, when sleep is departed from a
man, and nature is sufficed with rest, he doth even
then caU to mind the heavenly doctiine of the word
of God, and doth muse and meditate therein, as the
text saith here, even ' day and night.' For God,
which hath bounded the day ■with the night, hath
set no bounds to a godly man's meditations. It is
nothing to be, first, one that heareth the word ;
secondly, one that receives it ; thirdl}', with joy ; if,
fourthly, it shall be but for a time only, if he shall
not also continue and constantly persevere to medi-
tate therein day and night.

So as we see tliis our duty, to set some time apart
every day to worsliip God, as to hear, read, pray,
meditate, &c. We see men do set apart, depute,
and ordain some certain time every day for the food
of the body, at the least twice a day, to eat and
drink; how much more then should we be cai'eful for
our souls every day to read, meditate, and to pray ?
Of all the time we spend in this world, none ^\'ill be
more comfortable unto us in death, when we shall go
the way of all flesh, than that which we have be-
stowed in the serWce and worship of Almighty God.

There is not now one hour spent in the service of
God but will then minister cause of joy and rejoic-
ing ; neither is there now one hour spent in the ser-

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

[Ver. 2.

vice of sin and Satan, but the remembrance thereof
will then be a terror unto the soul. ' Oh that men
would be wise, then would they understand this,
they would consider their latter end,' Deut. xxxii. 29.

Use 1. This seems to reprove tlie common care-
lessness of the world, Most men and women spend
all their days in delights and vanities, in sports and
pastimes, in scraping and raking together the things
of this life, and in the meantime find no time at all
to serve God ; that in twenty-four hours hardly can
spare one to sen'e God, one to read, hear, pray,
meditate ; yea, how many be there that never 02ien
their books to read one chapter in the Bible all
the week long ! How many be there that never
spend one quarter of an hour in meditation, which
never call upon God from Sunday to Sunday! Doth
not this prove men to be carnal and ungodly ? Do
not these men do nothing of conscience, or with de-
light and love to God and his worship, but all for
fashion's sake, or for fear of the law ? AMiat differ-
ence is there betwixt those men, who seldom or
never call upon the name of God, and the beast
they ride on ? The beast arises in the morning out
of his den and strokes himself, goes to his meat, and
so to work. Even so do they never call on the
name of God. In this thing wherein do such men
differ from a very beast 1 How can such look for
any blessing from God upon their labours 1 yea, how
can they choose but fear some fearful judgment and
curse of God to overtake them ? And no doubt
the cause why many ride and run early and late —
do not call on God for a blessing upon their endeav-
ours — cannot prosper and thrive in the world ; no,
God sends sometimes judgments, plagues, and pun-
ishments upon them, and aU for the neglect of this
godly and Christian duty ; it is just with God both
to cross and to curs? both them and their labours, Ps.
xiv.

Note. Again, by the rule of tliis doctrine they
are no less to be reproved, which can be content
now and then to hear, read, pray, and meditate, &c. ;
but this must be at their leisure, when they have
nothing else to do. But to keep certain times, morn-
ing, noons, evenings, to leave all sports, pastimes,
delights, and business, to go to God and serve him, and
call upon his name ; they cannot abide that, they
will not be so tied and retained ; but as the man in

the Gospel, when Christ called him ; first he must
go bury his father ; and liim that would go bid his
friends farewell ; so many could be content to
serve God, and to pray unto him, but they must
keep their friends company. Or as these that were
bidden to the feast ; one hath his oxen and gain to
hinder him, another his wife, his pleasures and de-
lights, wliich he is married unto, and so can find no
time to serve God ; even the least tiling in the world is
matter sufiicient to hinder them from sending of God :
these men shew that they find no comfort at all in
the service of Almighty God, no good, no fruit, no
benefit ; for if they did, they would not be such
strangers unto it.

Use 2. Let every one be exhorted and stirred
unto this duty, if we have not begim, now to begin,
and in the fear of the Lord to imitate God's children,
as David and the rest. Let us set .some time apart
every day for the word and prayer, else we shall
never prove ourselves good Christians, else we
should never find true comfort, else we can never
look for God's blessings upon us ; let us then set
apart some of our idle time, that we bestow in
talking, in walking, in playing, in vain delights,
or else idly, and bestow it on God's service and
worship, in hearing, reading, praying, meditating,
&c. David early in the morning prevented the day-
light, yea, at midnight would he be so busied. The
eunuch in his journey was reading the Scriptures.
Let us then never arise in the morning, or go to
bed, but as duly let us ever be mindful of this
duty. Let us not misspend our precious time. Let
us (I pray you) consider why we live here in the
world, not to spend and consume our time in toys
and vanities, but serve God, and to seek for comfort
and salvation unto our own souls. Let us therefore
so spend it as we may have comfort in the end.

Use 3. Last of all, we are here exhorted to be very
careful, after we have begim a good course in godli-
ness, to persevere and to continue in the same, day
and night, even unto the end ; not only in the day- j
time of prosperity, but in the night-time of adversity, 1
for unto God ' The day and night are both alike,'
Ps. cxxxix. 12. Many make a fair beginning, but
the end is very fearful and dangerous. Many lay
their hands to the Lord's plough, but in the end
they look back, Luke ix. 62. Lot's wife seems as

Ver. 3.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

forward as her husband ; she goes out of Sodom
as well as he, she takes her journey vdih her hus-
band, but she did not continue and hold out unto
the end ; but looks back, contrary unto the com-
mandment of God, and so was turned into a pillar
of salt. And she being made a spectacle to all
backsliders ; our Saviour put us in mind of her,
when he saith, ' Remember Lot's \vife,' Luke xvdi.
32. And Paul, when he had preached the resur-
rection of Christ, Agrippa said unto him, ' Thou
persuadest me almost to become a Christian,' Acts
xxvi. 28. But there he stayed and rested, and
would proceed no further. These are feaiful ex-
amples ; it had been better for such ' they had
never known the way of righteousness,' 2 Peter ii.
21 ; for indeed in a Christian race there is no stand-
ing at one stay, for not to go forward in religion is
to go backward.

And thus much for the description of a godly
man affu'matively, shewing what he doth carefully
embrace and follow. ' But his delight is in the law
of the Lord,' &c.

Ver. 3. He shall be like a tree 2)lanted by the rivers
of waters, that icill bring forth her fruit in due season,
whose leaf shall not fade, so whatsoever he shall do, shall
prosper.

Hitherto the prophet David hath described to us
a godly and righteous man, such a man is truly
blessed ; both negatively shewing what be the e\'ils
he must very carefully shun and avoid, as also
affirmativel}', by those \artues and holy duties wliich
he doth carefully embrace and follow.

Now m this verse the prophet proceeds to set out
the happiness of a godly man, or wherein his happi-
ness doth consist. And this doth he, fii-st, by simili-
tude, comparing him unto a pleasant, fruitful, and
flourishing tree ; secondly, by that blessed success
God gives unto a godly man, in the end of this verse.

The precedent part of the verse, the similitude
itself, it hath in it these parts : —

First, whereunto the godly man is compared, to a
tree.

Secondly, the nature of this tree is described ; not
every common or trivial tree, but such a tree, which
for the original of it, planted ; secondly, for the situ-
ation of it, by the rivers of waters ; thirdly, for the

propriety of it, that will bring forth her fruit in due
season; fourtlily, by a contrary property, v:hose leaf
shall not fade.

First, then, observe by this similitude, that man
is compared to a tree, and in three things especially,
— the shape, the gi'owth, and the state of a tree.

L Man may well be compared to a tree in respect
of his shape ; for as a tree consists of the root, the
stock, and the boughs, or branches, even so doth
man, this mystical tree. He hath his head, which is
the root, and hair as small roots, his body as the
stock, and liis arms and legs as so many boughs, and
fingers and toes as lesser t-vvigs. Only the difference
between the natural tree, and man this mystical tree,
is this : the natural tree is rooted in the earth, re-
ceiving as Esau's blessing the fatness of the same,
Gen. xxvii. 28 ; but man, this heavenly plant, derives
not his juice and nourishment from the fatness of
the earth, but from heaven above, according to God's
wise disposing of his root, wliich is above, not below.
And therefore are we exhorted by the apostle to ' set
our affections on heavenly things, and not on things
here below ; ' for we through Christ are made par-
takers of the divine nature, in heaven therefore must
our conversation be, 2 Pet. i. 4.

2. Secondly, Man may be said to be Hke a tree in
respect of his gi'owth ; for a tree at first is flexible
by nature, and so by degrees, a little and a little,
grows to be stronger and stronger, tdl it come to
perfection, and then again begins to wither and dry
up. So fareth it with man, this mystical tree : while
he is in the state of infancy, he is a tender twig, and
his mind is as flexible as a t\vig ; easily inclined to
virtue, if he be accordingly educated ; or else to vice,
if the same be neglected, — an excellent caveat to
all parents and governors of youth, that they take a
due time of correcting and educating of these tender
plants — namely, to bend the tree while it is a twig ;
for if it be suffered it will grow to be cureless. And
as man is like to a tree in respect of his infancy and
tender age, so in respect of his decrepit old age ; for
when the tree is once come to his perfection in
growth, it then decays and declines. So fareth it
with man ; let him seem to be as tall and as straight
as a cedar tree, he must become a slirub again, and
stoop to age. For man's life is well compared to a
day, whose evening will most certainly follow hia

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 3.

morning, until the night of death cause him to sleep
in the grave ; for as ' there is a time to be born, so
there is a tune to die,' Eccles. iii. 2. Be it that thou
now seemest to be as strong as the oak, and as tall
as the cedar, as floiu-ishiug as the bay-tree, yet at
last rottenness will creep into the strongest oak, and
strength and tallness will be abated on thee, ' ^\nien
the keepers of the house shall tremble,' &c., Eccles.
xii. 3.

3. Thirdly, Man may be compared to a tree in
respect of the state of a tree, and that divers ways.

(1.) First, As the tallest cedar is in greatest danger
of wind and weather, even so the man that is tall,
either in place of authority, riches, honour, or the
like, is most subject to tlie assault of Satan, and rage
of the wicked.i And men of such excellent places
in church or commonwealth, are more subject to
changes, disfavours, to envy, insurrections, poison-
ings, murderings, as to so many raging winds ;
whereas those that, with little Da\id, tend the ewes
great with young, are free from these assaults.

(2.) Secondly, it is commonly seen, the more evil-
the tree is, the less fruitful. So fareth it with man
naturally ; unless men be seasoned mth grace, riches,
honour, dignity, or the like, are great occasions of a
high mind, and a high mind is like unto a moun-
tain, which the higher it is, the more barren it is.
^^liereas if he be mean, and simple of spirit, he may
fitly be compared to the valleys, which are ever fruit-
ful, and, as the Psahnist saith, stand thick of corn; for
humility is the groundwork of Cliristian virtues, and
pride the root of all evil, and the queen of all vice.

(3.) Thii'dly, and lastl)% The end of every tree is
to become either timber for building, or fuel for
burning. So fareth it with man, this mystical tree :
when death cometh, which is God's axe by the which
he doth cut us do^vn, he becometh either timber for
the Lord's house, — ' when this earthly tabernacle
shall be destroyed, to be a building not made with
hands, but eternal in the heavens ; ' or else, alas !
but fuel for the fire of God's %\Tath, even in Tophet,
where there is fire and much wood, and where the
Lord's -oTath, as the bellows, shall never cease blow-
ing and kindling the flame.

It is here first of all to be noted that the Spirit of
' Loea quae aliU celsa, ipsis prenipta videntur, — Seneca.
' Query, " tall " ?—£■</.

God sets out the happiness of a godly man by com-
paring him to a goodly green tree. Hence we learn
fii'st of all tliat it is not only la%vful but a commend-
able and profitable kind of teaching, for God's minis-
ters to illustrate points of doctrine by similitudes
and comparisons, so that they be famdiar, and fit to
make the people conceive what they teach, and to
raise comparisons from the plough and ploughshare
to that end, that even the simplest m a congregation
may understand what is said and what is taught.
This was the course of the prophets from time to
time in their sermons to the people. This was the
course of our Sa^dour himself, who in all his sermons
used both parables and similitudes, comparing good
men to good trees, and bad men to bad trees, com-
paring liimself to a \nne, the Father to a husband-
man, us to branches, himself to a shepherd, we to
sheep, and the word to twenty things, as seed,
mustard-seed, &c. To teach all those that are God's
ministers that, when they preach unto their people,
that they lay not up their speech in a mist of words,
but so to deliver it as that the meanest and shal-
lowest amongst the hearers may understand it.
Thence came the profession of Paul, ' We preach not
ourselves, but Cluist Jesus our Lord,' 2 Cor. iv. 5.
And hence came that worthy resolution of his, ' I
had rather in the church to speak five words, &c.,
that I might instruct others, than ten thousand
words in a strange tongue,' 1 Cor. xiv. 19.

In which words by ' strange tongue' we are not
simply to understand Hebrew, Greek, Latin, &c.,
but by speaking of the mother-tongue in a strange
manner. Preachers are fitly compared to a nurse :
a nurse doth half chew the meat to the little one,
and doth babble unto them in their o^vn stammer-
ing tongue ; so must preachers proportion their doc-
trine to their hearers' capacity, and fit his tongue to
then- understanding.

This may serve to reprove such kind of preachers
who seek not to preach Christ crucified, but preach
themselves, even such as in handling the word of
God and preaching the gospel seek to show their
own learning, -wit, art, and memorj', and so indeed
preach not Cluist but themselves, like the old Phari-
sees, ' Loving the praise of men more than the praise
of God.' But what, shall Da^dd, the prophet of the
Lord, or rather the Spirit of God in him stoop so

Ver. 3.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

low as to speak to the understanding of all men by
similitudes, comparisons, and the like? And shall
sinful man, a worm of the earth, exalt liimself above
God, to seek only to tickle itching ears ^vith the
words of man's ivisdom ?

Use 2. Seemg God's ministers must be faithful
teachers of the truth of God, and must deliver the
same in the plain e^ddence of the Spirit, not with
the enticing words of men's wisdom, this serves to
direct the hearers in the art of hearing. They must
submit themselves to God's ordinance, and be ready
to know the will of God ; we must not have itching
ears, that are not able to suffer wholesome doctrine,
like the GentOes who despised the preaching of the
apostles because it was not styled with man's painted
eloquence, esteeming it foolishness. What is this
but to stint the Spmt, and to teach the Lord to
speak ? i^rescribing the minister what he shall say,
and restraining our hearing what we ■will hear ?
What, then, -n-iU follow, but that we shall hear with-
out fruit, and the word to be unto us only a savour
of death unto death ?

Doct. 2. Hence we observe here a second point of
doctrine, that seeing the prophet compareth a godly
man to a tree, that of all the creatures of God there
is a double use, one natural, the other spiritual ; as
a tree in nature signifies such plants of the earth as
bring forth fruit according to their kind. Now, be-
sides this natural signification, it serves to put us in
mind what we ought to be, — namely, fruitful trees Ln
the Lord's orchard, lest if we be barren or bad we
prove fuel for the fire, Jlat. ui. 10. A man having
a tree in his orchard, if it bringeth forth nothmg but
leaves, he will cut it, and prune it, and dung it, but
if, after all tliis cost and labour, it remain stiU
barren, he will then hew it down, as good for nothing
but fuel for the fire. Hereby we may see how God
will deal with us. We be all trees here planted in
the Lord's orchard, he doth water us mtli the
preaclung of the word, he cuts us and prunes us.
Now, if after much cost and labour we shall remain
barren stUl, if the Lord come three or four years
and stUl no fi-uit ■niU be found, he will then betliink
him to stub us up that we cover not the gi-ound,
Isa. V. ; Luke viii. 4, 5. So by so'ndng of com into
the ground to maintain man's Ufe, our Saviour leads
us to consider of another thing : for as the sower

casts his seed abroad into sundry sorts of ground,
and they according to their nature bring forth fruit
accordingly, even so the minister of the word
scatters and sows the seed of God's word into the
ground of men's hearts, and as they be prepared so
they bring forth fiiiit. So by a weaver's shuttle we
see the shortness of man's life, gone in a moment.
Dost thou see how the wind drives the chaff and
dust of the earth about, giving it no rest until it be
clean dispersed away? Oh consider then how the
curse of God shall follow and torment the wicked,
and never let their souls be at rest till it consume
them ; ver. 4 of this Psalm. Dost thou lie down
into thy bed eveiy night ? oh remember that thou
must shortly he down in thy grave, be covered ■with
dust, and therefore prepare to die in the Lord.
Dost thou see the beautiful grass and herbs of the
earth cut down and wither away? so thy beauty
and riches shall fade and jjerish. AAHien thou seest a
stinking carrion, there behold a picture of thine own
self, for no carrion is so loathsome to a man as a
rebellious sinner to God. Dost thou put on thy
clothes to cover thy nakedness? oh labour for the
precious robes of Christ's righteousness, ' That thy
filthy nakedness do not appear,' Eev. iii. 18. Dost
thou but wash thy hands in water? oh labour for
the blood of Jesus Christ to wash away the spots of
thy sins, Ps. H. 7. Dost thou but sit down to eat
and to drink to nourish thy body, T\'ithout which it
could not hve ? oh consider that thy soul doth much
more stand in need of the bread of Ufe, the food of
thy soul. Dost thou see sometimes brimstone burn-
ing ? oh consider and quake for fear of the dreadful
judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah, that
were burned -with fire and brimstone, Gen. xLs., and
how all sinners shall have their portion in the ' lake
of fire and brimstone.' Dost thou but take a book
into thy hand and open it leaf by leaf? oh consider
that the time will come when the ' books of thy
conscience shall be opened,' Eev. xx., wherein all
thy sins are written one by one, and thou shalt then
receive according to thy works. And thus we see
that of all the creatures of God there is a double
use to be made of them : the one natural, the other
sfiiritual : one temporal, the other eternal.

He shall he like a tree planted ly the rivers of water.

This part of the simiUtude doth signify unto us

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 3.

our implanting and ingrafting into Jesus Christ his
mystical body, by the work of God's Spirit, and by
the means of a trae and lively faith.

This word planted it is a metaphorical speech,
and borrowed from the practice of husbandmen,
who first take up their plants out of the nursery, or
place where they first spring up, and then plant
them in the orchard or vineyard ; so fareth it with
man, this heavenly plant. And the comparison
holds good in divers things : —

1. First, for the circumstance of time when the
plants of the earth are thus removed, and that not
usually in summer, when the heat of the year is up,
and the sap is gone up into the plant, but in the
winter time ; this is usually to be seen for the most
part. Even so, the time in the wliich the godly
man is planted it is the winter time, — that is, the
time of sorrow and sore affiiction, not in the summer
of peace, when all things outwardly may seem to
go well with a man, and he saith. Peace, peace ! but
when God doth give unto a man the sight of his sin,
and lets him see the reward of sin, even eternal
death. Oh, when a man's sins do thus muster
themselves before liim and against him ! oh, this
winter time, this time of affiiction and sorrow !
now is the season of the removing of his heavenly
plant, man.

2. Secondly, as a plant is removed, not when it is
fruitful, but removed to that end it may be fruitful ;
so fareth it with man, this mystical tree. We are
not fruitful by nature, before such time as we are
planted and ingrafted into Jesus Christ, for till then
we bring forth nothing but bitter and unsavoury
fruit; but we are planted to that end we may be
fruitful, and being once in Christ, we shall then, as
living plants of that hvely stock, bring forth fruit
incontinently.

In particular, this planting hath in it two things :
1. Plucking up ; 2. Setting down.

1. The plucking up shadows out unto us three
things in the conversion of a sinner : —

(1.) First, Our separation from the world. He
cannot be in Christ that hath his rooting still in the
earth, amongst the men of the world ; and therefore,
as we have heard before, we must be careful that
we ' walk not in • the counsel of the mcked, nor
stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of

the scornful' They are so many noisome shmbs
that will be ready to fret the tender plants of the
Lord and to annoy them ; and therefore we must be
removed from amongst them, — that is, must have
no secret society vn.t\\ them.

(2.) Secondly, It signifies our deliverance from
the power of original sin thus : for as a plant once
removed receives no more juice nor nourishment
from the old earth from which it is removed, but
from that soil into the which it is planted ; so
fareth it with this heavenly plant, being regenerate
and ingrafted in Jesus Christ, there vnW follow such
a change of will, affection, understanding, and the
like faculties of soul and body, that whereas before
they were altogether eartlily, carnal, and vain, so
now they mind heavenly things, being sanctified by
the spirit of grace and the power of nature, — that
is, that old sap of sin being clone away.

(3.) Thirdly, It signifieth a Christian man's
sorrow for sin : for as no plant can be removed
from one place to another but the axe and other
instruments of the husbandman must be laid unto
it, and many a root must be cut off' before it can be
removed ; so fareth it with man, this heavenly plant.
The Lord's husbandmen, which are his ministers,
they must bring the axe of God's word, and lay the
same to the root of our consciences, and we must
have many an unprofitable sprout of nature cut off
before we can be taken out of nature and ingrafted
into Jesus Christ ; the roots, — that is, thy affections
that have taken such deep rooting into thy profits,
into thy pleasures, and the like, — all these must be
cut off" before thou canst be planted into Christ.

Doct. 3. Hence mark, in that the prophet David
compares a godly man thus to a tree, not wild, but
planted, and that by the rivers of water, and that
this a sign of our insition or ingrafting into Christ
his mystical body, whereby we are made members
of the same. Hence I say we are taught that all
men out of Clirist are miserable, only they be
blessed that be united unto Jesus Christ and in-
grafted into his mystical body. Our Saviour speak-
eth of this when he compares his Father to a
husbandman, himself to a vine, and all of us to
branches. Now he shews that those that be in-
grafted into him, that they be but dead and withered
boughs, and therefore they must be burned in the

Yer. 3.]

SAMUEL SJIITH ©N PSALM 1.

fire, John xv. 1, 2. We are all by nature wild
olives, Koin. xi., that bring forth nothing but sour
and unsavoury fruit, till we be transplanted by
the Spirit of God, and ingrafted into the sweet
olive Jesus Christ. We see this plain by common
experience. Take a scion from a tree, and unless it
be ingrafted into another stock, it -will die and
never bear fruit ; so unless we be grafted into Jesus
Christ by faith and the Spiiit of God, we must
needs wither and come to nothing, but prove fuel
for the fire of God's vengeance. And Paul, sho^ving
the estate of all men by nature out of Christ,
saith, Eph. ii. 1-3, that we are all 'dead in tres-
passes and sins ; ' ' the chikken of 'wrath ; ' yea, the
very vassals of the de^'il and limbs of Satan, heii's of
God's vengeance and eternal damnation, we are
' Avithout God in the world, strangers from the
common-weal of Israel,' in a cursed and damnable
estate. ' Unless a man be born anew he can never
enter into the kingdom of heaven,' John iii. 3, 5.
Yea, the devil is called the god of the world, be-
cause men by nature are his vassals and slaves, he
reigns and rules in them. We are in the devil's
claws, and taken in his snares to do his will. This
is the common slavery of all, — high, low, rich, poor,
noble, and simple. Let men boast never so much
in outward respects, as sometimes the Jews did,
' we are never bound to any ' ; yet, until the Son of
Righteousness, Christ Jesus, do make them free, this
is their captivity. AVe read in what an intolerable
bondage the people of Israel were in, in Egypt
under Pharaoh ; but it can in no way figure out
unto us the miserable slavery and bondage that
every man is in under the spiritual Pharaoh, Satan ;
for here the soul, the -^vill, the aflfection, and all, are
captived and held in his snares, to do his will.

Use 1. The use hereof may serve to humble us,
and to cause the lofty to strike sail, which joy so
much in outward things — riches, honour, beauty,
strength, authority, &-c. Alas ! what of all these,
when in the meantime thou thyself art but a slave
unto sin and Satan, a dead and withered tree re-
served for the fire of God's -^vrath : eternal death is
thy surest inheritance. If thou hast thy right, what
canst thou expect but the fixe of hell 1 It is nature's
desert, and that which nature doth aim at. Why
art thou then, man, so secure when thy sins have

cast thee into such a dismal estate 1 Oh let us
labour to come out of it. Let us not suffer our eyes
to sleep, nor our eyelids to slumber, till we have got
the assurance that we are taken out of the state of
nature into the state of grace, and to be by faith in-
grafted into this true stock Christ Jesus.

Use 2. Secondly, tliis shews that all those that
live and die in the estate of nature unregenerate,
not born anew, not ingrafted into Jesus Christ, must
needs perish, and be damned for ever. The apostle
shews that all men by nature be stark dead in tres-
passes and sins, and that all by nature are the chil-
dren of WTath, as well as others — high, low, rich, and
poor ; old, young, learned, and unlearned. This is
that our Saviour saith, Luke xiii. 5, ' Unless ye
repent, ye shall all perish.' And again, John xv. 6,
' If any man abide not in me, he is cast off as a
withered branch ; and men gather them and cast
them into the fire, and they burn.' Oh, how should
this admonish all men to look about them ! It is
wonderful to see how men go on from day to day,
securely in their sins, and neither think of heaven
nor hell, but persevere and continue in their igno-
rance, unbelief, and hardness of heart, in swearing,
contempt of the word, profaning the Sabbath, in
Ijdng, stealing, adultery, &c. ' Oh, consider this, ye
that forget God ! ' Oh, consider the woeful and fear-
ful estate of all such as live and die out of Christ, in
the estate of nature. They must needs perish, and
for ever be damned. Oh, think of this, and the
Lord give thee understanding in all tlungs, that
every day thou risest thou art in danger to lose thy
own soul ; and therefore lay this doctrine to heart,
and know that it is not good to dally in such
points. God wiU not be mocked. And therefore
now begin to repent and turn unto God while it is
called to-day. Defer no longer, but repent and seek
to be reconciled to God while it is called to-day.

The second part of this doctrine is, that as all those
that be out of Christ are miserable and cursed, and
if they live and die in the estate of nature, cannot
be saved ; so, on the other side, aU those that are
regenerate, and born anew, that be ingrafted into
Jesus Christ by faith and the Spirit of God, so as
they be the true and lively members of Christ his
mystical body, they are blessed and happy. Now
that these are blessed, it may appear in that blessed

SAMUEL SMWH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 3.

prayer Christ made a little before his passion. He
begs this at his Father's hand, that all the elect might
be ' one in him, and he in them.' And this he begs
often and earnest unto his Father for, which shews
that it is a matter of endless moment and gi'eat
importance. Now that such as be one ■with Cluist
are truly blessed, let us consider a Httle what great
and incomparable benefits we receive by this our
planting and ingraftmg into Christ his mystical
body.

First, hereby it comes to pass that every true
believer hath sweet union and communion ^vith God
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So as God the
Father loves liim as his child, takes care of him,
doth bless him, and provides a kingdom for liim ;
so God the Holy Ghost is liis comforter in all estates.
So as he is now the child of God, hath Jesus Christ
to his elder brother, and all the angels in heaven
have charge over him.

Secondly, every true and Uvely member of Jesus
Christ is reconciled to God, and justified in his
sight, so as he hath the pardon and remission of his
sins in the blood of Jesus Christ bestowed upon
liim, against whose faith the gates of heU shall never
prevail.

Thii-dly, every true and lively member of Jesus
Christ is partaker of aU the merits of Clirist's suffer-
ings and obedience, as if he had done them in his
own person ; Chiist's merits be his merits ; Christ's
death is his death ; Christ's righteousness is liis
righteousness ; so as God will not call him to account
for his sins, or look on liim as he is in himself ; but
wash his sins away in the blood of his Son, and
behold liim as he is, covered with Christ's own
righteousness and obedience.

And hence we have three wonderful benefits that
we are ingrafted into Jesus Christ. There be three
things which make every man miserable in God's
sight.

First, the guiltiness of sin, whereby every sinner
stands bound to undergo and suffer the curse of God
for his sins and breach of his holy law.

Secondly, the corruption and filthiness of sin,
which makes a man more loathsome than a toad or
a serpent in God's sight ; so as this makes a man
abominable, and all he doth exceeding loathsome.

Thirdly, there is the everlasting curse of God due

unto us for sin, wliich a carnal and unregenerate
man is in danger of every day and hour, and which
shall one day as certainly be executed upon the
^vicked as now they live.

Now in Jesus Clirist, by being united to liim, and
being members of liis mystical body, we have
three wonderful remedies against these three fearful
miseries.

First, For the bond of obhgation against us, ' He
hath taken it away, and nailed it to his cross,' Col.
ii. 14, and crossed and cancelled the same with liis
own heart's blood.

Secondly, For the stinking filtliiness and corrup-
tion of sin, Clirist hath both perfectly obeyed the
law for us, and also covered us in liis own righteous-
ness, as Jacob in Esau's garment.

Thirdly, For the most just and intolerable punish-
ment, he stood in our stead upon the cross, and paid
the full price and punishment for our sins ; for when
Christ suffered in our stead, it was as much as if we
had suffered.

The fourth main benefit which eveiy godly man
hath, by being one with Christ, is sanctification ;
which is a wonderful and sujiernatural work of
God's holy spirit, whereby every godly man, that is
a true and lively member of Jesus Christ, is freed
both in mind, will, and affection from the bondage
and slavery of sin and Satan, and is by little and
little enabled and strengthened by the Spirit of
God, to will, desire, and approve that which is good
and holy, and to walk in it.

And this sanctification hath two parts, mortifica-
tion and vivification ; by the former, sin is every day
more and more mortified, weakened and consumed.
By the latter, inherent righteousness is put into them,
whereby they walk with God in newness of life.

Now both these parts of sanctification are wrought
after this manner. First, after the Christian man is
united to Clmst, planted into liim as into a stock, I
and become a living member of his mystical body, I
Christ Jesus then by liis Spii'it works in him two
blessed works.

First, The godly man ingrafted into Jesus Christ,
receives power and strength from the death of Christ
to die to all sin. So as the power of Christ's death
and passion doth kill sin, and mortify their corrup-
tions, ' For as many as are baptized into Jesus

Ver. 3.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

Christ, are baptized into the similitude of his death,'
Eom. Ad. 4. So as the death of Christ is as a corrosive
to eat up and to consume all rotten flesh and cor-
niptions of our hearts, it eats our sm and frets it
away by little and httle, till it be utterly abolished
by death, when our sanctification shall be perfected.

Secondly, every godly man receiveth power and
strength from Clirist's resurrection to rise out of the
grave of sin to ne^vTless of life, to walk with God in
holiness and righteousness. Even as we see all the
parts of the body, being joined to the head, receive
life and motion from it. Even so every Christian,
as so many parts and members of Christ Jesus the
liead, receive from him spiritual Hfe and motion,
whereby they walk with God in new obedience.

Use 1. This doctrine doth first of all condemn the
doctrine of the adversary, that man hath free ^viU in
himself We see here, that this mystical tree, man,
must be planted, he cannot plant liimseU". Indeed,
man at his first creation had free-\\aU himself, but
since his fall, that blessing is now fallen away and
utterly lost m man, and the proof of this point may
appear unto us, if we will rest upon the testimony
of God himself, who professeth thus of man, that
' The imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth up.' Now what good can be willed of him
who is first evil ? Secondly, whose heart is a
fountain of aU e\'il. Tliirdly, whose imaginations,
as streams of that fountain, are evil, and that not
for a time, but ever from his youth up. So that
now since the fall of man, the freedom of man's will
to goodness is so enthralled and eclipsed, as that
of ourselves we cannot plant ourselves into grace,
or into Christ ; for we are as trees, not planting our-
selves, but must be planted by God, for ' he shall be
as a tree planted.'

Use 2. Tills magnifieth the free grace of God
above man's free-will or merit ; for whereas we do
fail to plant ourselves, yet, as it appeareth by the
text, we are planted. It is the Lord that must
work in us both the will and the deed; he must
turn liimself unto us, before we can turn unto him.
This is acknowledged by the prophet Daniel in that
worthy prayer of his when he saith, ' Compassion
and forgiveness is in the Lord our God, albeit we
have sinned against him,' Dan. ix. 9. This is
taught by the apostle when he saith, that ' Eternal

hfe is the free gift of God,' Eom. vi. 23. Yea, our
Saviour Jesus Christ himself doth confirm the truth
of this when he saith, ' Every plant whicli my
heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up.' Yea it is worth our best observation, that the
whole work of man's salvation is called by the name
of the work of grace or of mercy. And therefore on
what part soever we cast our eyes, we shall see the
free grace and mercy of God. Begin we at the
foundation of all, God's eternal election, and come
from thence to the period of all, man's glorification,
and still ask the question from what root each part
springeth ; the answer must be, from the free
grace and mercy of God. It was the free grace and
mercy of God that he should elect us. It was the
free grace and mercy of God, that he should send
Christ to redeem us. It was the free grace and
mercy of God that he should call us, that he should
justify us, that he should sanctify us ; and what can
it be but the free grace and mercy of God, that we
shall be admitted to ' an inheritance immortal and
undefiled'? 1 Pet. i. 4. So that we see here in the
whole work of man's redemjition by Clu-ist, there is
no footing left for human merit ; for the free grace
and mercy of God and man's righteousness cannot
possibly stand together, they will never admit any
composition, and therefore we must conclude for the
whole work of man's redemption, and say, ' Not
unto us. Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give
the glory.'

Use 3. Lastly, seeing all men out of Clirist be
miserable, and those only that be in Clirist be
blessed, let us labour wliile we hve to be assured of
this, that we are regenerate, that we are the true
and lively members of Jesus Christ. All men say
they hope to be saved ; but those that be planted and
ingrafted into him, none but they that be regenerate
and born anew, none but such as do repent and
believe in Christ Jesus, and be the true lively mem-
bers of his mystical body [shall be saved.]

And to the end that we be not deceived in so
weighty a matter, but that we may assuredly know
whether Christ dwell in our hearts by his Spirit,
and we dwell in liim by faith, so as we be true and
lively members of his mystical body; let us try
it by those two ways : first, by the power of Christ's
death ; secondly, by liis resurrection. If thou

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 3.

be a member of Christ thou shalt find the power of
Christ's death daily crucifying the old man, and
eating out the corruption of thy nature. For as we
see in a man's body, when there is much dead flesh
in a wound, they lay coiTosive medicines to it to eat
it out ; so the death of Jesus Clirist ap^Dlied to our
hearts by faith fret and eat out as corrosive the cor-
ruption of nature, our dead flesh. So as Chiist
by his death maketh all his members die unto sin,
so as they cannot live in the bondage and slavery of
sin.

Now, then, prove yourselves, your hope to be saved
by Clirist Jesus. But be not deceived, Christ died
for none but such as be united to him, his true and
lively members. And none are his members but
such as iind and feel the power of his death, to
mortify, kill, and weaken the power of sin and
natural coiTuption. Do you then find sin to die in
you 1 Do you find the strength of your corruption
to be abated, the heat of it to be allayed 1 Do you
feel Christ's death fretting it out, so as we can say,
I hate sin, I abhor sin ; it is as bitter as wormwood
unto me ? Do you find this change in your lives
that you do leave your old sins, labouring to get out
of ignorance, to leave swearing, lying, stealing,
drinking, whoring, &c.t Then your case is good, it
is an e^'ident token that you are ingrafted into Jesus
Christ. But if, on the contrary part, you find that
sin is as strong now as ever it was, and that you are
the same now that you were seven years ago, not
dying to sin and rising to ne'miess of life ; oh, de-
ceive not your own souls any longer, your case as
yet is fearful, you be not the lively members of
Jesus Clirist, but wild olives, wild branches, good
for nothing but fuel for the fire.

TFJiich brlngeth forth her fruit in due season.

This is the second property of that tree where-
unto a godly man is compared, namely, as it is well
planted and seated by the river's side, where it hath
continual juice and nourishment, and it is well
watered. Even so likewise it is fruitful and yieldeth
sweet and pleasant fruit to him that planted it,i
and that in due season ; even so the godly man being
ingrafted into Jesus Christ, as by a river's side, and

' This tree whereunto the godly man is compared is most
like to be the palm-tree. — Moler. in Ps. i. Palma gaudet
riguis tutoque animo bibere gaudet. — Pli. lib. xiii. 4.

being a lively member of his mystical body, he
bringeth forth much good and pleasant fruit, and
that in due season, whenas it may best stand for
the glory of God and the good of man.

Bod. 5. Here we see then who are the true and
lively members of Jesus Christ, who is a true godly
man, and who is planted as this good tree in Jesus
Christ the true vine, namely, such as be careful and
endeavour themselves continually to bring forth the
blessed fruit of a godly and Christian life. ' Every
tree is known by his fruit.' A tree is not kno^vn by
his rind, or bark, nor branches, nor yet by his
leaves, but ' every tree is kno-ivn by his fruit. Mat.
xii. 34. A good tree cannot but bring forth good
fruit, and a bad tree cannot but bring forth bad
fruit ; so every man is known by his fruit. He that
is a godly man, and a true and lively member of
Jesus Christ, cannot but bring forth good fruit, even
the fruit of good works and a godly life. So a
wicked man cannot but bring forth bad friiit, the
works of darkness, of a wicked and ungodly life.
We see if a graft or scion be set into a good stock
and take aright it will appear by the yielding of
fruit ; but if it do not prosper, then it withers and
dries, and is good for nothing but for fire. So if
any man seem to be a Christian, and to be a mem-
ber of Clirist Jesus, and yet bring not forth good
fruit, surely his estate is fearful ; while he is un-
fruitful, he must be pulled away as a withered branch,
and to the fire he must go. A true Christian must
not be like the tree which Christ Jesus cursed, which
had leaves and no fruit. Mat. xxi. 19, but he must
be like to the tree planted by the river's side, ' that
win bring forth fi-uit in due season ; ' yea, that which
is more, they ' bring forth fruit in then" age,' Ps.
xcii. 14, whereas evil men, as the apostle St Paul
saith, 2 Tim. iii. 13, 'wax worse and worse,' and
fall away from God daily more and more. This was
the sum of the doctrine of John Baptist to his
hearers, that they would ' bring forth fruit worthy
amendment of life,' Mat. iii. 8. And the like is
used by the apostle, ' Let your conversation be such
as becometh the gospel of Christ,' Phil. i. 27.
Again, 'FoUow holiness, ^vithout which no man
shall see God,' Heb. xii. 14. 'Herein' (saith our
Sa\-iour Clirist, in the Gospel of St John xv. 8) ' is
my father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and

Ver. 3.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

become my disciples.' And we know how Almighty
God did plead this cause with the people of Israel,
even in their unfruitfiilness, notwithstanding his
great cost and pains about them. This is the hope
of the husbandman, that after his cost and pains he
shall in the end reap some fruit as a recompense of
his labours ; and shall we not think that God vnll
require the same at our hands, we being the vine-
yard of the Lord of hosts 1 For every Christian
that liveth in the church is a tree in God's orchard,
he hath his room and standing ; the Lord watereth
them with the dew of heaven, the ministry of his
word and gospel, and the use of his sacraments.
Now the Lord looks that we should yield him fruit,
otherwise you know what became of the fig-tree
that had goodly leaves but no fruit, it was sen-
tenced vnth this curse, ' Never fruit grow on thee
more.' It will not go for payment ■(vith Almighty
God that we have been baptized into Christ's nature,
that we have a being here in the church of God,
and are taken for good trees before men ; no, it is
our bringing forth of much fruit that must assure us
that we are the members of Christ, and ingrafted
into him.

Objecl. WTiat be the fruits that a godly man must
bring forth ?

Arts. They be the fruits of good works, they be
the fruits of a godly Ufe, in a word, they be the
blessed fruits of faith, the fruits of repentance, and
the fruits of new obedience.

1 . First, Every true and lively member of Jesus
Christ, — that is, every godly man or woman that is
regenerate and born anew, and so a sound Christiaii
— must labour to bring forth the fruit of faith. Now
faith is nothing else but that grace of God in a man's
heart whereby he beHeves the promise of salvation
and the promises of the gospel, and applies them to
his own soul, and therefore St James saith, ' Shew
me thy faith by thy works.' Dost thou delight in
the law of God and love his word ( Dost thou de-
light in his worship and calling on his name 1 Dost
thou find thy faith to purify thy heart ! Acts xv. 9.
This is some part of that fruit which God requu-eth
of thee. This fruit Peter brought forth, ' Thou art
Christ the Son of the U\'iug God,' Mat. xvi. IG.
This was the fruit that the disciples brought
forth, ' We believe and know that thou art Christ,

the Son of the living God,' John vi. 69. And in-
deed this is the first stone that is to be laid in the
building up of a Christian, and therefore very fitly
called a foundation. And the Colossians are said to
be rooted, and built, and stablislied in the faith,
Col. ii. 7. And indeed this is that sure foundation
that shall bear up the whole frame of our souls
against all winds and weathers. It is the first work
of change in the heart, and the first difference be-
twixt man and man, when God ' by faith purifieth
the heart,' Acts xv. 9. It will suffer no unclean
thoughts, unLwful lusts, or wandering motions to
harbour there, guideth the affections, love, hatred,
sorrow, &c. Such a man loves nothing more than
God, hates nothing more than sin, rejoiceth in no-
thing more than in doing the will of God, and sor-
rows for nothing more than that he should offend so
good and gracious a God. Again, it is the founda-
tion of all our obedience, for ' without faith it is im-
possible to please God,' Heb. xi. 6. And without it
we can neither pray, hear, or perform any duty that
shall be acceptable with God.

2. The second is the fruit of repentance, whereby
a man is humbled for his sins past, and is afraid of
sin in time to come. This fruit of repentance is of
absolute necessity to salvation, according to that of
our Saviour, ' Except ye repent ye shall all perish,'
Luke xiii. 5. And . only godly sorrow must work
this true repentance in a man, ' Godly sorrow
causeth . repentance in a man to salvation,' 2 Cor.
vii. 10. And therefore in the Scriptures ai-e re-
corded the mournings of the godly in the days of
their humiliation : David's fainting, Ps. vi. 6 ;
Hezekiah chattering like a crane, Isa. xxxviii. 1 4 ;
Job abhorring himself in dust and ashes ; Peter
weeping bitterly. Mat. xxvi. 75 ; Mary Magdalene
washing Christ's feet with her tears, Luke vii. 38 ;
and Paul crjdng out, ' wretched man that I am,'
Eom. vii. 24. We must mourn with these here if
we must mourn ' with them hereafter. And surely
if there were neither heaven nor hell, neither reward
nor punishment, yet the godly would sorrow for sin,
for offending their good and gracious God and
lo\-ing Father. Besides this sorrow in a godly man
for his sins past he is exceeding afraid of .sin in time
to come, as David was, who prayed unto God so

' Quer}-, 'r<.'jiiico ' ? — Ed.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 3.

earnestly that he would ' stablish him with his free
Spirit,' Ps. li. 10. That seeing he had such woeful
experience of his own weakness, he prays unto the
Lord that he would give him his preventing grace,
that lie might never fall into the like sin again. So
the godly Israelites in Ezra his time, Ezra ix.
10, 13, when they had mth grief of heart bewailed
their sins unto God, they resolve to make a cove-
nant with God, and solemnly to bind themselves to
put away their strange wives, whereby they had so
much dishonoured liim. And so it is with all the
faithful, even as a good child, having by his unto-
wardness vexed his father, is careful afterwards to
please him again by all means possible. Well, then,
dost thou find these fruits of true repentance in
thee ? are thou grieved and even pained at thy heart
for thy wicked life, for thy ignorance, unbelief,
hardness of heart, thy neglect of prayer and caUing
on God's name? Art thou grieved for want of
reverence in God's worship, for thy abusing God, —
namely, by swearing, cursing, and banning, for con-
tempt of his word and sacraments, for profaning of
his Sabbaths, careless governing of the family, for
thy maUce, unbelief, unclean, proud, and covetous
thoughts, drunkenness, uncleanness, and the like?
Again, dost thou find in thee an earnest desire to
walk with God in obedience to all his command-
ments, to live in no known sin, but in all things to
please God to the utmost of thy power ? These be
the fruits of righteousness, whereby we are known to
be of God.

3. The third is the fruit of new obedience, or of
a godly life, both in obedience of God's laws in the
first and second table. Christ makes this the ear-
mark of his sheep, ' To hear his voice and follow
him,' Jolm x. And we are willed by the author of
the epistle unto the Hebrews to ' Cast away every
thing that pressetli down, and the sin that hangeth
so fast on, and to run with patience the race that
is set before us.' This was godly David's resolution,
' I will nin the way of thy commandments,' Ps.
cxix. 32, and David, describing the true worshippers
of God, saitli, ' They go on from strength to strength,'
Ps. Ixxxiv. 7, serving God in truth of heart, without
hyjjrocisy ; and it is said here, that the fruit of a
godly man doth never fixde. And howsoever the
work of mortification is never perfected in this life, i

but that the remnants and relics of sin will still
remain, even in the godly themselves, yet they ever
sin with grief of heart, and Christ's death doth set
such a work against all sin, that the regenerate man
can truly say, ' It is not I, but sin that dwelleth in
me.' So then if thou desirest to please God in all
his commandments, at all times, and in all places,
and to do all duties of love unto men required in
the commandments of the second table, shewing thy
fruits in doing of good to the poor distressed mem-
bers of Jesus Christ, feeding, clothing, and comfort-
ing them in their need. In thy general calling to
bring forth the fniit of godliness, to be much in and
often exercised in prayer, hearing, reading, meditat-
ing, &c. As also in thy particular calling to do thy
duty with a true faith, and a good conscience, with-
out fraud, guUe, deceit, &c. These be the fraits
that are required in all those that are the members
of Jesus Christ, and ingrafted into his mystical
body.

Use 1. This doctrine doth flatly condemn all such,
as unfruitful and barren trees, as bring forth no
fruit of a godly, righteous, and religious life, such as
live in continual ignorance, bhndness, hardness of
heart, in contempt of the word, profanation of the
Sabbath ; our civil honest men wliich are so much
admired ; if they be not good Christians, who
should? And if they be not saved, I know not who
should go to heaven. Well, every good tree brings
forth good fruit. Where be your good fruits ? No
fruits of faith, no fruit of repentance, nor new obedi-
ence ; but instead thereof the fraits of infidelity and
hardness of heart, and disobedience. Alas ! that
poor souls should thus go blindfold to hell ! to
think that such should be saved ; what then should
become of hell ? As though a man might be a true
niember of Jesus Christ, and ingrafted into his
mystical body, and yet be barren of good fruits.
No, no, it cannot be, for there is such a lively power
in this stock of life, Christ Jesus, that they who
are once ingrafted into him, bring forth fruit incon-
tinent. As we may see in the thief upon the cross,
what fruit he bare in an instant of time ; first, con-
fession of his own sins ; secondly, reproving the sins
of his companion ; thirdly, clearing Christ to be in-
nocent ; lastly, praying that Christ would remember
him when he came into his kingdom ; and this we

Ver. 3]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

may see in Zaccheus, Lydia, &c., wlio were no
sooner converted, but brought forth fruit incon-
tinently ; and yet we see how many dry, fruitless,
and barren trees deceive the world, as the fig-tree
Christ. Oh ! he is a very honest man, keeps a good
house, doth nobody harm, a very kind and civil
honest man, &c. Well, is this all 1 This will not
serve to prove him a good Clu'istian. For ' now is
the axe put to the root of the tree, every tree that
brings not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast
into the fire,' ]\Iat. iii. 10. We know what became
of the fig-tree that had goodly leaves and fair
shows, was it not accursed? And the tree that
the husbandman digged, and pruned, and watered ;
was it not in the end he-mi do^vn and reserved for
no other use but fuel for the fire ? And this will be
the end of many of our civil honest men (so called)
wliatsoever they think of themselves, or others con-
ceive of them.

Oh, then, how fearful a thing is it to be trees
brmging forth leaves and no fruit, as is the condi-
tion of all hjqjocrites ; for they shall find at last what
it is to be as a barren tree in the Lord's vineyard,
for that shall be taken away from them wliich they
seem to have, as proud Jezebel and her painted face
shall both of them perish together. On the other
side, the elect of God, that biing forth fruit as well
as leaves, they shall be both preserved together and
grow in grace and knowledge here in this life, and
at the last, when these days of sin shall have an end,
they themselves shall be gathered into the place of
rest, the Sion of the Lord, and their works shall
follow them, Eev. sdv. 13. And howsoever works
justify not a man, being the best of them weak and
imperfect here, yet by our works, as the evidences of
our virtues, we shall be judged at the last.

Use 2. This then doth plainly shew that their
estate is ten times worse and more fearful that brings
forth nothing but cursed and bitter fruits of sin and
wilful disobedience. A farmer or husbandman will
not suffer a tree to grow in his orchard if it either
bring no fruit, or else bitter, sour, or unsavoury fruit,
so bad as none can eat them, nor there is no use of
them, but will hew it down and cast it into the fire.
Oh, then, consider this, ye that forget God, ye that
live in continual practice of sin and iniquity, you
that bring forth no other fruit but horrible oaths.

blasphemy, drunkenness, whoredom, &c. ; that by the
axe of God Almighty's vengeance ye shall be hewn
do^vn, and to the fire ye must go. If trees as be
barren and bring forth no fruit shall be destroyed
and cast into the fire, how much more such miser-
able and sinful wretches whose whole life is nothing
else but a heaping of iniquity unto iniquity, and all
profaneness against God and man ? If the rich man
was damned that did not give of his bread to poor
Lazarus, good Lord, what shall become of those that
take away, and, as it were, grind the face of the
poorl In a word, if he, not being fniitful in good
works, shall be punished so sharjjly and severely,
what shall then become of those that even abound
in all manner of most abominable sin and iniquity ?
Oh, 'consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear
you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you.'

Use 3. Let tliis admonish every man to try him-
self, to look into liis own soul. Thou art a tree in
God's orchard, the Lord he husbands thee, doth be-
stow cost on thee to water and dress thee by his
word and sacraments, mercies and judgments. WeU,
he comes to seek fruit of thee, it may be he hath
come three, four, seven, or ten years together, and
still thou hast no fniit, but remainest still a barren
tree. Well, the Lord will not always stay and wait
for fruit at thy hands, Luke xiv. 9, but will say to
the vinedresser, ' Cut me this fruitless and barren
tree down ; why doth it cover the ground and keep
it barren 1 ' as it is in Isa. v. ' The ground that re-
ceiveth the rain that comes often upon it, and brings
forth fruit meet for him that dresses it, receives a
blessing; but him that brings forth thorns and
briars is sentenced with a curse, whose end is to be
bunied,' Heb. vi. 7, 8. If ye have not yet begun,
begin now to bring forth fruit, I mean the fruits of
faith, the fruits of repentance, and the fruits of
obedience, of a godly life and conversation. If ye
have begim already, oh labour then to do it more,
bring forth more, and more better fruit to abound
in good works; such trees as these are shall be
spared, and not destroyed, Deut. xx. 19, but such
trees as bring forth no fruit, ' Hew them down, why
cumber they the ground 1 '

In due season.

That is, in time convenient, when it may most
serve for God's glory and the good of our neigh-

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 3.

bour. So that here we have a further condition of
this tree set out by the circumstance of the time,
that it 'briugeth forth fruit in due season.' And
we know it is a commendable thing in our grounds,
and so in our trees, that they bring us out theii- fruit
in their due season. If our corn should not be ripe
till the summer were over, or our trees begin to bud
in the spring before summer come, men would look
to reap but small store of fruits. Well, as this is
commended in our ground and in our trees, so is it
no less commendable in our souls, and a true "note
of a godly man, and a blessed proceeding from his
ingrafting into Jesus Christ, that he likewise bring
forth fruit in due season.

Dod. 6. In this observe the godly care, and the
heavenly wisdom of a godly man, and one that is
a child of God ; that he waits and watches his time,
and then readily takes the occasion to do good.
Everything hath his time and season, ' Seek the
Lord while he may be found, and call upon him
while he is near,' Isa. Iv. 6, 7. Out of which words
we gather, that as there is a time when the Lord
will be found of them that seek him (which time is
a godly man's season, for now doth he seek the
Lord) so there is a time when the Lord will not be
found, and that a blessing cannot be obtained at his
hands, though a man seek it with tears, as Esau did,
for so saith the Lord, ' Because I have cried and
called unto you, and ye would not hear ; therefore
the time shall come, that ye shall cry and call unto
me, and I will not answer,' Prov. i. 24, 28. Again,
' Exhort ye one another daily, while it is called to-
day,' Heb. iii. 13. For our hearing, for our read-
ing, praying, singing, and meditating, &c., there
are times for each of those, which the godly man
doth in no wise omit. And of this there is great
reason; for shall we not be as careful of the per-
formance of our duties herein, as we are in our own
affairs ? In our ploughing and sowing, our reaping
and gathering in, our putting off of our cattle, and
tilling our ground. Men know their times, and
take their opportunities, even then when it shall
stand with their best advantage. Oh that we could
be as wise for our souls, to purchase the true
treasure which will make us rich unto salvation,
as we are for these temporal things which do last
but for a time. Surely it is the care of a godly

man. As the mariner watches for the wind, and
when it comes, hauls up sail ; as the captain and
soldier in the field wait their time ; yea, and as the
birds, swan and crane, the beasts, swallow, and
pismire, wait their times, and then take the occasion
and season ofl'ered ; so the child of God doth in his
heavenly wisdom wait the time, and take the oc-
casion to do good. As Joseph in the seven years
of plenty, provided for the seven years of dearth ; so
the godly man bringeth forth fruit in due season, —
that is, in time convenient. As when the Lord calls
man to repent, he repents ; when occasion is to
pray, he will pray ; when the season is to hear, he
^vill hear ; when to reprove, he will reprove ; when
to give to the poor, he hath his hand ready ; so
as when occasion is offered he takes it. Yea, he
waits and watches for it, as Lot did to entertain
strangers at his tent-door, Gen. xvii., and as that
poor man in the Gospel, who lay at the pool of
Bethesda, waiting for the moving of the water,
John V.

Use 1. This reproves the folly and carelessness
of most men, who neither wait the time, nor yet
take the occasion offered. The Lord calls men
to prayer, to call on his nanie, they make light
of it. The Lord calls men to hear his word, men
contemn it. The Lord offers occasion to reprove
sin, they Avill not open their mouths to reprove the
swearer, blasphemer, cursed speaker, &c. The Lord
offers occasion to relieve the poor, they shut up the
bowels of mercy against them. In the matters of
the world, oh, men are wise to take their time, the
merchant, the mariner, the husbandman, &c. But
in the matters of God, which concern the salvation
of our souls, we are like that sick man that let every
man step in before him. Well, if we belong unto God,
it will grieve us at the heart that we have not done
our duty, that we have omitted our occasions of
doing of good ; whether to hear, read, pray, reprove,
or to give unto the poor. Well, let us now ' seek the
Lord while he may be found.' Let us not with the
slotliful servant, defer till our master's coming.
How many be there that say, that they will now
live at ease, in joy, and vnW take their pleasure,
and follow their sports, and when they be old, then
they will repent and serve God, and give them-
selves to pxaycr ; but let none think if they do

Ter. r>,]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

spend the flower of their youth in kists and plea-
sures, in tlie service of sin and Satan, that God will
accept of their rotten old age, no, the devil shall
have the dregs as well as the wne.

U^e 2. Hence we observe, in the second place, that
God's children are never void of the fruits of faith,
but have them in them continually to their endless
comfort. Other trees oftentimes fall to degenerate,
and to grow cut of kind, and if they do hold out
a long time, yet age at the last makes them to
decay and to die; albeit you dig and dung, and
water them never so much, it cannot keep them
from wasting and ■\Aathering ; but it is not so mth
godly men, which are planted by the ' rivers of water'
in God's church ; for even in their old age, they
bring forth abundance and store of fruit, albeit they
be never so old, yet whensoever the season requu'es
some fruit of a godly man, he is ever ready to per-
form the same, being that he is continually watered
by the working of his Spuit. And this is confirmed
by that of our Sa\dour Christ, ' I am the true vine,
and my Father is the husbandman, every branch
that beareth no fruit in me, he takethaway; and
every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that
it may bring forth more fruit.' John xv. 1,2. So
that being once planted by these rivers of waters, we
shall then incontinently bring forth fruit.

His leaf shaU not fade.

This is the third point of the description of this
tree, to the which a godly man is compared ; namely,
by the flourishing estate of it, that her leaves do not
fall. They wither not, nor dry not, but always
flourish and are green. Of this sort is the olive-
tree, the bay-tree, the laurel- tree, and the box-tree ;
they are always green and flourishing, the heat of the
summer, nor the cold of the winter, doth not parch
or Tiither them, but they keep their vigour and
colour at all seasons. Now this doth signify unto
us the constancy and the perseverance of the godly.
For as the tree planted thus by the fresh springing
waters doth always flourish and is ever green, neither
is it nijjped either vnih the heat of summer, or cold of
winter ; so the godly man that is tndy regenerate, he
is constant, and doth persevere even unto the end.

Bod. 7. Hence we learn that it is not enough for
a man or woman to begin well, or to take some
liking of religion, to have some good motions, as to

reverence good ministers, to desire to hear them, to
join with the people of God in prayer, to bring forth
some good fruit in outward reformation of Hfe, &c.,
unless he persevere, persist, and go on unto the end.
' He that endures to the end shall be saved,' Mat.
xxiv. 12. And, 'Be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life,' Rev. ii. 10. ' If a
righteous man leave his righteousness,' &c., Ezra
xiii. 24. ' He that puts his hand to the Lord's
plough, and looketh back, is not worthy of the Icing-
dom of heaven,' Luke ix. G2. Again, ' It had been
better for them that they had never known the ways
of godliness than afterwards to fall away,' 2 Pet.
ii. 21. And therefore in the Scriptures, such as have
had some beginning and after fallen away are noted
to have been exceeding wicked men. As we see in
Judas, first a preacher and an apostle, a man well
esteemed, that had excellent gifts to, preach, pray,
and cast out devils, afterwards an hyjiocrite, a thief,
a traitor, a reprobate. Herpd had many things in
him at first, reverenced John Baptist, heard him
gladly, did many things at his request, yet after-
ward a bloody persecutor. Demas, once a sound
professor as it seemed, and one that was dear unto
Paul, but afterwards left his profession and fell in
love with the world, like the church of Ephesus lost
their first love and grew worse ^nd worse. Rev. ii. 4.
So that, let all men know that though they have
many excellent gifts and graces of God's Spirit,
knowledge, faith, repentance, zeal, patience, yet all
is nothing worth unless they hold out in faith, re-
pentance, and obedience, and maintain faith and
a good conscience even unto the end. If a soldier
should be cunning and skilful, knowing how to fight
and handle his weapon Avell, and yet should turn his
back and play the coward, he is but a cowardly
soldier, and not worthy of the crown. And there-
fore it is a special duty, required of every Christian,
to continue steadfast ; ' Be thou faithful unto the
end, and I will give thee a crown of life,' Rev. ii. 10.
Use 1. Hence we see that it is a dangerous thing
to revolt and go backwards in matters of religion,
to lose our first love. It is a fearful sign of a re-
probate and castaway, when men slack hand and
slip neck out of collar, grow careless in the service
and worship of God : for a man to grow, there is
some hope, though he do but creep on in religion ;

SAMUEL SMITH ON TSALM I.

[Yek. 8.

but for a man to go backward or to stand at a stay
is dangerous. For it is certain, not to go forward in
God's matters is to go backward ; not to increase is
to decrease ; not to grow better is to wax worse. It
is a hard matter to make a good beginning, we are
not easily brought to set foot forward in the ways
of godUness ; but then to trip while we are in our
journey, and to wax weary of well-doing, this is a
fearful sin. Well, then, lay this doctrine to heart,
examine yourselves, see how ye grow, whether as
good trees in God's orchard, being so watered vnth
the rivers of water of the sanctuary, and fed in the
green pastures. If a child go to school, and do not
increase in knowledge, learning, and education, all
money and pains is ill bestowed. If a tree be
planted, and do grow worse and worse, it is time to
cut it down. Well, we be trees in God's orchard,
the Lord hath planted us by the rivers of waters,
when a great number about us be in a barren soil
and have no means. And for us not to grow, but
rather to decay, it were the next way to provoke
God to bring his axe and to hew us down. And
therefore prove how you hold your own, how you
grow in knowledge, faith, repentance, and obedience.
And, above all things, take heed that you decay not
in grace, go not backward, lose not your first love.
I fear me it may be said of us, as Clmst said some-
time to the church of Sardis, ' Thou hast a name
that thou hvest, take heed thou be not dead,' Eev.
iii. 1. Kepent therefore and amend, that the things
in thee ready to die may be recovered.

Use 2. Here is a notable means to try hj^jocrites
from good Christians : he that is sound-hearted, and
truly humbled and regenerate, will persevere and
grow in grace, hold out to the end, so as their works
shall be more at last than at the first ; yea, the godly
man is like the tall cedar, the more it is shaken with
storms and tempests it takes the deeper root and
grows the faster ; Uke the camomile, the more it is
trodden on the more it grows ; or like some precious
stones, never shine better than in the darkest night ;
or like perfume, never so sweet as when it is rubbed
and chafed ; or gold, never brighter than when it is
fined in the fire. The word of God is plain for
this : Abraham in all his journeys and travels,
though he met with many and dangerous enemies,
yet he was most constant in his foith ; David, in all

his troubles, yet still was religious ; the children in
the fire, most glorious conquerors ; Daniel in the
den, a blessed man ; Job, in his greatest extremity,
a patient man ; Paul, Peter, and the rest of the
apostles, never shewed themselves more worthy men
than in great trials and storms of persecutions. So
that you see a godly man is well compared to a strong
oak or cedar, or rather a palm-tree, that never loseth
his leaves, fruit, and greenness — no, not in the
bitter storms and blasts of winter. So the godly
man doth not shrink in the wetting like to a piece
of sail-cloth, but doth persevere, and is constant
even unto the end, his works are more at last than
at first.

But come to a hj^iocrite, a counterfeit Christian,
a false professor of the gospel, you shall see they be
like painted sepulchres, fair ■vvithout but foul within ;
like to empty vessels which make great noise and
have no Uquor in them ; like a piece of sail-cloth
which, being drawn out and set on the tenters, will
quickly shrink in the wettmg. They be like to false
friends, that \^'ill hang on like burs while there is
some gain to be gotten, but they will fail a man
when he hath most need of them. So long as it is
fair weather, and there is no danger in professing of
the gospel, they will seem forward and very zealous, j
as though they were the only men in the world ; but I
if there come any matter of danger, if the sun grow "
hot, or if stoiTns or tempests do arise — that is, troubles
and persecutions for I'eligiou's sake and the gospel's
sake, they will then hide their heads and profess no
longer. All the goodly leaves and shows they made
will wither and come to nothing, then they will ap-
pear to then- kind. Such our Saviour Clmst likeneth
unto corn m the stony ground, which makes a fair
show for a time, but when the sun arises it withers
away. Even so, these kind of professors, if any trial
or trouble do come for the gospel's sake, or that for
their profession they should lose the fiivour of some
great man, oh, then, they think it the safest way
to sleep in a whole skin ; then they wither away, and
then they shew they did profess the gospel, not in
truth and sincerity for love to the gospel, but for
some other respect, namely, for some hope of gain,
or honour, or favour of men, or for praise of the
world.

Use 3. Let this admonish us all, as we do love our

Yer.

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

own souls, to labour for constancy and perseverance,
tliat we may hold out unto the end, that our works
may be more at last than at first, that we cast our
account beforehand what it will cost us to be re-
ligious indeed, that we be sure to dig so deep, that
we lay the foundation of our faith upon the rock
Christ ; and for want of this godly care and ciixum-
spection aforehand, many have at the first given
their names to Christ, who aftervvards, when they
were to take up the cross of Christ, have gone out
and turned their backs upon Christ. Saul began
well, but afterwards he waxed worse, and in the end
became an open persecutor. Joash behaved him-
self uprightly all the days of Jehoiada, and repaired
the house of the Lord, but after his death he fell to
idolatry. What did it profit Lot's wife to go out of
Sodom, uisomuch as afterwards she looked back and
was turned into a pillar of salt 1 So, then, we see
here that it is not enough to purpose well, it is
not enough to begin well, neither is it enough to
proceed well ; it is requii'ed of us to persevere well,
and to continue in a constant and settled course even
unto the end.

Bod. 8. Last of all, that it is said here that the
leaves — that is to say, the faith of a Christian — shall
never fall. Hence I gather that no elect child of God
that is tnily regenerate and born anew, and a lively
member of Christ's mystical body, can perish and
finally fall away. ' For whom God predestinateth,
him he calleth, whom he calleth he justLfieth, whom
he justifieth he glorifieth,' Rom. viii. 30. ' The gift
and calling of God is without repentance.' ' My
sheep hear my voice and follow me. And I give
unto them eternal hfe ; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man take them out of my hand,'
John X. 27-29. And the reason is, 'We bear
not the root, but the root beareth us.' Our salva-
tion doth not depend upon ourselves, for then, in-
deed, we were in danger to fall away every moment
of an hour, but it dependeth upon him, because we
are in him, and through him we gi'ow and increase ;
yea, the older we be in Christ the more do we fasten
our root and flourish. They which are planted in
the courts of the Lord shall flourish in their old age,
and bring forth much fruit.

And whereas other branches are many times
pulled from their stock, either by the violence of

the wind, by the hands of men, or at the least
consumed by length of time, it shall not be so with
them that are in Christ ; for they are kept by him,
as the root bearing branches. Because I am not
altered nor changed, therefore are you not con-
sumed, ye sons of Jacob ! And therefore right
happy is the state of that man who is in Clu-ist
Jesus ; for ' neither life, nor death, tilings present,
nor thmgs to come, shall separate him from the love
of God,' Rom. ^aii. 38.

And this comfort is confirmed to us Isy most sure
arguments. The first is taken from the nature of
Almighty God: 'He is faithful which hath pro-
mised.' And 'I am persuaded,' saith the apostle,
' that he who hath begun this good work will per-
form it until the day of Christ.'

The second is taken from the nature of that life
which Christ comLnninicateth to his members : ' We
know that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth
no more,' Rom. vi. 9, This life of Christ is com-
municated to us, so that it is not we that live now,
but Christ that liveth in us.

The third is taken from the nature of that seed
whereof we are begotten : we are ' born anew, not of
mortal seed, but immortal,' 1 Pet. i. 23. Now as
the seed is, so is the Ufe that comes by that seed ;
our life therefore must needs be immortal.

Use I. This confuteth the detestable doctrine of
the Papists, who hold and teach that a man elected,
called, justified, and sanctified, may for ever fall
away and be damned ; that he which to-day is the
dear child of God, to-morrow may become the child
of the devil ; to-day a member of Chiist, to-morrow
a limb of the devil ; to-day an heir of salvation, to-
morrow a child of damnation. Now what doctrine
can be more devilish and uncomfortable? This is
nothing else but to set up a gibbet to torment the
poor souls of God's cliilcben, to overtlirow the nature
of faith, to make God feeble and weak, or foohsh
and unwise, which is manifest blasphemy ; but we
see here the word of God tells us this cannot be :
' For what shall separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus ? ' Notliing.

Use 2. This may serve to reprove another sort of
men, who are ready to abuse this doctrine. Tu.^h,
saith the carnal and loose Christian, it sldlls not
then how a man lives, whether well or ill, he that is

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

\YEn. 3.

elected and is a member of Clirist sball be saved,
and he that is rejected shall be damned, though he
live never so well ; therefore they take liberty to
sin, and make conscience of no sin whatsoever. But
they must know that God decrees a man as well to
the means as to the end. And it is impossible a
man should be elected and called, but he must live
well ; so he that is not elected and called cannot
live well. And it is all one as if a man should
never eat or diink, and yet hope to live and like
well ; or lying in the fire or water, and using no
means to come out, should not perish. But we
must know that the end and the means must go
together. And for a man to neglect or reject the
means, it is in vain for liim to hope to be saved ; for
if thou belong to God thou shalt in time be called
and sanctified ; and where his work is not as already
wrought, that man is as yet in the state of damna-
tion.

Use 3. Here is matter of endless comfort to every
true child of God that truly repents and believes in
Jesus Christ, that howsoever, through the malice of
Satan, and the temjytation of the de\dl, the allure-
ments of the world, and the coiTuption of our flesh,
we may grievously sin and fall ; yet ' there is no
condemnation to them that are in Christ,' Eom. viii.
1. 'The gates' — that is, all the powers — 'of hell
shall not prevail against us,' Mat. xvi. If ever
thou foundest the sound work of grace in thee,
foundest Jesus Christ to dwell in thy heart by ftiith,
so that thou hatest all sin, and desirest in aU things
to please God, though Satan rage and stoim, and all
the gates of hell rise up against thee ; yet thou
mayest comfort thyself in the Lord, and say with
Paul, ' There is no condemnation to me that am in
Christ, which walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.' Thou mayest triumph with Paul, and say,
'MTio shall lay anything to the charge of God's
chosen 1 ' and, ' If God be with us, who can be
against usT and again, 'I am persuaded nothing
can sever me from the love of God in Christ Jesus ; '
no, not sin, nor death itself Oh, happy then and
blessed is the estate of that man who is in Christ !
' Neither life, nor death, things present, nor things
to come, shall separate him from the love of
God.'

And whatsoever he doth shall prosper.

Doct. 9. Here is described another part of the
blessedness of a godly man, containing the mercy
and goodness of God unto Idni in the lawful things
wherein he hath to deal, that God dotli of Ids infi-
nite mercy and love direct and prosj)er tliis man,
gi\'ing a blessing and good success to all he take? in
hand. And this mercy all men desire, to attain
prosperity and good success in their estates ; all
men desire it, — lo, here it is promised.

Hence we learn that it is not in vain for a man to
be godly, to be religious, to walk with God, and to
keep faith and a good conscience before God and
man, but it is the only way to be blessed, to have
the blessing of God upon us in our places and call-
ings, and to have good success in all things that we
take in hand. This is taught by Moses unto the
people of Israel, 'If thou wilt obey diligently the
voice of the Lord thy God, and observe and do all
liis commandments which I command thee this day,
&c., all these blessings shall come on thee, and over-
take thee, if thou shalt obey the voice of the Lord
thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and
blessed in the field ; blessed shall be the fruit of thy
body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of
thy cattle, &c., and in all that thou j)uttest thy hand
unto,' Deut. xx\iii., the whole chapter. This did
the Lord unto Joshua, ' Let not the book of the law
depart out, &c., for thou shalt then make thy way
prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success,'
Josh. i. 7, 8. And the apostle saith. That ' godliness
hath the promise of this life and the life to come,'
1 Tim. iv. 8. If you would see the jDromise per-
formed, look into the history of the godly kings :
Dand, Ps. cxxviii. ; Josiah, Jer. xxdi. ; .Hezeldah,
&c., 1 Chron. xxyiii. 8, 9 ; who so long as they
walked wth God and kept his commandments, and
were truly godly and reUgious, how did they pros-
per and grow in the world ? how did God bless
them in all that they put their hands unto ? This
we may clearly behold in Joseph, who was a godly
and a virtuous man, and how did the Lord prosper
Joseph ? ' His master saw that the Lord was with
him, and that the Lord made all that he did to pros-
per in his hand,' Gen. xxxix. 1,2. It is said of Job,
that he was ' a just and an upright man, one that
feared God and eschewed evil,' Job i. 1. And it is
rehearsed how God did bless him in all his sub-

Yer. 3.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

Stance, which was very great, so as the devil (Con-
fessed that Job did not serve God for nought, but
that God did therefore bless him, Job i. 9. And
the reason is because the godly man takes nothing
in hand ivithout the warrant of God's word, Ps.
cxix. 9. Secondly, He doth that is good in a good
manner, in faith and hearty obedience ; and lastly,
The end of all his actions is the glory of God and
the good of his neighbour, ' And whatsoever he shall
do shall prosper.'

Object. But it mil be objected against this doctrine
that tills seems not to be so, for do we not see that
wcked men, ungodly WTetches, monstrous simiers,
that they flourish in the world, that they Hve in
great prosperity, dehght, and pleasures 1 This made
Da\'id and Jeremiah to expostulate the matter with
God, ' Why do the wicked flourish in the world,
and why do such prosper ? ' And again, ' AMiere-
fore doth the way of the wicked prosper ? why are
they in wealth that rebelliously transgress ? ' It
grieved both Da\'id and Jeremiah, and made them
to fret inwardly, as though God seemed to favour
wicked men, and to dislike and discountenance the
righteous and the godly.

Answer. For answer, You are to know that there
is a double kind of prosperity, the one we may call
spiritual, proceeding from God's favour and love
unto us in Christ, and declared principally in the
bestowing on us the spiritual and heavenly graces of
his Spirit : as faith, repentance, sanctification, &c.,
unto the wliich the Lord also addetli the blessings
and benefits of this life, so far forth as the Lord
shall judge them meet and expedient for his children
here.

There is another kind of prosperity, which is
earthly, a thri\'lng only in earthly things, as wealth,
honour, credit, &c., all which may befall, and do
befall, the wicked men and ungodly. But David
speaketh here of the former, promiseth that this
shall be one part of his happiness, that he shall have
good success, — that is, a plentiful measure of all
spiritual graces, that shall make him rich unto salva-
tion, and in earthly matters also according to his
portion, so that howsoever a wicked man may
esteem riches, honour, prosperity, and the like, to
be the best, yet the godly man saith, with Da^ad,
' Lord, shew me thy countenance ; ' his i)rosperity

being double, inward and outward, the chiefest of
all is heavenly.

As for the things of this life the godly doth pros-
per, and the Lord doth give good success.

First, Whether the godly man have little or much,
he hath it from God's right hand, as a blessing and
a favour of God, given unto him as a right in Jesus
Christ : whereas a wicked man, though he have
never so much, he hath it from God's left hand, —
that is, with anger and displeasure, ■Nritli the secret
curse of God.

Secondly, The godly man, hath he little or much,
he hath it with the peace of conscience and joy in
the Holy Ghost. Da\dd, having his portion from
the Lord as a blessing, saith. That the Lord made
him more joyful thereby than they whose ' corn, and
oil, and wine abounded,' Ps. iv. 7. ' A small thing
that the righteous hath is better than great riches of
the ungodly,' Ps. xxxvii. 16.

Thirdly, The godly man's estate is permanent and
durable, his prosperity doth not ebb and flow, but
continueth and lasteth : but the prosperity of the
^vicked is too uncertain ; yea, when they be at the
highest, suddenly the Lord sets them in a sUppery
place, and down they fall, (Pharaoh, Sennacherib,
Nebuchadnezzar, &c.,) and their fall is the more
fearful, because it is not only sudden but in the
height of their prosperity, sometimes by God's ven-
geance upon them, sometimes by one means, some-
times by another.

Use 1. This may serve to stop the mouths of the
common atheists of the world, who say that it
is in vain to serve God, and lost labour to be re-
ligious, no fruit in leading of a godly life, Mai. iii.
14. For so they say, if they would follow sermons,
and spend their tmie in prayer, and calling on
God, in reading and meditating of his word, they
should beg when they have done, and such men
never prosper in the world. But that is a false
accusation. Did not Abraham prosper, and Lot,
Joseph, Job, David, Hezekiah, and the hke, even
because they were godly, therefore they prospered ;
yea, only the godly man may be truly said to pros-
per, because he alone is in the favour of God, he alone
hath his prosperity from the right hand of God, he
alone hath them as blessings, and in the favour and
love of God ; whereas the -nacked and ungodly man

SAjrUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Yer. 4.

hath riches from the left hand of God's anger and
displeasure to liim, they have them with no comfort,
nor peace, but with great vexation, troul>le, and dis-
quietness, and they spend them -srith great pain and
sorrow.

Use 2. Tliis may reprove the foohsh brag and
boast of wicked men, who therefore think that they
be highly in God's favour, because he lets them
attain to gi-eat preferment, honour, and dignity
here, and that therefore God doth favour and love
them. Poor soul, hast thou no better reason to
prove thyself in God's favour ? Ham was a rich man,
so was Esau a great man in the world, Pharaoh,
Herod, Nebuchadnezzar, and many others, and yet
never the more beloved of God, but wicked and
damnable, as the glutton, Luke x\± Nay, know,
unless thou be a godly man, thy riches will be thy
bane, and they be tokens of God's vengeance, to
make thee more proud, cniel, and wicked, unclean
and filthy; yea, to feed tliy soul to the day of
slaughter.

Use 3. This should admonish all godly men to
take heed how they fret and grieve at the vain
and uncertain prosperity of the wicked and un-
godly; it is that wluch troubles the godly much,
as it did Job, Jeremiah, Da-vid, and Asaph, who
wondered and were much giieved at tliis, to see
the ungodly flourish, and to abound in honour,
dignity, wealth, authority, the only men of the
world; and, on the contrary part, the godly in
misery, trouble, &c. But 'when they went into
the house of the Lord, then understood they the
end of those men ; namely, that God did set them
in slippery places, and that their end was fearful,'
Ps. Ixxiii. 17, Ps. xxx\'ii. 17. And as Job saith,
' They spend their days in pleasure, and suddenly
go down to hell,' Job xxi. 13. Let us then consider
well of these things, and not to giieve at the wicked
because they prosper, or to be drawn hereby to
think the better of them, or then- \-ile courses, be-
cause they flourish a while; or the worse of the
godly, because they endure some trouble ; but con-
sider their latter end, and in the meantime to
possess our souls with patience, notwithstanding
the jollity of the wicked, for it is liut for a time,
like a great thistle, which starts up in the summer,
and at the comuig of -n-iuter is gone ; or the jioor

estate of the godly, for in the end they shall be
exalted.

Use 4. Last of all, If we desire to thrive in the
world, to prosper, and to have the blessing of God
upon our labours, the best, yea, and the surest way
is to become religious, to walk vri.t\\ God, to lead a
godly life, 1 Tim. iv. 8. The example of Aliraham,
Joseph, Joshua, David, Job, &c., maj^ persuade us
hereunto. We see many take great pains night and
day, toil and moil all the year long, even wearing out
their bodies early and late, and yet do not tluive, do
not prosper and come forward, but rather go down the
wind. The reason is, God doth not bless them and
their labours, because they be wicked, and live in the
practice of some known sin. And, therefore, if thou
wonldest find God's blessing upon thee and thine,
upon thy soul, body, goods, good name, wife, child,
corn, cattle, &c., the best way is to serve God, to call
on his name, to lead a godly life, and then certainly
thou shalt find that God w\ Ul bless thee, and make
thee to prosper.

Ver. 4. The wicked are not so, hut as the chaff ichich
the Kind dr'weth aumy.

Now we have heard the description of a godly
man, and of his blessed and happy estate wherein
he stands. Also he proceedeth to a plam descrip-
tion of a wicked and ungodly man. And he sets
out his estate by a general speech opposite imto that
which had been spoken of the godly ; ' The wicked
are not so.' Then by a similitude, comparing him
unto chvff, and then the property of chaff is noted to
be light, vain, and inconstant, carried aicay with the
wind.

In the general description or the introduction in
the description of a -wicked man. The icichcd are not
so, the speech is negative, and excludeth the wicked
from all that which the Spirit of God hath spoken
of the godly, both concerning their vu-tues them-
selves, as also concerning the recompense of theii-
virtues.

The virtues of a godly man were described two
ways ; first, negatively, ' They walk not in the coun-
sel of the wicked, stand not in the way of sinners,
sit not in the seat of the seorners.' Now this nega-
tive in the godly is afiirmative in the wcked, because
tliey walk in the counsel of the wricked, they stand

Ver. 4.]

SAMUJiL SMITU ON PSALM I.

ill the way of sinners, and they sit in the scat of the
scorners.

The other description of a godly man is affirma-
tive : ' But his delight is in the law of the Lord,'
Sec, ver. 2. But this affirmative in the godly is
negative in the wicked, for their delight is in no-
thing less than in the law of the Lord, neither do or
vriW the wicked meditate therein, either day or
night. So that, in respect of the virtues of a godly
man, it may well be said, ' The wicked are not
so.'

And, last of all, for the recompense of Ihe virtues
of a godly man, the wicked are also excluded. The
godly man is compai-ed unto ' a tree that is planted
by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in
due season, whose leaf doth never fade, and whatso-
ever he doth shall prosper.' The wicked are not so,
' but as the chaif,' &c.

Where, by the way, we may observe the care that
God hath, that every man should have his part that
pertaineth to him. He would not that the wdcked
should encroach upon the portion of the godly, or
that the saints should be dismayed by the judg-
ments of the ■\\'icked ; but he laboureth, as to allot and
allow to one their part, so to exclude the other from
their portion, to shew that they have no interest m
theii' blessedness. And so it is a usual thing in the
course of the whole Scriptures, that where the Holy
Ghost setteth down the blessings and promises per-
taining to Christians, in the same place he setteth
dovra the judgments that belong to the wicked and
ungodly.

Boct. 1. Out of the general description, or intro-
duction into the description of a wicked man, in
these words, The icickcd are not so, we gather this
doctrine, that the estate of all wicked men, be they
what they may be, never so great, glorious, rich, wise,
beautiful, and learned in the world, yet their estate
is woeful, cursed, miserable, and wi'etched ; he is
cursed in his soul, cursed in his body, cursed in his
goods, good name, wife, children, corn, cattle, &c.
' Thou hast destroyed the proud, and cursed are
they that do err from thy commandments. The
foolish shall not stand in thy sight, for thou hatest
all them that work iniquity.' Now, what though a
man should abound in wealth, live in honour, bathe
himself in pleasiu-es, yet if he be not a godly man—

that is, truly sanctified — he can take no sound com-
fort in any of these. ' For to them that are de-
filed is nothing pure,' but even their prayers are
abominable. ' He that turneth away his ear from
hearing the law, even his prayers shall be abominable,'
Prov. xxviii. 9. And as Solomon saith, ' The hope
of the vricked will perish.' But it will be asked,
Wherein stands their misery and cursed estate ? I
answer, first in this, that they be out of God's favour,
God hates them and all they do. And is not this a
misery of all miseries, to be cursed and miserable in-
deed, to have God our enemy, to have Jesus Christ
the Judge our enemy, to have all the creatures in
heaven and earth against us ? For as these be truly
blessed that God loves and be in his favour, so they
be most cursed and miserable that be out of his
favour, whom his soul abhorreth ; and such are the
wicked, according to that of the prophet, ' The
foolish shall not stand in thy sight, for thou hatest
all them that work iniquity,' Ps. v. 5.

Secondly, They have no pardon of theii' sins, and
so lie under the curse of God, and in danger of
eternal death every day they rise. Without repent-
ance there is no pardon ; but the wicked cannot re-
pent, being hardened in sin, and dehght in sin ; yea,
all their sms stand in account against them — the
Lord keeps them in remembrance, and one day he
will bring out his book of reckoning : ' I will reprove
thee, and set before thee the tilings thou hast done,'
Ps. 1. 21. Oh, full little do wicked men think of
this, that their secret sins in hugger-mugger, in dark
comers committed, shall one day come to reckoning,
and they called to a reckoning for the same ; and
then their own consciences, will they, nill they, shall
cry out and say, ' Righteous is the Lord, and true are
his judgments.'

Thirdly, They have no peace of conscience. 'There
is no peace to the -wicked, saith my God,' Isa. Ivii.
21, but a hell in their consciences; having in them
either an accusing conscience, like Cain, Ahithophel,
Saul, Judas, and the like ; or else a dead and sleepy
conscience, like Nabal, which judgment is no way
inferior to the former. This fearful judgment of
God upon the wicked is notliing else but a fore-
runner of those pains which are prepared for the
wicked, and are, as it were, the smoke of that fii'o
which hereafter shall torment them.

HAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 4.

Fourthly, A wicked man is tlie heir of vengeance,
and the firebrand of hell, and shall as sure be damned
as if he were in hell abeady ; and therefore Christ
saith, that the wicked is damned already, John iii.
18 ; and that five ways. First, In God's counsel be-
fore all worlds. Secondly, In the word, wherein
their sentence of condemnation is read already.
Thirdly, In their oivii consciences, which is a fore-
runner of the final judgment. Fourthly, By the
judgment begun ah'eady upon them, as hardness of
heart, blindness of mind, hatred of the light, and the
like means of salvation. Fifthly, By the horiible
torment of the soul, which it doth as.suredly expect
when the full vial of God's wrath shall be poured
upon it. Oh miserable and unhappy condition ! woe
worth the time, may such say, that ever they were
born.

WTio is a wicked man 1 Answer, (in general,) He
that lives and lies in sin without repentance. But
such a man is a wicked man as doth walk in the
counsel of the ^vicked, that doth stand in the way of
sinners, that doth sit in the seat of the scorners ; for
as he is a godly man that is careful to shun and
avoid the bad counsel and lewd company of wicked
and ungodly men, so is he a wicked man that loves
and likes their bad counsel and lewd company. And
as a nobleman's servant is known by his livery, so
we may certainly judge of them by their company.
A good man loves good company, a godly man makes
much of them that fear the Lord. ' My eyes,' saith
David, 'shall be upon the faithful in the land.'
This we may see m Jacob, who loved Joseph above
all the brethren, because he had grace in him. Gen.
xxxvii. 2. 'AH my delight is upon thy saints.'
But wicked men are like birds of a feather which fly
together, and like mil to like. So that if you would
ask a certain rule how to judge of men, whether they
be good or bad, godly or wicked, I know not any
rule more sure for a man's outward life, to judge of
him, than by his company. And therefore, as St
John makes it a mark of God's child, and a certain
sign of the love of God to us, ' If we love the breth-
ren,' 1 John iii. 14 ; so, on the other side, it is a fear-
ful note of a wicked man, when he hath no delight
in the company of God's children and faitlvful ser-
vants, but delight only in the company of the wicked
and ungodly.

Use 1. Let all wicked inen lay this doctrine to
heart, and be aflfected with it, and let me say to
them, as Da^"id said to the ungodly, Ps. 1. 16, 'Unto
the ungodly said God, What hast thou to do to take
my covenant into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest to
be reformed, and hast cast my word behind thee ?
"When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto
liim, and hast been partaker with the adulterer, &c.
These things hast thou done, and I held my peace,
and thou thoughtest that I was like thee. But I will
reprove thee, and set before thee the things thou
hast done. Oh, consider this, ye that forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to de-
Uver you.' Oh that the wicked and ungodly of the
world would consider in what cursed state they stand
in, what extreme danger to lose their own souls,
clean out of God's favour, so as he hates and abhors
them, and all they do ! Now, as Solomon saith, if
the wrath of the king be as the roaring of a lion,
how much more the wrath of the eternal God, who
is able not only to kill the body, but to cast both
soul and body for ever into hell fire 1 Oh, then, be
admonished ! say you had a fair wai'ning, repent in
tune, live no longer in sin, turn to God with all
speed, wliile it is called to-day. Say with David,
' Away from me, ye wicked ; I will keep the com-
mandments of my God.' And this remember, that
as bad company and the society of wicked men is a
fearful sign of a wicked man, so it is most danger-
ous ; for sin is a spiritual plague or leprosy, it is of
a spreading and contagious nature. ' Can a man
touch pitch and not be defiled ? ' then may a man
keep company with the mcked, and not be cor-
rupted. Joseph Uving in the court of Pharaoh, how
soon had he learned to swear by the life of Pharaoh !
Gen. xlii. 15, 16. Besides, we shall be compelled to
•svink at the sins of those whom we love, and so con-
sentmg to them, are guilty of them. Again, we
cannot but be vexed with them, and grieved at the
heart, as Lot was ; yea, and in danger to be plunged
with them, as Lot in Sodom was taken prisoner, and
all his household. And therefore as men do shun a
house infected, so let us shun such company, as most
dangerous, pernicious, and hurtful.

Use 2. And here we are to wonder at the palpable
blindness of wicked men, at their blockishness and
senseless sccm-ity, that though then- estate be as we

Ver. 4.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON P5ALM I.

have heard out of the worJ of God and testimonies
of Holy Scriptures, so cursed, miserable, ■nTctched,
and damnable, yet they see it not, they fear it not,
they believe it not, they fear no danger, they desire
no remedy, theii- minds and hearts are so blinded
through self-love, and so hardened in all kind of sin
and iniquity, that nothing can move them and do
them good. They be like the smith's dog, no strokes
nor sparks can awake them. Of all diseases they be
most dangerous that be least felt ; as the apoplexy,
dead palsy, lethargy, &c. So when a man is sick,
even soul-sick, and sick unto death, and feeletll no
pain, his case must needs be dangerou.s. Many men
complain of the stone in the kidney, and ride and
run night and day to find ease for it ; but few com-
plain of the stone in the heart : men have hard,
stony, and flinty hearts, and neither love of heaven,
nor fear of hell, neither mercy nor judgment can
move them or make them to repent. Well, to con-
clude this point, let men take their courses, ran on
in sin, walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in
the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scorn-
ful ; let them refuse the counsel and the company of
God's servants, and when they have done all that
they can, they are but cursed caitiffs ; and the tune
will come that they vnH curse the day that ever they
were born, and say. Woe worth the time they kept
bad company ; oh what fools and madmen were we !
— when they shall wish the heavens to fall upon
them, and the rocks to crush them in pieces, for
fear of the anger of God. And thus much for the
general description of a racked man in these words,
' The mcked are not so.'

But as the chaff which the icind drivcth aimij.

The prophet David ha\'ing shewed the difference
bet^^Txt the godly and the wicked by a general
introduction. It is not so, cometh now to set out
their estate by a similitude and comparison, where
he compares the wicked to chaff". And it is all one
as if he should say. The ■\vlcked and ungodly man is
not like a tree well planted and watered, that bears
good fruit and always flourisheth, but like unto
chaff", wliich hath no root at all in the earth, no
juice nor sap, but wants all kind of good fruit and
gi'eenness, so as it is easily scattered and dispersed
viiih every blast of wind. Even so the wicked are
not rooted nor grafted into Jesus Christ, and are

altogether void and destitute of all fruit of good
works and of all saving grace, have no juice nor sap
of goodness in them, and in time of trouble and
temptation they fall away, yea, every blast of false
doctrine, every storm of temptation, trial, or perse-
cution, yea, the least blast of God's anger drivcth
them hither and thither, they laiow not which way
to turn them.

So that in the sunilitude or comparison there are
two things to be considered of us : —

First, The matter whereunto the wicked are com-
pared unto, chaff]

Secondly, The condition of chaff', trhich the uind
driveth a way.

In the former of these we are to consider how the
wicked resemble chaff", naturally, and accidentally.

Natui-al chaff' is Hght and unprofitable.

1. Fu-st, It is light, containing in it no solid and
weighty matter, but a very sUght and frothy sub-
stance, subject to many alterations; even so the
bricked are not solid in then- purposes and enter-
prises, and weighty in their carriage and courses,
but as chaff', light, easily tossed and blown away,

It may appear unto us that the -R-icked are as
chaff", light ; because they be light of their Words.
They have not their mouth in then- heart, like a
■svise man ; but they have theii- heart in their mouth,
like a fool. Do they promise anything? Their
words are as wind, as the proverb is. Do they vow
anything? They keep their vows like those that
vowed Paul's death. Do they swear anything?
They are Ijut as bells and bubbles in the water,
broken in a moment of time. So that the wicked,
m respect of their words, vows, or oaths, may well
be compared to chaff", light.

Again, the -(vicked may well be compared to chaff,
light ; because they are light of their minds, enter-
taining and excluding, one while admitting, another
while rejecting, infinite purposes and thoughts of
heart. Again, they are light of their bodies, by
committmg many fornications. Yea, let their vir-
tues be compared vntli their vices, it will then
appear that they are ' lighter than vanity ' itself.

2. Secondly, as the wicked are like chaff', light, so
are they unprofitable, and that two ways — First, In
matters temporal concerning this life, wherein,
though they have ability, as they have for the most

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 4.

part, yet they want will to do good with the same.
Secondly, In matters spiritual, wherein, though they
have a will, which is a rare thing to be found in the
wicked, yet they want ahUity.

First, The wicked are as chaff, unprofitahle, in re-
gard of matters temporal. For who doth regard the
afflictions of Joseph t For either then- will is wholly
bent upon covetousness or prodigality. This is an
evil which the preacher saw under the sun, ' A man
to whom God hath given riches, and treasures, and
honours, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all
that he desu-eth, but God giveth him no power to
eat thereof, but a strange man shall eat it up.' Yea,
such is the case of many a man, that where he locks
up his riches from others with one lock, he locks
them up from himself with a thousand. Or else
they spend them prodigally, like the rich glutton,
who fared of the best, and went of the finest, but
had nothing to bestow on poor Lazarus, Luke xvi.
^Vhe^eas indeed they are but stewards of those things
they enjoy, and must one day give an account for
them. And if they be found in the day of their
account to have been unprofitable, as chaff is unpro-
fitable, then must they assuredly expect no other
sentence than that which was denounced against
that unjirofitable servant — ' Cast that unj^rufitable
servant into outer darkness,' Mat. xxv. 30.

Secondly, The wicked may be said to be as chaff,
unprofitable, in respect of matters spiiitual, because
though they have therein a will, yet want they
ability, whereby they might benefit others. For,
' whosoever is born of the flesh is flesh,' and no-
thing but flesh, John iii. 6. How then can a man
give that to another he hath not himself, or sjieak
that to others he is ignorant of himseK? Yea,
if this man's father or mother, wife or child, lay a-
d3''ing, and one short prayer might save their souls,
a wicked man is not able to perform that Christian
duty for them. For ' he that turneth away his ear
from hearuig the law, even his prayer shall be
abominable,' Prov. xxviii. 9. So that, howsoever
a wicked man may seem to pray, or the like, yet by
reason he is unregenerate, not born anew, and that
they proceed not from faith, and a heart purified
from sin, the Lord doth turn the same unto sm unto
him.

So tliat a wicked man at his best, in matters

temporal or eternal, he is as chaff, light and unpro-
fitable.

Dod. 2. In that the Spirit of God compares all
wicked men to chaff, we learn that the estate and
condition of wicked men is exceeding inconstant,
void, uncertain, mutable, and changeable. They
have no certain stay, no sure and settled estate in
tliis world. Whether we consider the matters of
religion and God's worship, or the things of the
world, we shall see them like unto chaff, vain, \ale,
imcertain, and mutable.

First, In matters of religion, for the worship and
service of God, how vain and mutable the wicked
are, the example of Judas doth demonstrate, who,
being chosen to be one of the twelve, fell away
afterward, dangerously and treacherously. Mat.
xxvii. The like may be said of Demas, who made
a glorious flourish for the time, and yet afterwards
he fell in love Avith the world, 2 Tim. iv. 10. And
the like may be said of H}Tneneus, Philetus, and
Alexander, who were counted fiimous, and esteemed
as pillars of the church, yet they fell to renounce
everlasting salvation, 2 Tim. ii. 17. To this purpose
doth St John describe the estate of the backsliders
in his time — ' They went out from us, but they were
not of us ; for if they had been of us, they would
have continued with us,' 1 John ii. 19. Hereunto
cometh that parable propounded by our Saviour
Christ : Mat. xxi. 28, ' A certain man had two sons ;
and came to the eldest, and said. Son, go and work
to-day in my ^dneyard. But he answered and said,
I will not : yet afterwards he repented himself and
went. Then came he to the second, and said like-
wise. And he answered and said, I -nill, sir ; and
went not.' He seemed forward, but hung back.
He promised much, but perfonued nothing at all.
The like may be said of the rich man which came to
our Saviour Christ and said, ' Good master, what
good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life 'i '
yet, when he was tried, he went away sorrowful.

Again, for their worldly estate, all then- felicity M
and great pomp is but a di-eam : it is but as chaff. "
The least blast of God's wrath vnll overthrow all
their happiness and prosperity ; which, at the best,
is most uncertain, and very mutable. Look upon ■
Pharaoh, Saul, Aliithophel, Absalom, Nebuchad- ^
nczzar, Nabal, and the rich fool. Job, setting out

Ver. 4.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

the estate of the wicked, couchideth thus — ' They
spend tliek days in pleasures, and suddenly go down
to hell,' Job xxi. 13. And there sheweth the cause.
Their prosperity, alas ! is not their own hand.
' But the Lord doth make them as stubble before
the -nind, and as chaff shall they be dispersed.' And
David speaking of the prosperity of the wicked,
sheweth irithal how slippery and uncertain it is,
that in a very moment they be gone, and like chaff
are scattered abroad, Ps. v-ii. So that it doth ap-
pear that the estate of the ^^'icked man is too fickle
and uncertain, and is therefore well compared unto
chafl".

And by this comparison is shewed that the wicked
be most unlike to the godly, and therefore he com-
pares them not to any tree, no not to a dead and
withered tree, but to chaff.

First, Because as the godly man is rooted in Christ
Jesus, and receiveth nourishment from him, good
juice and good sap, the bricked are not so ; but void
of all juice and sap, dry as dust, chaff.

SeconcDy, ^Miereas the godly man is fruitful, the
wicked are not so, but as chaff, unfruitful.

Tlmdly, Whereas the godly man is permanent,
and liis estate dm-able, neither ^\^Ild nor weather
can shake him, being rooted and grounded in Christ,
' The wicked are not so, but as chaff,' even variable
as the ^vind, every blast of false doctrine, every wind
of temptation, and every trial for the gospel's sake
win blow them clean away.

Use 1 . Let this admonish wicked men to look about
them. Thine estate is not so good as thou thinkest
it is. Although thou be rich, in honoui', and in
great preferment, thou seemest all this while to be
like a great oak, or a tall cedar tree ; but know thou
art nothing less in the sight of God. Thou art like
unto chaff, light, vain, loose, \'ile, unprofitable and
variable, no fu-niness, and constancy at all in thee ;
yea, and mark what vnil follow, and be the end,
unless thou repent and return unto God ; He ^\'ill
come, ' whose fan is in liis hand, and he will gather
his wheat into his garner, but the chaff will he burn
with unquenchable fire,' Mat. iu. 12. Oh that all
bricked men would now examine themselves, how
they are in the barn-floor of the Lord Jesus,
whether as chaff or com, for a day of wiimo\\-ing
wUl assuredly approach, wherein the Lord will then

gather his good corn into his garner, but then the
chaff ^vill he cast out to be burned with fire un-
quenchable. We must all of us pass under God's
fan, great, small, rich, poor, learned, ignorant,
minister and people ; and then, if thou shalt be
found to be chaff, to the fire thou must forthwith
go. And therefore let all God's children take heed
that they do not fashion themselves like unto the
wicked ; for as our ends are most unlike, even
so our lives must be unlike ; they live in sin after
the fashion of the world ; we must frame our lives
after the word.

Use 2. Secondly, Let all God's children learn to
judge aright of the estate of all wicked men ; they
flourish indeed in the world, and who but they free
from trouble, full of prosperity, whereas the godly
man is troubled and afflicted; yea, often in great
misery and disgrace of the world ; and tliis is the
thing that oftentimes doth trouble the godly. But
if we -will judge of them not by the eye of the body,
but of the soul, according to God's word, we shall
see we shall have no gi-eat cause to wonder at them ;
much less to be giieved for them. Alas, poor souls,
when they be at the best, they be but as chaff, vain,
light, vile, and inconstant. ' I saw,' saith Da\id,
' the ungodly spreading himself like a gi-een bay-
tree, so I looked on him and passed by him, and lo
he was gone, I sought him, but he could nowhere
be found.'

Hitherto hath ajjpeared what chaff is, and that
the wicked are like the chaff naturally considered.
Now, in a word, we are to consider how the wicked
resemble chaff accidentally, and that two ways.

Fu-st, Chaff is preserved for a time, while it is in
the field, with the good corn, lest both of them
should perish together. This appeareth in the
Gospel to be the care which God had, not to suffer
the tares to be plucked up, for a time, lest they
should pluck up the good wheat -with them, Mat.
xiii. 29. Even so the -wicked are spared for a time
for the godly's sake, which otherwise could not live ;
even as the tares amongst the wheat were spared for
the wheat's sake.

And surely this might admonish all wicked and
ungodly sinners to repent, and (in time) to turn
unto God, and to esteem better of the company of
God's fiiithful servants and righteous children, here

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 4.

in this world to make mucli of tliem, for they fare
the better for them every day they rise, they enjoy
all tliey have for their sakes, else God would soon
make an end of them upon earth. If Noah and his
family were in the ark, the flood would soon drown
the rest. If Lot were out of Sodom, it would soon
rain down fire and brimstone from heaven upon the
wicked Sodomites. And therefore God's children
may well be compared to a piece of cork cast into
the sea full -of nads, which bears up the naUs, which
otherwise would sink to the bottom one by one ;
even so the wicked are preserved for a time for the
godly's sake.

But if they will still proceed to hate them above
all things in the world ; well, the time ^vUl come,
when they shall think it the greatest misery La the
world, to be severed and sundered from the company
and society of the godly. But of this hereafter.

The other condition of chaff, accidentally consi-
dered, is the sifting or the separatiug the same from
the good corn, which shall be in the harvest of God's
general judgment. Mat. xiii. 30. For there be but
two sorts of men — namely, the sheep and the goats,
the godly and the bad, the elect and the reprobate ;
and these do live together here, even as the tares
amongst the good wheat. But in the harvest of
God's general judgment, they are separated, even as
a shepherd doth divide his sheep from his goats.

Tlius much for the first part of the similitude,
where the wicked are compared to chaff; now cometh
to be considered the condition of chaff.

IFliich the uind scattcreth aioay.

By wind (in this place) we are to understand the
judgments of God, which in the Holy Scriptures is
expressed by sundry things ; as by fire and sword,
arrows, sickle, and fan, &c., Mat. iii. ; and in this
same place by winds, ' The winds blow upon the
house,' &c.

Now the judgments of God do resemble the wind
in two things especially. Fh-st, It hath the bound
from whence it cometh — viz., heaven. Secondly, It
hath a bound to which it goeth — viz., earth.

1. Then the first consideration in the which the
judgments of God are compared to the ^viad, is the
place they come from. The wand, it cometh from
above, even out of the Almighty's treasure-house ;
according to that of the prophet David, ' He bringeth

the winds out of his treasury,' Ps. cxxxv. 7. So
that by what means soever the judgments of God
are executed upon us, or in what kind soever, cer-
tainly they come from God, as the wind doth.

2. The second is the place it cometh unto, even
the centre of the earth we dwell on. Such a one
was that wind that came and beat upon the banquet-
ing house of Job's children. Job i. 19. And what
shall I say of the judgments of God which came so
swiftly, even as the wind, upon Pharaoh, Saul, Aliab,
Antiochus, Herod, and the like, whose destractions
came suddenly from heaven as the wind upon them.
And as the wind is invisible to the eye, even so
come the judgments of God upon the wicked when
they are most secure. Yea, when the wicked shall
say. Peace, peace, then shall destruction come upon
them suddenly, as the wind. Yea, and as the wind
is most violent where it is most oppugned, as by the
tallest trees, and the highest hills ; so where the
heart of man is lofty, he is so much the more open
to the wind of God's judgments, as we may see in
Pharaoh, Herod, Antiochus.

Now, in that the prophet hath compared the
wicked to chaff, and the judgments of God to the
■wind ; we learn from hence the in-evocableness of
the destruction of the wicked. Alas ! what is chaff
to stand against the wind ? and what is flesh and
blood to resist the Almighty ? Tliis the prophet
David shews most excellently, who, sjieaking of the
enemies of Christ Jesus, and of the certainty of their
destruction, saith, ' Thou shalt bruise them with a
rod of iron,' Ps. ii. 9. Alas ! what is an earthen
pitcTier before a bar of iron ? a head of glass against
a head of brass 1 How did the wind of God's judg-
ments pursue Cain, when he had slain his innocent
brother? Gen. iv. 11. Pharaoh seemed a mighty
man, yet he proved but chaff when the wind of God's
judgments did blow upon him. Herod thought him-
self to be some petty god, at what time he made his
oration to the people; but he was less than man
when the wind came, even the judgments of God;
that he was eaten up of worms. Acts xii. 23.

Use 1. Hence we learn, that the power of God is
infinite and absolute ; all power is of God. ' He
doth bring down the mighty from their seat,' Yea,
he hath all creatures at a beck, and at a call, to
humble man ; yea, and the least of all creatures.

VnK. 5.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSAL5I I.

when it is armed and sent of God, is sufficient to
destroy the wicked, as frogs, lice, flies, and the like
creatures did Pharaoh and the Egj^jtians, Exod. x.,
and as the palmer-worm and the like kind of the
caterjiillers did the men of Judah and Israel, Joel i. 3,
4 ; and therefore this must needs be a terror unto
the wicked, who are no stronger than the chaff to
resist the wind of God's judgment. This may teach
them humility, and pull down the haughtiness of
theii- hearts, when they shall hear the irrevocable-
ness of their destniction.

Use 2. Secondlj', Seeing the destruction of the
wicked is irrevocable, and that the judgments of God
come suddenly, we axe taught here that it is our
duty to awake out of sin, and to be watcliful over
our own souls. We must not sleep in sin, neither
give ourselves to security, but be careful and circum-
spect that we be not suddenly overtaken. This is
that charge which our Sa\'iour giveth. Mat. xxiv.,
' Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor
the hour in the which the Son of man will come.'
The judgments of God are tlireatened to come upon
thee suddenly as the wind. Thou knowest not
whether thou shalt have an hour or a moment of
time given thee to repent, thou mayest be smitten
with sudden death. When thou risest out of thy
bed, thou knowest not whether thou shalt lie down
again ; when thou liest doMTi upon thy bed, thou
knowest not what may happen unto thee ere it be
day. ' Boast not of to-morrow, for thou knowest
not what a day may bring forth,' Prov. xxvii. 1.
And therefore while it is to-day, let us repent, and
labour to be reconciled to God in Christ, that when
his judgments shall come as the \vind suddenly, the
destroyer may pass over us, and we remain safe
under the shado-^v of the Almighty.

Hitherto hath the prophet described the woeful
estate and condition of the -ndcked here in this life.
Now in the next verse, by way of prophecy or
threatening, he sets out their estate and condition
in the life to come.

Ver. 5. There/are t/ie wicked shall not be able to stand
in judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

Here the prophet describes the wicked and un-
godly man by his fearful end, and that which shall
befall him hereafter. And that he draweth into two

phrases of speech : first, ' They shall not stand in
judgment ; ' secondly, ' They shall not be associates
with the just.' So that we see, that howsoever now
the wicked bear it out, and seem to be the only men in
the world, yet in the great day of the Lord, when we
must all appear before his bar, that will judge justly
without respect of persons, then these wretched
shall not be able to stand ; that is, to endure the
sentence of the judge and his angry countenance,
but shall receive the fearful doom of eternal death,
' Depart from me, ye cursed.'

Well, then, by this we learn that there shall be a
judgment, wherem men must stand to appear before
God, to give account of their work. And this we
acknowledge in that article of our faith when we
say, ' We believe that he shall come to judge both
the quick and the dead.' 'Behold,' saith the Lord,
' the day cometh that shall burn as an oven. And
all the proud and all the wicked shall be stubble,
and the day that cometh shall bum them up.' And
our Sa\'iour, alluding to that day, saith, ' Then will I
say to them on my left hand,' &c. Again, ' He
hath appointeth a day in the which he wUl judge the
world in righteousness.' Now if there were no
places in the Scriptures but this text, it might suffice
to prove that there shall be a day of judgment.

But besides these testimonies there be certain
reasons that prove the same, taken from the nature
of God and his principal attributes, his mercy and
justice, wliich we must needs confess, he is most true
in both, he is most merciful and most just.

And therefore, having promised it shall go well
with his children, that they shall be happy and
blessed, and that the wicked shall be miserable and
cursed ; in these two respects it must needs be that
there must be a day of judgment. For in this
world, who endure more misery, grief, and WTong than
God's children 1 who are contemned, mocked, mis-
used, and by all means abused by wicked men ?
They are in want, sickness, persecution, in poverty,
and a thousand miseries besides, Luke xxi. But the
wicked flourish, live in wealth and ease, and all
things that heart can wish. Now, then, seeing this
is the estate of God's children in this world, full of
troubles and miseries, and the wicked live at ease,
according to their lusts, it must needs follow that
there must be a day of judgment, when God shall

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 5.

shew his mercy in blessing and crowning the virtues j
of his childi-en ; and likewise in executing justice
upon the wicked and ungodly.

Use 1. Oh that men and women could often think
of the time of the last judgment ! Oh that we could
bestow that time which we bestow upon our pleasures
and foolish sports, to meditate on this day ! Oh
that men would bestow that time which they bestow
on unprofitable, if not sinful, exercises ; as carding,
dicing, decking and painting these carcases of
theu's ! Oh, I say, happy were we if we could
bestow this time in thmking of this judgment !
What shall then become of us for evermore 1

There is no man so wretched and desperate, but
he can wish vAth Balaam, ' Oh that I might die the
death of the righteous, and that my last end might
be hke one of theu's ! ' Labour now then in time to
become a new creature, walk with God in obedience,
labour for sanctification ; and this will cause thee to
stand out in this judgment.

Now that the wicked shall not stand in the judg-
ment, some may here object and say, This is that
which we deske, that we may not appear before the
face of that angry Judge, whose presence is so in-
tolerable.

But, alas ! this is not all ; for then the -svicked
might seem to be blessed if they might here delight
in sin, and drink dowTi iniquity like water, and
never be called to account for the same. Therefore
the wicked shall appear in judgment ; and yet not
any whit contrary to this text, which saith, ' The
wicked shall not stand in judgment ; ' and that in
these four respects : —

First, In regard of their appearance there, 'The
Lord will enter into judgment with all flesh ; ' if
with all flesh, then chiefly wth such kind of flesh as
are species of that genus : so flesh, as that they are
nothing but flesh, that have not the seed of the
Spu-it remaining in them.

Secondly, They must arise and appear in this judg-
ment, in respect of the sinner's arraignment at God's
judgment-bar : for we must not only appear in judg-
ment, but ' before the judgment-seat of Christ.'

Thirdly, They must arise and appear in this judg-
ment to be indicted : for God ' will bring every
work of theirs into judgment, whether they be good
or evil'

Fourthly and lastly. They must arise and stand in
this judgment to hear the sentence of the Judge of
heaven and earth pass against them : ' Dejaart from
me, ye cursed, into everlastmg fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels,' Llat. xxv. 4L A thundering
sentence indeed, able, if it were possible, to wound
to death the hearts of the wicked, but they shall
after death never die. Yea, every word of the sen-
tence seems to be most fearful and terrible : —

First, What they shall do : Depart.

Secondly, How they shall dej)art : Cursed.

Thirdly, From whom : From me.

Fourthly, Whither : Into fire.

Fifthly, Into what fire : Everlasting fire.

SLxthly, By what right : Prepared.

Seventhly, With what company ; The devil and his
angels.

Hitherto, and thus far, the wicked must arise and
stand in judgment ; but after tliis sentence is once
given, they shall never rise up to appear in judg-
ment any more. But where it is said, ' They shall
not stand in judgment,' this is meant only in respect
of God's favour; for this is proper only to the
godly, thus to stand in judgment, who are bold in
resjiect of Jesus Christ their elder brother, in whose
righteousness they ajipear.

Use 1. Oh that men would consider this, — high,
low, rich, poor, noble, and simple, — that no wicked
man shall stand in judgment, but shall hear the
fearful sentence of eternal vengeance, ' Depart from
me, ye cursed.' Oh how ready are men to put from
them this day of reckoning ! They seem to have
made a league with death, and to be at an agree-
ment with the gi'ave, Isa. xxviii. 15. But the Lord
will disannul this their agreement, and the time will
come when these wicked ^\Tetches vnW be glad to
put their heads in an auger hole, when they shall cry
unto the rocks and hUls to fall upon them, to hide
them and to cover them from the ^vrath of God, the
angry Judge, whom they are not able to endure.
Who would buy gold at such a rate, or pleasures so
dear, to lose his soul in hell-fire for ever, for the
pleasures of sin for a season here ?

Use 2. Secondly, We are taught here that as all
wicked and ungodly men be wretched and miserable
in their life ; so at the day of judgment their estate
is much more fearful, for it is said here, ' They shall

Ver. 5.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

not stand in jiulgiuent,' but shall quake and tremble,
as not being able to endure the angry countenance
of the Judge ; for now they shall see the books
brought forth, and their sins laid open. Rev. xx. 14r.
O good Lord, what shall ungodly men do then?
Which way shall they turn them ? When they shall
see the Judge stand above them with a naked sword
to cut them off, and the de\'ils ready to execute
God's eternal judgments on them, poor souls, what
shall become of them f How can they stand 1 How
can they endure it ? And yet they must undergo it
and endure it.

But more than this, thej' must receive that fear-
ful sentence of eternal vengeance, ' Depart, ye cursed,'
&c. So as now they must remain in perpetual
prison, in the dark dungeon of heU for ever, where
the pains are endless, easeless, and remediless, they
shall have no ease, no, not one drop of water to cool
their tongue. And this word everlasting torment
doth even kill the heart of the damned, for if a man
lie in hell torments so many thousand years as be
stars in the firmament or sand on the sea-shore, it
were some comfort to a damned soul that once there
might be an end thereof. But, alas ! when he hath
suffered torment so many years, the number to
suffer still will ever remain infinite. God give us
grace that we may become righteous, that we may
stand in judgment.

The second part of the misery of a wicked man
in the life to come, is, He sludl not stand in the
assembly of the just.

In these words is noted out unto us a second
branch of the judgment of the wicked in the life to
come : that they shall be severed and secluded from
the company of the just.

Heaven is called the New Jerusalem, wherein
enters no unclean thing, only tliis is the place where
the just do abide. Here are all the holy patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; here are the ajjostles ;
here are the godly martjTS and constant -natnesses
of Christ's truth ; here are all the saints that sleep
in Christ ; here they rest and sing continually,
' Praise, honour, and glory unto him that sitteth
upon the throne ; ' they enjoy the presence of God,
and see his face continually. Now, to be deprived
of this place, and to be severed from this company,
it is misery with a witness, and this is that misery

here pointed out in this second place, ' They shall
not stand in the assembly of the just.'

The church is to be understood two ways, militant
and triumphant, and from both of these the ■nncked
are excluded, for howsoever the wicked live amongst
the godly, as tares amongst the good wheat, as Cain,
and Esau, and Judas did amongst the godly, yet
they were not of the godly, ' They went out from
us because they were not of us.' But tliis is not
directly intended in this place, but of the church
triumphant in the kingdom of heaven, where the
godly enjoy Jesus Christ, ' In whose presence is the
fulness of joy, and at whose right hand is pleasure
for evermore,' Ps. x\'i. 11. Here the ■n'icked shall
not stand in the assembly : for if Moses might not
stand upon the holy ground before he had put off
his shoes, Exod. iii., oh how much less shall sinful
^vretches stand in the presence of the ever-li^^ng
God, having on the shoes of their sinful affection ?
Yea, it is now most just ivith God that such should
be shut from heaven, the church triumishant, seeing
thejf never warred in the church militant.

Neither the sinners in the assemhlij of the just.

Here, then, we learn that there are two sorts of
men in the world, good and bad, sheep and goats,
elect and reprobate. And here in this world they
live together, but after death in the last judgment
there shall be two places appointed for them : one
on the right hand, another on the left ; one in
honour, the other in shame ; one in joy and comfort,
the other in fear and horror, Mat. xxv. 34. And
as ■ndcked men in this life could never abide the
company and society of the godly, but did mock
and scoff at them, and shun their company as much
as they could, so in the great day of account, in the
great and general separation, the sinners shall not
appear in the assembly of the righteous, but shall be
severed and sundered by the great shepherd of the
sheep, the judge of the whole world.

Now that wicked men shun and avoid the com-
pany of the godly, and do desLi-e and seek the com-
pany of the wicked, it is plain by experience, and
therefore it is just with God, that' at the last day
they should be severed and secluded their company,
and as they loved and delighted in the company of
wicked men, and such as have no fear of God before
their eyes, so now they shall have their bellyful of

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM L

[Vek. 6.

their company. How did Cain hate Abel ? Pharaoh,
Moses and Aaron? Saul, David? the Jews, our
Saviour Christ ? Elymas, the company of Paul ?
And, on the contrary part, how one wicked man
doth love the company of another like liimself, com-
mon experience doth prove it.

And here wicked men be noisome and trouble-
some to the go;lly, as goats to sheep, they tread
down their pasture, they trample in their water, and
they push them with their horns, Ezek. iv. Christ's
sheep now sustain sundry wrongs and injuries, and
are much annoyed and vexed by those stinldng and
unruly goats, but there 'will conie a day of separation,
to the horror of the wicked and comfort of the
godly.

Further, In these words we may consider the
estate of the righteous at the last judgment, — that
js, of the elect of God, such as have truly repented of
their sins by faith, believe and embrace Jesus Christ,
and are justified through his obedience in the sight
of God. Surely their estate shall be blessed and
happy, and so great that the very wicked shall be
much ashamed and astonished to behold it.

First, They shall be set on Christ's right hand,
which is no small honour and joy for poor silly
souls, to be advanced to sit on the right hand of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the great judge
of the world.

Secondly, They shall hear the blessed sentence,
' Come ye blessed,' &c.

Thirdly, They shall be put in real possession of
eternal salvation, of the kingdom of heaven, and live
in the blessed presence of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, the elect angels, and blessed saints,
where there shall be no sorrow, pain, sickness, &c, ;
' Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they
rest from their labours.' So, then, after death they
have a sweet quiehis est, and a general discharge and
freedom from all enemies of soul and body, from all
trouble, pain, and grief; whereas the wicked and
ungodly shall be in a clean contrary estate and con-
dition, for they shall not come into the company of
the righteous, nor shall have no part in that place
of their comfort, honour, joy, and dignity, but shall
be set on Christ's left hand, a place of exceeding
sorrow and grief, shame and confusion, horror and
tremblinar.

Lhc 1. This might admonish all wicked and un-
godly sinners to rejient in time, to turn to God by
true repentance and amendment of their Hves, to
esteem better of the company of God's faithful ser-
vants and righteous children in this world, and to
make much of them. But if they will still proceed
to hate them, to set themselves against the godly, to
shun their company, and to hate them above all the
things in the world, well, yet remember the time
will come that ye shall think it the greatest misery
in the world that ye shall be severed and sundered
from their company, and in so being, they shall be
severed and sundered from the company and society
of Jesus Christ himself, of God the Father, and all
the blessed saints and angels of God in heaven :
then in that day shall the righteous stand in great
boldness before him that persecuted him, &c. Thus
ye see the madness and extreme foUy of wicked men,
they hate them whom they ought most to love, and
love them whom they ought most to dislike.

Use 2. Let men take heed with whom they join
themselves in society, seeing with whom they keep
company in this life, in death they shall partake
with them, and after at the last judgment .shall be
joined with them.

He that now is familiar and a companion of un-
godly men, atheists, papists, swearers, di-unkards,
scorn ers, &c., certainly, in death he shall be
punished with them, and after death have his abid-
ing with them for ever. So he that is now a com-
panion with all those that fear God, surely he shall
have a part with them in death, and at the last
judgment shall be placed with them in joy and
happiness, which shall never have an end.

It is thought to be a matter of little or no moment
what company, a man keeps, to hvc amongst swag-
gerers, swearers, drunkards, atheists, papists, &c.,
but the truth is, it is a fearful sign of a reftrobate,
and he that is now a companion with them in their
sins shall after death take pai-t with them in their
plagues.

Ver. 6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righi-
eous : hit the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Hitherto the prophet hath described the wonder-
ful blessed estate of a godly man ; as also the fearful
and cursed estate of the wicked. Now, in this sixth

Ver. 6.]

SAMUEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

verse, which contains in it the second general part of
the psalm, is laid down a reason, both of the happi-
ness of the one, and also of the miseiy of the other.

The godly man is a blessed man. Why ? because
the Lord knoweth, that is, approveth of, the way
of a righteous and godly man. He likes it and
directs it ; yea, takes care of it, and doth bless the
way — that is, the hie and conversation, the actions,
studies, and endeavours of the righteous.

Secondly, The wicked are cursed and miserable.
^^Iiy ? because the Lord doth not thus know — that
is, the Lord doth not like, nor allow of the wicked
man. He doth not love nor approve of lus life nor
dealings, but rather dislikes him and all he doth ;
yea, he hates and abhors his vile, abominable, and
wicked life. And therefore both he and his ways,
that is, his studies, labours, and enterprises, shall
perish, and come to destruction.

Dod. 1. In that the Lord is said to know the way
of the righteous — that is, to like it, to love it, and
to be well pleased with it, so as he will direct and
bless it. Here is matter of exceeding comfort to
every poor chOd of God, to every godly and right-
eous servant of God, that being justified by faith in
Christ Jesus, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, live
well, and lead a godly and righteous life ; that how-
soever the world contemns them, scoffs and scorns
them, mocks and mows at them, revile and rail upon
them, and esteem them as base and \'ile, yet here we
see that the Lord loves them, and esteems higlJy of
them ; approves them as his, delights in them, to bless
them and prosper them. . ' Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm ; ' yea, he that toucheth
them, toucheth the apple of God's eye, and no as-
saults whatsoever shall be able to injure them. For
'godliness hath the promise of this life, and that
which is to come ; ' and therefore let us labour to
plant godliness in our hearts, and store them with
the trae fear of God, and in so doing, the Lord will
both bless us and our poor endeavours.

This may serve to reprove the cursed practice of
ungodly men. It is wonderful to see how bold they
be to abuse God's servants, to mock them and to
disgrace them, to slander and to re\Tle them. They
think them the worst men that live in the world ;
they traduce them and bring them on the stage ;
they load them with vile and odious names. Now,

what do they else than set themselves against God
himself, seeing they hate them whom God loves 1

And as this may serve for the terror of the wicked,
so it serves to comfort every poor child of God.
What though the world hate thee, so God love thee ?
Oh remember that the Lord loves and allows of thee.
Now then, if God approve of thee, what though all
men in the world did refuse or condemn thee 1 If
the king should grace a man, and honour him, what
would this man care for the contempt of a scullion
boy ? Well, let this be a comfort and encouragement
unto us, that God knows and allows of us. For
what were the favour and approbation of men if
this were wanting ?

Object. But how shall a man know whether God
knoweth him thus with his special knowledge or not '{
I answer :

Ans. \. First, If God know any man for his, by
his special and effectual knowledge, then he begets
in him the knowledge of himself. As the light of
the sun falling on our eye, by whose light we behold
the sun again. ' I know my sheep,' saith Christ,
' and they know me,' John x.

Ans. 2. Secondly, If God thus know any man with
this special and effectual knowledge of his, so as he
loves and likes of him, it begets the love of God in a
man's heart. So as God loves him, he is inflamed
to love God again, 1 John iv. 9 ; and in love unto
him is loath to offend him, and most careful to please
him. And therefore, if we would know whether
we be thus known of God, let us labour to find our
hearts thus inflamed with the love of him.

Ans. 3. Tliirdly, Whom God knoweth thus, he
chooseth to be liis child in Christ Jesus, delights to
bless him. Now, then, this works in the heart of
a godly man another work, namely, to choose God to
be his God, to set his heart on him, to delight in
him, to adore him as his God, to love him, fear
him, obey and call upon him, and to trust in him as
his God.

Thus you see how a man may know whether God
know him with this special and effectual knowledge,
wliich is proper to the elect alone, namely, by these
fruits and effects in our hearts. For as we see,
though every man cannot come to see the king's
broad seal, yet can discern the picture of it in wax,
and say, this is the Idng's broad seal ; so though

SAMTTEL SMITH ON PSALM I.

[Ver. 6.

men cannot ascend to heaven to know the secret
counsel of God, yet by these fruits and effects of liis
knowledge, men may know his ^vill, whether they be
his or not.

Well, to conclude. Seeing the Lord thus knows
and acknowledgeth, yea, loves and likes of the life
of a godly and righteous man, let us be encouraged
to go through-stitch, and to resolve of this, never to
be daunted or discoui-aged with the hard measure of
ungodly men. All our care should be to please
God, and to be approved of liim ; and therefore, so
long as he doth approve of us, let us not think what
man can do against us.

But the way of the wicked shall jierish.

Here we learn that the whole life of a wicked man,
and whatsoever he doth, is abominable : the Lord
hates him, and all he doth. ' What have I to do with
the multitude of your sacrifices? ' saith the Lord. And
again, ' The sacrifices of the wicked are abominable
unto the Lord.' Now, if the best actions of a wicked
man, his hearmg, reading, praying, and recei\"ing, be
abominable to the Lord, how much more their swear-
ing, cursing, banning, profaning the Sabbath, drunk-
enness, uncleanness, lying, stealing, &c. 1 Again,

Heb. xi. 6, ' Without faith it is impossible to please
God.' Now, no wicked man can have true faith,
because faith purifies the heart, Acts xv. 9, and is
never severed from true repentance and amendment
of life ; and therefore the way of the wicked, seem
it never so goodly and glorious in the world, all their
studies and endeavours shall perish, and come to
destraction in the end. ' This is the portion of the
wicked man, and the heritage that he shall have
from God for his works,' Job xx. 29.

Use. Tills shews the state of most men to be
miserable and unhappy. For only those be blessed
whose lives do please God. Now, alas ! what de-
light can God have in the filthy lives of most men,
whose whole delight and study is in sin and mcked-
ness, in all kind of lewdness and profaneness, have
no care to please God, but even obstinately rebel
against him? Surely the Lord hates them and all they
do. Oh woeful condition of such sinful men, that
betake themselves thus unto the way of sin ! Not
as though they walk therein but for a time, but as
such as purpose to tread therein for ever. From this
woeful estate the Lord deliver us, for Christ his sake.
Amen.

A MORNING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY'

Lord, teach us to pray, that we may call upon thy name. Prepare c
aud open thou thy merciful ears to hear ua.

■ hearts to seek thee ;

ETERNAL and ever-li\-ing Lord God, creator
and continual preserver of all tilings both in
heaven and in earth, by whose gracious providence, as
we were at the first wonderfully and feai'fully made,
so we are no less preserved and kept unto this pre-
sent. We here, the workmanship of thme own hands,
desire to humble both soul and body before thee.
And now. Lord, we being here m thy presence, we
cannot but acknowledge and confess against our-
selves our own unworthiness to come before thee to
call upon thee, or to perform even the least duty that
shall concern thy worship or glory. ' Our hearts,
alas ! are no better than sinks of sin, and a mass of
all-pollution and uncleanness ; and who can make
that clean that is taken out of an unclean thhig ?
The thoughts and imaginations of the same must
needs be e\al continually, and we unto every good
work prove reprobates. Yet, Lord, seeing thou
hast commanded us to call upon thee, and hast mer-
cifully promised to be present yviih thy children to
hear their prayers, and to grant their recjuests which
they put up in faith unto thee ; Lord, this doth
give us boldness to come before thee ; and in con-
fidence of thy goodness that thou ■wilt make good
the same thy promise unto us at this time, we here
offer up unto thee this morning sacrifice of prayer
and thanksgi%-ing, humbly acknowledging and con-

' These two prayers have no special connexion with the
First Psalm. But as they were appended to the exposition
of it by the author, 60 they are reproduced here. — Ed.

fessing from the bottom of our hearts our manifold
transgressions and offences which we have continu-
ally multiplied agamst thee, in thought, word, and
deed, from the beginning of our days unto this pre-
sent time. AVe acknowledge, O Lord, that our
original corruption, m the which we were at the first
conceived and born, and from the which there hath
sprung forth the most bitter and unsavoury fruit of
sin, apostasy, and rebellion, to the great dishonour
of thy name, the wounduig of our poor souls and
consciences, and the evil example of others amongst
whom we have Uved ; by the which, God, we con-
fess that we have justly deserved that thy wrath and
indignation should be poured out upon us, both in
this life and in the hfe to come.

And therefore, God, we come not here before
thee in our o^vn worthiness, but in the worthiness
and mediation of Jesus Christ, beseeching thy gra-
cious goodness for his sake to be merciful unto us,
for his sake to forgive us all our offences, our visible
sins, our secret sins, our sins of iniquity, our pre-
sumptuous sins against knowledge, against consci-
ence, against thee, or against our brethren, in the
time of our younger years, or in the days of our
knowledge, as we must needs confess that in many
things we have sinned all. AVe pray thee, God, for
Christ Jesus' sake, to forgive the same unto us, and
persuade our souls and consciences more and more
that thou art at peace with us, and that all our sins
are done away in the blood of thy Son. And grant,

A MORNING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY.

God, by the assistance and direction of tlie same,
thy Spirit, that with more freedom of mind and
liberty of ■will we may serve thee, the ever-living
and glorious God, in righteousness and true holiness
unto the end of our days. And, good Lord, begin
not only repentance and true conversion in us, but
of thy great mercy perfect the same. Oh, lead us
forward more and more towards perfection ; increase
in us that saving knowledge of thee and of thy Son
Christ, our faith in thy promise, our repentance from
dead works, our fear of thy holy name, our hatred
of all our sins, and our love unto thy truth. Frame
our weak hearts, good Lord, more and more to
obedience unto thy holy and heavenly will, and
teach us in all things to resign our wills unto thy
holy will, and in time of affliction, as in time of pro-
sperity, to depend upon thee, that we look not so
much upon our own weakness, but may stay our-
selves by thy power and promises.

And, good Lord, so comfort our sorrowful hearts
and dejected souls, that find daily such cause of
humiliation in ourselves, doing daDy those things
that we should not, and leaving undone those
good things thou commandest. Oh, then, let us be
truly humble for the same ; and for thy mercy's sake
give us better affections unto goodness, and power
and ability to do that good thou commandest and
requLrest at our hands. That seeldng in all things
to honour thee, and to extol thy name wliUe we live
here, we may at the last behold thy face in glory.

And now. Lord, together with our prayers we are
bold to add these praises unto thy great name, for
the manifold favours and blessings, the which from
time to time thou hast bestowed upon us for this
life, especially for a better life. We thank thee for
that it hath pleased thee of thy gracious goodness
to elect and choose us to salvation before the world
was, for caUiug us by thy word in time, for justi-
fying us by thy Son Christ, and for giving us a
certain exi^ectation of a better life when this is
ended ; as also for the hajapy means of our salvation,
thy sabbaths, word, and sacraments. Oh, it is thy
great goodness, Lord, tliat thou hast not deprived
us of them all, inasmuch as we have from time to time
walked so unworthy of tliy love. Oh lay not to our
charge our great unthankfulness, that we have not
brought forth more fruit of thy word in our lives ;

but give us, we pray thee, that for the time to come
we may make more right steps to thy Idngdom.

And we magnify thy name, Lord, for all the
temporal blessings which thou hast in mercy be-
stowed upon us — our health, peace, food, raiment,
and for all the comforts of this life. O Lord, give
us a right use of them, that we may not abuse them
unto licentiousness, but provoke us daUy by them to
devote ourselves unto thee and thy service. We ac-
knowledge thy goodness towards us the night that
is now past, freeing us from many imminent dan-
gers, both of soul and body, and givmg us sweet and
comfortable rest. We beseech thee, be with us this
day, and all the days of our lives, and teach us to
walk as children of the light, that thy name may be
glorified by us ; others may take good example, and
we ourselves enjoy the peace of a good conscience,
so as at last we may come to reign vi'ith thee in glory.

And, good Lord our God, together with ourselves,
we commend unto thee the state of thy whole church
dispersed over the whole world, beseeching thee that
thou wilt call home those thou hast appointed unto
hfe and salvation, whether Jews or Gentiles ; keep
the little flock from the rage of Satan, Antichrist,
and all other enemies of their peace. And give thy
gospel a free passage amongst us ; Lord send it where
it is not, and bless it where it is, that Babylon may
fall and never rise up again. Bless the churches and
kingdoms wherein we live, with the continuance of
our peace and true religion. Be gracious unto the
king and queen, whom thou in mercy hast set over
us ; make him a further instrument of much good in
thy church ; make his days amongst us the days of
heaven, and his life after this life, grant that it may
be blessed. Bless the hopeful Prince Charles, James
the Duke of York, and tlie Lady ]\Iary, together -(vith
the Lady Elizabeth and her royal posterity. Lord
finish thy work begim in them, and make them all
in their places worthy instruments of glory to thee,
and much good to thy church. Bless all other in
authority, the ministers of thy holy word, our
afflicted brethren in body or mind, or both ; let it
please thee, Lord, to stay them and support them
in time of their distress, and give unto them a happy
issue out of the same as it shall seem good unto
thee. And fit us for harder times, whensoever it
shall please thee to bring the same upon us ; and

AM EVENING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY.

keep us, Lord, in those days by thy mighty power.
And thus have we commended our suits unto thee,
humbly praying thee to pardon our wants now at
this time in tlie performance of this duty. And
thou that art privj' to our wants, better than we
ourselves are, we pray thee take notice of them, and

minister unto us a gracious supply in thy own due
time, even for Jesus Christ's sake, in whose name we
conclude these our weak and imperfect prayers, in
that perfect form of prayer which he himself hath
further taught us, saying, ' Our Father, which art in
heaven,' &c.

AN EVENING PEAYEE FOR A FAMILY.

Lord, prepare our hearts to prayer.

ETERNAL God, and our most loving and mer-
ciful Father in Jesus Christ, and in Christ our
Father, it is thy omti commandment that we should
call upon thy name, and it is thy gracious and merci-
ful promise that where two or three are gathered
together in thy name, there thou wilt be present
amongst them. We, thy poor and unworthy ser-
vants, dust and ashes, yet the workmanship of thy
cwn hands, are bold to come before thee, to offer up
unto thee this evening sacrifice of prayer and thanks-
giving. And now, Lord, being here before thee,
we cannot but acknowledge and confess against our-
selves our own unworthiness, that we are grievous
sinners, conceived in sin and born in iniquity, and
whereof we have brought forth most vile fraits in
our lives, to the great dishonour of thy name, the
utter dismapng of our own consciences, and the e^'il
example of our brethren ; by the which we have de-
served like'wise thy 'wrath and heavy indignation
should be poured out upon us, both in this life and
that which is to come, in such sort as no creature in
heaven and earth is able to reconcile us again to thy
IMajesty, but only thy Son Jesus Christ. And there-
fore, Lord, we come not here to excuse ourselves,
but to accuse ourselves, acknowledging that judg-
ment and condemnation doth of right belong unto us,
inasmuch as we have sinned against thee. But,
Lord, there is mercy with thee, and with thee there

is plentiful redemption. We entreat thee, therefore,
Lord, to be merciful unto us ; and as we acknow-
ledge our sin unto thee, so be thou faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. Wash us thoroughly from our
wickedness, and cleanse us from our sins ; for we
acknowledge, Lord, that against thee we have
sinned, and done our evils in thy sight. Thou hast
been a guide unto all our ways, who alone art the
searcher of the heart, and the trier of the reins.
To thee, therefore, O Lord, do we come, to crave
the pardon of our sins, both for the guilt and punish-
ment of the same, that so they may not draw down
upon us our deserved judgment. And we entreat
thee likewise, as to pardon our sins that are past in
our lives, so to arm and strengthen us against sin
for the time to come. Oh, we have woeful experi-
ence in ourselves of the weakness of our nature — how
ready we are to fall from thee, and cannot keep so
constant a watch over our own ways, nor over our
own hearts, but stUl are ready to start aside.
Lord, direct us aright in the paths of thy command-
ments ; let thy good Spii'it lead us forth into all
truth ; and these hearts of ours, that by nature are
so fraught -(vith sin and wickedness, we pray thee
alter and change. And bring into subjection daily
every thought, and whatsoever thing else is in us,
into obedience unto Christ. Let us find daily more

AN EVENING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY.

and more the power of Christ's death, mortifying sin
in us ; and the efficacy of his resurrection, raising us
daily out of the grave of sin into newness of life.
And give us. Lord, that we may dedicate ourselves,
our souls and bodies, to be lively, holy, and accept-
able sacrifices to thee. Let thy love shewed unto us
constrain us to love thee again, who fii-st lovedst us.
Thou, Lord, hast made us, and not we ourselves ;
thou hast made us not beasts, but men and women,
yea, after thy own image ; thou didst preserve us in
our mother's womb, and didst nourish us when we
did hang upon the breast ; thou hast stUl in mercy
provided for us, and heaped upon us many blessings,
which others want and stand in need of. Lord,
give us a right use of all thy mercies ; especially for
that thou hast let us live in such a happy season of
thy gospel, in time of peace and prosperity, wherein
thou dost by thy word continually call at the door
of our hearts, and labourest our conversion. Lord,
we can never sufficiently admii-e thy goodness herein,
and the rather because we have from time to time
walked so unworthy of thy love. Oh forgive us,
Lord, our unthankfulness herein, and let us now
walk as children of the light. Oh, it is too much.
Lord, that we have spent the time that is last past
according to the lusts of the flesh. Give us grace
that we may spend that short time that yet re-
maineth according to thy will. Set before us always
the shortness of our lives, the day of death, sure in
the end, unsure in the time, that we may be fully
prepared for that second coming of our Saviour
Christ unto judgment. And now in the time of our
prosperity, Lord, teach us to think of the time of
adversity ; and in the time of our health, let us re-
member the times of sickness, and the hour of death
which shall come upon all flesh. Oh, let us be
mindful of our latter end ! let us number our days
aright, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom,
and ever mind that reckoning and account which
one day we shall give unto thee. Make us, while
we live here, to be humble-minded towards our

bretliren, that we be lowly in our own eyes, that
we get contented hearts, pure affections, chaste
minds, and -wise behaviour, and all other gifts
of thy own Spirit that may adorn us in thy sight,
and may add unto the credit of the truth we pro-
fess.

And, good Lord, we pray thee, accept of our
thanksgiving unto thy Majesty, for all thy mercies
and blessings, from time to time bestowed upon us
for this life, especially for a better life. We praise
thee for om- election, vocation, justification, sanctifi-
cation, continual preservation, and the assurance that
thou hast given us of a better life when tliis is ended ;
as also for all temporal blessings — health, peace, and
prosperity ; for thy goodness extended towards us
this day that is past ; that thou hast gone in and out
before us, and freed us from many dangers of soul
and body, and brought us with peace and comfort
unto the beginning of tliis night. Lord, watch over
us by thy Spirit and presence. Give us a holy and
sanctified use of our rest and sleep, and fit us for the
duties of the next day ; especially, Lord, fit us
for that day that shall never give place to night.
Be good unto thy whole church ; forgive the crying
offences of our times, and of this kingdom ; bless
our noble king and queen from all dangers, both of
soul and body ; bless the hopeful Prince Charles,
James, the Duke of York, and the Lady Mary, to-
gether ^vith the Lady Elizabeth, and all her royal
issue ; bless all others in authority, from the highest
unto the lowest, the ministers of thy word, the Com-
mons of this realm, and all that in Christian duty
we are bound in our prayers to commend unto thee.
Lord hear them for us, and hear us for them, and
hear thy Son Christ Jesus for us all ; and grant unto
us all good things that thou in thy wisdom Imowest
more expedient to give than we are to ask, even for
Jesus Christ's sake ; to whom with thee, Father,
together with the blessed Spuit, we acknowledge to
be due, and desire to give, all honour, praise, and
glory, both now and for ever. Amen.

A TABLE

OF THE PRINCIPAL DOCTRINES CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK.

YERaE 1.
Doct. 1. The godly man alone ia blessed,
Doct. 2. The occasions of sin are to be avoided,
Doct. 3. We must shun the company of wicked men,
Doct. 4. "Wicked men are erer devising of mischief,
Doct. 5. To give evil counsel is a horrible sin,
Doct. 6. The falls of the godly are many,
Doct. 7. A godly man doth ever walk with God,
Doct. 8. Wicked men described,
Doct. 9. A godly man sins not with deliberation,
Doct. 10. Wicked men proceed by degrees to be ex-
ceeding sinful,
Doct. 11. The mark of a lewd and wicked man,

Terse 2.
Doct. 1 . Not to do evil is not BufEoient ; it is damn-
able not to do good,
Doct. 2. A godly man performs godly duties cheerfully,
Doct. 3. The law of God is a godly man's chief delight,
Doct. 4. A godly man sets some time apart every day
for God's service,

Verse 3.
Doct. 1. Ministers' duty to instruct the simplest,
Doct. 2. A double use of all the creatures of God,
Doct. 3. All men that are not ingrafted into Jesus
Christ are miserable,

PAGE

11
16
17
19
20
21
22
23
24

26
28

Doct. 4. Only the regenerate man is happy and blessed,
Doct. 5. Members of Jesus Christ are ever fruitful, .
Doct. 6. A true note of a godly man, to wait all

opportunities to do good,
Doct. 7. Perseverance required in each child of God,
Doct. 8. By our union with Christ we are made sure

of perseverance, ....
Doct. 9. God doth ever bless the godly endeavours of

his children, ....

Verse 4.
Doct. 1 . The estate of the wicked most miserable,
Doct. 2. The estate of the wicked exceeding changeable,
Doct. 3. The destruction of the wicked is unrevocable.

PACK

42
44

Verse 5.
Doct. 1. The certainty of the day of judgment proved, 61
Doct. 2. All mankind divided into two ranks, . 63

Verse 6.
Doct. 1. A great comfort to the godly, that God doth

approve of them, ... 65

Doct. 2. The Lord hateth a wicked man and all he doth, 66

A prayer for the morning,
A prayer for the evening,

EXCELLENT ENCOURAGEMENTS

AFFLICTIONS.

CONTAINING

DAVID'S TEIUJIPH OVEE DISTRESS, ON PSALIM XXVII.

DAVID'S HEART'S DESIRE, OX PSALM LXXXIV.

THE CHURCH'S EXERCISE UNDER AFFLICTION, ON PSALM LXXXV.

THE GREAT CHARTER OF THE CHURCH, ON PSALM LXXXVII.

THOMAS PIERSON, M.A.

EDINBURGH: JAMES NICHOL.
LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO. DUBLIN: G. HERBERT.

M.DCCC.LXVIII.

DAVID'S TEIUMPH OVER DISTRESS;

OR,

AN EXPOSITION OF PSALM XXVIL

TIER. 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation,
' u-lwni shall I fear ? The Lord is the sfrength of
my life, of ichom shall I be afraid ?

This psalm, as the title shews, was penned by
David, that kingly prophet, the sweet psalmist of
Israel ; for the Spirit of the Lord spake by him, and
his word was in his tongue, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2, wliich
circumstance well observed wiU give strength to the
appUcation of every good duty pressed upon us by
his example in the particular branches of the psahn.

The time when this jisalm was penned may pro-
bably be guessed, by the matter of it, to have been
when he was persecuted by the hand of Saul and his
followers, of whose cnielty he complams, ver. 2, and
prays against them, ver. 12.

The chief matter of it is a notable expression of
affiance and confidence in God in his greatest dan-
gers, conmiending the same by the notable fruits and
effects thereof.

His godly affiance he testifieth three ways : first,
By plain and express profession thereof, m sweet
variety of phrase and gracious appUcation, by sundry
remarkable fniits and effects thereof to be seen iu his
godly behaviour, in the six first verses.

Secondly, By humble prayer and supphcation for
audience, mercy, favour, instruction, and preserva-
tion, vers. 7, &c., to 13.

Thirdly, By a godly provocation of his own soul,
upon good gi'ound, still to wait upon God, vers. 13,
U.

Ver. 1. For the first : Da^-id's affiance and confi-
dence in God is very elegantly, in sweet variety of
jjhrase, plainly testified in the first verse, when he
calleth the Lord his light and his salvation, and the
strength of his life ; and there also is amplified by a
notable effect of godly security, in freedom from ser-
vile fear, propounded by way of interi'ogation, and
also twice repeated for better assurance.

In aU the three titles which he gives to God
there is a sacred trope, metonymia ejfecti, the effect is
put for the efficient. For, to speak properly, God
was the author and fountain of light, salvation, and
of strength, and not the things themselves. Lilie-
vnse, in the first word, there is another trope, meta-
phora, a metaphor ; for light is taken, in a translate
and borrowed sense, for joy and gladness, as Esther
viii. 16, which is to the heart a pleasant thing; as
light is to the eye, Eccles. xi. 7. So as his mean-
ing is to encourage his heart against the reproach of
his enemies, that would bid liim be packing to hide
himself in mountains and deserts, as Ps. xi. 1, see-
ing the king liimself did seek his life. Why, saith
David, I have Jehovah the ti-ue God for the author
of joy and gladness to my heart, the giver of safety

E 2

PIEKSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 1.

to my jserson, and of strength unto my life, wliom
should I fear ? Should I be afraid of Saul, or any
other man, whenas the Lord is my comfort, by
undertaking my safety, and gii'ding me with strength ?
as Ps. xrai. 32.

In the words thus understood, note two things :
first, What God was to David ; secondly. What
benefit Dand reaped thereby. For the first.

The true God is unto David the fountain of glad-
ness to his heart, the author of safety to his person,
and the giver of strength and might for the preser-
vation of his life.

For light of comfort, see Ps. x^^ii. 28, ' Thou
wilt light my candle,' — that is, increase my small
comfort ; ' the Lord my God will lighten my dark-
ness,' — that is, give me comfort and joy, instead of
misery and sorrow. Hence he calls God his exceed-
ing joy, Ps. xliii. 4. And that he was the author
of his safety, see Ps. iii. 3, ' Thou, Lord, art a shield
forme;' and Ps. iv. 8, ' Thou, Lord, only makest me
dwell in safety.' For gi\'ing him strength and
might, see Ps. xviii. 2, ' The Lord is my rock, and
my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength.'
Ver. 32, 'It is God that girdeth me -with strength.'
Ver. 39, ' Thou hast girded me with strength unto
the battle.'

The reason or ground of this happiness, is David's
being in covenant with God, as God himself testi-
fieth of David ; calling him hi.s servant, whom he
anointed with his holy oil, and promising that his
faithfulness and mercy shall be with him ; yea, lus
mercy will he keep for him for ever, and his cove-
nant shall stand fast with him. ' He shall cry unto
me. Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of
my salvation,' Ps. Ixxxix. 20, 21, 24, 26, 28. And
David liimself layeth claim to tliis covenant with
God : Ps. cxLx. 94, ' I am thine, save me ; ' and
Ps. xxiii. 1, 'The Lord is my shepherd;' and in
very many psalms he calleth the Lord his God, as
Ps. vii. 1, ' O Lord my God, in thee ^rill I put my
trust ;' and ver. 3, ' Lord my God.'

This sers'es for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways ; first, Touching God's
all-sufiiciency in himself, for all his children, for
whatsoever they want, or need ; else Da\'id would
never have said with assurance, that God became

so many great blessings unto him, as here he doth,
and in many other places, as Ps. xviii. 2, and
cxliv. 1,2,' My strength, my goodness, my fortress,
my high tower, and my deliverer, my shield,' &c.
This point the Lord taught Abraham plainly: Gen.
xvii. 1, ' 1 am God all-sufiicient,' or ' almighty.'

Secondly, This shews plainly the happy estate of
those that stand rightly in covenant with God ; as
David saith, ' Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord,' Ps. cxxxiii. 12. For God being in him-
self all-suflficient, becomes all in all to those that be
his peojjle by covenant. Ps. ciii. 17, 18, ' The
mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto
children's chUcben, to such as keep his covenant.
His eyes run to and fro, throughout the whole
earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them
whose heart is perfect towards him,' 2 Chron.
xvi. 9. ' He will make all his goodness pass before
them,' Exod. xxxiii. 19. 'He wUl bless them, in
their basket, in their dough, within the house, and
in the field,' Deut. xxviii. 1, 2, &c., to 15. Here-
upon David saith he shall not lack, Ps. xxiii. 1 ;
and the church saith she will not fear, having God
for her refuge and strength, Ps. xlvi. 1, 2, 5, with
Isa. xxxiii. 21.

For admonition, this serves three ways : fiLrst, See-
ing this was David's great happiness in his troubles,
that he could say, ' The Lord is my light and my
salvation,' &c., that we should search and try,
whether God be that to us which he was to David.
And this may be known of every child of God
at this day. For, first. If God be the light of grace
and comfort to thy soul in Christ Jesus, he vnll be
the hght of joy and gladness in his providence to
thy heart ; and if he be spiritual salvation in Christ
Jesus, he will not deny thee temporal preservation ; ■
and Lf he be the strength of thy soul in grace, he "
wiU become the strength of thy life in nature. In
this case thou mayest reason, as David did : Ps. Ivi.
1 3, ' Thou hast delivered my soul from death, wit
thou not deliver my feet from falling '] '

Now the evidence of these heavenly and spii-itual
blessings from God is this : first. That he becomes
the light of grace unto our souls appears three ways.
First, By our true repentance, whereby we awake
from the sleep, and stand up from tlie death of sin.

Ver. 1.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Eph. V. 1 4 ; for such as walk in darkness, and yet
lay claim to fellowship with God, who is pure light,
do but lie in their profession, 1 John i. G.

Secondly, By a constant and conscionable practice
of new obedience, accoi-ding to the I'ule of God's
word, which is doing the truth, Jolin iii. 21 ; for such
have fellowship with Christ, and with the true mem-
bers of his church, 1 John i. 7.

Thirdly, If we suffer for the gospel, and for right-
eousness' sake, when we are called thereunto : Heb.
X. 32, 'After ye were enlightened, ye endured a
great fight through affliction,' for to believers it is
' given, not only to believe, but to sufier, ' Phil. i. 29.
Secondly, That God becomes our spu'itual and
eternal salvation is thus known : first. If he have
saved us from sin, in regard of dominion, so as cor-
ruption doth not reign, see Mat. i. 21, Anth Luke
i. 71, 7-1, 75, and 1 Pet. i. 18.

Secondly, If he have wrought in our hearts the
grace of true faith, whereby we rest and rely on the
merits of Je.sus Christ for justification and salvation,
see John v. 24, ^vitli 1 John v. 10, 14.

Thirdly, If he have drawn our hearts to love the
bretliren : 1 John iii. 1 4, ' "We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the
brethren.'

Thirdly, The Lord doth manifest himself to be-
come our spiritual strength when he hath enabled
us by grace to know and use that spiritual armour
mentioned, Eph. vi. 10, <tc., 'Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might ; put on the whole armour of God, the girdle
of truth, the breastj^late of righteousness, shoes of
peace, (which be Christian patience,) the shield of
fiiith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the
Spirit, and prayer for strength, skill, and blessing in
the use of all the former.'

Secondly, If we find defect in the forenamed bless-
ings, we must give aU diligence thereunto, as 2 Pet.
i. 5, &c., to the 10th verse. And the way is, to get
rightly into covenant with God through Christ
Jesus, in whom God becomes all things unto us that
be needful, especially for our spiritual welfare ; and
to get into covenant, we must both repent of our
sins, for so John jirepared the way before Christ,
Mat. iii. 3, and made ready a people for him, Luke
i. 1 7. Also labour to get the grace of faith, for that

is ingrafting grace, Rom. xi. 17, 20. Now the
means of both these is the word and prayer. The
law prepares the heart for grace by the sight of sin,
and by working humiliation for sin, as Rom. vii. 1 1 ;

1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. The gospel is the word of
his grace. Acts xx. 32, and by the blessing of the
Spirit is immortal seed, 1 Pet. i. 23, 25 ; it is the
word of faith, Rom. x. 8, 1 7, and prayer obtains the
Spirit, Luke xi. 13, which is the spirit of fiiith,

2 Cor. iv. 1 3, therefore the disciples by prayer sought
faith of Chi-ist, Luke xvii. 5.

Thirdly, In the fruition of any of these blessings,
see whither to return the honour and praise, —
namely, to him that became all these to David.
And, indeed, thus have the godly, for some one or
more of these, continual cause of praise and thanks
to God ; therefore we must ' in all things give thanks,'
1 Thes. V. 18.

For comfort, this makes greatly to the godly, who
make conscience of their ways, and endeavour to
keep covenant with God. For God will become all
these unto them, as he was to Da\ad, whereupon
they may rejoice, as Ps. xxi. 1, and say they shall
not lack, as Ps. xxiii. 1, for their God is all-sufficient
for them, as Gen. xvii. 1.

We have seen what God became to David ; now
we come to see the second thing to be noted in the
verse, the benefit which David reaped by ha^ng the
Lord for his light and salvation, and for the strength
of liis life, — namely, hereby he was freed from
human sla\'ish fear and terror. This he confidently
expresseth to be certain, as well by the manner of
propounding it, by way of question, which here im-
plieth a more vehement negation, as also by the
repetition of his freedom, which shews that his
heart herein was resolute ; as Gen. xU. 32, the dream
is doubled to give certainty.

Mark, then, David's confidence and courage ; hav-
ing the Lord for his God, he is armed against all fear
of men or other creatures : Ps. cxviii. 6, ' The Lord is
on my side ; I will not fear : what can man do unto
me 1 ' Ps. xxiii. 1-4, ' The Lord is my shepherd, &c.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear none e\-il.' Ps. iii. 3-6, 'Thou
Lord art a buckler for me ; I mil not be afraid of
ten thousand of the people, that shall beset me
round about.'

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Yer. 1.

The reason is, because having the Lord for his
God by covenant, he had title to God's power,
which is almighty, for his defence and safety ; and
that upon God's siu-e word and promise : See Ps.
xci. 1, &c. ' He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge
and my fortress : my God ; in him will I trust.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,' &c.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first, see here. That
there is great gain in true godliness, as 1 Tim. vi. 6,
and much fruit in religion to those that attain to
true righteousness, as Ps. Iviii. 11 ; for such as be
truly godly be in sure covenant with God, and
thereby have right and title to the great comforts
and blessings which God's own di\'ine properties
afford unto the sons of men ; as here, for instance,
to be freed from human ser\'ile fear by their right
and interest to God's power and might ; for what
needs he fear that hath God's power for his defence 1
The tliree children did hereby encourage themselves
in great present danger: Dan. iii. 16, 17, 'We are
not careful to answer thee in this matter. Our God,
whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burn-
intT fiery furnace, and he wiM deliver us out of thine
hand.'

And for assurance hereof, mark all God's gracious
promises of protection and preservation to the godly,
as Isa. xli. 14, 'Fear not, thou wonn Jacob,' &c. ;
Isa. xliii. 1-3, ' Now saith the Lord that created
thee, Israel, fear not : for I have redeemed thee,
and called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee,'
&c. ; Isa. li. 11-13, 'The redeemed of the Lord
shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and
mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am he that
comforteth thee : who art thou, that thou shouldst
be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of
man that shall he made as gi'ass 'i and forgettest the
Lord thy maker,' &c. Add hereto Jer. xlvi. 27, 28,
' Fear not thou, my servant Jacob ; for I will save
thee ; I am wiih thee.'

Object. But we shall find that the most godly do
fear, as David himself; Ps. cxvi. 11, 'I said in my
haste, all men are liars ;' and in 1 Sam. xxvii. 1,
' I shall now perish one day by th hand of Saul.'

Ans. This comes from the weakness of their
faith, as Mat. xiv. 30, 31. Peter feared, though he
had Christ's word for his warrant, through the weak-
ness of his faith, which may also be increased by
present guilt in some sin.

Object. But the godly sometimes fly and fall be-
fore their enemies, and so cannot but fear.

.Ans. All promises of temporal blessings, such as
freedom from human fear is, are to be understood
with exception of the cross ; that is, must give way
to God's correction for sin, as in Da^^d, 2 Sam. xii.
14, and to God's malring trial of grace, as in Job,
chap. ii. 3.

Secondly, Here see the true ground of that differ-
ence which is between the wicked and the godly,
about slavish fear and godly boldness, plainly testi-
fied by Solomon : Pro v. xxviii. 1, ' The wicked flee
when no man pursueth : but the righteous is bold as
a lion.' This cometh hence, the godly have the
Lord with them and for them, and that makes them
bold ; but the wicked have the Lord against them,
and that strikes their hearts with fear and dread.
See the truth of this in instance : Moses leads all the
people of Israel boldly tlirough the Eed Sea ;
Pharaoli followeth boldly for a whUe, but at length
he and all his hosts are afraid, and fly away, and are
drowned, Heb. xi. 29, with Exod. xiv. 25. And at
Christ's resiuTection the keepers are as dead men for
fear, but the women that sought Jesus are bid not
to be afraid. Mat. xxviii. 4, 5.

For admonition, it serves two ways : first, To take
notice, that the trae grounds of courage and bold-
ness is this, that a man hath the true God for his
God ; that so, whosoever would be comfortable and
couivageous in the evO da)% do labour for this estate,
to have the true God for his God. It is not only
true that affliction foUoweth sinners, so as evil shall
hunt the wicked person to destruction, Ps. cxl. 11 ;
but even the godly themselves are subject to many
miseries, as Ps. xxxiv. 19;' Through manifold tribu-
lations we must enter into the kingdom of God,'
Acts xiv. 22. Now, unless God be for us, the heart
will fail when evils come, as Nabal's did, 1 Sam.
XXV. 37. And none indeed have the Lord for them,
but those that stand rightly in covenant with God ;
which be such as repent of their sins, believe in the
Lord Jesus, and walk in new obedience. This is

Ter. 2.]

riERSON ON rsALii xxvn.

wholesome doctrine, for soldiers in war, mariners on
the sea, and for every one in evil times.

Secondly, Those that have true courage and com-
fort in e\dl times, must learn hence to give God all
the glory. For tliis is the Lord's gift, as David con-
fesseth, Ps. xviii. 29, c.'vrL'.

Ver. 2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my
foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumhled
and fell.

Here Da'vdd gives instance, from his own experi-
ence, of God's jiowerful preservation of him in ex-
treme danger ; wliich no doubt he proi^ounds as
the ground of that great confidence professed in the
former verse, as in like case he encouraged himself
to encounter in fight with great Goliath, because
God had fonnei-ly strengthened him against a lion
and a bear, 1 Sam. xrvii. 33-35.

In the instance here made, we have three things
to note. First, The state and condition of David's
enemies ; they are ' wicked ' men. Secondly, Their
purpose and attempt against David ; they came upon
him ' to eat up his flesh ' — that is, utterly to destroy
liim, as the roaring Hon devoureth a little sheep.
Thirdly, The issue and succes.s of theii' attempt ;
' they stumbled and fell.

For the first note, David's enemies and foes are
wicked men : Ps. iii. 7, ' Thou hast smitten all mine
enemies on the cheek bone ; thou hast broken the
teeth of the ungodly.' Ps. v. 89, David praymg for
safety, because of his enemies, saith, ' There is no
faithfulness in their mouths, their inward parts are
very wickedness,' &c. Ps. vi. 8, he calls his enemies
' workers of iniquity.' Ps. xvii. 9, the ■ndcked that
oppress him are his enemies ; and ver. 1 3, ' Deliver
my soul from the wicked.'

The reason whereof is the enmity put by God
himself between the seed of the serpent and the
seed of the woman. Gen. iii. 15, which David found :
Ps. xxxviii. 19, 20, ' They that render evO. for good
are mine adversaries, because I follow the "thing that
good is ; ' and our Sa\'iour Christ, John vii. 7, ' The
world hateth me, because I testify of it that the
deeds thereof are evil.' Wlio also foretold his dis-
ciples hereof, Jolm xv. 15, ' If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own ; but because ye are
not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the

world, therefore the world hateth you ; ' and John
xvi. 33, ' In the world ye shall have tribulation.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instniction, it shews plainly what the godly
must expect and look for in this world at the hands
of -wicked men, — namely, all bitter opposition and
enmity that may be ; as Christ Jesus told his dis-
ciples, ' Ye shall be hated of all nations for my
name's sake ; ' and therefore tells them that he sent
them forth as sheep into the midst of wolves. Mat.
X. 1 6. AVliich thing Da^dd had found long before,
and thereupon complains : ' My soul is among lions,
and I lie amongst the children of men, that are set
on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their
tongue a sharp sword,' Ps. Ivii. 4. ' And mine ene-
mies, workers of iniquity, lie in wait for my soul,'
Ps. lix. 1-3. 'My soul hath long dwelt with him
that hateth peace. I am for peace, but when I
speak they are for war,' Ps. cxx. 6, 7. This Paul
like"wise felt : ' The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city that bonds and afflictions abide me,' Acts xx.
23. See 2 Cor. xi. 23, 'In stripes above measure,
in prison more frequent, in death oft.' Yea, it was
the case of the rest of the apostles as well as his.
' I think,' saith he, ' that God hath set us forth, the
last apostles, as it were, appointed to death : for
we are made a spectacle unto the world, unto angels,
and to men,' 1 Cor. iv. 9.

For admonition, it serves two ways : first, To the
■wicked, that they consider their estate in God's
sight, when they are so spitefully bent against the
godly ; surely this is that venomous corruption
which they receive from the old serpent the devil.
This Paul accounted the madness of his natural
estate : ' And Ijeing exceedingly mad against them,
I persecuted them unto strange cities,' Acts xxvi.
11.

Secondly, To the godly, to be both wise as ser-
pents and harmless as doves, and to beware of men.
Mat. X. 16, 17. So did David: 'I will keep my
mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace even from
good,' Ps. xxxix. 1, 2.

For comfort, this makes gi-eatly to the godly, that
their adversaries are wicked men ; for they may
hereon rest assured that God will not join -with

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 2.

their enemies, unless it be for trial of gi-ace, as in
Job, or for the sins of the godly in forsaking him ;
for then the Lord may justly use the wicked as
rods and scourges for their correction ; as Isa. x. 5,
6, ' Ass3Tian, the rod of mine anger, and the
staff in their hand is mine indignation.' So Job
v-iii. 20, ' Behold, God will not cast away a perfect
man, neither will he help the evil-doers.' Indeed, if
we forsake him, he will foisake us, 2 Chron. xv. 2.
' Rejoice, therefore, ye nations, with his people ;
for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and
render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be
merciful unto his land and to his people.' Deut.
xxxii. 43. Consider the Lord's wish : ' Oh that my
people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had
walked in my ways ! I should soon have subdued
their enemies,' &c., Ps. Ixxxi. 13-15. Add Isa. 1.
10,andUv. 8, U, 15.

The second thing to be noted here is. The purpose
and attempt of David's enemies against him; they
came upon him to eat up his flesh, — that is, utterly
to destroy him. Mark, then,

Da^dd's enemies did fully purpose and endeavour
his utter ruin and destruction. ' The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the floods of the ungodly
made me afraid,' Ps. xviii. 4. ' Mine enemies would
daily swallow me up ; they be many that fight
against me,' Ps. Ivi. 2. 'They gather themselves
together, they liide themselves, they mark my steps,
when they wait for my soul,' ver. 6. ' My soul is
among lions : I lie among them that are set on fire,
even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and
arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword,' Ps. Ivii. 4.
' They that hate me without a cause are more than
the hairs of mine head : they that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty,' Ps.
box. 4.

The reason hereof was, theu" spiteful -ivrath and
hatred against David ; as he confesseth, in the be-
half of the church with himself, ' If it had not been
the Lord, who was on our side, when men rose up
against us : then they had swallowed us up quick,
when their wrath was kindled against us,' Ps. cxxiv.
2, 3. And this spiteful wrath was kindled in them
against David on two occasions : first. Because of
his religion and piety, with which their corruption
could admit no accord ; as the apostle doth intimate,

2 Cor. \-i. 14, and David confesseth, Ps. xxxviii. 20,
'They that render evil for good are mine adver-
saries ; because I follow the thing that good is ; ' as
Cain slew his brother, ' because his own works were
e\'il and his brother's righteous,' 1 John iii. 12, and
herein the devil set them a-work to hinder religion,
as Eev. ii. 10. Secondly, Because of the honour
and dignity whereto God had advanced him. '
ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into
shame ? ' Ps. iv. 2. ' How long wUl ye imagine mis-
chief against a man ? They only consult to cast him
do^vn from his excellency,' Ps. Lxii. 4. This Saul
himself confesseth in his fury to Jonathan his son.
' As long as the son of Jesse ' — that is, David —
'liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be esta-
blished, nor thy kingdom ; wherefore now fetch him
unto me, for he shall surely die,' 1 Sam. xx. 31.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction it serves two ways. First, To
discover the exceeding measure of corruption that is
in natural men, and thereupon their fearful estate in
soul to Godward. Then- spiteful hearts and raging
^vrath against the godly,-whereby nothing will satisfy
them but their utter ruin and destniction, shews
the great measure of their corruption. When they
\vill eat up God's people as they eat bread, that is,
devour them with delight, this shews they are cor-
rupt, as Ps. liii. 1, 3, 4. And that they are so spite-
ful-minded is plain by instance : Ps. Ixxxiii. 4, ' They
have said, Come and let us cut them off" from being
a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in
remembrance.' Ten nations were confederate against
Israel with this resolution. The like we may see in
the carnal Israelites against Paul : Acts xxii. 22,
' They lift up their voices, and said. Away with such
a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he
should live ; ' yea, in Paul himself, before he was con-
verted, for he persecuted Cluistianity unto the
death. Acts xxii. 4, and was mad against this way,
chap. XX vi. 11. Now this malice and hatred against
the godly shew them to be the children of the de\'il,
as 1 John iii. 12, and John viii. 40, 44.

Secondly, To manifest that there is a special pro-
vidence of God over his church and children, that
preserves and keeps them notmthstanding all the
spite and rage of the wicked against them, as Ps.
cv. 12-14, 'When they were but a few men in num-

Ver. 2.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVIl.

ber ; yea, very few, and strangers in the land. When
they went from one nation to another, from one
kingdom to another people ; he suflered no man to
do them \^Tong.'

For admonition it serves two ways. First, To
the bricked ; to consider of then- cornipt affection in
spite and hatred against the godly, and whence it
comes, that so they may discern their fearful state
in soul, and labour to alter it. How they stand
afleeted their own hearts can tell them, even as
Ahab was to Micaiah, 1 Kings xxii. 8, ' I hate him.'
But whence is it ? see James iii. 14, 15; even from
the devd, as Acts xiii. 10 ; if enemy of righteousness,
then child of the de^-il, as John viii. 40, 44. Now
the way of change from that estate is by regenera-
tion, which, indeed, is God's work, yet in the use of
means ordained by himself, even the word and
prayer, for the word is the seed of our new birth,
1 Pet. i. 23, and prayer obtains the Spii'it, which
puts life thereto, see Luke xi. 1 3, and John vi. 63.

Secondly, To the godly ; often to bethink them-
selves what then- religion may bring upon them
from the wicked, even all their WTath and hatred,
fury and rage, that so they may get the sure shelter
against it, which is only this, to have God for them,
as Ps. cx%Tii. 6, ' The Lord is on my side, I will not
fear ; what can man do unto me 1 ' For he is the
safe keeper, Ps. cxxi. 4, 5, whereon Da\-id assures
himself of safety, Ps. iii, 3, 6, and Jeremiah, chap.
XX. 15. Now he is ours by covenant, and continues
for us while we keep fast to him in uprightness of
heart : see 2 Chron. xv. 2, ' The Lord is ivith you,
while ye be with him ; ' and chap. xvi. 9, ' The eyes
of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole
earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them
whose heart is perfect towards him.' Now a perfect
heart is discerned by an obedient Ufe : Isa. xxxviii. 3,
' I have walked before thee in truth and with a per-
fect heart, and have done that which is good in thy
sight; 'with Job i. 1, 'That man was perfect and
upright, and one that feared God and eschewed
evd.'

The third thing to be noted here is the issue and
success of the cruel attempt of David's enemies
against liim. They did not only fail of their pur-
pose against Da\dd, but even themselves stumbled
and fell ; see this plainly both in his particular

combat with Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 44-49, who said
he would give David's flesh to the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field ; but it fell out other-
wise. Also in manifold battles that he fought
against the Philistines, whereof he saith in general,
Ps. cxviii. 10, 12, ' All nations compassed me about.
They compassed me about like bees ; they are
quenched as the fire of thorns.' The truth there-
of, see 1 Cliron. xiv. 8, &c., when the Philistines
came up against him two several times in great
abundance, and brought their gods with them, which
he burned ■with fire at Baal-perazim, ver. 12, &c.
See also Ps. xxxvii. 14, 15, ' The wicked have drawn
out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast
down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of
upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into
their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.'

The reason or cause hereof was in God, who for
just causes stood for David, and set himself against
David's enemies. God stood with Da\-id for these
causes : first. He found him out, and chose him to do
him service in that place and state wherein he was so
mightily oi^posed by his enemies : see Ps. Ixxxix.
20, 21, 'I have found Da\-id my servant; with my
holy oil have I anointed him. With whom my hand
shall be established : mine arm also shall strengthen
him,' &c. ; as Acts xiii. 22, ' I have found Da\'id the
son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart.' Ps.
Ixxviii. 70, ' He chose Da^id his servant, and took
him from the sheepfold.'

Secondly, Da\ad trusted in God, and so was holpen :
Ps. Ixii. 1-3, ' Truly my soul waiteth upon God :
from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock
and my salvation ; he is my defence ; I shall not
greatly be moved. How long will ye imagine mis-
chief against a man ? ye shall be slain all of you : as
a bovring wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.'
Ps. xxi. 7, 8, ' The king trusteth in the Lord, and
through the mercy of the most High he shall not be
moved,' &c. Ps. xci. 1, 2, 9, ' He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty,' &c.

Thirdly, David prayed unto the Lord, and so was
preserved : Ps. Ivi. 9, ' When I cry unto thee, then
shall mine enemies turn back : this I know ; for God
is for me.' Ps. xxxiv. 4, 'I sought the Lord, and
he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.'

PIERSON OX PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 2.

Ver. 6, ' This poor man cried, and the Lord heard
him, and saved him out of all his troubles.' This
duty hath God's promise : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me
in the day of trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou
shalt glorify me.'

Fourtlily, David made conscience of sin and
walked in obedience : Ps. xviii. 21, 24, 'For I have
kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly
departed from my God. Therefore hath the Lord
recompensed me according to my righteousness.'

Now for his enemies, God would not be with
them for these causes : first, They w^ere not called of
God, nor sent by him against David, Ps. x. 2 ; pride,
malice, and covetousness stir up the wicked.

Secondly, They were wicked men, workers of ini-
quity, as ver. 1, with whom God wUl not join for
help and assistance : Job viii. 20, ' God will not cast
away a perfect man, neither Avdll he help the evil-
doers ; ' Ps. xciv. 20, ' Shall the throne of iniquity
have fellowship with thee, wliich frameth mischief by
law?' Ps. V. 4-6, 'Thou art not a God that hath
pleasure in -Nvickedness : neither shall evil dwell with
thee,' &c. ; Ps. Ivi. 7, ' Shall they escape by ini-
quity 1 '

Thirdly, David's enemies did neither regard God's
word nor God's works, and so could not prosper.
For neglect of God's word, see Ps. cxLx. 126, ' It is
time for thee. Lord, to work ; for they have made
void thy law.' Ps. 1. 16, 17, 'Unto the wicked God
saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statues,
&c., seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my
words behind thee?' And for his works, Ps.
xxviii. 5, ' Because they regard not the works of
the Lord, nor the operation of liis hands, he shall
destroy them, and not build them up.'

Fourthly, David's enemies trusted in their own
might, and outward means : Ps. iii. 2, ' Many say of
my soul, there is no help for him in God.' 2 Sam.
xvii. 12, ' Therefore I counsel, &c. We -will light
upon him, as the dew falleth on the ground ; and of
him, and of all the men that are with liim, there
shall not be left so much as one.' Ps. xxi. 7, 8,
' Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we
will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought down, and fallen, but we are
risen, and stand upright.'

Ohjid. Yet sometimes tliis is otherwise, as the

psalmi-st complaineth, Ps. Ixxxix. 38, 39, 43, ' But
thou hast cast off, and abhorred ; thou hast been
■\vroth with thine anointed. Thou hast made void
the covenant of thy servant ; thou hast profaned
his crown, by casting it to the ground. Thou hast
also turned the edge of his sword ; and hast not
made him to stand in the battle.' The like com-
plaint, see Ps. xliv. 9, 10, &c., ' But thou hast cast
off and put us to shame, and goest not forth with
our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from
the enemy, and they wliich hate us spoil for them-
selves.'

Alls. Here we must consider the nature of God's
promises ; for though such as concern redemption
and salvation in Clu-ist be most sure and certain,
yea and amen, 2 Cor. i. 10, yet the promises of
temporal blessings are conditional, and must be
understood with the exception of the cross, — that
is, so as God, either for trial of gi'ace, or coiTection
for sin, may deal otherwise ; as we may see in
good king Josiah, who for the sins of the land,
that hastened God's judgments, fell by the hand of
Pharaoh-Necho.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction ; see what a great blessing and
privilege it is to stand rightly in covenant ^^ith
God, whereby he becometh light or salvation to a
man, or to a people, and the strength of their life ; for
so shall they find extraordinary preservation in time
of danger, and strange deliverance beyond human ex-
pectation, as here David confesseth, and the people of
Israel found many a time ; as when they were pur-
sued by Pharaoh at the Eed Sea, Exod. xiv. 10, 13;
so also when Joshua won Jericho, Josh. vi. 21 ;
Ai, chap. viii. 28 ; and slew the five longs of the
Amorites, who fought against Gibeon, chap. x. 1.5,
&c., in which fight the sun stood still in the midst
of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole
day, ver. 13. And afterward, when divers other
kings, with all their power, came to fight against
Joshua, with much people, as the sand upon the
sea-shore for multitude, with horses and chariots
very many, Joshua discomfited them all. Josh,
xi. 1, 2, 5, 6 ; and the Anakims, against whom
formerly none could stand, Deut. is. 2 ; yet
Joshua drave them out, and destroyed them

Yer. 3.]

riERSOX ON rSAL3I JXVII.

utterly, and their cities, Josli. xi. 21, 22. The
like we may see iii the strange victories, in the
book of the Judges, by Deborah and Barak against
Sisera, Judges iv. 15, &c. By Gideon against the
Jlidianities, chap. vii. 22, &c. By Jephthah against
tlie Ammonites, chap. xi. 32, 33. By Samson
against the Philistines, chaps, xv. and xvi. ; and
so by Jonathan and his armour-bearer, against
a garrison of the Philistines, 1 Sam. xiv. 15. By
Da%'id's many victories over them before-mentioned ;
by Asa against the Ethiopians, 2 Chron. xiv. 9, &c.
Jehoshaphat against Moab, Ammon, and Mount
Seir, 2 Cliron. xx. 12, &c. ; and Hezekiah against
Sennacherib, Isa, xxxvii. 36.

Also here see the misery of those that be out of
covenant with God ; for the Lord's power is ever
against them, (unless when he will use them as a
rod and scourge to punish the rebellious, as Isa.
X. 5, G,) and therefore woe unto them ; as Hosea L\.
12, with Deut. xxxii. 30.

For admonition, to give all diligence to be truly
in covenant with God, that so it may be with us as
it was with David. For which end, in the profes-
sion of the true faith, we must imitate the godly
practice of David ; having a calling for that we
do, tnist in God, pray unto him, and walk in obe-
dience.

Also, as we desire to scape the Lord's hand in our
overthrow, let us beware of the state and properties
of David's enemies.

For comfort to the godly, fighting the Lord's
battles, and yet overmatched. If they be in cove-
nant with God, and follow David, in the warrant of
a good calling, in affiance, prayer, and holy obedi-
ence, they may say, Where is the God of David, of
Joshua, of Jehoshaphat ? &c. ; as Elisha said, ' Where
is the Lord God of Elijah 1 ' 2 Kings ii. 14, for he is
■R-ithout .shadow of change, James i. 1 7.

Ver. 3. Thwrjli an host slwuld encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear : thovrjh icar should rise arjainst
me, in this will I be confident.

Here the prophet returns to make mention of his
courage and confidence against his enemies, more
fully expressing the same than he had formerly
done, by making supposal that, with all their force,
and in their greate.st fiiry, they should set upon

him, saying, ' Though an host should encamp
agamst me ' — there is the supposal of their force,
and yet he would not fear ; and ' though war should
rise against me ' — there is the supposal of their rage
and fury, yet ' in this will I be confident.' But
what means he by in this ? The most take it de-
monstratively, with reference to that he had said,
The Lord is my light : yet it may be taken for a
relative, and referred to the war made against him,
wherein he would be confident upon his having God
for his light, &c.

Here, then, we have two things to note ; the one
implied or taken for granted, the other expressed.
The thing implied is this, that to be in fear, and to
be confident, are here opposed as contrary aflfections
of the heart. David here professeth his heart was
free from fear, and that he was confident. And to
clear the proposition, it containeth two things.
First, That fear and confidence are contrary afi"ec-
tions ; this is acknowledged by the very heathen as
a princii^le in natural philosophy, which none can
deny that know the nature of these affections, or
feel the force of them. For fear is the fainting or
falling down of the heart upon the apprehension of
evU, either present or imminent, as Luke xxi. 26,
' Men's hearts failing them for fear.' But confidence
is the trust or persuasion of the heart to escape
evil, and to enjoy good, as Ps. xxxvii. 3, 5.
Secondly, That these affections are seated in the
heart, is lOiewise acknowledged by natural men, and
plain also in Scripture : for fear, see Luke xxi. 26,
as before ; and for confidence, Ps. xxviii. 7, ' The
Lord is my strength, and my shield ; my heart
trusted in him.'

The reason hereof is the will of God Almighty,
the maker of man's heart, as Ps. xxxiii. 15, 'He
fashioneth their hearts alike ; ' and he ' made this con-
trary to that,' Eccles. vii. 14.

The application is twofold. First, For instruc-
tion ; see here that one of these two must needs
possess every one of our hearts, for these aflfections
are natural, and who will exempt himself from that
which is man's natural estate! Elias was a man
subject to natural passions, Jamesiv. 1 7, and said of
himself, I am no better than my fathers, 1 Kuigs
xix. 4.

Quest. Was Adam endued with fear by creation i

PIERSCiN ON PSALSI XXVII.

[Ver. 4.

yins. Adam's fear by creation was filial, of God ;
but ser\-ile fear was not in him tOl lie sinned against
God. Of this we may say, as of shame, Gen. ii. 25,
' They were both naked, the man and the woman,
and were not ashamed ; ' with Gen. iii. 9, 10, 'The
Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
AVhere art thou 1 And he said, I heard thy voice
in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked, and I hid myself

For admonition, that every one of us do con-
sider the causes of these affections ; and as we desire
to be freed from fear, and endued with confidence,
so to give all diligence to be freed from the cause of
fear, and to be possessed with the causes of true
affiance and confidence. Now fear ariseth from the
apprehension and conceit of that which is evil and
hurtful to us ; which, whatsoever it is, comes from
sin, Ktan, that is indeed drf] ij ?7a»ra aiirai ; see Prov.
i. 33 ; Gen. iii. 10.

The cause of confidence and affiance is sure title
to that which is good, which none have but the
righteous ; as Ps. xxxvii. 1 7, ' The Lord uiDholdeth
the righteous.'- Ver. 39, ' The salvation of the
righteous is of the Lord.' Hence Solomon saith,
' The righteous is bold as a lion,' Prov. xxviii. 1.
Now the way to be freed from sin, is by true repent-
ance ; as Acts iii. 19, ' Eepent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out.' And
the way to become truly righteous, is to believe in
God through Christ, ' who is the end of the law for
righteousness,' ftom. x. 4, which is never severed
from righteousness, renewed in sanctification, aa 1
Cor. i. 30. After these two graces, must we give all
diligence in the use of means, the word and prayer,
in and by which the Holy Ghost worketh these, and
all other needful graces, in the hearts of God's elect.
And for motives, consider the present evil times, in
the common troubles of the church abroad, which
if they befall us, without repentance and faith, we
shall shrink under them. Add hereto the medi-
tation of the terror of death to them that want re-
pentance and faith ; but most of all the horror and
terror of the day of judgment.

The thing expressed is this, That David's heart
was confident, and free from slavish fear of hurt,
from the strongest opposition and malice of all his
enemies : see Ps. iii. 6, ' I will not be afraid of ten

thousands of people, that have set themselves against
me round about.'

The reason hereof was, his being truly in cove-
nant with God, whereby he had title to God's
power and providence for his j)reservation : see
Ps. xci. 9-11, 'Because thou hast made the
Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy
habitation ; there shall no evil befall thee, neither
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he
shall give his angels charge over thee,' &c. So Ps.
iii. 3, and cxviii. 6.

Object. David wanted this confidence before Achish,
1 Sam. xxi. 12, 13.

Ans. He had then the habit of faith in God in
his heart, but failed somewhat in that particular
act, as Peter did more when he denied his Master,
Luke xxii. 60, with 32. Which we must observe,
to restrain rash judgment, against ourselves or
others, for particular falls. For as we have sancti-
fication in part, and not perfectly, so we may fail in
many particular acts. Which yet must not encour-
age any to go on in a course of sin, seeing reigning
sin and saving grace cannot stand together. See
Eom. vi. 1-15.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see the great fruit of godliness,
in giving courage and boldness in his greatest dis-
tress ; as is said in general, 1 Tim. iv. 8, ' Godliness
is profitable unto all things.' Ps. Iviii. 11, 'Verily
there is a reward for the righteous.'

For admonition, to labour to be such as David
was, if we desu-e to have the like courage. Now
David stood rightly in covenant mth God, and kept
covenant, testifying the same by new obedience :
See Ps. xviii. 21-23, 'I have kept the ways of
the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my
God,' &c. And say not. This sampler is too high ;
see James v. 10, ' Take, my brethren, the prophets,
who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an
ensample of suffering affiiction, and of patience ; '
nay. Mat. xi. 29, our Saviour himself saith, ' Learn
of me ; ' and St Paul, Phil. ii. 5, ' Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.' Eph. v. 1.
' Be ye followers of God, as dear cliildren.'

Ver. 4. One thing have I desiyed of the Lord, that
Hill I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the

Ver. 4.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Lord all tlic ilaj/s of my life, to behold the heauty of the
Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

Having in the former verse plainly expressed the
singular benefits he received by ha^•ing the true God
for his God — as, namely, that he himself was en-
couraged in the greatest assaults of his enemies, ver.
1-3, and on the other side his enemies were daunted
and dismayed, ver. 2 — here in this verse he shews
his ardent affection towards the place of God's wor-
ship, being indeed the only way for his soul to en-
joy society vrith God, who was his light and salvation,
and the strength of his life.

This affection of David towards the place of God's
worship is here notably expressed three ways :
first. By this, that he makes it the only matter of his
special suit unto God, which both formerly he had de-
su'ed, and would yet also still seek after, — ' One thing
have I desired of the Lord, that wOl I seek after,
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord ; ' secondly,
Bj' the length of time for which he would enjoy that
benefit, namely, ' all the days of his life ; ' thirdly,
By the comfortable ends for which he desires it,
which here are these two : fii'st, ' To behold the
beauty of the Lord ; ' secondly, ' To inquire in his
temple.'

For the first ; the Lord's house in David's time
was the tabernacle of the congregation, to which he
had appropriated the ordinances of di\-ine service,
for the performance whereof his peoi)le did thither
assemble themselves while it stood ; and to the
temple built by Solomon afterward, whereto God
made the promise of his presence, 1 Kings ix. 3,
whither the tribes went up, Ps. cxxii. 4, unto which
place David's heart was traly addicted, as Ps. xxvi.
8, ' Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house,
and the place where thine honour dwelleth ; ' 1
Chron. xxix. 3, ' I have set my affection to the house
of my God.' But now, in the New Testament, dif-
ference of place in respect of hoUness is taken away,
John iv. 21, and God's house is his church, 1 Tim.
iii. 15 ; that is, such companies and assembUes of
people as be in covenant ^vith God, and meet to-
gether Ln Christ's name to perform worship and
ser\'ice unto God, as Mat. xviii. 20. For the godly
are God's temple and God's house, 1 Cor. iii. 16;
2 Cor. vi. 16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5. Now, to dwell in God's
house is to continue a true member of God's church,

a true believer enjojnng the liberty and comfort of
God's holy worship and service ; wherein, though
the priests and Levites had a special privilege,
whose calling was to do service in the sanctuary, as
Ps. cxxxiv. 1, yet it was not pecuhar to them alone,
as appears by Ps. xv. 1 and last, compared with
Luke ii. 36, 37, where men and women that are
truly godly are said to dwell in God's house.

Here, then, in this first expression of David's
affection towards the house of God, note two things :
first. That David's heart was set upon the house of
God above all other things ; he was more in prayer
and endeavour after this lilessing, to dwell in God's
house, than after any worldly thing. This he often
testifieth, as 1 Chron. xxix. 3, ' I have set mine affec-
tion to the house of my God ; ' Ps. xxvi. 8, ' Lord, I
have loved the habitation of thine house, and the place
where thine honour dwelleth ;' Ps. cxxii. 1, 'I was
glad when they said unto me. Let us go to the house
of the Lord.' So Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2, 10, andPs. xlii. 1,
2,4.

This affection is the more to be marked in David,
because the world wonders at it Ln God's children,
as Cant. v. 8, 9, and derides them for it, as 2 Sam.
■vi. 20 ; therefore consider the reasons that moved
him thereunto, which are indeed the wonderful, rare,
heavenly blessings which are certainly enjoyed in
God's house, and nowhere else. "Whereof the first
and principal (from which all the rest do flow) is
the sure fruition of society and fellowship with the
true God, who is one in essence, three in persons,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; who,
though the whole world be his, yet only shews his
special grace and favour to the true members of his
church, as Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20, ' He sheweth his word
unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto
Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation,' &c. ;
with Exod. xix. 5, ' Ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people.' vVnd therefore they that
are out of the church are said to be ' without Christ
and without God in the world,' Eph. ii. 12, and can-
not receive the Holy Ghost, who is the true sanctifier
and comforter, John. xiv. 17.

Behold, then, the pri\'ilege of the church and of
the true members thereof: the true God, who is one
in essence, three in persons as God, is their Lord
and king, which is a groat ground of then- true hap-

PIEESON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 4.

piness. The queen of Slieba accounted Solomon's
servants liappy in having a Idng so eminent for wis-
dom, 1 Kings X. 8 ; ' But, behold, a greater than
Solomon is here,' Mat. xii. 42 ; a Idng and master in
his church, who can give ddiverance by command,
Ps. xliv. 4, and ivill honour all his faithful sei-vants :
John xii. 26, ' Where I am, there also shall my ser-
vant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father
honour ; ' so Luke xii. 37, 43, 44. More particularly,
God the Father is in Christ their Father, 2 Cor.
vi. 18; John xx. 17, even the Father of mercies,
2 Cor. i. 3, who will take notice of the wants of his
children, and make supply, upon their sober and
sanctified use of lawful means, if first and chiefly
they seek heavenly blessings. Mat. vi. 32, 33, and
what is wanting in their temporal estate he will
fully make out in their eternal, Luke xii. 32. Also
God the Son is in and to his church a blessed
Saviour and Redeemer, he is ' the head unto his
church, which is his body,' Eph. i. 22, 23, and the
Saviour of his body, Eph. v. 23 ; see Luke ii. 10, 11 ;
Isa. xlLx. 6, 8. Yea, he is a husband unto their
souls, Isa. liv. 5, ' Thy maker is thine husband ; '
Isa. Ixii. 4, 5, ' Thy land shall be married. As a
young man marrieth a virgin, and as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice
over thee.' And God the Holy Ghost is to his
church a blessed sanctifier and comforter, ' the
Spirit of grace and supplications,' Zech. xii. 10 ;
' And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Sijuit of his Son into your hearts,' Gal. iv. 6.

Secondly, The true God, in Chri.st Jesus, gives to
all the true members of the church freedom and
deliverance from all hurtful evils. By imputing his
righteousness unto them he doth acquit them from
the whole guilt and curse of sin, both original cor-
ruptions and actual transgressions, whereupon all
the evils thereof, in temporal and corporal miseries,
as they are curses, are removed, see Gal. iii. 13,
' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us,' whereupon, Rom. viii. 1,
' There is no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus ; ' and more generally, Luke i. 68, &c. ;
Acts xiii. 39.

Thirdly, Here God aiTordeth to his children the
full and sure fruition of all needful blessings,
heavenly and earthly ; see Eph. i. 3, for heavenly.

and for earthly, see Mat. vi. 32, 33. The blessings
of his house are great, as Ps. Ixv. 4. Here is no
lack, Ps. xxxiv. 10. See some particulars.

First, Here God gives direction in every good
way ; Ps. xxxii. 8, ' I will instruct thee, and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go, I will guide
thee with mine eye ; ' Ps. Ixxiii. 24, ' Thou shalt
guide me with thy counsel.' A type hereof he
shewed to his people in the mlderness, Exod. xiii.
21, 22, in the pdlar of cloud by day, and fire by
night.

Secondly, Here is plentiful provision both for soul
and body, Ps. xxxiv. 10. For the soul, see John
vi. 27, 33, 35, 55, 63 ; 1 Cor. x. 16. Here is the
tree of life, and the well of life, Rev. xxii. 1, 2;
Ps. xxxvi. 9, ' With thee is the fountain of life ; '
Ps. Ixxxvii. 7, ' All my springs are in thee,' — that
is, in the true church. For the body, see Isa.
Ixv. 13; Ps. xxxvii. 3, 4.

Thirdly, Here is safe protection and preservation
by special providence, Ps. xci. 1, &c., imjilied and
assured to all the faithful. Mat. x. 29-31. It is
said the king's servants in ordinary cannot be
arrested but by warrant from the Lord Chamberlain,
and ordinary attendants on parliament-men have
great freedoms ; but the servants of God have more,
see John xix. 11 ; Job i. 10 ; Acts xviii. 10 ; Ps.
Ixxxix. 22.

Fourthly, Here is most admirable remuneration,
even in this life, with the honour of grace, and favour
to be his friends, John xv. 14, 15, to be his children,
1 John iii. 1, and to have the attendance of the
heavenly angels, Ps. xxxiv. 7, and xci. 1 1 ; Heb.
i. 13, but most abundantly in the life to come, Mat.
xix. 28, 29, and xxv. 21, 23; Luke xii. 32.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first, See here a plain
evidence of the great ignorance and unbelief of
natural men in the things of God, for not one of a
thousand hath David's affection to God's house; and
the true cause tliereof is, their ignorance and un-
belief touching the good things of God's house ;
as in the like, see John iv. 10, and Cant. v. 9.
Here, it is true, that the light that is in natural men
is but mere darkness. Mat. vi. 23.

Secondly, That undoubtedly it is a wonderful
privilege and prerogative to be a true member of

Ver. -1 ]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

God's churcli, and to live in his house, else David
would never have so much desired it.

For admonition two ways : first, To try our affec-
tion toward the house of God, by David's ; for sure
it is, if God be our light and our salvation, and the
strength of our life, we cannot but desire to enjoy
that place where we may have society with him.

Now the evidence of this good affection is, first,
SoiTOw for want of liberty to God's service ; as Ps.
xlii. 1, 2, 4, ' AMien I remember these things, I
pour out my soul in me,' &c. And for want of
God's sa\'ing and sacred ordinances, as Ps. Ixxiv. 9,
' We see not our signs ; there is no more any pro-
phet,' &c., as Phinehas's wife in travail, 1 Sam. iv.
19-22, 'The glory is departed from Israel, for the
ark of God is taken,' &c.

Secondly, Joy in the means and liberty thereto,
as Ps. cxxii. 1, ' 1 was glad when they said unto me.
Let us go into the house of the Lord.' As when
the ark came to Beth-shemesh, from among the
Philistines, they of Beth-shemesh rejoiced to see it,

1 Sam. vi. 13, and sacrificed sacrifices unto the
Lord, ver. 15; 'And David danced before the ark
for joy,' when it was brought to the city of David,

2 Sam. vi. 1.5, 16 ; and .so Nahuni -N-iii. 12, ' All the
people made great mirth, for understanding the
word ; ' and ver. 17, 'In keeping the Lord's feast
there was great gladness.'

Secondly, To get David's affection to God's house,
which will be had by knowing their misery that
are out of it ; as the world drowned out of Noah's
ark, and as is expressed, Eev. xxii. 15, with xxi. 8;
also by their happiness that be the living members
of it, see Eev. xxi. 7, and xxii. 14, for then they
have God for their God, and right to all the bless-
ings of the covenant, in fi-eedom from the miseries
of nature, (as they are curses,) and fruition of all
needful good, in direction, provision, protection, and
remuneration, as before is shewed.

For the sanctifying of these things considered to
our hearts, we must pray for the Spirit, which
quickeneth the dead, and giveth light and sight to
the blind eyes of the understanding ; and with all
endeavour to leave sin, and to live godly, that so we
may be more capable of the blessings of the Spirit.
For the Spii-it of God is a holy spirit, and will not
dwell in an unclean and filthy heart, as 2 Cor. v.

14, 15. Mark the place where Christ eats the pass-
over with his disciples : Mark xiv. 15, It is 'a large
upper room, furnished and prepared ; ' so it should
be with our hearts, if we would have the i'ather
and Christ to come unto us, and make their abode
with us, John xiv. 23, yea, to sup with us. Rev.
iii. 20.

Secondly, In his first expressing of Da\'id's affec-
tion towards the house of God, note also the means
he used, and the course he took, to obtain this
blessing — namely, with earnest desire and prayer
to God he joineth other endeavour, and seeketh
after it by doing what he can otherwise to get this
estate.

Here ai-e two words used declaring David's be-
haviour to obtain this blessing, that he might dwell
in the house of the Lord.

The first, ''/I'^Xti', doth plainly point out the duty
of prayer to God, and that of earnest prayer, such
as beggars use, who are usually importunate, as
Prov. XX. 4, ' The sluggard shall beg in harvest.'
The second word, K;p^K, though sometime it express
seeking in prayer, yet often betokens the use of
other means beside prayer,^ whereby the thing de-
sired may be gotten, as labour and pains in travail
and otherwise, as Ps. xxxvii. 32, ' The wicked
watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him;'
and therefore it is sometime expounded by pursue,
as Ps. xxxiv. 14, 'Seek peace and pursue it.'

Whereby it seems plain that David did with prayer
join other endeavour to get this blessing, to dwell in
the house of the Lord.

The reason of this behaviour is twofold : first,
Obedience to God's ordinance, who requii-ed of those
that would dwell in his house tliree things : first,
Repentance from dead works, whereby they break off
the course of all sin wherein they had fonnerly lived,
see 1 John i. 6, ' If we say we have fellowship with
him, and walk in darluiess, we lie.' 'Hath the throne
of wickedness fellowship with thee ? ' Ps. xciv. 20.
' What fellowship hath light mth darkness 1 ' &c., 2 ■
Cor. vi. 14, 15. David would not suffer an evil
person to dwell in his house, Ps. ci. 4, 7, and shall
we think that God will have his house defiled with
such ? For reigning sin is spu-itual leprosy ; and
though he were a temporal king, yet bodily leprosy

' See Pagnin. in this word.

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 4.

will cause him to be cast out of the Loril's sanctuaiy,
2 Chron. xxvi. 20.

Secondly, To be beautified iu soul with inward
graces through regeneration, as faith, vutue, godli-
ness, &c., 2 Pet. 1-8 ; Heb. xi. 6, ' He that cometh
unto God must beheve.'

Thirdly, To be adorned in life with new obedi-
ence, Ps. XV. 2, 3, &c., and xxiv. 3, 4. And these
things David must seek after if he would dwell in
God's house ; and so no doubt he did.

Secondly, Desire to enjoy the blessings of God's
house, wherein he knew that man's true happiness
did stand, as Ps. Ixv. 4, and Ixxxiv. 4 ; as Paul
did, Phil. iii. 13, 14. Now in nature everything de-
sires the happiness of its kind, so far forth as the
enlightening of the understanding can dii-ect, which,
being most perfect in God's children, they desire the
fruition of the trae God, who is the fountain of the
best happiness.

This serves for iustraction and for admonition.

For instruction it shews us plainly whence it is
that the greatest number in the world do fail of true
spiritual grace, and so indeed of salvation itself;
sure it is not for want of desire, for ^vicked Balaam
would have his soul to die the death of the right-
eous. Num. xxiii. 10, but it is because with desire in
prayer they do not join seeking after, and holy en-
deavour in the diligent use of other means ordained
of God for the attaining hereof. For it fares wth
men that live in the church for the blessings of grace
and salvation, as it doth with men in the woi'ld for
temporal blessings, of whom Solomon saith, Prov.
xiii. 4, ' The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath
nothing.' Why so 1 Because he is a sluggard, and
severeth diligence from desire, as the opposition shews
in the end of the verse, — ' but the soul of the dili-
gent shall be made fat ; but the idle soul shall suffer
hunger,' Prov. xix. 15. And so it is for spiritual
graces, which are the treasures of wisdom, heavenly
riches, as Christ implieth, John v. 40, ' You wOl not
come unto me that you might have life,' compared
with Mat. xi. 28, 29, ' Come unto me, all ye that
labour,' &c. And St Paul shews it, Acts xiii. 40,
47, ' Seeing you put it from you,' &c. ; and Luke x.
10-12, 'Into whatsoever city ye enter, and they
receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of
the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city,

which cleavetli on us, we do ^idpe off against you,'
&c. And it may be seen in the foolish virgins, Mat.
XXV. 3, 11, 12, and in the idle servant, Mat. xxv.
25, &c.

For admonition, all that desire to have grace and
glory must here learn of David, with desire in praj-er
to join diligence in the use of further means ordained
of God for the obtaining of those blessings : see
Prov. ii. 3, 4, 'If thou criest after knowledge, and
liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid
treasures ; then shalt thou understand the fear of
the Lord,' &c. Tliere we see seeking goes mth cry-
ing; so Mat. vii. 7, ' Ask, and it shall be given you ;
seek, and ye shall find,' &c. The very heathen would
say that fortune resisted .sluggish prayers. And see
James iv. 3, 'Y'e ask, and receive not, because ye
ask amiss,' not joining endeavour -with prayer.
Consider 2 Pet. i. 5-10, ' Give all diligence ; add to
your faith virtue,' &c. ; add 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12, 14;
and see answerable hereunto the endeavour of the
godly ; of St Paul, 1 Cor. ix. 26, 27 ; Phil. iii. 10-
13 ; and of the chiu'ch of the Thessalonians, 1 The?,
i. 6-8 ; and of Ephesus, Rev. ii. 2 ; and of Thyatira,
Eev. ii. 19.

The second thing here expressing David's sincere
affection to the house of God is the length of time
for which he desires to dwell therein, namely, all
the days of his life. No shorter time will satisfy
Da\'id's soul ; while he lives in the world he would
dwell in the house of the Lord, and therefore in the
thought and assurance thereof doth he so much
encourage himself : Ps. xxiii. 6, ' Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for
ever.'

The reason hereof is threefold. First, For the
fruition of the good things of God's house, mentioned
before, viz., spLiitual society vnt\i God, and from
him deliverance from all hurtful evils, and partaldng
of all needful blessings, in direction, pro\'ision, pro-
tection, and remuneration, to which these mentioned
in this verse do belong, ' to behold the beauty of the
Lord,' &c., whereupon he esteemed ' a day in God's
courts better than a thousand elsewhere,' Ps.
Ixxxiv. 10.

Secondly, For his better opportunity to glorify

Yer. 4.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

God, which thing his soul dcsii'cd to do so long as
he lived, as Ps. Ixiii. 4, ' Thus vrtil I bless thee
while I live ; ' Ps. cxl\-i. 2, ' AMiile I live will I
praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God
while I have any being.' Now the house of God
was the chiefest place for this duty : Ps. xxix. 9, ' In
his temple doth every one speak of his glory ; ' Ps.
lx.\xiv. 4, ' Blessed are they that dwell in thine
house, they wtII be still praising thee.'

Thirdly, He knew that to be out of God's house
was to be out of God's favour, as Cain's complaint
doth plainly import, Gen. iv. 1 4, and the Lord's
severe dealing against Israel for their sins doth
plainly shew, 2 Kings x^-ii. 18, 20.

Tliis sers'es for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see plainly in David that the
hearts of the godly do sincerely desire, and in their
lives they do faithfully strive for perseverance in
the state of grace ; for that tiling at this day is
dwelling in God's house, as the phrase imports,
1 John ii. 19, 'They went out from us, but they
were not of us : for if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us,' — that is,
in the profession and obedience of the word of faith.
Which is a thing worthy of our observation, for our
better satisfaction touching the truth of our doc-
trine, of the perseverance of the saints in grace ;
thereof we need to have the less doubt, seeing in
them all is ■(vrought a time desire after this estate,
which they shew by prayer and other godly endea-
vour. Xow the Lord heareth the desires of those
that fear him, Ps. cxiv. 19, and Mat. vii. 7, 'Ask
and it shall be given you.'

For admonition, to those tliat are weary of God's
house and the exercises of religion, snuffing at them,
and saying it is a weariness, Mai. i. 13 ; saying,
' When will the Sabbath be gone]' Amos viii. 5.
How many have we that love the alehouse and
whorehouse better than God's house, as Jer. v. 7,
' They assembled themselves by troops in the
harlots' houses.' But, Lam. L 4, 'The ways of
Zion do mourn, because none come unto the solemn
feasts.'

Que.it. How should they alter their estate and do
better I

Ans. 'The way of man is not in himself,' Jer. x.
23 ; vet the means ordained of God must be used of

every one that would become like unto David, wliich
is diligence in the word and prayer, and making
conscience to live according to the word.

The third thing here to be noted in David's ex-
pressing the fervent affection of his heart towards
God's house, are the blessed ends for which David
desires that favour, — namely, first, 'To behold the
beauty of the Lord ; ' secondly, ' To inquire in his
temple.'

For the first, the Lord's beauty, to be seen in his
house, is not the beauty of his essence, for so no man
can see God and live, Exod. xxxiii. 18, 20 ; before
this glorious beauty the angels cover their faces
with their wings, Isa. vi. 1, 2 ; but it is the beauty
of his ordinances, wherein God doth reveal to the
eyes of men's minds, enlightened by his Spirit, the
pleasant beauty of his goodness, justice, love, and
mercy in Jesus Christ. Mark here, then,

That in God's house the godly do behold the
pleasant beauty of the Lord, in his gracious proper-
ties of goodness, justice, love, and mercy in Jesus
Christ. Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, 'My soul thirsteth for thee,
my flesh longeth for thee ; to see thy power and
thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.'
See 2 Cor. iii. 18, and iv. 6.

The reason hereof is, the good pleasure of God
thus to manifest his gracious properties in his ovra.
ordinances. Look, as in the works of the creation,
lie shewed the eternal power and msdom of the
Godhead, Rom. i. 19, 20, so, in the ordinances of
his service, he doth make known his justice, good-
ness, love, and mercy in Jesus Christ. This is most
clear in the gospel jireached, and in the evangelical
sacraments rightly administered ; wherein, ' with
open face, we behold the glory of the Lord, and are
transformed into the same image,' 2 Cor. iii. 18.
' The world by wisdom knew not God, in the wisdom
of God,' — that is, how God will shew himself wise
in man's salvation, 1 Cor. i. 21. Now, Christ cruci-
fied in the gospel preached is this power of God, and
this \visdom of God, ver. 24. ' Herein is made
known the unsearchable riches of Christ,' Eph. iii. 8,
and 'the manifold wisdom of God,' ver. 10. 'For
it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness
dwell,' Col. i. 19. 'In him are hid all the treasures
of ivisdom and knowledge,' Col. ii. 3, and are all
opened unto us in the evangelical ministrj'. Now

PIEESON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 4.

the legal service had ' the shadow of all these good
things to come,' Col. ii. 17; Heb. x. 1. For the
sacrifices did lead to Christ, as 1 Cor. v. 7 ; and the
purifying water shadowed out the sanctification of
the Sj^irit, John Lii. 5. These and the rest of the
legal ordmances were figures for the time of the law,
Heb. ix. 9 ; and the words of the jjrophets, with
them, were lights that shined in a dark place, till
the day of the gospel did dawn, and the day star —
that is, the clearer light of knowledge — arise in men's
hearts, 2 Pet. i. 19. Now, David had the Spirit in
prophetical wisdom, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, and thereby
saw, even in these legal ordinances, the pleasant
beauty of the Lord his God in Clirist Jesus.

This serves for instruction and for admoni-
tion.

For instruction, see a reason of the different af-
fections to be seen in men toward the house of God,
and the sacred ordinances therein used. Some are
exceeding zealous thereof, as Ps. Ixix. 9 ; longing
and fainting for the courts of the Lord, Ps. Ixxxiv.
2, Ixiii. 1, 2, and xlii. 1, 2. Others count it a weari-
ness, and wonder that any should take deUght
therein. Now the reason is, that some see the
beauty of the Lord in his house, and others are
blind and ignorant, and see nothing at all, as Cant.
V. 9 ; being like the prophet's servant, that saw the
horses and chariots of the enemy, but saw not the
chariots of fire from the Lord till the prophet had
prayed for him, 2 Kings vi. 15-17. They are like
the woman of Sychar, that asked not the water of
life of Christ, because she knew him not, nor the
gift of God, John iv. 10.

For admonition, it serves two ways. First, To
natural men, to give all diligence after spii'itual il-
lumination, that they may attain to this estate — to
see the Lord's pleasing beauty in his sacred ordi-
nances. The way is to get the Spirit, 1 Cor. ii. 11,
12 ; for wliich end we must use God's means, the
word preached. Acts x. 44 ; Gal. iii. 2 ; and prayer,
Luke xi. 13, in a holy manner, — that is, first, Re-
penting of sin, Prov. i. 23 ; Acts ii. 38 ; secondly.
Hungering and thnsting after grace, Isa. xliv. 3 ;
thirdly, Walking in new obedience, Acts v. 32.

Secondly, To God's children, to be careful of their
behaviour, that the beauty of the Lord may be stiU
shining upon them. The way is, first. To watch

against temptation to sin, which is a cloud to hide
God's face from his jjeople, as Lam. iii. 44 ; Isa.
lix. 2. Secondly, To be frequent and diligent in
those sacred ordinances and religious services
wherein God begets and increaseth grace in their
hearts : which now are, the solemn parts of the
evangelical ministry, in the word preached, sacra-
ments reverently administered, and prayer with
thanksgiving. Tliirdly, To strive to shew the power
of godliness in conscionable obedience : John xiv.
21, 23, 'He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : and he that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I wiU
love him, and will manifest myself unto him. If a
man love me, he will keep my words : and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him ; ' and Ps. 1. 23, ' To him that
ordereth Ins conversation aright will I shew the
salvation of God.'

The second end for wliich David desires to dwell
in God's house is, tluat he may ' inquire in his temple,'
that is, diligently seek direction of God in all cases
of doubt or difficulty that may any way concern
him. Mark here, then,

That in God's house the godly did inquire and
seek of God for direction and satisfaction in all
material cases of doubt and difficulty that did con-
cern them. See, for David himself, 1 Sam. xxii. 1 ;
Doeg tells Saul that Ahimelecli inquired of the Lord
for David ; and, ver. 15, Ahimelech's .speech seems to
imply that he had done it often : ' Did I then begin
to inquire of God for him 1 ' as if he should have said,
that is a thing I have formerly done oftentimes for
him. So chap, xxiii. 2, David inquired of the
Lord about his going to fight against the Philistines
that came against Keilah : ver. 4, ' Again he in-
quired of the Lord.' This inquiry was thought to
have been by the prophet Gad, who was mtli David,
1 Sam. xxii. 5, and xxiii. 9, 10 ; he inquired by
Abiathar the priest, that was fled to him with the
ephod, as ver. G ; and cliap. xxx. 7, 8, he in-
quired of the Lord about the pursuit of the Amalek-
ites that had burnt Ziklag. So before this time.
Judges i. 1, the people asked the Lord, ' "Who shall go
up against the Canaanites? ' and Judges xx. 18, tliey
ask counsel of the Lord about going up against the
Benjamites, and ver. 23, the second time, and ver.

Ver. 4.

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

27, 28, tlie third time, where the maimer is shewed.
Add Gen. xxv. 22.

The reason hereof is twofold : first, God's o^m
ordinance, which is plainly set down, directing his
people to this duty ; see the promise of God's pre-
sence to give direction, Exod. xxv. 21, 22, whence the
most holy place is thought to be called ^^27, because
thence God spake and gave answer, when he was
rightly sought unto, 1 Kings vi. 19, &c. And here-
upon. Num. xxvii. 21, Joshua must be before
Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him
before the Lord. Add Deut. xvdi. 8, 9.

Secondly, For the fruition of the benefits and com-
forts of this privilege, which are exceeding great :
first. Freedom from manifold evils, that do accompany
men's miscarriages, that walk in theii' own counsels,
and after their own conceits, as we may see in the
Israelites making league mth the Gibeonites, that
were inhabitants in the land of Canaan, Josh. ix.
14r, &c. Secondly, A_ssurance to be acceptable to
God, and blessed of him in the things they take in
hand, even of this woild : see 2 Chron. xv. 2, ' If
ye seek liim he wUl be found of you;' and ver. 15,
' They sought him with their whole desire, and he
was found of them.' Thirdly, Undoubted fniition of
glory in the life to come : see Ps. Ixxiii. 24, ' Thou
shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward re-
ceive me to glory.' See also Ps. xxiv. .3-6, 'Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, &c. This
is the generation of them that seek him, that seek
thy face, Jacob.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see plainly that the true mem-
bers of God's church are advanced in privilege,
dignity, and honour, above all other people ; for with
whom doth the Lord so deal in grace and favour
as with the true members of the church I ' What
nation is so great, who hath God so nigh unto them,
as our God is in all things that we call upon him
for 1 ' Deut. iv. 7 ; he bids, ' Call upon me in the day
of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt
glorify me,' Ps. 1. 1.5; 'The eyes of the Lord are
upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their
cry,' Ps. xxxiv. 1.5; 'The Lord is nigh unto them
that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of
a contrite spirit,' ver. 18.

Object. If any one say, Tliis indeed was the prero-

gative of the Jews, that they were God's peculiar
people and chief treasure, and the Lord would be
inquired of by them above all other people : but is
it so with the church of the New Testament ?

Jus. Though there may be some difference in
the manner of God's giving answer, yet for substance
and real performance the church of the New Testa-
ment is preferred before the Jews, as we shall see in
taking particular view of their means of inquiry of
God in cases of difficulty, which were especially
four.

First, By prophets, as 2 Kings iii. 11, 'Is there
not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire
of the Lord by him 1 ' and 1 Kings xxii. 7. Secrmdly,
By the high priest, as Num. xxvii. 1. Thirdly, By
the ordinary teachers of the law, Mai. ii. 7. Fourthly,
In prayer, Ps. 1. 15, wherewith was joined fasting,
when they sought of God blessings of importance
this way, as Ezra viii. 21, 23. Now, the church of
the New Testament at this day is not inferior to
the chui-ch of the Jews, for they sometime wanted
extraordinary prophets, as Ps. Ixxiv. 9. And we
do ever enjoy the spiritual presence of Christ Jesus,
the great prophet of the church. Mat. xxviii. 20.
For John Baptist was ' more than a prophet,' Mat.
xi. 9, and yet not worthy to unloose Christ's shoe-
latchet, John i. 27. He is likewise the great hio-h
priest of our profession, who, by his word and
Spirit in all needful truth, revealeth his Father's
will more plainly and fully than the high priest did
by Urim and Thummim, see Heb. i. 2, with iv. 14,
' We have a great high priest over the house of God ; '
chap. \'iii. 2, ' A minister of the sanctuary and of the
true tabernacle.' And for the written word, wherein
God's -svill is to be found, the great increase of the
sacred canon, by all the books of the New Testa-
ment, shews our prerogative that way above the
Jews. And for access and obtaining by prayer with
fasting, direction from the Lord, see the promise,
Luke xi. 9-13, with John x\-i. 24, 26; and behold
the success by instance in Coruehus, Acts x. 2, 3,
30, &c.

For admonition, it serves effectually to move
every one that lives in the church to look unto their
state and carriage, that it be such as may give them
some good assurance that they have right to this
privilege to inquii-e in the temple. To tliis end we

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 5.

must look to two things : first, Tliat we be in cove-
nant with God, else we have no right to this prero-
gative, as Eph. ii. 12 ; the promise of audience is
made to God's people, 2 Gliron. vii. 14. Secondly,
That we keep covenant, living in conscionable
obedieace, as Ps. xxv. 9, 10, else we forfeit our
right, as we may see by God's dealing with Saul,
1 Sam. xx^'iii. 6, 16, and Ezek. ii. 3, 30, 31. But if
we keep covenant we may claim our due of God, as
David doth in this 27th Psalm, ver. 7, 9, always re-
membering that we walk in the Lord's highway, to
consult with him in his word, as Ps. Ixxiii. 1 7, for
therein God teacheth his children, as Ps. xciv. 10,
12, and cxix. 98, 99 ; and to call upon him by
prayer, adding thereto the humiliation of our souls
by fasting, as Ezra viii. 21, 23, with Acts x. 2, 3,
30, &c.

Ver. 5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in
his pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide
me ; he shall set me up upon a rock.

A reason of David's earnest desire to dwell in
God's house for ever, drawn from the benefit of
safety and security there to be found in time of
trouble ; which benefit is here expressed under a
double action of God : first. Hiding in his pavilion,
and secret of his tabernacle ; secondly. Setting up upon
a rock. For the better conceiving whereof we must
know, that by God's pavilion David means the
Lord's tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Sion.
And the secret of liis tabernacle was the most holy
place, where the cherubims spread their wings over
the mercy seat, the cover of the ark of the covenant ;
whither indeed David might not go personally, as
we may see by Heb. ix. 8, and Lev. xvi. 2, but
aimeth at that which those things did shadow out,
namely, special providence, and protection for safety,
as Ps. xci. 1, 4, and Ixi. 3, 4. Those places indeed
were generally taken for places of safety, as may
appear by the fact of Adonijah, 1 Kings i. 50, 51,
and of Joab, 1 Kings ii. 28, and by the charge of
Jehoiadah the high priest, 2 Kings xi. 15. The
ground whereof is thought to be (besides reverence
of God's presence) God's ordinance in the wilder-
ness, that the tabernacle of the congregation should
be a sanctuary for that time, as the cities of refuge
were afterwaJ'd, as is gathered by Exod. xxi. 13, 14.

So that here Da\'id assures himself that, being a
true member of God's church, his grace and favour,
power and providence, should be as the Lord's
pavilion, and as the secret place of his tabernacle,
even a sure and safe place of safety and security to
him. And likewise as a rock, that is high and J

strong, doth give safety and security to him that is I

set thereon, from the violent assault of all malicious
enemies, so the Lord's power and favour would
become the means of safety unto David ; who there-
upon doth usually call the Lord his rock and liis
salvation, as Ps. xviii. 2, and xlii. 9.

In this reason thus conceived, note two things ;
the first implied, touching his state, liable and sub-
ject to manifold evils and troubles ; the second ex-
pressed and intended, touching the means of liis
preservation and safety from the foresaid evils.

For the first, mark here that David makes .

account, that while he lives here on earth he is I

liable and subject to manifold evils, to sore and *

great troubles : Ps. xl. 12, 'Innumerable evils have
compassed me.' Ps. lxx\'iii. 3, ' My soul is full of
troubles.'

The reason or ground hereof is fourfold. First,
God's divine sovereignty, whereby he may do with
his own what he will, and dispose of his dearest
children to endure both sorrow and great affliction ;
as he dealt wth Job, chap. ii. 3, &c., wherein our
Saviour instructeth Peter, John xxi. 18, 22, which it
seems David had learned concerning himself: Ps.
xxxix. 9, ' I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, be-
cause thou didst it.'

Secondly, Because of iniquity ; for sin is truly
that NJOn, "''1, -^te, which brings all evU ; afliiction
follows sinners. And here, first, David's own sins
make him liable to evils of affliction ; he complains
that his iniquities took hold of him ; and so he felt,
2 Sam. xii. 1 0. Likewise, the sins of the wicked in
his time might make it to go far worse with him ;
as Elijah told Ahab, ' Thou and thy father's house
trouble Israel,' 1 Kings xviii. 18, and so we may
think it was in the time of the church's complaint,
Ps. xliv. 9, 10, 17-19.

Thirdly, Satan's malice ; who cast out floods
against the woman, Eev. xii. 15, and prevails mth
God for leave to afflict holy Job with grievous
plagues. Job i. 10, 11, and ii. 5, and let not David

Ver. 5.]

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

escape, 1 Chron. xxi. 1 ; being indeed that ' roar-
ing lion, going about seeldng whom he may devour,'
1 Pet. V. 8.

Fourth!}-, The malice of the wicked, who are the
seed of the serpent ; who hated and persecuted
David, not for his offence or sin, as Ps. lix. 3, 4,
but because he followed goodness, as Ps. xxxviii. 19,
20. Like to Cain, who slew his brother Abel,
' because his own works were evil, and his brother's
righteous,' 1 John iii. 12, whereof Christ forewarned
his disciples, John xv. 19, 20.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see from David's resolution what
is the case .and condition of all the godly, — namely,
to be subject to evils and troubles, which David
made account of; for all the forenamed reasons
fasten themselves upon the godly now li\'ing, as they
did upon David. And for plain testimony, see Ps.
xxxiv. 1 9, ' IMany are the afflictions of the right-
eous;' 2 Tim. iii. 12, 'All that will live godly in
Chiist Jesus shall suffer persecution.' For instance,
see Jacob's confession of himself, Gen. xlvii. 9, ' Few
and evil have the days of my life been,' and the
state of Job, chap. i. and ii., and that of Moses ;
Ps. xc. 15, also Heb. xi. 37, 38, ' They whom the
world was not worthy of ' were ' most miserable '
for outward things, as Paul confesseth for all the
godly, 1 Cor. x^'. 19.

For admonition, two ways : first. To the wicked
of the world, to beware of self-deceit, in jsromising
to themselves continued happiness and freedom from
e^-ils, because for the present they enjoy peace and
prosperity. That this is their thought and course,
see Ps. x. 6, ' He hath said in his heart, I shall not
be moved, for I shall never be in adversity ; ' also
Isa. xxviii. 1.5, they say, ' We have made a covenant
with death, and with hell we are at agreement ;
when the overflofl-ing scourge shall pass through, it
shall not come unto us.' But consider what God
saith, ver. 18, ' Your covenant with death shall be
disannulled, and your agreement with heU shall not
stand,' &c. Be not therefore deceived in a matter
of such importance. Judgments unlooked for wUl
light and lie the more heavy. Consider how the
Holy Ghost reasoneth, 1 Pet. iv. 17, 18, 'Judg-
ment must begin at the house of God ; and if it
first beo^n at us, what shall the end be of them that

ol)cy not the gospel of God ! And if the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear r So Jer. xxv. 29, ' Lo, I begin to
bring evil on the city that is called by my name, and
should ye" be utterly unpunished?' Luke xxiii. 31,
' If they do these things in a green tree, what shall
be done in the dry?' Mat. x. 24, 25, 'The disciple
is not above his master, nor the servant above his
Lord. If they have called the master of the house
Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of
his household ? '

Secondly, To the godly, to bethink themselves
with David that troubles may come ; the days in
which they live may be full of evUs, and thereupon
to prepare for it and to glorify God under afflictions,
if it please God to send them. For the satisfying
of the heart of every man's subjection to troubles,
consider the forenamed reasons from God's sove-
reignty, from sin, from the de\al, and the wicked of
the world, that are the instruments of Satan, where-
to, if none can answer otherwise than by acknow-
ledgment of subjection, then wUl true wisdom say,
It is best to prepare for it, that we may glorify God
under the cross. The way of preparation is this :

First, To make sure we be rightly in covenant
with God, which is undoubted to the true professors
of God's holy religion maintained amongst us,
wherein we avouch the true God for our God, and
he avoucheth us for his people, as Deut. xx\'i. 17,
18, with chap. xxix. 10-13, whereof baptism is a
true sacramental sign and seal, as circumcision wai
to the Jews, Eom. iv. 11. But he that would be
assured thereof must make conscience to perform
the vow of moral obedience, made in baptism, of
forsaking sin, believing in God, and walking in new
obedience.

Secondly, To get the grace of faith in Christ,
whereby we rest and rely upon him for all the bless-
ings ot the covenant. This grace enables the just
to live even in affliction, as Heb. x. 38, whereupon
Paul said he was ' able to do all things through
Christ that strengthened him,' as to want, and to
abound, to be full, and to be empty, Phil. iv.
11, 12.

Thirdly, To redeem the time by labouring to profit,
according to the means of grace afforded unto us,
Eph. V. 16.

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 5.

Fourthly, To become merciful to those that be in
misery, so shall we lay up in store a good foundation
for mercy to ourselves, Ps. xli. 1, &c. ; Mat. v. 7 ;
James ii. 13.

Then, when affliction is come, we must set faith
a-work by looking at God's hand therein, as Christ
teacheth. Mat. x. 28, 29, which is the only ground
of true patience, as Ps. xxxix. 9 ; also consider what
good it pleaseth God to raise up to his children by
afflictions, as Ps. xciv. 12, cxix. 67, 71 ; add 2 Cor.
iv. 17, 18.

The second thing to be noted here is purposely
intended ; that when God shall grant to David to
dwell in his house, he doth assure himself of special
safety and protection in times of trouble, for that he
means by hiding in liis pavilion, and in the secret of
his tabernacle, and setting up upon a rock, as we
heard before, see Ps. Ixi. 3, 4, 6, 7, ' Thou hast been
a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever ; I will trust
in the covert of thy wings. Thou wilt prolong the
king's life ; and his years as many generations. He
shall abide before God for ever ; prepare mercy
and truth, which may preserve him.'

The gi'ound of this assurance was God's own testi-
mony, for the continuance of his presence m his
sanctuary, and for the exercise of his jiower and
providence for their safety that be true members of
his church, see Ps. xlvi. 5-7, ' God is in the midst
of her, (i.e., his church), she shall not be moved ;
God shall help her, and that right early. The
heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved : he uttered
his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is
with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge.' Ps. xlviii.
3, 8, 12-14, ' God is known in her palaces for a
refuge. As we have heard, so have we seen in the
city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God ;
God will establish it for ever. "Walk about Sion,
and go round about her : tell the towers thereof.
For this God is our God for ever and ever : he will
be our guide even unto death.' See Isa. xxxiii.
20-22, ' Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities :
thine eyes shall see Jeiaisalem a quiet liabitation, a
tabernacle that shall not be taken down ; not one
of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither
shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there
the glorious Lord M-ill be unto us a place of Inroad

rivers and streams. For the Lord is our judge, the
Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king ; he will
save us.' Isa. xxxvii. 35, ' I will defend this city to
save it, for mine ovra sake, and for my servant
David's sake,' — that is, for my promise sake to
David in Christ, as Ps. cxxxii. 11, 13, 14, 17, ' The
Lord hath sworn in trath unto Da\'id ; he \nl\ not
turn from it ; of the fruit of thy body will I set
upon thy throne, &c. There will I make the horn
of David to bud.' Now David he continued a true
member of God's house, being careful to keep in
covenant with God, as he both professed in word
and testified by godly behaviour, upon which he
grounds his assurance of God's esjiecial protection.
His profession of being in covenant, see Ps. cxvi. 16,
' O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant ; '
Ps. xxiii. 1, 4, 'Tiie Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear none evil.' His
godly behaviour, whereon he grounds his as.surance
of God's special jDrotection, is threefold.

First, He puts his trust and hope in God, as Ps.
xxi. 7, ' For the king trusteth in the Lord, and
through the mercy of the most High he shall not be
moved ; ' Ps. xi. 1, ' In thee, Lord, put I my
tmst : how say ye to my soul. Fly as a bird to your
mountain? ' Ps. xvi. 1, ' Presen'e me, God, for in
thee do I put my trust ; ' Ps. Ixxxvi. 2, ' Oh thou,
my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.'

Secondly, He testified his trust in God by prayer :
Ps. vii. 1, '0 Lord my God, in thee do I put my
trust : save me from all them that persecute me
and deliver me ; ' Ps. cxvi. 3, 4, ' The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold
upon me : I found trouble and sorrow. Then called
I upon the name of the Lord ; Lord, I beseech
thee, deliver my soul.'

Thirdly, He made conscience of a godly and up-
right life, and thereon grounds his assurance of
special protection : Ps. iv. 3, ' Know that the Lord
hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the
Lord will hear when I call upon him.' Ps. xviii.
1 7, 20, ' He delivered me from my strong enemy.
The Lord rewarded me according to my right-
eousne.ss,' &c. Ver. 21-23, 'For I have kept the
ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed
fi'om my God. For all his judgments were before

Ver. 5.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

nic, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
I was also upright l>efore him, and I kept myself
from mine hiiquity,' &c. Ps. xli. 2, ' Thou upholdest
me in mine integrity, and scttest me before thy
face for ever.'

This serves for instruction, and for admonition,
and for comfoit.

For instruction, see here with David the true and
right way of safety in time of trouble. Get to dwell
in God's house, and then God's special providence
shall be over us, as the foimer testimonies do plenti-
fully testify.

But here a doubt ariseth, "Wliere we shall find this
house, and how to get a place therein ?

j4>is. In the days of grace and times of the New Tes-
tament, ' the tabernacle of God is with men, and he
dwells with them; they are his people, and God him-
self shall be with them, and be their God,' Rev. xxi. 3.

But is this common to all, as they are men, or is
there some special work of God recjuii-ed in them and
among them that be his house 1

An.<. John vi. 44, 'No man can come to me, ex-
cept the Father which hath sent me draw him ; '
that is, give him grace so to do from above, ver.
65. ' It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
ninneth, but of God that sheweth mercy,' Rom. ix.
1 6. Those that believe on his name are ' born not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God,' John i. 1 3. ' For it is God
wliich worketh in you both to ■will and to do of his
good pleasure,' Pliil. ii. 13.

But what hath man then to do, since our conver-
sion and regeneration is God's work ?

Ans. It is mdeed God's work, yet in the use of
outward means which he gives to reasonable
creatures, that therein they may wait for and re-
ceive God's work of grace in a holy calling, which,
both amongst Jews and Gentiles, doth distinguish
the elect from the reprobate, as Acts ii. 39. Now
this calhng is in the gospel preached, sanctified by
prayer, 2 Thes. xiii. 14, and therein are men made
God's house, Heb. iii. 6 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5 ; 1 Cor. iii. 1 6.

But may every man in the use of the gospel
preached attain to this calling 1

Ans. For aught that either minister or people
do know to the contrary, every one may be called
that lives under the gospel ; the fault is their own

if they be not, as Christ saith, ' Light is come into
the world, and men love darkness rather than hght,
because their deeds are evil,' John iii. 19. For men
undoubtedly do first rebel against the word, and refuse
God's mercy offered in the means of grace, before that
God withdraw his grace or take away from them the
use of the means. In regard whereof Christ complains
of the Jews, that when he would have gathered them
they would not, Mat. xxiii. 37. For though the best
employmentand improvement of nature be insuflicient
to get the true habit of grace, without the work of the
Spirit, as Rom. ix. 16, yet sure it is men are first
wanting to themselves in the use of means, before
the blessing of the Spirit be denied unto them.
Their owii hearts can tell them they have failed
in turning from sin, as Prov. i. 23, in hungering
after grace, Isa. xliv. 3, and in doing the good they
know, Acts V. 32.

For admonition, as we desire safety and shelter
in time of trouble, so we must with Da^dd strive and
endeavour after a sure place in God's house, become
true members of God's church.

The way is, first. To leave and break off the course
of all known sin, for that prevents society with God,
as 2 Cor. xiv. 15, 16, and thereupon the exhortation
is unto repentance, chap. vii. 1 ; secondly. To labour
for true faith in Christ, for that joins us unto Christ,
to make us living stones to be built up a spiritual
house, as 1 Pet. ii. 4-7 ; for, Eph. iii. 17,
' Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith ; ' thirdly, to
walk in new obedience, performing every good
duty which the Lord requireth, as Isa. Ivi. 3-7,
' Let not the son of the stranger, that hath joined
himself to the Lord, speak, saying. The Lord hath
utterly separated me from his people : neither let
the eunuch say. Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus
saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my
sabbaths, and choose the tilings that please me, and
take hold of my covenant ; even unto them will I
give in mine house and ^vithin my walls a place and
a name better than of sous and daughters,' &c.

For comfort, this makes gi'catly to all true believers
in times of trouble ; for certainly they have right
and title to this immunity of God's house. Indeed,
outward peace, ease, and plenty are but temporal
blessings, and the promise thereof must be under-
stood %vith the exception of the cro.ss, so as God, for

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Vek. 6.

trial of grace and correction for sin, may exercise them
in afflictions, as he did Job and David ; yet this is
their comfort therein : first, That God vnH not fail
them nor forsake them, Heh. xiii. 5, 6, and ' therefore
they may bokUy say. The Lord is mine helper ; I wiU
not fear what man shall do unto me ; ' as Ps. xci. 15,
' He shall call upon me, and I ■will answer him : I
will deliver him in trouble ; I vnll be with him and
honour him.' Secondly, That God wUl cause their
troubles to work for their good, as Eom. viii. 28 ;
Heb. xii. 10. Thirdly, God will give an issue with
the trial, that they may be able to bear it, 1 Cor.
X. 13.

Ver. 6. jind now shall mine head be lifted tip above
mine enemies round about me : therefore will I offer in
his tabernacle sacrifices of joy ; I will sing, yea, I will
sing praises unto the Lord.

In the beginning of this verse the prophet adds
another reason of his earnest desire to dwell in God's
house, expressed, ver. 4, drawn from the benefit of
honour and dignity whereto God would now shortly
advance him and lift up liis head above his enemies
round about him, whereupon he solemnly professeth
that he would glorify God with the sacrifices of joy,
and sing praises unto God. Here, then, we have
two things to handle : first, David's prediction of liis
dignity and honour ; secondly, His solemn profes-
sion of his thankful behaviour. The prediction of
his honour is, in the first part of the verse, set out
metaphorically and comparatively, and amplified by
the circumstance of time when it shall be. Meta^
phorically thus, my head shall be lifted itj) ; that is,
I shall be advanced in dignity and honour, and so
to cheerful and comfortable estate ; for men dejected
and humbled hang down the head ; when, therefore,
they are advanced and cheered, then are they said
to have their head lifted up, as Gen. xl. 1 7, ' Pharaoh
shall lift up thine head and restore thee to thy place.'
Jer. lii. 31, 32, ' E%'il-merodach king of Babylon
lifted up the head of Jehoiacliin king of Judah, and
brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly
unto him, and set his throne above the throne of
the kings that were with him in Babylon.' Com-
paratively he saith, his head shall be lifted up above
his enemies round about him. And the time when
it shall be is Jiorc, the time present, which makes it

the more comfortable. As if he should have said.
Though I have been long and much dejected, yet
now shall I be advanced and cheered above mine
enemies round about me.

In this prediction of his honour and comfort note
these things : first. Implied and taken for granted
respectmg David's dangerous estate, he had enemies
round about him. Ps. iii. 1, 2, 'Lord, how are they
mcreased that trouble me ! many are they that rise
up against me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God.' Ps. Ixix. 4,
' They that hate me without a cause are more than
the hairs of mine head : they that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty.'
Ps. cxviii. 10-12, 'All nations compassed me
about : they compassed me about Uke bees ; ' and
Ps. hi. 2, ' Mme enemies would daily swallow me
up : for they be many that fight against me.'

The reason hereof is fourfold : first. In God dis-
posing of David to be a tyjje of Christ, even in his
troubles and opposition in the world, wherewith God
was pleased to have them exercised ; as is plain,
Ps. ii. 1, &c., and xxii. 12, 16, 'Many bulls have
compassed me : dogs have compassed me : the assem-
bly of the wicked have enclosed me ; ' and Ps. Ixxi.
20, ' Thou hast shewed me great and sore troubles.'
For Christ, see Isa. liii. 10.

Secondly, In God's favour, advancing him to dig-
nity and honour, Ps. iv. 2 ; and Ixii. 4, which was
fully verified in Daniel, chap. vi. 3, 4.

Thirdly, In Da^'id sometime provoking the Lord
by his sin, as 2. Sam. xii. 9-11, 'Wherefore hast
thou despised the commandment of the Lord ; there-
fore the sword shall never depart from thine house ;
I wi\l raise up evil against thee out of thine house.'
See Ps. iii. 1, 2, with 2 Sam. xv. 13, &c.

Fourthly, In David's enemies, that were the seed
of the serpent, and hated him for his goodness : Ps.
xxxvii. 19, 20, 'They that hate me wrongfully are
multiplied. They also that render evil for good,
are mine adversaries ; because I follow the tiling that
good is.'

This senses for instruction, admonition, and comfort.

For instruction, see in Da\'id the state of the
godly ; they are liable to be compassed about with
enemies : for that which befell David, as the type,
and Clirist Jesus himself, the truth, t^-]iified by

\^ER. 6.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Da\'id, may befall any servant of God in this world :
as Christ reasoned, Luke xxiii. 31, 'If they do these
things in a green tree, what shall be done in the
dry ? ' Mat. x. 25, ' If they have called the master
of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they
call them of his household t '

For admonition, to beware of rasli judgment, as
well against others, when they are compassed about
with adversaries, as also against ourselves, when that
evil doth befall us. CoiTupt nature measures God's
love by outward things : and therefore thinks with
the wicked, that when troubles increase, God for-
saketh, Ps. Ixxi. 1 2. ' But God's ways are not as
man's ways,' Isa. Iv. 8. ' As many as he loves, he
rebukes and chastens,' Eev. iii. 19 ; 'Whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth.' And he useth the rods of men to cor-
rect his childi-en : as 2 Sam. vii. 1 4 ; Ps. Lxxxix. 3 1 ,
32.

For comfort, this makes greatly in opposition by
many and mighty in the world ; for in David we
may see that no strange thing befalleth us, but such
as appertaineth to man, and God will give the issue,
as 1 Cor. X. 1 3. Let us say, the servant is not above
his Lord, Mat. x. 2i, 2-5. Consider that if their
opposition be for a good cause, we have great cause
to rejoice : for we are made conformable to Christ,
and have fellowship with him in afflictions. See 1
Pet. iv. 12, 13; 2 Cor. i. 7.

The thing here expressed by David is this, that
God will now restore him to comfort, and advance
liim to honour ; where we may note two things — first.
That Da\ad knew that the time of comfort and honour
was at hand : for he saith, ' Xow shall my head be
lifted up.'

This he might do by special instinct, being a
prophet, for the Spirit of God spake in him, and by
him; 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2.

It serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see what God is able to do for
his cliildren ; he can not only bestow joy and honour,
but acquaint them with the particular time when
they shall receive it. So God revealed to Moses the
delivery of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, Exod.
iii. 7, 8, and chap. xi. 1.

For admonition, to labour to be followers of David,
for upright hearts and obedient lives, as Ps. xviii.,

in the title he is styled the servant of the Lord ; and
ver. 21, he saith, 'I have kept the ways of the Lord,
I was upright also before him ; ' and unto such it is
that God i'e\-eals his secrets, Ps. xxv. 1 1 ; Prov. iii.
32.

Secondly, Here note the phrase in which David
expresseth his assurance of honour and comfort : ' My
head shall be lifted up,' wherein he plainly makes
himself a patient, ascribing both honour and comfort
unto God. Ps. xxiii. I, &c., 'The Lord is my shep-
herd, I shall not lack ; he maketh me lie down in
green pastures ; he restoreth my soul,' Arc, to the
end. Ps. xsiii. 18, ' Thou liftest me up above those
that rise up against me ; ' ver. 35, ' Thy right hand
hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made
me great.' See Ps. cxxi. 1, 2, with 1 Sam xviii. 23.

He knew God's calling would be the best shelter
against envy and opposition, from which high places
are seldom free ; as Jeremiah in his calling doth
comfort himself, Jer. xvii. IG, 'As for me, I have not
hasted from being a pastor to follow thee.' And so
David comforts himself against Eliab's reproach, for
making offer to encounter with Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii.
29.

This sei-ves, first, for the reproof of the ambitious,
that by any sinister means wiU seek advancement —
a common sin in all ages, and a great evil in our
times, moving many to oppression, bribery, and
sundry other ungodly courses.

For ailmonition, to be followers of David, in re-
ceiving honour and dignity : walk uprightly in our
places, till God advance us ; be sure of his calling
before we stir, lest in time of trouble our consciences
say unto us. How earnest thou hither? See the
danger of usurpation in the Jewish exorcists. Acts
x-ix. 13, 16.

Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of
joy ; I will sing, yea, I will sing p-aises unto the Lord.

Here David professeth his thankful behaviour to-
ward God for the honour and comfort which God
would shortly vouchsafe unto him ; and it stands in
the cheerful performance of such religious ser\-ice
for thanksgiving, as God required at the hands of
his people when he bestowed his blessings upon
them. Hereof he mentioneth these two : first,
Real sacrifices of joy, whereby he meaneth sacrifices
of thanksgiving, over wliich the priests sounded an

PIERSON ON PSALiI XXVII.

[Ver. 6.

alarm witli their silver tnimpets, Num. x. 10, called
'the joj-ful sound,' Ps. Lxxxix. 15. Aiid this duty
he amplifieth by the circumstance of the place where
he would perform it — namely, in God's tabernacle,
the place appointed for that solemn part of God's
service. Deut. xii. 11-14, 'There shall be a place
which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause liis
name to dwell there : thither shall ye bring all that
I command you; your burnt-ofTeriugs and your
sacrifices,' &c. Secondly, Singing praises unto God ;
which duty he promiseth with repetition or gemina-
tion, to testify his more certain resolution for the
performance of it, sajdng, ' I will sing, yea, I will
sing praises.'

In this profession of thankful behaviour, note tv,'o
things : first, The duty he will periorm ; secondly.
The place where.

For the first, note, "When David receiveth from
God honour and comfort, then will he offer unto
God sacrifices of thanksgiving, -vvith joy and re-
joicing ; his sacrifices shall be sacrifices of joy, and
when he offers them, he will sing praises unto God.

The like he shewed at the fetching home of the
ark of the covenant towards the city of David, 1
Chron. xiii. 8, and xv. 16. David spake to the
chief of the Le\'ites, to appoint their bretlu-en to be
singers, with instruments of music, psalteries, and
harps, and cymbals, sounding by lifting up the voice
with joy ; and upon his dehverance from the hand
of Saul, and other enemies, Ps. xviii. 1, &c., and
cxvi. 12, 13.

The reasons hereof are great, as well in regard of
God, and of himself, as also his brethren. In regard
of God, first. Because he commands it, Ps. c. 1, and
obedience is acceptable, 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; Ps. Ixix. 30,
31. Secondly, It is for his glory ; Ps. 1. 23, ' "\Ylioso
offereth praise, glorifieth me.'

In respect of himself, first, It is pleasant and
comely, Ps. xxxiii. 1, and cxlvii. 1. Secondly, It is
good and profitable ; for them that honour God will
he honour, 1 Sam. ii. 30. Hence the Samaritan
leper, returning to praise Christ for his cleansing,
received an assurance of a heavenly and si)iritual
cleansing, Luke xvil 15, 19.

Thirdly, The omitting of it is dangerous to pro-
voke God's wrath, being at least a shameful neglect
of God's mercy. See 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26.

In respect of others, to whom David desired to do
good, Ps. xxxiv. 1 1 , and U. 1 3. His zeal for God's
glory would provoke many, as Ps. xxxiv. 2, 3, ' My
soul shall make her boast in the Lord : the humble
shall heal- thereof, and be glad. magnify the
Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.'
And, if his example could not move them, j'et it
would leave them without excuse, under the censure
and punishment of ingi'atitude ; as Job's friends
were, Job xlii. 7. For it is a dangerous thing to
neglect good example, as Jer. xxii. 15, 17, 'Did not
thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and jus-
tice, and then it was well •with him ? But thine eyes
and thine heart are not but for thy covetousuess.
Therefore thus saith-the Lord,' &c.

This sen-es for instruction, reprehension, and ad-
monition.

The instruction is, from David's example to all
God's people, to shew them fitting behaviour to-
wards God when they receive blessings and benefits
from him, — namely, to be thankful unto God in
praises and songs, and that with joj-fulness and
gladness.

For reproof, it makes justly against all those that
are unthankful for God's blessings, and Uke^vise dull
and heavy-hearted in God's praises : see Deut.
xxviii. 47, 48, ' Because thou servedst not the Lord
thy God with joj-fulness, and with gladness of heart,
for the abundance of all things ; therefore shalt thou
serve thine enemies,' &c., with Deut. xxxii. 6, ' Do
ye thus requite the Lord, foolish people and un-
wise?'

For admonition, that every child of God be a fol-
lower of David, both for the duty itself, and for the _
manner of performing it, vrith cheerfulness and glad- il
ness. Consider, that David studied the art of thank- ^
fulness, Ps. cxvi. 12, 13, and that upon weighty
grounds — respecting God, respecting himself and liis
brethren ; all wliich we should meditate on, to stil-
us up to the cheerful performance of this duty of
thankfulness.

The second point to be observed in David's pro-
fession of thankful behaviour is, the circumstance of
place where he will ofl'er his sacrifices — namely, in
God's tabernacle.

David will offer his sacrifices in God's tabernacle ;
so 2 Sam. vi. 1 7, David set the ark in his place, in

Ver. 7.]

riERSON ON rSALM XXVII.

the midst of tlie tabernacle, that David had pitched
for it. 'And David offered burnt-ofi"ering.s and
peace-offerings before the Lord,' meaning by the
hands of the priests, as 1 Chron. xvi. 1.

This lie observed, first. That he might have ac-
ceptance before the Lord in this service ; for in ob-
ser\ing this cii'cumstance of place, he obeyed God's
ordinance, Deut. xii. 11-14, and so had title to the
favour of acceptance, as Isa. Ivi. 7.

Secondly, Da\-id knew there was danger in trans-
gi-essing God's ordmance, as 1 Chron. xv. 1 3, ' The
Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we
sought him not after the due order.' Therefore
doth he observe the place appointed by God.

This should teach us to be followers of David, in
respecting and observing God's ordinance for the
place of his service. It is true, difference of place m
respect of holiness is now in the New Testament
taken away, as John iv. 21, 23; and therefore Paul
■(\illeth ' that men pray everpvhere, lifting up holy
hands unto God without ivrath or doubting,' 1 Tim.
ii. 8. Yet, where Christ hath said, ' "Wliere two or
three meet together in my name,' — that is, by war-
rant from me, — ' I am in the middle,' Mat. xviLi. 20 ;
and ' Go teach, I am with you to the end of the
world,' Mat. xxviii. 20 ; therefore must we frequent
diligently, and reverently use church assemblies.
Consider 1 Cor. xi. 22, ' Despise ye the church of
God ? ' — that is, the place where God's people come
together for liis ser\dce.

Ver. 7. Hear me, Lord, when I cry tcith my voice :
have mercij also ujMii me, and answer me.

Here David begins the second testification of his
true affiance in God by humble and earnest prayer
and suppUcation for sundry blessings, whereof the
first is for mercy in audience and answer to his
earnest prayers, in this verse. \\Tierein, the words
being plain, we may observe three things : first,
AYhat David prayed for ; secondly. In what man-
ner ; thirdly, His esteem of God's audience to liis
prayers.

For the first, David prays for audience and answer
to his prayers, ' Hear, Lord, when I cry, and
answer me.' So Ps. iv. 1, ' Hear me when I call ;'
Ps. V. 1,2,' Give ear to my words, hearken to the
voice of my cry;' Ps. xxviii. 1, ' L^nto thee ^rill I

ciy, Lord, my rock, be not silent to me : lest, if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go
down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplica-
tions, when I cry unto thee;' Ps. Ixx. 1, 'Hear
my cry, God : attend unto my prayer ; ' and Ps.
cxli. 1.

Quest. What needs this prayer for audience, see-
ing God hears every word that is spoken? Ps.
cxxxix. 4, and it is his property to hear prayer,
Ps. Ixv. 2, whereto he hath bound himself by pro-
mise, Ps. 1. 15 ; Mat. vii. 7.

Alls. The audience which David praj'eth for is
not the bare act of hearing, in taking notice of that
he said in prayer, for he knew well that would never
be wanting in God towards man ; but by hearing he
meaneth God's favourable act of audience, testified
by gracious answers, as he saith, ' In thy faitlifulness
answer me,' Ps. cxUii. 1.

The reason why David here prayeth for this
gracious audience, is because he knew God did many
times, for just causes, deny to give such gracious
answers even to the prayers of his servants. As
first, when he would humble them and correct them
for their sins, Ps. Ixvi. 18, 'If I regard iniquity in
my heart, the Lord will not hear me ; ' John ix. 31,
' God heareth not sinners ; ' for sin separates be-
tween God and us, Isa. ILx. 2, makes God say,
' Though ye make many prayers, I will not hear,'
Isa. i. 15. So as his people complain that God
seems angry against their prayers, Ps. Ixxx. 4.

Secondly, AVlien he would stir them up to more
zeal and fervency in prayer than yet they have
shewed. See his dealing with the woman of Canaan,
coming to him for her daughter, Mat. xrv. 22, 23,
&c., and -nith the father of the cliild possessed with
a dumb and deaf devil, Mark ix. 18.

Thirdly, When he will exercise them under some
affliction, either for recreation for sin or for trial of
grace, as Ps. xxii. 1,2,' My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me 1 my God, I ciy in the
daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night, and
am not silent.' That was tnie both in David the
type and in Jesus Christ the truth : yet herein that
is verified which Christ said to Paul, ' My grace is
sufficient for thee,' 2 Cor. xii. 9, being as good as
direct audience or particular answer, for it makes
them willing and able to bear the cross, wliich is a

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[A^ER. 7.

gracious hearing to the prayer of the aiBicted, Heb.
V. 7.

This serves for instruction and admonition.

For instruction, see that the best of God's children
may be denied audience for a time to their prayers,
for that wliich befell David in the tyjje, and Jesus
Clirist himself as the truth, may befall any other
child of God : for ' the servant is not above the
master,' Mat. x. 24, 25.

For admonition two ways : fii-st, To beware of
rash judgment, either against ourselves or others,
under this deaUng of God, denying audience to our
prayers. That it is a gi-eat trouble to God's children,
see Ps. Isxx. 4, and xxii. 1,2; Isa. sJix. 14. That
it opens the mouth of the wicked, see Ps. Ixxi. 10,
11 ; Mat. xxvii. 42, 43.

Secondly, In this case to consider the causes of
this course of God's deaUng, and take them in their
order : begin with sin to find it out, return into
thine own heart and turn unto the Lord, as 2 Chron.
vi. 37 ; be humble and earnest in jirayer to God ;
and then, though God for his glory may deny thee
audience in particular things, yet will he be sure to
give thee something as good, — that is, tlie strength
of patience to bear the cross, and in the end a
blessed issue.

The second thing to be noted here is the manner
of Da\^d's praying. He cried vnth his voice, wliich
notes great fervency, great zeal, and earnestness.
David was fervent and zealous in prayer unto God,
he ' cried unto God mth his voice ; ' Ps. v. 2,
'Hearken to the voice of my cry;' Ps. xvii. 1,
' Attend unto my cry ; ' Ps. xxii. 1, 2, ' Why art
thou so far from helping me, and from the v.'ords of
my roaring? I cry in the daytime;' Ps. cxHi. 1, 5,
' I cried unto the Lord with my voice, -ndth my
voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I
cried unto thee, Lord.'

The reasons hereof are great : first. Prayer is a
good tiling, and zealous affection in a good thing is
always good and commendable. Gal. iv. 18.

Secondly, Zeal and fervency in prayer is very
moving. St James saith, 'The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much,' James
v. 1 6. And our Saviour Christ sheweth it by two
resemblances : one of the man that came to borrow
bread of his neighbour by night, Luke xi. 8, ' Though

he wiU not rise and give him, because he is his
friend ; yet because of lus importunity he will rise
and give him as many as he needeth.' The other
of the poor -widow that prevailed with the unright-
eous judge, Luke xviii. 1, 5.

Thirdly, God's mercies testified by gracious pro-
mises and answerable performances, did notably en-
courage him to be zealous and earnest in prayer.
For his promises, see Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the
day of trouble ; ' Exod. xxii. 23, ' If thou afflict
them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I
will surely hear their cry.' See for his observing
God's dealing with those that cry, Ps. xxii. 4, 5,
cvii. 6, 13, 19, and vi. 8, 9.

Fourthly, Da\T.d's ovra necessities and distresses
did urge and enforce him to be earnest in prayer :
Ps. xviii. 4-6, ' The sorrows of death compassed me,
and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
The sorrows of hell compassed me about : the snares
of death prevented me. In my distress I called
upon the Lord, and cried unto my God.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instniction, it acquaints us with a property
in prayer, both profitable and commendable, which
few regard, — viz., to be zealous, and fervent, and
earnest therein. They that think the ser\dce of
God stands in the work done, as jiapists and ignor-
ant people do, who therefore tie themselves to a set
number of prayers so many times said over, cannot
much regard this property. But we must know
that the true God, who cannot endure lukewarm
professors of lus true profession, threatening to spew
such out of his mouth. Rev. iii. 16, cannot like of
cold or lukewarm prayers. Is not prayer a good
work 1 Now, Christ Jesus hath redeemed us to be
'zealous of good works,' Tit. ii. 14, therefore we
must not be cold in prayer.

For admonition, this serves to move every child
of God to labour for this property of zeal and fer-
vency in prayer. For which end we must first con-
sider God's commandment requiring it : Eom. xii.
11, 12, 'Fervent in sijiiit, continuing instant in
prayer ; ' Luke xi. 5-8. Christ bids ask, seek, and
knock, upon the resemblance of a man's importunity
pievaihng with lus friend to rise out of bed to lend
him provision for a friend come unto liim.

Ver. 7.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Secondly, Wc must lahoiu- to get the Spirit of
God, wliicli is the Spirit of grace and supplication,
and that vriW stir up mourning, with bitterness for
sin, as Zeeh. xii. 10, and most earnest desii-es of
grace and mercy, Eom. viii. 26 ; prayer is as in-
cense, Ps. cxli. 2 ; the Spiiit is the fire. Job xxxii.
18, 19 ; Jer. xx. 9. Now this Spirit is given in
God's means, used in a holy manner, often shewed,
that is, in the word and prayer, used by those that
turn from sin, and desire grace, and walk in obedi-
ence to the word. Hereto we shall be well fui--
thered by the former reasons considered : whereto
we may add, that natural and heathen men have
sped well with God, when they have shewed zeal in
prayer, as Jonah i. 14, the mariners, and chap. iii.
8, the Nine^dtes.

For comfort, this makes gi'eatly to those whose
wants and miseries cause them to cry in prayer ;
for, though God's delay may cause them to fear
God's forsaking, yet if they cry unto God, they are
in no worse a case than David was, nay, than Christ
Jesus was, Heb. v. 7 ; and shall the servant think
it strange to be afflicted as his master was ? Con-
sider that he heard the rebellious Jews when they
cried, Ps. cvi. 44; Judges x. 10, 16.
■ Thirdly, Here observe David's esteem of this
work of God, when he gives audience, and answers
to his prayers. David accounts it a great mercy of
God to have hearing and audience to his prayers.
Ps. iv. 1 , ' Have mercy upon me, and hear my
prayer.' Ps. xxx. 10, ' Hear, O Lord, and have
mercy upon me.' Ps. Ixxxiv. 3, ' Be merciful unto
me, God, for I cry unto thee daily.' Ps. cxvi. 1,
4, 5, ' I love the Lord, because he hath heard my
voice. I call upon the name of the Lord ; O Lord, I
beseech thee deliver my soul : gracious is the Lord,
and righteous ; yea, our God is merciful.' Ps. cxLx.
58, ' I entreat thy favour with my whole heart. Be
merciful unto me, according to thy word.'

The reason is, because he, as every other man,
stood guilty of sin, which separates between God
and us, Ps. lix. 2.

Tiiis sen'es for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction ; see, that Da^dd was not ac-
quainted with the opinion of papists, that hold
prayer a meritorious work ; for then audience should
be due, not of mercv, but of debt.

For admonition ; first, To every one to get good
title to God's mercy, that would have assurance of
audience to their prayers. Now the way is to get
into covenant with God, and to walk worthy of the
Lord. Now we enter covenant by belie\dng in
Christ ; for that is the condition that gives us title
to audience, Jer. iv. 22, 23. And we walk worthy
of the Lord, and of the favour of audience, when
we eschew e\il, and make conscience of sin ; for see
John ix. 31 ; Ps. Ixvi. 18, 19, sin separates and
hinders audience, Prov. i. 20, 28; Isa. i. 15, and lix.
1, whereto also we must adjoin conscience of well-
doing ; for, if we do well, we shall be accepted,
Gen. iv. 7, which though it extend not unto God,
for the bettering of his estate, Ps. x\'i. 3, yet it
makes greatly for God's glory, John xv. 8 ; and is
good and profitable unto men. Tit. iii. 8. For God
doth promise audience to those that set their love on
God, and laiow him, that when they call he vnll
answer, Ps. xci. 14, 15.

Secondly, Those that profess themselves to be in
covenant with God must observe God's mercy in
audience to theii- prayers, as Ps. Ixxxv. 7, 8 : ' Shew
us thy mercy, O Lord, and gi'ant us thy salvation : I
will hearken what God the Lord mil say.' So did
David, Ps. Ixvi. 17, 19, and cx\± 1, 2. This we
must do, that, if we find want of audience, we may
appeal unto his mercy, and seek good title thereto :
for gracious audience is of mercy. And if we find
that God hath heard us, that then we may return
praise and thanks for God's mercy, and labour to
walk worthy of it. We have received many deliver-
ances in this land, upon our humiliation, in '88, from
the imdncible navy;iu 1605, from the de\'ilisli powder
treason; in 1625, from thefearful plague of pestilence;
besides our comfortable freedom from wars, in the
common trouble of other nations. LTnthankfulness
lirings ^vrath, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25 ; we must therefore
remember David's practice, Ps. cxvi. 12-14, and
seeing, when we come to the Lord's table, we pray
for part in Christ's redemption, let us endeavour to
walk worthy of it, and shew the power of it, in
leaving sin, and h^ing godly ; else we trust in
lying words, if we think we are redeemed to do
wickedly, as Jer. \'ii. 8-10, and indeed are like the
dog, and so returning to vomit and fUth, 2 Pet. ii,
22, 23.

PIEESON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Yer. 8.

Yer. 8. Mij heart said unto thee, irhen thoit sakht,
Seek ye my faee ; Thy face, Lord, will I seek Yer. 9.
Hide not thy face far from me, put tiot thy servant aicay
in anger : thou hast been my help, leave me not, neither
fmsake me, God of my salvation.

Here David goes on in tlie matter of prayer, begwn
in the former verse ; and, first, doth testify the truth
and readiness of his heart to answer and obey God's
command, for the seeking of his face, ver. 8 ; wliich
being chiefly done in the duty and exercise of prayer,
he doth, verse 9, put uj^ humble and earnest suit unto
God, for favour and mercy in sundry petitions ; and
to move the Lord to gi-ant tliem, he makes mention
of God's former favour in this kind, saying, ' thou
hast been my help,' and shuts up these requests, witli
notable testimony of true affiance in God, calling him
' the God of his salvation.'

Here then, in these two verses, we have in general
three things to handle : first, Dav-id's sincerity, in
readiness to answer God's command unto his people,
that they should seek his face, ver. 8. Secondly,
Davad's humble and eai-nest requests, for favour and
mercy, answerable to his former possession. Thirdly,
David's motives propounded to God, to move hini to
grant his requests, ver. 9.

For the first : Da-i-id's sincerity and readiness to
answer God's command, for the seeking of his face,
is this, ' when thou saidst, Seek ye my face ; my heart
said unto thee, Thy face Lord, will I seek.' For
the right understaniling whereof we must know, that
the speech or sentence in the original, to make it
plain, requires the supply of some words, which are
fitly added in our Bibles, ivhen thou saidst: as the
like is elsewhere, 1 Kings xx. 34, 'And I (said
Ahab) will send thee away with this covenant.'

This defect of a word, to be supplied for plainness'
sake, hath caused great variety amongst translators.
The most ancient of them, as the Septuagint, Aquila,
Synimachus, the Aiilgar Latin, and Jerome (whom
most of the popish expositors and the Douay Bible
do follow) translate the words to this effect : ' My face
bath sought out,' or 'sought thee out,' making the
word face the nominative case to the verb soxight,
whereas our translations make the word face the
accusative case following the verb seek ; and, though
the words in the original ^^■\\\ bear either of the
fonner, yet seeing both were not intended by the

Holy Ghost, for this reason do I jirefer our own
translations before the aiacients, because in the Bible
the words in the original are ordinarily translated
by the foresaid ancients, as ours have done, as 2
Chron. ^^i. 14, and not once, I take it, in all the
Bible, can their translation be warranted, by shewing
the like disposing of the words, where face is the
nominative case to the verb seek.

Now then, taking the words in that sense which
our translation gives, we have two things to note in I
them ; first, God's commandment unto his people I
for the seeking of his face ; secondly, David's readi-
ness to yield obedience thereto. For the first, the
words translated seek ye my face, are, in the original,
not a question, but a command ; for the verb is of
the imperative mood, which biddeth or commaudeth
to seek. The thing to be sought is God's face, which
here noteth, not simply God himself, as Exod. xx.
3, ' Thou shalt have none other gods before my
face,' that is, ' before me ; ' but God's gi-ace and
favour in his sanctuary, where God did manifest his
presence, between the cherubims, above the mercy-
seat, there communing with the high priest, of all
things given in charge concerning the children of
Israel, E.xod. xxv. 22, towards which the people were
to look, when thej' sought God's grace and favour.
Mark then, God enjoined his people the Jews to seek
his face, that is, his grace and favour in the sanctuary,
looking toward the mercy-seat, which is sometime
called ' the face of God,' because it was a testimony
of his presence among his jieople : Ps. cv. 4, ' Seek ye
the Lord, and his strength,' (that is, the ark of the
covenant, Ps. cxxxii. 8,) ' seek his face continually,'
(that is, the mercy-seat, a blessed testimony of his
gracious favour, and presence amongst his people,)
so 2 Chron. vii. 14.

The reason or gi'ound hereof is threefold. First
and principally. By their seeking to the mercy-seat,
the type, he would lead them unto Christ, that was
the trath and substance ; for the material tabernacle
and temple was a part of the worldly sanctuary, and
belonged to the ceremonial law, which led them unto
Christ, Gal. iii. 24. For 'the law had but the
shadow of good things to come,' Heb. x. 1 ; ' but the
body is Christ,' Col. ii. 17. And that he was pre-
figured by the mercy-seat is plain, Eom. iii. 25, ' God
set forth Christ Jesus to be a propitiary, (iXauDiwoi')

Yer. 8.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXYII.

tlirough faith in his blood ; ' giving the same name
to Christ Jesus which the LXX gave to the legal
mercy-seat ; to which also St John alludeth plain!}',
1 John ii. 2, 3, saying, ' Jesus Christ is the propitia-
tion (/Xaff.aJ;) for our sins.'

Secondly, God herein had respect to his own
glory ; for tliis seeking of God's face by frequenting
the sanctuarj' was not only an obedience to his or-
dinance, which was very pleasing unto him, 1 Sam.
XV. 22, but a singular testimony of affiance in God
through Christ, which is the honour of the heart.
AVhereupon he accounts the neglect of this duty by
his people, when they go to false gods, a-forsaking
of him, a thing whereat the very heavens should be
astonished, Jer. ii. 12, 13; nay, more, he accounts it
their very denial, that they have any such god
amongst them, 2 Kings i. 6.

Thirdl}', God herein had special regard to his
people's good ; for this is the right way to the frui-
tion of his favour, which is better than Ufe, Ps. bdii.
3. This makes the church to say, ' Cause thy face
to shine, and we shall be saved,' Ps. Ixxx. 3, 7, 19.
Thus they were entitled to three great blessings.
First, To sure direction in all important difficulties,
as 2 Sam. xxi. 1. Secondly, To assured deliverances
from all hurtful evils, as 2 Chron. xv. 2, 4, ' If you
seek him, he will be found of you ; ' and ' he that
findeth him findeth life,' Prov. vdii. 3-5. Thus Ezra
found of God a good way, Ezra \-iu. 21, 23.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, this charge and command of God
unto his peo^jle to seek his face shews plainly that
the service of God is not a matter arbitrary to God's
people — that is, such a thing as they may at pleasure
use or refuse without danger of God's displeasure,
and of his heavy judgments thereupon. Under the
law, the Jews were straitly enjoined to seek to the
place which the Lord their God should choose, to
put liis name there, and thither to come and bring
their burnt-offerings, sacrifices, vows, free-will offer-
ings, &€., and there eat and rejoice before the Lord
their God, Deut. xii. .5-7, 12, 17, 18, 2G-28 ; and
the Lord's solemn feasts must every male ol)serve,
and appear before the Lord with his gift or offering,
Deut. xvi. 16, 17. Yea, mark a severe threatening
of judgment for the neglect of God's worship, pro-

phetically delivered in legal terms, Zech. xiv. 17,
' It shall be, that who will not go up, of all the fanti-
lies of the earth, unto Jerusalem, to worship the
King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no
more rain.' And in plain terms the apostle saith to
all Christians, ' We, receiving a kingdom which can-
not be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear,'
Heb. xii. 28.

For admonition : first, To inform ourselves rightly
in the will of God touching his worship ; for, as under
the law, so now, we may not do what seems good in
our own ej^es, Deut. xii. 8, but what the Lord ap-
pointeth ; else God may say to us, as Christ did to
the Jews, ' Ye worship me in vain, teaching for doc-
trines the commandments of men,' Mark vii. 7.
' The true worshippers must worship the Father in
spiiit and truth,' Jo'nn iv. 23 ; and that in and
through the nietliation of Cluist, John xiv. 6.

Secondly, When we know how God will be
sought in holy worship, then we must be careful
that we be such as shall find him gracious and
favourable unto us ; which estate recpu'es two
things of us : fii'st. True repentance in regard of sins
past ; for if we go on in a course of any known sin,
we cannot have society with God; see Ps. Ixvi. 18,
' K I regard wickedness in my heart, God will not
hear- my prayer.' John ix. 31, ' We know that God
heareth not sinners.' ' The throne of wickedness
hath no fellowshij) with God,' Ps. xciv. 20 ; 2 Cor.
vi. 14, 16; 1 John i. 6; therefore God denieth
fiivourto such, Ezek. xx. 3, 4; Isa. i. 15. Secondly,
We must beHeve in God tlu-ough Christ, according
to the word of the gospel, which is the word of the
covenant of grace, which, being received by faith,
brings us truly into fellowship with God, 1 John i.
3, 4. See Heb. xi. G.

For comfort, this makes gi-eatly to God's people,
that make conscience of their ways, in any distress ;
for God bids them seek his face, wherein he calls
them to him, which is sufficient ground of comfort ;
as the people said to the blind man whom Christ
called, Mark x. 49, ' Be of good comfort, he calleth
thee.' For so David assureth his son Solomon, a
little before liis death, 1 Chron. xx\iii. 9, ' If thou
seek him, he would be found of thee.' And the true
God is the chiefest good ; so as ' happy are the

riEESON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 8.

people that be so, yea, blessed are the people that
have the Lord for their God,' Ps. cxliv. 15. ' These
people have played the good merchants, and found
the pearl of price, better than all the world beside,'
Mat. xiii. 4.5, 4G. They may therefore, on far better
grounds than Jacob did, say, ' I have enough ; my
son Joseph is yet alive,' Gen. xlv. 28, for Joseph
died afterward ; but the true God, whom the faith-
ful have for their God, is the li\ang God, and in
Jesus Christ their loving Father, who will provide
for them, not an earthly Goshen, as Joseph did for
his father and liis bretliren, but a heavenly Canaan,
even the Idugdom of heaven, as Christ said to his
disciples, ' Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom,' Luke xii.
32 ; and Luke xxii. 29, ' I appoint unto you a king-
dom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.'
Worldly troubles may hasten us sooner to tliis
happy estate, but they cannot deprive us of it,
Eom. viii. 35. Therefore, 'though the outward
man perish,' yet look up towards this kingdom,
and lift up thy heart to the living God, thy lo\-ing
Father in Christ, and 'the inner man shall be re-
newed daily,' 2 Cor. iv. 14-16.

The second thing to be observed is David's readi-
ness to yield sincere obedience to this condition of
God, to seek his face; hereto David's heart an-
swered, ' Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' Mark here,
then, that Da\'id's heart was sincerely set on God's
command to seek his face, — that is, liis grace and
favour,^in the way he had ordained, in his sanctuary.
Ps. xhi. 1, 2, 'As the hart panteth after the water-
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O Lord. My
soul thirsteth for God, even for the livmg God :
when shall I come and appear before God?' Ps.
cxix. 20, 58, ' With my whole heart have I sought
thee ; I entreated thy favour with my whole heart.'
The word translated favour, Txbu TJ3, is face in
the original ; and the entreaty here meant is most
earnest and importunate, for the word in the
original signifietli to make sick or sorry.

The reasons hereof are many and great : first, Be-
fore this time the Lord God had begini a good work
in David's heart by his Holy Spirit, and revealed
himself so far forth to David, that David's heart
was enamoured \nX\\ the Lord, as he notal)ly ex-
presseth, Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2, 'Oh how amiable are

thy tabernacles My soul longeth, yea, even

fainteth for the courts of the Lord : my heart and
my flesh crieth out for the living God ; ' as Ps. xlii.
1, 2, and cxliii. 6, 7, 'I stretch forth my hands unto
thee,' &c. ; ' Hear me speedily, my spiiit faileth ;
hide not thy face from me.' And that this was the
cause of David's seeking God's face and favour, see
by the Uke, Cant. v. 4, ' My beloved put in his hand
liy the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved
for him.' The church's beloved is Christ the Lord,
his hand is his power, shewed by the work of liis
Spirit with the word, as Acts xi. 19-21, when this
comes, the bowels yearn, as Peter's did upon the view
of Clirist's glory. Mat. xvdi. 2, 4.

Secondly, Da\'id knew that God had special regard
unto the heart, above all the parts of man, as 1 Sam.
xvi. 7 ; and therefore calls for the heart of every one
that is his child, Prov. xxiii. 26, and would have
this part begin all the actions of his service. See,
for hearing the word, Deut. xxxii. 46 ; Prov. iv.
20, 21 : and for prayer, Hos. y\\. 14, which, when
it is wanting, he rejecteth the service, Mat. xv.
8, 9.

Thirdly, The excellency of the blessing di-ew his
heart unto it : for God's face is God's favour and
loving-kindness, wherein is hfe, Ps. xx. 5 ; nay, it is
better than hfe, Ps. Ixiii. 1-3. Thereupon, Ps. iv.
6, ' Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon
us,' and Ps. Isxx. 3, 7, 19, ' Cause thy face to shine,
and we shall be saved.'

Fourthly, He knew the seeking of the heart was
true and sincere seeking, such as God required,
Ps. U. 6, and such as he will speed for this and
all other blessings, Jer. xxix. 13 ; Ps. xxiv. 3, etc.,
the way to joy, Ps. cvi. 3, 4, to blessedness, Ps.
cxix. 2.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, two ways : first, It lets us plainly
see the right ground and foundation of acceptable
obedience unto God in every duty which he requireth,
— namely, a good heart, a heart set for God's glory
therein : for the heai't is the fountain of the actions,
good or e\-il, as Christ teacheth. Mat. xii. 34, 35,
' Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh.' 'A good man, out of the got)d treasure of
his heart, bringeth forth good thhigs : and an evil

Yer. 9.]

riERSON ON rSALU XXVII.

man, out of the evil treasure of his lieart, bringeth
forth evil things,' which we are the rather to note,
because wicked men, though they cannot justify
tlieir actions, yet they wiU plead for the goodness of
their heart ; they have as good a lieart to God- ward
as the best : which, if it were true, Christ was de-
ceived in the place aforenamed, ' Either make the
tree good and his fruit good, or the tree e\'il and his
fruit evil,' as also Ps. Ixxviii. 8, 36, 37 ; the old
Jews were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a
generation that set not their heart aright, they
flattered him with, their mouth, and lied unto him
with their tongue, for their heart was not right with
him.

Secondly, See in Da^•id a doulile property of the
godly : first, To make particular apphcation to
himself of general commands given to all God's
people, as Ps. iv. 7 ; so did Joseph, Gen. xxxix. 9.
Secondly, That the heart of the godly is set to seek
tlie face of God, to be made partaker of his grace
and favour in Cluist. See David's speech to Zadok,
when he brought out the ark, 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26.
But most plain it is in that of Paul, PhU. ui. 7-9,
' What tilings were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ,' itc.

For admonition, two ways : first. To get such a
heart as doth mind the commandments of God, and
doth undertake for obedience thereto ; so did
Band's. This, indeed, none hath by nature, for
' every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is
evil contmually,' Gen. xi. 5, meaning so long a-s the
heart remains natural, unsanctified. Therefore, they
that would have a good heart like DaWd, must wait
upon God in the use of means, ordained by him for
tlie bettering of man's heart. That it is God's work
is plain, Ezek. xxxvd. 25, 26, ' I will take away your
stony heai-t, and give you an heart of flesh,' and
therefore is regeneration called ' a new creation,'
2 Cor. V. 1 7, which is a work proper to God. Yet
God is pleased to do it in the use of means enjoined
to men, which when we use in obedieiice to God,
we have title to his blessing. Now the means to
get a good heart is to be exercised much in the word
and prayer : for in these ordinances is the Spiiit
given, which renews the soul ; as for the word is
plain, Acts x. 44 ; Gal. iii. 2 : and for prayer, Luke
xi. 13. Now the obedient manner of using the

foresaid means is, first. To break off" the course of
sin, Prov. i. 23, for reigning sin and saving grace
never dwell together, 1 John v. 6. Secondly,
Hunger and thirst after grace and mercy, Isa. Iv. 1 ,
and xliv. 3 ; Rev. xxi. 6. Thirdly, In the way of
obedience unto that we know, Acts v. 32, wait upon
God m the foresaid means, as the impotent people
did at the pool of Bethesda, John v. 2-4 : ' For
they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength,' Isa. xl. 31.

Secondly, Learn of David to set the heart on work
on everj' action we ])eiform to God ; yea, let it begin
the work.

This was Da\dd's care, as Ps. Ivii. 7, ' My heart is
fixed, or prepared ; God, my heart is fixed.' Con-
sider the reason before named.

For comfort, tliis makes greatly to the upright-
hearted, when they are not able to express in words
what they conceive, or to perform for God's glory
what they desire. Let them here observe that there
is sweet intercourse between the Lord and an up-
right heart ; he knows the meaning of the sighs and
groans thereof, Rom. v-iii. 26 ; the heart can speak
to God eSectually without the help of the tongue,
as Ps. XXV. 1 ; Neh. ii. 4 ; and the heart can an-
swer God's command, as in tliis place.

Ver. 9. Hide not thy face far from. 7rie ; 2nd not thy
sewant away in anger : tluiu hast been my help ; leave
me not, neither forsake me, God of viy salvation.

Here David, according to his holy profession in
the former verse, makes humble and earnest suit
unto God, that he may not be denied nor deprived
of the comfort of God's favour, and the light of his
countenance. This suit he puts up in variety of
phrase, for the gi-eater evidence of unfeigned desire ;
and that also by couples, as Christ sent forth his
disciples for their mutual strengthening ; and further
backeth each couple with a strong reason. The first
doubled suit is this, ' Hide not thy face far from me ;
put not away thy servant in anger.' The reasons
propounded to strengthen them are two : the first
impUed in the title servant; the second expressed,
drawn from further experience of God's goodness,
thou hast been mine helper. The second couple or
doubled request is this, ' Leave me not, neither for-
sake me ; ' and the reason backing them is drawn

riERSON ON rSALJI XXVII.

[Ver. 9.

from David's title to God by covenant, thus plainly
expressed, God of my salvation.

The things, then, which we have here to handle
are David's requests, and Da^dd's reasons to enforce
the same. His requests are deprecatory against evils
he feared, and in part felt : as the hiding of God's
face, putting away in anger, God's leaving and for-
saking, which all aiming at one thing, even Da\ad's
feeling and fruition of God's favour, we may in them
all well observe that Da^dd prayed earnestly that
he might not be deprived of God's grace and favour,
nor want the light of God's countenance to shine
upon him. Ps. xiii. 1, ' How long wilt thou forget
me, Lord 1 for ever 1 how long wilt thou hide thy
face from me 1 '

The reasons hereof are weighty : first, The sur-
passing worth and excellency of God's special favour,
whereof he would not be deprived ; in it is life, Ps.
XXX. 5 ; it is better than life, Ps. Ixiii. ; now, ' AU
that a man hath vrill he give for his hfe,' Job
ii. 4.

Secondly, He knew the displeasure of God was a
most heavy and grievous thing which no creature
is able to bear, Ps. lxx\-i. 7, ' Thou, even thou, art to
be feared : and who may stand in thy sight when
once thou art angry?' See Deut. xxxii. 41, 42,
' If I whet my glittering sword,' &c. Vengeance is
his, and he wiU recompense. Solomon saith, ' The
wrath of a king is as messengers of death,' Prov.
xvi. 14 ; what, then, is the anger of God ?

Thirdly, David knew his o'ivn guilt of sin, both
original, Ps. li. 5, and actual, ver. 3, 4, and so must
needs conceive that God in justice might hide his
face from him, be angry with him, leave him, and
forsake him ; as he saith, Ps. bcxx. 3, ' If thou.
Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who shall
stand 1 '

Fourthly, He was not ignorant of God's sove-
reignty over all, whereby he may, even for trial of
grace, hide his face, and seem angry mtli his dearest
servants. For who was better than Job? 'None
in his time was like him in all the earth ; an upright
man, fearing God and eschewing evil,' Job i. 8.
Yet who endured sorer afflictions? so as he com-
plaineth, that God hid his face, and held liim for his
enemy ; that he ' "vviit bitter things against him,' and
'made him to possess the sins of his youth,' Job

xiii. 24, 26. Yea, God himself confesseth that
' Satan moved him to destroy Job without a cause,'
Job ii. 3.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instraction tliree ways. First, See in Da^ad
what the godly do think of the want of God's favour,
— surely, that it is a most grievous and bitter thing,
as if a father should put away his child in anger,
leave him and forsake him. This David manifested
in liis speech to Zadok, when he brought out the ark
of God to carry with them : ' Carry back,' saith he,
' the ark of God into the city : if I shall find favour
in the eyes of the Lord, he 'will bring me again, and
shew me both it and his habitation : but if he say,
I have no delight in thee; behold, here I am, let hini
do to me as seemeth good unto liim,' 2 Sam. xv. 2-5,
20. This is the rather to be marked, because the
hearts of natural men are not aflTected with the least
sorrow for the hiding of God's face ; if they may en-
joy temporal blessings, wherein theu- natural hearts
do take delight, they desire no more ; being of Saul's
mind, who, when Samuel had told him God had cast
him away, yet desired to be honoured before the
people, 1 Sam. xv. 23, 30 ; he sought for popular
honoiu-, but makes no entreaty for God's favour.
And, indeed, how should natural men do otherwise ?
The favour of God in Clirist is a spuitual blessing,
and the want thereof (expressed by the hiding of
God's face) a spiritual judgment. These are things
unkuown without the work of the Spirit, as 1 Cor.
ii. 14, and so no marvel if the judgment be not
feared, where the contrary blessing is not discerned
nor desired.

Secondly, See here that the true child of God may,
for a time, want the feeling of God's special favour,
and remain under the sense of God's displeasure, as
left and forsaken of God. See it plain in Da^dd, Ps.
xxxnii. 1, 2, &c., and Ixxvii. 7-10 ; in the complaint
of the church, Ps. xliv. 23, 24, 'Arise, cast us not
off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and
forgettest our affliction and oppression ? ' and Lam.
iii. 1-19, 'I am the man that hath seen affliction by
the rod of his wrath. He liath led me, and brought
me into darkness,' &c. ; and ver. 43, 44, ' Thou hast
covered with anger, and persecuted us : thou hast
covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayers should
not pass through.' And Job's complaint of this es-

Yer. 9.]

PIEESON ON rSALM XXVII.

tate is as plain as any, chap. xiii. 2-1, 26. Nay more,
did not our lilessed Saviour, in the sense of his man-
hood, complain thereof! Mat. xxvii. 46. Now if
God do so with the green tree, what shall be done
in the di-y ? Luke xxiii. 31 ; yet remember, this dis-
tress is but for a time, Ps. xxx. 5 ; Isa. liv. 7, 8.

Thirdly, Here see that prayer is a blessed and
sanctified means, wherein the child of God may com-
fortalily wait for the blessing of God's favour in the
want thereof, and for the remov-ing of his anger under
the signs thereof See the promise of God lumself
in this case : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the day of
trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify
me.' 2 Chron. vii. 13, 14, 'If I shut heaven, that
there be no rain, &c. If my people do humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, I will hear
from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and M-iU
heal their land.'

For admonition it serves two ways. Fir.st, That
we examine ourselves, how our hearts esteem of the
want of feeling God's special love and favour in
Clurist. If we judge it, as Da^dd did, a grievous tiling
and bitter, we then have undoubtedly some work of
the Spirit, at least in legal compunction, breaking up
the fallow-ground of the heart, and so preparing it
for the seed of gi'ace, as Acts ii. 37, 38. But if we
slight it over without trouble or sorrow, as the jovial
fellows of the world do, who delight in doing evil,
and sport themselves in the frowardness of the
A\acked, as Prov. ii. 14, then certainly our case is
woeful ; we are not so near the state of grace as
were Cain and Judas, who were touched with legal
remorse upon the conscience of then- heinous sins ;
as we may see. Gen. iv. 13, 14; Mat. xxvn. 3.

Secondly, God's chikben may hence learn not to
be dismayed for the temporary hiding of God's face
or sustaining of his anger ; for nothing herein befalls
them but that which aispertains to man, even to
God's dear children, 1 Cor. x. 13. As we may see
in Job, David, Ethan the Ezrahite, Ps. Ixxxviii. 1,
2, &c. Herein let us follow their godly practice,
which was this : first. To con.sider their ways, Ps.
cxix. 59, that so they might find out their sins that
bring the foresaid evils. Secondly, "With sorrow and
grief of heart to confess against themselves, Ps. xxxii.
4, 5 ; Job xlii. 6. Thirdly, To cry earnestly for mercy,
as for life and death, Ps. Ii. 1, 2, and cxliii. 1, 2.

Fourthly, Walk in new obedience : Ps. cxix. 8, 10, ' I
will keep thy statutes ; forsake me not utterly.
I have sworn, and ^dll perform it, that I vn\l keep thy
righteous judgments.' Lastly, In the use of God's
ordinances, the word and prayer, to wait for com-
fort, as Ps. xlii. 5, 11 ; Isa. xliii. 5. Read, hear, and
meditate on God's word, as Ps. cxLx. 1 3, &c. ; yea,
also watch and wait in prayer, Col. iv. 2 ; and if the
fear be great, humble thy soul mth fasting, as Ps.
XXXV. 13. Limit not the holy one of Israel for time
or measure of any blessing, as the carnal Israelites
did, Ps. Ixxviii. 41, but with Job wait all our life
long, chap. xiv. 14. Say with the church, Micah vii.
7-9, ' I will look unto the Lord ; I will ,wait for the
God of my salvation : my God -svill hear me. ^^Hien
I fall, I shall rise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indigna-
tion of the Lord, because I have sinned against liim,
until he jjlead my cause, and execute judgment for
me : he will bring me forth to the hght, and I
shall behold his righteousness.'

The reasons propounded by David to move God
to vouchsafe his favour and not hide his face, &c.,
are three. The first is implied in the title servant,
wherewith Da\'id styles himself in the second branch
of this petition, ' Put not thy servant away in anger.'
Where, in David's judgment, this is plain, that to
be God's servant is a good ground and step towards
the attainment of God's favour; it is that which
gives title to mercy in time of trouble, inward or
outward: Ps. xxxi. 15, 16, 'DeHver me from the
hand of mine enemies ; make thy face to shine upon
thy servant ; save me for thy mercies' sake.' Ps.
Ixix. 1 7, ' Hide not thy face froiri thy servant, for I
am in trouble.' Ps. Ixxxvi. 4, ' Eejoice the soul of
thy servant.' Isa. Ixv. 13, 14, 'Thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be
hungry : behold, my servants shall drink, but ye
shall be thirsty : behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but ye shall be ashamed : behold, my servants shall
sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of
heart.'

The reason is plain. Every true sen'ant of God
is certainly in covenant with God by a holy calling,
1 Cor. vii. 22, ' He that is called in the Lord, being
a servant, is the Lord's freeman ; likewise also he
that is called, being free, is Christ's servant ;' so that,

G 2

PIERSON ON PSALM XXTII.

[Ver. 9.

whether he be bond or free, by his holy calhng lie
belongs to God. Now, being thus in covenant with
God, he is entitled to all God's blessings in Christ,
and so to the fruition of God's favour : Ps. Ixxxix.
3, 20, 21, 24, ' I have made a covenant with my
chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant. I
have found David my servant ; with my holy oil
have I anointed him : -with whom my hand also
shall be estabhshed. My faithfulness and my mercy
shall be with him, my mercy will I keep with him
for ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with
him.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, two ways. First, That it is a
blessed and happy thing to be God's true servant.
Consider what the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon's
servants : 1 Kings x. 8, ' Happy are these thy ser-
vants,' &c. Now Christ Jesus is greater than Solo-
mon, Mat. xii. 42, and so a better master. Good
earthly masters vrSl honour good servants, as Prov.
xxvii. 18, 'He that waiteth on his master shall be
honoured ; ' chap. xvii. 2, ' A wise servant shall have a '
portion, or inheritance, among the brethren.' But
however some earthly masters may be Nabals and
Labans, yet God ■ttill not be so : John xii. 26,
'Where I am, there shall also my servant be.' ' If
any man serve me, him will my Father honour,'
see Luke xii. 37. The watchful servants are blessed ;
their master will make them to sit down to meat,
and will come forth and serve them, as Mat. xxv.
21, 2.3, 'Well done, good and faithful serv'ant, thou
hast been faitliful in a few things, I will make thee
ruler over many things : • enter into the joy of the
Lord.'

Secondly, Here see the great error of natural men,
that judge it a vain thing to serve God, as Mai. iii.
14; Job xxi. 15, which to be the common thought
of most men, their beha\'iour doth plainly bewray ;
for mark tlieir carnage for diligence in God's service
on the Lord's day, compared with the pains, and
pleasure also, they take about worldly commodities
in tlie week day. Then- behaviour saith aloud, that
their heart thinks God's service is a vain thing, else
they would take more pains and pleasure therein ;
undoubtedly they do not conceive of, nor believe the
testimony of God, touching the prosperity of his
S( rvants ; for God taketh pleasure therem, Ps. xxxv.

27, else he would never undertake for their direction
in the way they ought to walk, for theu' pro^ision
for all needful blessings, for their protection from
all hurtful evils, and for their remuneration, both
here and for ever, as the Scripture saith he doth.

For admonition, it serves, first, to the wicked, to
beware of wronging God's servants, and to refrain
from that course ; see. Acts v. 38, 39, GamaUel's
counsel to the rulers of the Jews, about the apostles,
and his reason, lest they be found even to fight
against God ; as Christ said to Saul, Acts ix. 4, 5,
' Why persecutest thou me,' &c. ; see Num. xii. 8,
' Wherefore then were ye not afraid to sjieak against
my servant Moses?' and Ps. cv. 14, 15; Zech. ii. 8.
And if ever they desire the privileges of God's
servants, they must labour to get into covenant with
God, doing as Saul did. Acts ix. 5, 6 : first. Desire
to know Christ, then subject themselves to his holy
will, and wait in prayer for grace and mercy ; see
Acts ix. 9-11.

Secondly, God's children, that have entered cove-
nant ■with God, must be careful to shew themselves
God's servants ; for profession ■without practice is
nothing but h3']->ocrisy, making us like the church of
Sardis, who ' had a name to be ahve, but was dead,'
Rev. iii. 1. Therefore we must get the certain and
infallilile properties of good servants, which are
partly inward, and partly outward. The inward
are good affections, which are specially tliree : first.
Fear and reverence, Mai. i. 6 ; Ps. ii. 11. Secondly,
Conscionable obedience to his revealed will. Reason
from Eph. vi. 5-7, and from the centurion's confes-
sion. Mat. viii. 9, as from the less to the greater.
Without this, none are acknowledged for servants,
Luke vi. 4G. This must be seen, both in eschewing
evil, and doing good, as God saith of his servant Job,
chap. i. 8, 9 ; yea, we must .shew our well-doing, in
improving our Master's talents. Mat. xxv. 23, 25 ; ha
fighting for him and for the faith, John xviii. 36 ;
Jude 3 ; in waiting for his comuig, Luke xii. 36.
And m all these we must be servants in ordinary,
not only retainers that serve God by fits. Thirdly,
We must patiently suffer his coiTections, Hcb. xii. 9,
10. Reason from 1 Pet. ii. 18, &c., as from the less
to the greater. Fourthly, We must praise God for
liis mercy, Ps. cxxxiv. 1, 1. 23, and cxix. 175.

The second reason which David uscth to move

Ver. 9.]

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

the Lord not to hide his face, &c., is phiiidy ex-
pressed, drawn from his c^vn experience of God's
former mercies in times of trouble, saying, 'Thou
hast been my help,' that is, whenas heretofore I
have been in distress and danger, thou hast helped
me, and therein shewed thy favour toward me ;
now, hereupon saith David, knoAvang thee to be
unchangeable, I appeal unto thee for like mercy that
I have formerly felt.

In this reason we have two things to note. Fu'st,
The thing confessed by Da\id, simply considered by
itself; secondly. With reference to the end for
which Da-i-id here propounds it. For the first. The
tiling confessed by David, simply considered, is tliis :

That God was Da\-id's helper, and so had been :
Ps. liv. 4, ' Behold, God is mine helper ; ' Ps. iii. 3,
' Thou, Lord, art a shield for me : my glory, and^the
lifter up of my head;' Ps. xxx. 10, 'Hear, Lord,
and have mercy upon me ; Lord, be thou mine
helper.'

The reason hereof is threefold. First, God's free
grace and mercy receiving David into covenant, and
tliereiu undertaking to become his helper and de-
liverer : Ps. Lsxxix. 3, 21, 22, 'I have made a cove-
nant with my chosen, I have sworn unto Daxdd my
servant ; with whom my hand shall be established.
The enemy shall not exact upon him,' &c. Ajid this
is answerable to that which God saith to his people
in general, Ps. 1. 5, L5.

Secondly, David put his tnist in God, whereby
he was entitled to God's help in trouble : Ps. xxviii.
7, ' The Lord is my strength and my shield : mine
heart trusted in him, and I am helped ; ' for indeed
to such God becomes a helper, Ps. xxxvii. 39, 40,
and xxxiii. 18, 19.

Thu-dly, Da^'id walked before God in conscionable
obedience, which gave him title to this blessing — to
have the Lord to be his helper. Ps. x^aii. 16-18,
' He sent from above ; he took me, he drew me out
of many waters. He delivered me from my strong
enemy, and from them which hated me. They pre-
vented me in the day of my calamity ; but the Lord
was my stay,' &c. ; ver. 21, 'For I have kept the
ways of the Lord,' &c., which was answerable to
God's general promise, Deut. xx\aii. 1, 2, 7, and Ps.
Ixxxi. 13-10.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction ; in that which David professeth
we may see a notable privilege of the godly, who be
in covenant with God, do love and fear God, and
trust in him, and testify the same by conscionable
obedience — these have this prerogative, that the true
God is theii- helper, which, to be a great blessing, is
plainly affirmed with very significant illustration, Ps.
cxhd. 3-5. For princes are jiotent earthly helpers,
but vain is thek help wthout the Lord ; for their
breath is in their nostrils, but the God of Jacob is
the li\dng God, who doth neither slumber nor sleep,
Ps. cxxi. 1-3, &c., and so is the best helper, as we
may see at large, Ps. xci. throughout, especially ver.
9, 14, 15, whence he is by way of excellence styled
' the deliverer,' Eom. xi. 26, because, as Nebuchad-
nezzar said, none can deliver as he doth, Dan. iii.
28, 29 ; wliich is plain also by Daniel's delivery from
the lions' den, Dan. vi. ; which made Paul to say,
' Though we be compassed about on every side, yet
we are not in a strait,' &c., 2 Cor. iv. 8; for the way
of help is never shut to the prayer of faith, Ps. 1. 15.
Nay, man's extremity is God's opportunity, and
therefore hath God lessened outward means for the
plainer evidence of his own power. Judges vii. 4.

For admonition it serves two ways. First, To
labour diligently to get into ourselves the grounds of
this prerogative, in having the trae God for our
helper, as David had. The way hereto we may see
in David. First, Get truly and rightly into cove-
nant with God, and rest not in the outward title of
profession, having only the outward seals thereof;
for so far went the foolish virgins. Mat. xxv. 2, 3,
and Judas, and Simon Magus ; but as Paul said of
the Jews, Eom. ii. 28, 29, theii' outward circumcision
did not make them such, no more doth our outward
baptism, as 1 Pet. iii. 21. Therefore we must get
the ingrafting grace of true faith, wliich purifies the
heart. Acts xv. 7, wherein stands tiiie inward bap-
tism ; for where God establisheth the covenant of
grace, he writes the law in the inward paiis, Heb.
viii. 10, 12. Then professing this estate, of being
ia covenant with God, get the inward saving graces
of love and fear, and from them bring forth the
fruits of new obedience, as David did, and this pre-
rogative of having God for our helper shall be assured
unto us, for he hath said, ' I will not fail thee nor
forsake thee,' Heb. xiii. 5.

3(5

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Ver. 9

Secondly, To watch carefully and constantly
against that thing which will deprive us of this
pri\'ilege, and that is sin ; for it is a woi'k of dark-
ness, wherewith God will have no society, Ps. xciv.
20 ; 1 John i. 6 ; it separates between God and us,
Isa. lix. 2. Whereupon the Lord said to his own
people the Jews, he would deUver them no more out
of the hands of their enemies, Judges x. 13, 14.
Therefore, with Da^id, we must hide God's sajings
in our hearts that we may not sin against him, Ps.
cxix. 11 ; and so strive to keep ourselves from our
iniquity, Ps. x\aii. 23.

Secondly, Consider this prerogative professed by
David, in having God for his helper, with reference
to the end for which he doth here mention it, —
which is, to move the Lord not to hide his face from
him, &c., because foi-merly he hath shewed himself
gracious and favourable towards him ; and therein
this is plain, —

That Da\'id makes his o^ai experience of God's
help in former e\'ils a gi-ound of prayer for present
favour in his renewed troubles. When Dand was
in the ■s\-ilderncss of Judah fljdng from Saul's perse-
cution, (Ps. Ixiii., the title,) in ver. 7 he pleadeth
thus for mercy : ' Because thou hast been my help,
therefore under the shadow of thy wings -will I re-
joice.' Ps. Ixxvii. 2, 5, ' In the day of my trouble I

sought the Lord I considered the days of old.'

Ps. Ixxxix. 49, ' Lord, where are thy fonner loving-
kindnesses ^ Ps. Ixxi. 4-6, 'Deliver me, Lord,

out of the hand of the wicked For thou art

my hope, Lord God, thou art my trust, even from
my youth. By thee I have been holden up from the
womb.' Vers. 17, 18, '0 God, thou hast taught me

from my youth Now also when I am old and

gray-headed, God, forsake me not.'

The reason hereof is plain : David knew the true
God was unchangeable and immutable, not only in
his essence, but also in his love, favour, and mercy
towards his elect, who are his redeemed in and by
Christ Jesus, with whom his covenant of grace is
everlasting, so as he -\vill never turn away from
them to do them good, Jer. xxxii. 40. Whereupon
he saith, ' I am the Lord, and I change not, and ye
sons of Jacob are not confounded,' Mai. iii. G ; ' for-
asmuch as he loved his own which were in the
world, to the end he loved them,' John xiii. 1. For

though he repent of temjJoral gifts and blessings, —
as of making of Saul king, 1 Sain. xv. 11, — yet his
'gifts and calUng' — which concern salvation in
Clirist — 'are without repentance.' Now David's
holy calling entithng him to this covenant, he
might plead for the renewing of God's favour in
present troubles, upon the sense and feeling thereof
in former times.

Tliis serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, learn here in David one notable
way of comfort in time of trouble, — to wit, search
and try whether God hath been thine helper from
under former evils, for then thou mayest with Da\-id
plead for present help and comfort ; so doth the
church in their renewed troubles, after their return
from the captivity of Babylon. Ps. Lxxxv. 1, &c.,
' Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy land : thou
hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou

hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people Wilt

thou not revive us again '(.... Shew us thy mercy,
Lord, and grant us thy salvation.' So Ps. xUv. 1,
9, 23, ' We have heard with our ears, our fathers
have declared unto us, what work thou didst in

their days, in the times of old But thou hast

cast us off, and puttest us to shame Awake,

why sleepest thou, Lord 1 arise, east us not off for
ever,' &c. Isa. li. 9-11, 'Awake, awake, put on

strength, arm of the Lord Art thou not it

which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great
deep? .... Therefore the redeemed of the Lord
shall return,' &c. ; and Isa. Ixiii. 11-14.

For admonition, tliis sei-ves notably for every
child of God in time of trouble : become a follower
of Dawl in observing God's former mercy in helping
us, and so we shall be encouraged in renewed evils.
Did not Da^dd thus animate himself to fight with
Goliath 1 1 Sam. xvLi. 34 ; and St Paul did so encour-
age himself against troubles : 2 Tim. iv. 16-18, 'At
my first answer no man stood with me, but all men
forsook me. . . . Notwithstanding the Lord stood with
me, and strengthened me ; . . . and I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall
deliver me from every evil work.' Now no true
child of God can want experience of former help,
when he may strongly reason for his comfort from
the greater to the less, as David did, Ps. Ivi. 13,
' Thou hast delivered my soul from death ; A\ilt thou

Yer. 9.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVU.

not deliver my feet from falling ! ' So may the true
child of God say, Thou, by thy holy calling to the
faith, hast delivered mo from the power of darkness,
in the bondage of sin and Satan, as Col. i. 13, and
vnlt thou not deliver me from this or that carnal
e^■il ? ' If God spared not his o^vu Son, but gave him
for us, how shall he not ^^•ith him give us all things 1 '
Eom. \-iii. 32. Indeed the signs of God's favour
may be liid sometimes from God's dearest servants,
as Ps. lxx\ii. 7-9, ' "Will the Lord cast off for ever ? '
etc. But we must then consider the cause, which is
either correction for sin or trial of grace, in which
the way to comfort is to repent of sin and to labour
for patience, rememberhig that God doth help, not
only when he gives deliverance out of e\dl, but even
when he gives strength of gi-ace to bear it, as 2 Cor.
xii. 8, 9 ; Heb. v. 7.

The third thing propounded by David to move
the Lord not to hide his face from him nor forsake
him, is David's title to the blessing of salvation
from God, by virtue of the covenant wherein he
stood -n-ith God even for this blessing, which he
thus expresseth, ' God of my salvation : ' where
by salvation he meaneth the great salvation, which
is eternal life by Jesus Christ, Heb. ii. 3, and ^\'ith
it temporal preservation in this world, ' Therefore,
do not hide thy face, do not forsake me.'

In this reason we have two things to note : first.
The thing professed by David ; secondly. The end
for which he mentioneth it. For the first ; the
thing professed by Da^dd is his particular and per-
sonal claim unto salvation from God for himself :
' God of my salvation,' thou art unto me the God
of salvation ; upon thee I rely, both for life eternal
in heaven, and temporal presentation here on earth.
Ps. xviii. 2, ' The Lord is my rock, and my fortress,
and my deliverer, the born, — that is, the strength — of
my salvation ; ' Ps. xxv. 5, ' Thou art the God of
my salvation ; ' Ps. li. 14, 'Deliver me from blood
guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation ; ' Ps.
Ixii. 6, 7, ' He only is my rock and my salvation.
In God is my salvation and my glory.'

The true reason hereof is, first, God's mere grace
and favour in Christ, freely accepting of Da^-id into
covenant with himself, whereby he becomes the God
of salvation unto him, as the church calleth God,
Ps. Ix^aii. 20: see Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 21, 36, 'I have

made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn
unto Da\'id my servant, ynih whom my hand shall
be estabUshed. He shall cry unto me. Thou art my
Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.'
And hereupon David saith, ' I am thine, save me,'
Ps. cxix. 94.

Secondly, With the fovour of acceptance into
covenant, God vouchsafed to work in Da\'id's heart
such inward graces as did maintain and continue
unto David sure title to God's salvation : as, first.
Trust and affiance in God : Ps. Ixxxvi. 2, ' Save thy
servant that trusteth in thee ; ' Ps. xxv. 2, ' my
God, I trust in thee.' Secondly, Love unfeigned,
whereby his heart did cleave to God : Ps. xviii. 1, 2,
' I win love thee, Lord my strength. The Lord
is my rock.' Thirdly, David did fear God and
reverence him in his heart ; Ps. cxix. 120, ' My
flesh trembleth for fear of thee, I am afraid of thy
judgments.' Now he ' will fulfil the desire of them
that fear him ; he will hear their cry and save
them.'

This serves for instruction, and for admonition,
and for comfort.

For instruction, see that it is a right and pri\-ilege
of them that be truly godly, by particular and special
faith to apply God's blessings of the covenant to
themselves : so Da\-id did ordinarily, and Paul : Gal.
ii. 20, ' I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I
live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life
which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me;' 2 Tun. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that
wliich I have committed unto him against that day.'
Now herein he is a pattern to believers, 1 Tim. i. 16 •
which is the rather to be marked, because papists
deny there is any such special faith for particular
and personal assurance of the great blessings of the
covenant, but only a general applying of them as
they belong to God's church. But so the truly
godly should go no further than wdcked men, nay,
tlian the very-de\-ils do ; for they know that there
is a God, and beheve his goodness in Cluist belongs
to his church. Neither is it true that particular
assurance of the many blessings of the covenant is
only a fruit of special and extraordinary revelation,
for the Scriptures testify it comes from true particu-

PIERSON ON rSALM XXTII.

[Vee. 9.

lai' ordinary sa\'Liig graces : as faitli, 1 John v. 1 3,
and love, 1 John iii. 1 4.

For admonition ; every one that desires the comfort
of this estate must labour to testify the truth of
being in covenant with God, by those graces that
did entitle Da^dd to the great blessings of the cove-
nant, even true faith in God, through Christ— true
love and true fear of God. The getting of faith is
in the reverent exercise of the word, Eom. x. 1 7, to
pray humbly and earnestly for the work of the
Spirit, wliich is the worker of this grace, 2 Cor.
iv. 13. The grace of love to God in our hearts is a
fi-uit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22, and so gotten in and
by the reverent use of the same means, the word
and prayer, whereby the Spirit is given, with which
we must also join endeavour to feel the love of God
in Christ towards us in justification and sanctifica-
tion, and then shall we out of doubt love him, as
1 John iv. 19. And the grace of reverence and fear
is a fiTiit of the same Spiu-it, Isa. xi. 2, and so gotten
as the other, when by the word we are taught rightly
to conceive of God and of ourselves.

For comfort, this makes greatly to those that,
being in covenant with God, do testify the truth of
their faith in Chiist, of their love and fear of God :
which is rightly done by the fruits of these gi-aces,
according to Christ's rule, ' The tree is kno'svn by his
fruits,' Mat. xii. 33. Now the sure fruit of true
faith is the saving work of the word, 1 Thes. ii. 13 ;
the fruit of love is oljedience in doing good for God's
glory, 1 John v. 3 ; the fruit of fear is obedience to
God in eschewing evil, Exod. xx. 20; Prov. viii. 13,
and xiv. 27.

Secondly, Consider Da\'id's claim to have God for
the God of his salvation, with the end for which he
doth here make it, which is to move God not to
hide liis face from him, nor to leave Mm nor forsake
him ; and then this is jjlain, that they that have
God for the God of their salvation have a good
ground of assurance that he vnil not for ever hide
his face from them, nor leave them, nor forsake them.
I say for ever, because, for a long time, God may
hide his face and seem to leave and forsake, as Ps.
xiii 1,2,' How long wilt thou forget me, Lord,
for ever ? How long wUt thou liide thy face,' &c. ;
and Ixxvii. 7, 8, ' WUl the Lord cast off for ever ?
Is Ids mercy clean gone ? ' But if they be his by

covenant, he \nll certainl}- return and shew mercy,
see Ps. XXX. 5, ' His anger endureth but a moment ;
in his favour is life : weeping may endure for a
night, but joy Cometh in the morning;' Isa. xlix.
14-16, 'Zion saith, The Lord hath forsaken me, and
my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget
her sucking child,' &c. ; and chap. liv. 7, 8, ' For a
small moment have I forsaken thee, but in great
mercies mil I gather thee,' &c.

The reason is from God's fiiitlifulness in the cove-
nant of gi-ace in Clirist, wliich is established in the
very heavens : Ps. IvYYJy 2, ' Faitliful is he that
caUeth you, who ■will also do it ; ' 1 Thes. v. 24, 'If
we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot
deny himself;' 2 Tim. ii. 13. If we mark well, the
causes of God's forsaking those that be truly in
covenant are ever temporar}', answerable whereuuto
must the forsaking itself be — to wit, correction for
sin, and trial of grace : for they that are effectually
called are born of God, and so cannot sin unto
death, 1 John iii. 9, and v. 18, unto whom God's
corrections are, ^nth instruction, the way of Ufe :
for thereby God humbles them for their sins, and so
brings them to repentance, as Jer. xxxi. 18, 19.
And the end which God made with Job shews that
God's trials of grace make them come forth as gold.
Job xxiii. 10.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For mstruction, see here a jjlain evidence of great
gain in true godliness, as 1 Tim. iv. 8, and vi. 6 ; for
then- piety gives evidence of their being in covenant,
and then their troubles, though they may be many
and gre\'ious, yet certainly they are but temporary,
as Ps. xxxiv. 19, 'Many are the afHictions of the
righteous ; but the Lord delivereth them out of them
aU ; ' Ps. xxx^ii. 7 ; ' Mark the perfect man, and
behold the upright, for the end of that man is
peace : so that a man shall say. Verily there is fruit
for the righteous,' Ps. Iviii. 11.

For admonition, to every one that lives in the
church to give diligence to get this estate, to have
the true God for the God of our salvation : then
we may be sui'e God's lea\dng and forsaking will
not be overlong, Ps. cxix. 8. Now this requires,
first. True repentance in forsaking all sin in respect
of dominion, for, Ps. cxix. 155, ' Salvation is far from
the wicked ; ' 1 John i. 6. Then get the forenamed

Ver. 10.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

graces of faith, love, and fear, and certainly the cove-
nant of grace in Christ .shall Vic stable unto n.s.

Ver. 10. JFlien my father and my mother farsah me,
then the Lord will take me vp.

In the fonner verse, the prophet David prayed
that the Lord would not leave him nor forsake him,
mo^•ing God thereto by this, that God was the God
of his salvation : and here, prosecuting the same
matter, he testifies his affiance and confidence in
God, for the enjojing of the blessing there prayed
for ; which testimony he setteth forth by way of
comparison, prefen-ing God's tender care over liim for
his preservation, before the care of his own pai-ents,
both father and mother, whom common nature
bound to be dearly and tenderly careful over him :
saying, ' A\Tien (or although) my father and my
mother forsake me, yet the Lord ii-ill gather, or
take me up.'

^^^lich words being plain, we have in them two
points to note — the first implied, the second ex-
pressed. The thing imi^lied is tliis :

That Da\dd's father and mother, and so his
dearest and nearest friends, might leave him and
forsake him in times of distress ; Ps. xxxviii. 1 1 ,
' jMy lovers and my friends stand aloof from my
sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off. Ps. Ixxx^nii.
8, 18, ' Thou hast put away mine acquaintance for
from me : thou hast made me an abomination unto
them. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,
and mine acquaintanee into darkness : ' as if he
should have said, Xow I am in misery, I cannot see
them, they will not see me.

The reason hereof is twofold ; first, Their fear of
Saul their king, who was a furious, bloody-minded
man, as may appear (beside his inhuman carriage
to Da\dd, whose works towards Saul were very
good, as 1 Sam. xix. 4, 5, 10, 11) by his barbarous
dealing with the Lord's priests, whom he put to the
sword, both men and women, chikben and suck-
lings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, ■without any
just cause, 1 Sam. xxii. 18, 19; yea, further, by
his unnatural deaUng with his own son, whom he
did not only shameftiUy re\ale, but most unnatur-
ally seek to slay, for his love and kincbiess unto
David, 1 Sam. xx. 30, 31, 33. Hereupon Da^dd's
friends might justly fear liis cruel hands ; for they

might say. If he would not spare his own son for
Da^dd's sake, what will he do to us, if we shew
Da^'id any kindness ? And hence no doubt it was
that David's father and mother, and all their house,
went down to David, when he was in the cave of
Adullam, that they might be out of danger from
Saul's fury, 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 3.

Secondly, Tliis might befall David by di%'ine dis-
position, for the trial of David's faith and patience,
as in like case it befell Job, chap. xix. 13, 14, 19,
' He hath put my brethren far from me, and my
acquaintance are veiily estranged from me. My
kinsfolk have failed, and my famihar friends have
forgotten me. AU my friends abhorred me : and
they whom I loved are turned against me.'

Tliis serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first. It shews most
plainly how vain and uncertain the help of man is
in time of need : Ps. Ix. 11, ' Give us help from
trouble ; for vain is the help of man.' Ps. Ixii. 9,
' Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of
high degree are a lie ; to be laid in the balance,
they are altogether lighter than vanity.'

The vanity and uncertainty of man's help stands
upon a double gi'ound in man : first. The mutability
of his aflfection, whose greatest favour may soon be
changed into sore displeasure, as Aliasuerus was
towards Haman, whom he liighly honoured for a
while, Esther iii. 1, 2, but soon after caused liim to
be hanged upon a gallows, which Haman had pre-
pared for Mordecai, of fifty cubits liigh, chap. vii. 9,
10 ; and in Anuion towards Tamar, whose future
hatred of her, after he had raHshed her, exceeded
his fonner love wherewith he had loved her, 2 Sam.
xiii. 15. Secondly, Upon the instability of his con-
dition, whereby in his be.st estate he is altogether
vanity, walking in a vain show, Ps. xxxix. 5, 6.
' For what man Uveth, and shall not see death ? '
Ps. IxYxix. 48. Now when death cometh, ' he re-
turneth to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts
perish,' Ps. cxl^^. 4 ; then can he do nothing for him-
self, less for others.

Secondly, See in David, what may be the case of
God's own dear children, even to be forsaken of
their nearest and dearest earthly friends in time of
distress : Ps. Ixviii. 9, 20, ' I am become a stranger
unto my brethren, and an aheu unto my mother's

PIEKSON ON PSALM XSVII.

[Ai^ER. 10.

children. I looked for some to take pity, but there
was none ; and for comforters, but I found none.'
So Paul complains, 2 Tim. iv. IG, 'At my first
answer, no man stood mth me, but all men forsook
me.' Holy Job saitb, ' To him that is afflicted, pity
should be shewed from his fiiend ; but he forsaketh
the fear of the Almighty. My brethren have dealt
deceitfully, as a brook, and as the stream of brooks
they pass away,' Job ^-i. 14, 15. Yea, this was the
lot and portion of our blessed Sa-viour at his appre-
hension : INIat. xs^d. 56, ' Then all the disciples for-
sook him, and fled.'

For admonition it serves two ways : first. That
seeing father and mother may forsake us, we put
not our trust in men, be they never so near or dear
unto us in nature. This is David's counsel : Ps.
cxlvi. 3, ' Put not your trust in princes, nor in the
son of man, in whom there is no help ; ' remember
his mortahty, there mentioned : ver. 4, ' His breath
goeth forth, he returneth to his earth ; in that very
day his thoughts perish.' And add thereto the con-
sideration of his mutabiUty in aff"ection before men-
tioned, -n-ith the Lord's threatening of a curse to
liim that trusteth in man, Jer. xvii. 5, G. Indeed,
we may trast to men as the means, but not as the
foundation of our help.

Secondly, That we be not dismayed when our
friends do fail us ; we see by Job, Da\id, and our
Saviour Clirist, that it is no strange thing. Eeason
as Christ doth: Mat. x. 24, 25, 'The disciple is not
above Ids master,' &c. ; and Luke xxii. 31, ' If they
have done these things in a green tree, what shall
be done in the dry ? '

The second thing to be here observed is pur-
posely intended, that when David's nearest and
dearest friends forsook him, then the Lord would
gather him up. Ps. cxUi. 4, 5, 7, 'I looked on my
ri^ht hand, and beheld ; but there was no man that
would know me ; refuge failed me, no man cared
for my soul. I cried unto the Lord, Thou art my
refuge; thou wilt deal bountifully with me.' Ps.
iv. 8, ' Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.'
Ps. bdi. G, 9, ' He only is my rock, and my salva-
tion ; he is my defence. Surely men of low degree
are vanity, and men of high degree arc a he.'

The reason of this special favour from God to
David was tlu-eefold. First, Dadd stood rightly

and truly in covenant with God ; he was one of
God's peojile, and had the Lord for his God, and so
was interested in God's special pro\'idence for pro-
tection and preservation. See Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 20-22,
28, 35, ' I have made a covenant ^vith my chosen,'

etc.

Secondly, David trusted in God : Ps. vii. 1, '0
Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust.' Now
' they that trust in the Lord shaU be as Mount Sion,
that standeth fast forever.' Ps. cxx\'. 1, 'The Lord
will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times
of trouble. And they that know thy name wUl put
their trust in thee : for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken
them that seek thee.' Ps. ix. 9, 10, ' God is he that
saveth by his right hand them that put their trust
in him from those that rise u}) against them ; ' Ps.
xvii ; see Ps. xci. 1, &c., ' He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the most High, shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty,' &c.

Thii-dly, David was holy in hfe and conversation,
which gave hiin good assurance of special preserva-
tion : see Ps. xviii. 17, 23, 'He deUvered me from
my strong enemies. For I have kejjt the ways of
the Lord, and have not -Nrickedly departed from my
God.' 'The Lord forsaketh not his saints,' Ps.
xxx\'ii. 28.

This sen-es for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first, See here, in that
which David professeth, the stabihty of God's love
towards those that be truly liis, as Da^dd was ; for
when their nearest and dearest friends do forsake
them, yet God ■w'ill not. Heb. xiii. 5, ' He hath
said, I %\all never leave thee nor forsake thee.'
John xiii. 1, 'Ha^ong loved his own which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end.' John vi.
39, ' This is the Father's will which hath sent me,
that of all which he hath given me I should lose no-
thing.' This we should observe and mark to streng-
then our souls against the popish and Ai-miuian
error of final and total faUing from tnie grace. But
blessed be God, it is as fiilse as uncomfortable, cross-
ing the will of the Father and the fidelity of Chiist
Jesus before named, as also the work of the Spuit ;
which is pennanent, as John iv. 14, with chap, ^•ii.
37-39. If any that profess true religion, and give
good hojies for a time, do tall away, they shew by

Ver. 10.]

PIERSOX ON PSALM XXVII.

their apostasy that they began in hypocrisy, or at the
best were but like the stony ground, who believe
for a time, Luke viii. 1 3, having only a human, ac-
quired faith, not that precious faith, 2 Pet. i. 1,
which is infused by the Spirit, Gal. v. 22, who is
therefore called the Spu-it of faith, 2 Cor. iv. 1.3,
and the Spirit of power, 2 Tim. i. 7 ; greater than
the e\il spirit which is m the world, 1 John iv. 4,
abiding in God's cluldren, 1 John ii. 27, even for
ever, John xiv. 16, 17, being in the operation of
sa\-ing grace a fountain of living water, springing up
unto eternal life, whereof whosoever drinketh shall
never be more athirst, John iv. 11. This is that
free spirit which doth establish the godly in the
state of grace, and is God's seal and earnest in their
hearts, 2 Cor. i. 21, 22 ; Eph. i. 13, 11.^

Object. But the godly may commit mortal sins, as
David did, in adulter}' and murder ; now an adulterer
is the member of a harlot, 1 Cor. \-i. 13, and a mur-
derer is the child of the devil, John viii. 14 ; 1 John
iii. 1 2 ; was he not then fallen from grace ?

Ans. It cannot be denied ; but for these heinous
sins Da^id was justly under the wrath of God, till,
by the renewing of his repentance and faith iu the
Messiah, he obtamed atonement. But yet under the
guilt of these sins he differed much from the impeni-
tent and unregenerate, not only in regard of God's
certain purpose to renew him by repentance and re-
store him into favour, but even in present state of
soul two ways : first, That the seed of grace did
then remain, 1 John iii. 9.

Secondly, That he sinned not iiith fuU consent,
Rom. ^Ti. 17, 19, 20, and so could not be so totally
under the curse as the unregenerate are. For the
better conceiving whereof, we must know that every
regenerate man, wliilst he is in the world, hath in him
both flesh and spiiit, inbred corruption, and renewed
grace, and so consisteth, as it were, of a double per-
son — the old man, which is ' corrupt through deceiv-
able lusts,' and ' the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness,' Eph. iv.
22, 24. Now when the child of God committeth
sin, even grievous sins, as Da^^d did, to speak as
Paul doth of himself, it is not he that doth it so for
forth a.s he is regenerate, but he so far forth as he
is corrupt, which Paul calleth ' sin that dwelleth in
him,' Rom. vii. 20. His service of sin is with and

from the flesh ; but in his mind renewed he serves
the law of Clu-ist, ver. 25, which shews that grace
in the habit and seed and root doth then remain,
when and while corruption in sundry particular
actions doth prevail. Which to be true is plain also
by St Peter, who denied his master with cursing and
swearing, which in itself was a fearful mortal sin.
Mat. xxvi. 72, 74, even after that comfortable speech
of Clirist unto him, ' Simon, behold, Satan hath de-
su-ed to have you, that he may sift you as wheat :
but I have praj'ed for thee, that thy faith fail
not,' Luke xxii. 31, 32. Shall we say he now by
denying his master lost all grace, whenas Christ
had prayed for the continuance of his faith ?
Nay, rather acknowledge that this failing was in
tliis particular act, not in the habit and seed of
gi'ace.

Secondly, See here the happiness of the godly,
who indeed alone have the Lord for their God ; for
he is the strong and stable helper, who wiU^safely
keep those that be his when all other helps do fail.
Ps. xxxvii. 28, 33, 'He forsaketh not his saints.
The Lord will not leave him in the hand of the
wicked ; ' ver. 24, ' Though he fall, yet he shall not
be cast down ; for the Lord upholdeth him with his
hand.' Ps. xxxiv. 19, 'Many are the afilictions of
the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of
all.' See Job viii. 20, 'God will not cast away an
upright man.' Chap. v. 19, ' He shall deliver thee in
six troubles, and in seven there shaU no evil touch
thee.' ' Happy therefore is the man that hath the
God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord
his God,' Ps. cxlvi. 5. ' Happy is that people that
is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people whose
God is the Lord,' Ps. cxliv. 15.

For admonition, it serves effectually to move every
one that desu-es this comfortable state, that when
dearest and nearest friends do forsake him, yet then
the Lord may take him up, to give all dihgence both
to get and preserve those gi-aces in his soul, and also
to testify that behaviour in life wliieh did entitle
David to this happy estate ; as, namely, to get truly
into covenant with God, to trust in the Lord, and
to shew the truth hereof by new and tnie obedience.
Men in the world will serve hard prenticeships for
temporal and worldly freedoms, in corporations and
privileged jjlaces ; how much more should we take

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 11.

pains for this great privilege of the citizens of Sion,
to have tlie Lord for our God.

For comfort, this makes greatly to the godly : in
times of distress they must call to mind this pro-
perty in God, to be more firm and faithful to those
that be his, than natural parents are to their dearest
children : for which, besides this text, see Isa.
xlix. 14, 15, ' Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me,'
&c. ; with Luke xi. 13, ' If ye then, being e\n\, know
how to give good gifts unto your children : how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him ? ' Let us make sure
that we be rightly in covenant with God, and then
we may say with David, ' The Lord is on my side ;
I will not fear : what can man do unto me 1 ' Ps.
cxrai. G. ' The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not
want. Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear none evil : for thou
ai't with me,' Ps. xxiii. 1, 4.

Ver. 11. Teach me thy icay, Lord, and lead me in
a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Ver. 12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine
enemies : for false tcitmsses are risen tip against me,
and such as breathe out cruelty.

In these two verses, the prophet Da\dd returns
again unto prayer, and begs of God both instruction
and direction in regard of his enemies, ver. 11, and
also preservation out of their hands, in regard of
their unconscionable dealing, and cnxel minds to-
wards him, ver. 12.

For instruction and dii'ection thus he prays,
' Teach me thy way, Lord, and lead me in a plain
path, because of mine enemies.' For the meaning,
God's way in Scrijiture is taken diversely : sometimes
for his own administration and doing, or working,
as Job. xxvi. 14, ' Lo, these are part of his ways,'
having spoken of many of his marvellous works in
the former verses, 7, 8, &c. ; as afterwai'd, Behemoth
is called ' the chief of the ways of God,' — that is, of
his works, chap. xl. 19. Ps. IxxvLi. 19, 'Thy way
is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters ; thy
footsteps are not known ; ' which hath reference to
vers. 14, 15, ' Thou art the God that doest wonders,'
&c. Ps. ciii. 7, ' He made known his ways unto
Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.' Other
while, and most commonly, God's way is that

wherein he would have man to walk — that is, the
course of life and dealing which he would have men
to take ; as Jethro saith to Moses, Exod. x\"iii. 20,
'Thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and
shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk,
and the work that they must do ; ' see Jer. xlii. 3.
Herein David desires to be instructed of God. Yea,
further, he would have God not only to teach him
the way, but to lead him in a plain jDath — that is,
such a path as is right and straight, without any
crookedness ; and such is the way of God's word, the
course and behaviour' which God there prescribes
them, as Prov. viii. 6, ' The ojjening of my mouth
shall be right things ; ' the same word, D'"l!i'''D, which
is here used, further expounded, ver. 8, 9, 'All the
words of my mouth are in righteousness,' &c. And
this favour he desii-es because of his enemies — that
is, of such as did observe and watch him for advan- J

tage to do him hurt. I

In the words thus understood, note two tilings :
first. His double request made to God ; secondly,
The reason of them both. For his requests, the
first is this, David beseecheth God to teach him
that way of his, wherein he would have him to
walk : so Ps. v. 8, ' Lead me, Lord, in thy
righteousness. Make thy way plain before my
foce ; ' Ps. XXV. 4, ' Shew me thy ways, Lord ; '
Ps. cxliii. 8, ' Cause me to know the way wherein
I should walk ;' Ps. Ixxxvi. 11, 'Teach me thy way,
Lord.'

The reasons hereof are tliree : first, In regard of
God, to glorify him, by seeking unto him for this
blessing; for God undertakes to teach the godly
that be in covenant with liim, as it is written in _

the prophets, ' and they shall be all taught of God,' I

John vi. 45 ; Ps. xxxii. 8, ' I vnW instruct thee, '

and teach thee in the way wliich thou shalt go ; '
Prov. iv. 11, 'I have taught thee in the way of
wisdom.'

Secondly, In regard of himself, sundry ways :
first. Because of his own inability of himself to
know them, without God's teaching ; for the light
of nature is but d;irkness in the ways of God. Mat.
vi. 23, ' For the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Sjjirit of God ; they ai-e foohshness
unto him : he cannot know them, (meaning of him-
self,) because they are spiritually discerned.' Tliis

Veu. 11.]

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

is manifest by the eunuch: Acts x-iii. 30, 31, 'Un-
der.standest thou what thou readest?' saith Philip
to hiin ; lie answers by denial, — ' How can I, except
some man should guide me t ' Secondly, For his
better enablmg to obedience ; for knowledge goes
before - doing. John xiii. 17, 'If ye know these
tilings, happy are ye if ye do them ; ' Joshua i. 8,
' This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to
all that is ■\vi-itteu therein.'

Thirdly, For his spiritual joy and comfort ; for
knowledge is a spiritual light, 2 Cor. iv. 6, and so
very pleasmg and comfortable to those that with-
out it are in darkness : as Eccles. xi. 7, ' Truly the
light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes
to behold the sun.' Hence we read, that many have
greatly rejoiced when they have been taught the
knowledge of God's ways: Nell. viii. 12, 'All the
people went their way to eat and to drink, and to
make great mirth, because they had understood the
words that were declared unto them.' So the
eunuch ' went his way rejoicing,' after he had been
instructed and baptized by Philip, Acts viii. 39 ;
and there was great joy in Samaria, after they
were converted to the faith by Philip, chap. viii.
6, 8.

Thirdly, Because of his enemies, as here he saith
in plain words ; for in God's ways there is safety.
Here God's angels have charge to keep the godly,
Ps. xci. 11 ; 'When thou goest in this way, thy steps
shall not be straitened ; and when thou runnest,
thou shalt not stumble,' Prov. iv. 12. These ways
of God are ways of plea.sure, and all the paths
thereof are paths of peace, Prov. iii. 17. Here
notliing offends the godly, Ps. cxix. 1 6-5 ; nay,
here is singing of heart, Ps. cxxxviii. 5, with Ps.
bcv. 14. This safety irom enemies in the ways of
God, the Lord assured Ms people : Deut. xxviii. 1 7,
' If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of
the Lord thy God, to obser\'e and do all his com-
mandments, the Lord shall cause thine enemies that
rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face,'
&c. ; Ps. Ixxxi. 13, 14, 'Oh that my people had
hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my
ways : I should soon have subdued their enemies,
and turned mine hand against their adversaries.'

Tins David found true in his own person : Ps. x^dii.
16, 17, 21, 'He sent from above, he took me, he
drew me out of many waters. He deUvered me
from my strong enemies. For I have kept the ways
of the Lord,' &c.

This serves for instruction and admonition.

For instruction ; see plainly by David's prayer
that there is more good to be had in the ways of
God than natural men imagine, else Da\'id would
never have begged of God so earnestly to be taught
therein. Consider but some of the aforesaid reasons
that moved him so to pray, as liis direction unto
acceptable obedience, wherein men are instUled unto
all God's blessings, as Deut. xx\aii. 1-3, &c. ; Ps.
cxix. 1. His inward joy and consolation, which is an
inseparable fruit of God's instruction : Ps. cxix. 162
' I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great
.spoil;' Jer. xv. 16, ' Thy words were found, and I
did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy
and rejoicing of my heart.' Lastly, His safety and
protection herein from the hand of his enemies;
when God saith to his church, ' All thy cliildren
shall be taught of the Lord,' he addeth withal, ' and
great shall be the peace of thy children. In right-
eousness shalt thou be established ; thou shalt be far
from oppression, for thou shalt not fear,' &c. Are
not these great blessings ? What shall we say then of
natural men, that say unto God, ' Depart from us :
we desire not the knowledge of thy ways ' 1 Job
xxi. 14. Surely ' the god of this world hath
blinded their eyes;' they are under that curse,
whereby they become ' like the heath in the desert,
and shall not see when good cometh,' Jer. xvii. 6.

For admonition it serves notably, that our be-
haviour be like David's, in praying unto God to
teach us his ways. They are noti undoubtedly con-
tained in Scripture, wliich is the perfect register of
God's revealed will, shewing our duty perfectly, for
all tilings needful to be believed and done unto
eternal life. In it we have expressed particular
rules for all the duties of our general calhng of Chris-
tianity, which requireth piety towards God, justice,
love, and mercy towards our brethren, with sobriety
and temperance towards our bodies, and care and
dUigence for the gain and growth of grace in our
souls, as Tit. ii. 12; 2 Pet. i. 5-7. In it also we
' Qu. "most"? — Ed.

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 11

have general rules for the well ordering and manag-
ing of our particular callings, which respect the
church, commonwealth, or family. For magistrates,
see Exod. xviii. 21, 22, with Deut. xvii. 8, 9, &c. ;
2 Chron. xix. 9-11. For ministers, 1 Tim. iii. 2, 3,
&c., and 2 Tim. iv. 1, 2. For husbands and wives,
pai'cnts and children, masters and sen^ants, their
godly behaviour in general is plainly propounded,
Eph. V. 22, 23, &c., and vi. 1, &c., to 10 ; Col.
iii. 18, &c. ; Tit. ii. 1, &c. ; 1 Pet. ii. 13, &c.

And that our prayers this way may be available,
we must also labour in life to be such as God mU
teach — that is, first, penitent persons breaking off
the course of sin : Prov. i. 23, ' Turn you at my
reproof : behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you,
I will make known my words unto you.' Hosea \'i.
1,3,' Come, and let us return unto the Lord : then
shall we know ; ' but the mcked and impenitent shall
not be taught of God, he ivill not be inquired of by
them, Ezek. xiv. 1, &c. Those that are laden with
sin are ' ever learning, and never come to the know-
ledge of the truth,' 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7. Secondly, Dili-
gent in using God's ordinances in a holy manner.
God's ordinances for knowleflge are the word and
prayer. The word must be reverently heard, read,
and meditated : Ps. cxix. 99, ' I have more under-
standing than all my teachers, for thy testimonies
are my meditation ; ' and prayer gets wisdom, James
i. 5. The holy manner of using these ordinances is in
humility, and yielding obedience to that they do
know, John •\di. 1 7 ; for such have a promise of the
Spiiit, wliich God hath given to them that obey him.
Acts V. 32, which is that anointing that teacheth
all needful things, 1 John ii. 20, 27.

The second petition which Da\'id here puts up
unto God is, that God would lead him in a plain
path — that is, in a path that is right and straight,
wherein is no erring nor straying out of God's way,
even in a path of righteousness, as some translate it.
In which petition note two things : the first implied.
That the paths of God's way are plain paths, such
as are straight and right, without crooked turnings :
Prov. iv. 11, 'I have taught thee ui the way of wis-
dom ; I have led thee in right paths ; ' Prov. viii.
6, 8, ' The opening of my lips shall be right things.'
'AU the words of my mouth are in righteousness,
there is nothing froward or perverse in them.'

Therefore St Paul calls them ' the straight ways of
God,' Acts xiii. 10.

The reason is plain ; these paths are of God's own
tracing out, being indeed nothing else but plain
e^ddences of his wUl, which in everjlhing is right
and equal ; for God's ^villLng of a thing makes it
good, though otherwise it were most abominable, if
he should not require it : as is most plain in the fact
of Abraham, when he offered up his son Isaac, for
which Abraham's faith is renowned, Heb. xi. 17, and
his fear of God approved. Gen. xxii. 12. And on
the same ground David said, ' Therefore I esteem all
thy jjrecepts concerning all things to be right,' Ps.
cxix. 128.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction it doth plainly discover the great
measure of our natural coiTuption, who judge many
of God's ways unequal : Ezek. xviii. 25, ' Ye say, the
way of the Lord is not equal.' And indeed, in one
thing or other, wherein every carnal heart desires
liberty to sin, we are like the e\'il servant, who in
our thoughts charge the Lord to be a hard master,
requiring more exact obedience than he should. Mat.
XXV. 24 ; doth not every black-mouthed swearer and
cm'ser say in his heart, ' Our tongues are our owai ;
we ought to speak : who is Lord over us 1 ' Ps. xii.
4 ; and all profaners of the Lord's day say the like
of the solemn sanctification of it, viz., it is a weari-
ness, and they snuff at it, Mai. i. 13. And so they
deal about the rest of God's holy commandments, in
the transgression whereof their natural hearts desire
carnal liberty, verifjdng the apostle's saying, Rom.
\'iii. 7, ' The carnal mind is enmity against God : it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be.'

For admonition, to take special notice of the
straightness of God's paths, as well to beat down
our corruption, when we find in ourselves any un-
towardness and unwillingness to walk therein : and
if we be \iise for ovir souls, to know our own estate,
we shall find the flesh fighting against the spirit,
even strong comiption, called a ' law in our members,
warring against the law of our minds,' which is re-
newed grace, and ' leading us cajjtive to the law of
sin,' as Paul complaineth, Kom. vii. 23. And had
we not need to fight against it by the sword of the

Vek. 11.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Spii'it, the word of God, lapng it to our souls by
the hand of faith, and by humble earnest prayer, for
the participation of God's power, to keep us in the
straight ways of God, wherein is liberty, Ps. cxix.
45. For when the world and the flesh, by corrup-
tion, di-aw us out of these paths, we are taken cap-
tives, as Paul confesseth, and so lose our liberty.
See also 2 Tim. ii. 26. As also to give all diligence
to know the straight paths of the Lord, and to walk
therein : this is the Lord's commandment, with
comfortable encouragement so to do, Jer. vi. 16,
' Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old
paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and
ye shall find rest for your souls.' Luke xiii. 21,
' Strive to enter in at the strait gate : and walk in
the strait way, that leadeth unto life,' Mat. vii. 13,
11. This was David's behaviour, as we may see by
his prayer in this place, and many other before
quoted. Consider the benefit of rest to the soul,
and of pleasantness and peace to be found in these
Avays, Prov. iii. 1 7. And withal think on their fear-
ful state and end that leave these straight ways of
God : see Acts xiii. 1 0, they are ' enemies of right-
eousness, children of the devil,' and are ' taken cap-
tive by him at his will,' till they repent, 2 Tim. ii.
26 ; and if they hold on in their crooked paths, they
.shall never know peace, Isa. lis. 8. ' The Lord will
lead them forth with the workers of iniquity,' Ps.
cxxv. 5 ; even to the damnation of hell, Ps. is.
7 ; Mat. vn. 23. For ' the man that wandereth out
of the way of understanding shall remain in the con-
gregation of the dead,' Prov. xxi. 16.

For comfort gi-eatly to those that walk in God's
ways, for they are ways of peace vnth God, and
lead to glory eternally, Ps. cxis. 1, and cxxviii. 1 ;
2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.

Secondly, Here observe the thing intended and
expressed ; Da\id begs of God to lead him in a
plain path : Ps. v. 8, ' Lead me, Lord, in thy
righteousness ;' Ps. xxv. 5, 'Lead me in thy trath ; '
Ps. cxxxis. 24, ' Lead me in the way everlasting.'

This he doth upon the like grounds that he prayed
to be taught the ways of God. As, first, upon the
consideration of the inability of nature to walk at
all in the straight paths of God ; for we are dead
in sins and trespasses, Eph. ii. 1, and of no strength,
Eom. V. 6 ; and how can such walk f And though

God's holy calling to the state of grace gave him
S23iritual life, yet he had experience, and so con-
science of his own weakness in grace, unless the
Lord were still with him to uphold and lead him.
See Ps. XXX. 6-8, ' I said in my prosperity, I shall
never be moved. Thou didst hide thy face, and I
was troubled.' Ps. vi. 2, ' Have mercy upon me,
Lord, for I am weak.' Ps. xxxviii. 17, 21, 'I am
ready to halt ; forsake me not, Lord.'

Secondly, DaA^d had knowledge of God's gracious
property in becoming a guide unto his children,
as Ps. lxx\-ii. 20, ' Thou leadest thy people like a
flock.' Ps. bcxx. 1, 'Give ear, thou Shepherd of
Israel, that leadest Joseph like a flock.' 'He led them
with a cloud by day, and a piUar of fire by night,'
Exod. xiii. 21 ; Ps. Ixxviii 14. Now, being in cove-
nant, he lays claim to his favour, and begs it by
prayer.

Thirdly, David prayeth to be led by God for his
safety and security against his enemies ; this reason
is here rendered, ' Lead me in a plain path because
of mine enemies ;' for when God is for him he mil
not fear ; what can man do unto him 1 Ps. cxviii. 6.
^Mien God leadeth him he wiU not fear, though he
walk through the very valley of the shadow of death,
Ps. xxiii. 2, 4.

This serves for instniction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first. It lets us see the
true ground of the perseverance of the godly in the
state of grace ; it is not in themselves, but in and
from the Lord who is mth them, and leads them in
the way everlasting. He by his Spirit ministers
daily supply of grace, and so keeps them from fall-
ing away ; see 1 John ii. 20, 27 ; John xiv. 16, 17 ;
1 John iv. 4, 13. This Spirit gives sap and juice to
the seed of grace, so as they cannot sin unto death,
1 John iii. 9 ; Jer. xxxii. 40 ; Ps. cxxv. 1, 2. These
things we should mark, to arm ourselves against the
uncomfortable doctrine of papists and Armuiians,
that say the true child of God may fall away from
sa\dng grace ; but, John iv. 1 4, ' The water that I
shall give him shall be ifa him a well of water,
spiinging up into everlasting life ; ' and John x.
27, 28.

Secondly, Da^dd's practice shews the meekness of
wisdom that is in those that be truly godly, not to
trust in themselves, but humbly craving the Lord's

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 11.

conduct and guidiiig in this world, to put all their
trust in the Lord.

For admonition, it serves notably to move every-
one to labour to be such as God mil lead and guide
in the paths of life, for so shall they be sure to find
rest for their souls, as Jer. vi. IG.

Now, that we may be such, we must be careful of
four things : first, That we stand rightly in covenant
with God, being indeed Ms people, and liaving him
for our God: Deut. xxxii. 9-12, ' The Lord's por-
tion is his people. He found him in a desert land, he
led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as
the apple of his eye : so the Lord alone did lead him.'
When David hath the Lord for his shepherd, he
assures himself he ■will lead him by the still waters,
Ps. xxiii. 1-3. Secondly, We must be penitent per-
sons, breaking off the course of sin, for God vnll not
take the wicked by the hand. Job viii. 20 ; they
that walk in darkness cannot have fellowship -vvith
God, 1 John i. G. Thii'dly, We must give dihgent
heed to the word of God, for that is God's counsel,
whereby he guides his people unto glory, Ps.
Ixxiii. 24.

Fourthly, We must daily beg this blessing of God,
as David here doth, and in many other jilaces, as is
shewed before.

Because of mine enemies, David's reason of his two
former petitions : therefore doth he desii"e of God to
be taught his ways, and to be led in straight paths,
because he had such enemies as continually sought
his ruin and destruction, so that, if he were out of
God's protection, they would soon work liis destruc-
tion.

This reason may be considered two ways : first,
Simply by itself, for the matter which it contains ;
secondly. With reference to the petitions which it
doth enforce. In the reason simply considered this
is here plainly taken for granted, that David had
enemies, who Ijoth wished and sought his overthrow.
This is plain in this psalm, ver. 2, ' His enemies and
his foes came upon him to eat up his flesh ;' and,
ver. 12, they ' falsely accused him, and breathed out
cruelty against him.' Whereto we may add, for
fuller and plainer cv-idence, Ps. iii. 1, 'Lord, how
are they increased that trouble me ? Many are they
that rise up against me ; ' Ps. Ixix. 4, ' They that
hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of

mine head ; they that would destroy me, being mine I
enemies wrongfully, are many.' I

The reasons hereof, with the ajiplication in uses, i

are set down before, ver. 6, observation 1, briefly
to this effect :

First, The good-will and pleasure of God thus to ■
make David a type of Christ, of whom it is said, "
Isa. liii. 16, 'It pleased the Lord to bruise him,'
with Acts iv. 25, &c., alleging the second psalm
true also of David the type.

Secondly, Da\dd's sins sometimes occasioned this
evil, 2 Sam. xii. 9. \

Thirdly, Corruptions in the wicked who had to
do vnth David, stirred them up against him two
ways : first. In hatred of his goodness, Ps. xxxviii.
19, 20, therein verifying Gen. iii. 17, whereupon
our Saviour calls the scribes and jiharisees serpents,
and a generation of vipers, Mat. xxiii. 33. Secondly,
In envy of liis honour, Ps. iv. 2, and bdi. 4 ; as
Dan. vi. 3, 4.

By way of use it serves for instruction and ad-
monition.

For instruction, see in David the state of the
godly in this world, Uable to the trouble and danger
of many and cruel enemies : reason, as Luke xxiii.
31 ; and as Jer. xxv. 9.

For admonition, to beware of rash judgment,
either against others, that they are naught, because
they are by so many oppressed : for so we might
condemn the godly, as Ps. Ixxiii. 15 ; see Jer. xv.
10 ; or against ourselves, that we are forsaken of
God because men persecute us, as Ps. xxii. 1. In-
deed, we must consider the cause, and make use of
persecution accordingly. Now the cause is either
coiTection for sin or trial of gi-ace. If we find our
sins have brought enemies upon us, then we must
humble ourselves under God's hand, who useth the
rage of enemies as rods to whip his children, Isa.
X. 5, 6. In this case he must smell the savour of a
sacrifice, as 1 Sam. xxvd. 19 : bring unto God a con-
trite and broken heart, that he will not despise, Ps.
li. 17. If we find that God would make trial of
gi-ace in us by the enemies he doth raise up against
us, then we must strive to give evidence of our faith
in God by patient bearing the trial which his provi-
dence layeth on us, whereto we shall be enabled :
first. By considering God's hand herein, for a spaiTOW ]'

Ver. 11.]

PIKRSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Hghtetli not on the ground without liis will, Mat. x.
28, 29, 31. Thus Da\'id patiently bore Shimei his
cursing, 2 Sam. x^-i. 11, 12, mth Ps. xxxix. 9 ; yea,
thus Christ endured the cross and condemnation by
Pilate, John xix. 10, 11. Secondly, By remember-
ing the good end : for we shall come forth as the
gold, Job xxiii. 10 ; ' Many are the afflictions of the
godly, but the Lord delivers them out of all,' Ps.
xxxiv. 1 9. Nay, hereby our glory shall be increased :
Eom. ^dii. 18, 'The sufferings of this time are not
worthy to be compared ^vith the glory which shall
be revealed in us ; ' nay, 2 Cor. iv. 1 7, ' Our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory : '
for 'if we suffer, we shall also reign with him,' 2 Tim.
ii. 12.

Thus Moses encouraged himself under the cross,
with respect to the recompense of reward, Heb. xi.
25, 2G ; yea, our Sa^aour Christ, Heb. xii. 2, ' Who
for the hope that was set before him, endured the
cross, despised the shame, and is set at the right
hand of the tluone of God.' For he himself here-
upon encouraged his disciples: Mat. v. 10-12,
' Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteous-
ness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men revile you. Rejoice,
and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in
heaven.'

Secondly, Consider this reason with reference to
the two former petitions, which it enforceth, and
this is plain, that the opposition of David's enemies
moves him to be more humble and earnest in prayer
and supplication unto God. Their insurrection
against him becomes his provocation to fly to God ;
Ps. Ixxvii. 2, 'In the day of my trouble I sought
the Lord ; ' Ps. v. 8, ' Lead me, Lord, in thy
righteousness because of mine enemies ; ' Ps. Ixix.
1 2-1 4, ' They that sat in the gate (that is, judges
and magistrates) spake against me. But as for me,
my prayer is unto thee, O Lord. Let me be de-
livered from them that hate me ; ' Ps. cix. 2-4, ' The
mouth of the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful
are opened against me. They compassed me about
with words of hatred : and fought against me with-
out a cause. For my love they are mine adversaries :
but I give myself unto prayer.'

The reason hereof is threefold : first. The con-

sideration of God's hand in the opposition of his
enemies, which ever hath an ovemiling power in all
men's actions, Isa. xlv. 7 ; Amos iii. 6.

Secondly, Conscience of obedience to God, who
requires to be sought in times of trouble, Ps. 1. 15.

Thirdly, Confidence in God's help, gi'ounded both
on God's property and promise : for his property,
he is the true God, that heareth prayer, Ps. Ixv. 2 ;
' He is our refuge and strength, a present help
in trouble,' Ps. xlvi. 1. For his promise it is
plain: Ps. xci. 15, 'He shall call upon me, and I
will answer him : I will be with him in trouble ; I
■will deliver liim.'

This serves for instruction, reprehension, and ad-
monition.

For instruction, we may see in David a notable
property of the godly, which is, to seek heljj and
safety from the Lord, when the wicked do eagerly
labour for their destruction in the world.

Unto David's practice in this place join the be-
ha-^dour of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 2-4, who
sought the Lord in solemn prayer and fasting when
Moab, Ammon, and mount Sen- came against him
in hostile manner. The like did Hezekiah upon the
bloody railing of Sennacherib, both by Eabshakeh
and by writing, Isa. xxxvii. 1, &c. Thus also did
Mordecai and Esther, when Haman sought their
utter ruin, Esther iv. 1 6. So did Christ's apostles for
themselves. Acts iv. 21, 30, 31 ; and the church did
so for Peter, Acts xii. 5.

For reproof, it makes justly to all natural wicked
men, who in opposition against them by enemies
do little regard this duty ; as Joram said in the
strait siege of Samaria, ' This evil cometh of the
Lord : wherefore should I wait on the Lord any
longer?' 2 Kings vi. 33, looking altogether to
worldly and human help, as the wicked Jews some-
times did, who asked not at God's mouth, but
would streng^then themselves in the strength of
Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt, Isa.
XXX. 2 ; yea, though they had been told the Lord
would not have them to go down thither; sajdng,
' The strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and
the shadow of Egyjit your confusion : ' yet, against
the Lord's express revealed will, they would needs
go thither ; Jer. xlii. 14, 'But woe unto them, saith
the Lord,' i^'c. ; Isa. xxxi. 1, 2. Nay, 'Cursed be

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Vee. 12.

the man that trasteth in man, and maketh flesh his
arm,' Jer. xvii. 5. When the heart is truly turned
to the Lord, they ■s\'ill say, ' Asshur shall not save
us : we ■nil! not ride upon horses : for in thee the
fatherless findeth mercy,' Hosea xiv. 3.

For admonition, it serves effectually to move every
one to become followers of David. Let men's oppo-
sition against us be our provocations to seek the
Lord; so shall we not only shew ourselves to be
godly, but also reap good from that which our ene-
mies intend to be hurtful unto us, which is a special
favour, shelving that the Lord is with us, as he was
with Joseph when his brethren sold him into Egyjit ;
for God was Avith him, and turned it to liis great
honour and advancement, as Gen. xlv. 5, 7, 8, and
1. 20 ; and as he was with his people in the wilder-
ness, when Balak hired Balaam to curse them, but
God turned it into a blessing. Num. xxiii. 8, 9, 11,
and xxiv. 10. And for fiu-ther encouragement
hereto, we must meditate on the reasons that moved
Da^id so to do ; for God's sovereignty is the same
over our enemies and over us, that it was over
David and his enemies. He may justly exercise us
under such affliction as he did David, either for cor-
rection for sin, or trial of grace ; and if we be in
covenant ^vith him, as David was, we have the like
interest in his property and promise of help that
David had ; and if we put our trust in him, and call
upon him, he ^vill be likewise our defender and de-
liverer. Mark and apply liLs speech to Joshua, after
Moses was dead, to give him encouragement in liis
place. Josh. i. 5-8, ' As I was with Moses, so will I
be with thee : I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee ; '
which promise the apostle extends to everj' Chris-
tian, Heb. xiii. 5. Onlj' let us look to the obedience
which God requires of us in our places, as he did of
Joshua in his, and then we shall with him prosper
and have good success ; for we fly to God by the
prayer of faith, and the Lord is with us if we be
with him, and then ' we may boldly saj-, The Lord
is my helper ; I will not fear what man can do unto
me,' Heb. xiii. 6.

Ver. 12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine
enemies : for false witnesses are risen vp againd me, and
such as breathe out cruelty.

A further petition of David unto God for mercy,

in regard of his enemies, enforced by a strong
motive. The mercy he requires is, that God would
not deliver him over to the will of his enemies : the
motive he propounds, to move God to grant that
request, is dra^vn from the beha\iour of his enemies,
whereof some stood up to mtness falsehood against
him, and some breathed out violent wrong or cruelty.

For the first, the word ^lU, translated enemies,
betokeneth such as by violent persecution seek to
bring into an inevitable strait, as they do that be-
siege a place in war, according to the use of the word
in Scripture, Deut. xxviii. 52, 'He shall besiege thee
in all thy gates ;' and ver. 55, 57 — siege, and strait-
ness, and distress, causing men and women to eat
their ofloi children, are there joined together in the
threatenmg. Also the word, ti^SJ, translated icill,
propeily signitieth the soul, which is often put for
will, lust, or desire, when those faculties or passions
are eager, strong, and violent in men, as here they
were in Da\'id's enemies after his ruin.

So as his meaning in this petition is this ; in the
words imj)lying that he had such enemies as with
all their hearts and soids most eagerly did desii-e to
bring him into an inevitable strait, for utter ruin, he
beseecheth the Lord that he would not give him
into their hands, to have their souls satisfied with
his destruction.

In this petition so understood note two things :
first, The sacred trope, or rhetorical plirase, metony-
mia suLjecti, wliich David here useth to exjjress the
insatiable desire of his enemies to work his over-
tlu-ow, he calls it their very soul ; as also Ps. xxxv.
25, ' Let them not say in their hearts. All, ah, our
soul,' that is, our full desire, ' so we would have it ; '
and Ps. xli. 2, ' Thou vrUt not dehver him to the soul
of his enemy,' that is, to the will and desire, where
we see he puts the soul, that is, the seat and subject,
for the ■will and desire that is seated therein.

The reason whereof seems to be this, hereby to
manifest more plainly the excessive measure of
spite and malice which was Lq Da\id's enemies,
which seemed to him no less than if their very
souls had been framed and composed thereof

Tliis serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, tliree ways : first. It shews the
la-\vful use of the art of rhetoric, if it be -snthout
vain aff'ectation of \\it and eloquence, even in the

Ver. 12.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXTII.

dispensation of God's word ; and withal the neces-
sity of some competent knowledge therein, for right
interjiretation of the same.

Secondly, Here see, that men indued and guided
liy God's Holy Spirit, when they speak of cori-upt
affections in the souls of natural men, do not
mince the matter with qualifying terms, to make
them seem small things, of Httle or no danger, but do
rather aggravate the same, by significant terms and
phrases, which may plainly shew that sin therein is
for measure exceeding great, and for danger dam-
nable ; why else should Da\-id style the malicious will
and desire of his enemies by the very name of the
soul itself? whose steps St Paul doth plainly follow.
Speaking of the corruption of our nature, which
divines do call concupiscence, that it may seem in
measure fearful, he calleth it ' the old man,' and
' body of sin,' Eom. vi. 6 ; yea, a ' body of death,'
Rom. vii. 24, ha^'ing many and strong earthly
members, as fornication, uncleanness, and the like,
Col. iii. 5. And that it may seem strong and
forcible, he ascribeth great power and might unto
it in all natural men : Eom. vii. 5, ' When we were
in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the
law, had force in our members to bring forth fruit
unto death ; ' it hath a kind of spiritual sovereignty
in them, it reigneth unto death, Eom. v. 21, where
mark, their sin's dominion is for the soul's dam-
nation ; the trouble and terror whereof in the godly
is acknowledged by Paul in his own person : Eom.
vii. 23, ' But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity unto the law of sin.' This terror,
I say, that corniption causeth in the godly, may
easily manifest how terrible the tjTanny of it is in
natural men. That blessed apostle cries out of his
misery, by reason of tliis corruption yet dwelling in
him, Eom. -Ndi. 24, though then it had received in
him a deadly wound by the power of Christ's death,
effectually applied unto him by God's Holy SpLiit at
the time of his conversion. Oh what slavish bond-
age then are all natural men under, that have in
their souls original corruption, the devil's task-mas-
ter, to keep them close under the drudgery of sin, for
which they shall receive the wages of eternal death !
Thirdly, This very phrase, rightly understood,
gives plain evidence where corruption bears do-

minion ; for look, where the motions of sin, for force
and strength to bring forth evil actions, are as
available as the soul is in the body for the effecting
of natural actions, there undoubtedly sin reigneth,
and corruption beareth sway. The soul we know
gives life to the body, and sets every part awork
about those things it llketh, so as we may soundly
argue, that he is indued vnth a reasonable soul
who doth constantly manage his human affairs with
good discretion ; in like manner doth inbred cor-
ruption quicken sinful motions in the soul, and,
gaining consent of will, ckaweth the parts of the
body to become the tools of the mind for the exe-
cution of sinful actions. Look, therefore, where we
see a course held in the practice of sin, there we
may be sure that corruption bears dominion ; when
the motions of sin hath force in their members to
bring forth fruit unto death, then men are in the
flesh, Rom. vii. 5. Tliis reigning power of sin is
' the law of the members, warring against the law of
the mind, and bringing man into captivity of the
law of sin,' Rom. vii. 23.

This reigning corniption shews itself in man when
his mind is set on evil works. Col. ii. 21, and he
minds the tilings of the flesh, Eom. viii. 5 ; when
his heart is fully set in him to do evil, Eccles. viii.
1 1 ; when his tongue proclaims his resolution for
sin, as Jer. xliv. 1 7, ' We will certainly do whatso-
ever thing goeth out of our own mouth ; ' Ps. xii. 4,
' With our tongue we ^viU prevail ; our lips are our
own : who is lord over us?' Isa. Ivi. 12, 'Come ye,
say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves
viith strong drink i ' and when he cannot endure to
be checked or crossed in his evil course. This cuts
them to the heart. Acts \ii. 54; stirs them up to
rage and fury, as Acts vii. 57, 58; Gen. xix. 9; 1
Sam. XX. 30 ; whereby they plainly shew themselves
to be brutish, Prov. xii. 1, and 'sensual, harag not
the Spirit,' Jude 19.

For admonition, it serves two ways : first. To
observe in ourselves the force and strength of cor-
ruption, in sinful motions and desires after things
forbidden of God ; for if to enjoy them be our soul,
as we would have it, as Ps. xxxv. 25 ; then cer-
cainly we are wholly carnal, sold under sin, and if
we so die, we perish eternally ; for where sin
reigneth, it is unto death, Eom. v. 21. And that

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

rV'ER. 12.

■we deceive not ourselves in a matter of so great
importance, besides the evidence of this estate given
in the last instruction, which is very plain, if we
examine ourselves thereby, mark some other resem-
blances that give further illustration. St James,
chap. i. 15, speaks of a strange conception in the
soul, brought forth in life : ' When lust hath con-
ceived, it bringeth forth sin.' Man's sin is the
child born there spoken of ; man's soul, as it is car-
nal, is the womb wherein it is conceived. The sug-
gestion of Satan, with man's own evil concujiiscence,
are the seed whereof it is formed, and so far forth is
man's sin begotten of the devil, and hath him for
its father ; as he is called ' the father of lies,' John
viii. 44, for he put it into Judas's heart to betray
his Master, John xiii. 2, and filled Ananias's heart
that he Hed unto God, Acts v. 3 ; and so became in
them the father of those grievous sins, — treachery
in Judas, and hj'poerisy in Ananias. Now to try
our estate for the dominion of sin by this resem-
blance ; do we say of any sin, as Rachel did of
natural children to Jacob, Gen. xxx. 1, 'Give me
children, or else I die ' ? Doth lust make thee sick,
as it did Amnon? 2 Sam. xiii. 1, 2. Dost thou,
like the whorish woman, with an impudent face
allure others to sin? Prov. vii. 13, 18. Is it pas-
time to thee to do wickedly 1 Prov. x\'iii. 23. Dost
thou not sleep, except thou have done mischief?
Prov. iv. 16. Dost thoii devise iniquity and work
evil upon thy bed ; and when morning is light,
dost thou practise it, because there is power in
thine hand? &c., Micah ii. 1, &c. Upon all these
and the Uke, the dominion of sin may be concluded ;
he that saith of evil-doing, ' Aha, my soul ! ' is as yet
undoubtedly in his soul void of saving grace : Ps.
xxxvi. 1, 'The transgression of the ungodly saith
within my heart, there is no fear of God before his
eyes.' This is like^vise e\'ident by the contrary
affections in the godly, in whom grace is renewed ;
to get grace and to practise obedience is their soul ;
as Christ told his disciples, ' My meat is to do the
will of him that sent me,' John iv. 34. 'As the
hart panteth after the water-brook, so panteth my
soul after thee, God. My soul thirsteth for God,'
Ps. xiii. 1, 2. 'My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth
for the courts of the Lord : my heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God,' Ps. Ixxxiv. 2. The

word of God was to David as his soul ; the soul, we
know, quickeneth the body, and God's word quick-
ened his soul, Ps. cxix. 50, 93. They were the joy
and rejoicing of Jeremiah's heart, chap. xv. 10. And
Paul was as a woman wth child, in travail after the
conversion of others, Gal. iv. 10; his life was not dear
unto him so he might further the gospel. Acts xx.
24. IMark these things, and pray for understanding.

Secondly, If we find that sinful affections be our
soul, that is, our desire and delight, that then we
give all diligence for change of estate; for who
would continue in the gall of bitterness, and under
the power of darkness, if he could help it 1 And
though it be not in our o-svn power, for it is 'a new
creation,' 2 Cor. v. 17, and 'the first resurrection,'
Eev. XX. 6 ; ' And who can bring a clean thing out
of filthiness ? not one,' Job xiv. 4 ; ' Can the Ethi-
opian change his skin, or the leopard his spots 1
then may they do good, that are accustonaed to do
evU,' Jer. xiii. 23. "With man this change of him-
self is impossible, but ' with God all things are pos-
sible,' Mat. xix. 26 ; ' He can raise up children unto
Abraham of stones,' Mat. iii. 9. And for his work-
ing of it the wise and powerful God of heaven hath
ordained a way and means, and prescribed the use
thereof to natural men, of the understanding where-
of reason is capable. This means is the preaching
of the word, sanctified by prayer for the blessing of
the Spirit. The moral law will discover sin and the
danger thereof to a natural man ; for ' by the law
comes the knowledge of sin,' Eom. iii. 20, and of
the danger thereof. Gal. iii 10; and by the gospel
comes the knowledge of the remedy, for it is the
word of his grace. Acts xx. 32, reveahng mercy in
Christ, John iii. 1 6, and shewing the way and means
to be made partakers of him, John iii. 36. And in
the use of these ordinances a natural man may ex-
ercise himself, and wait for God's blessing ; he may
hear and apply both the law and gospel, and pray
for the blessing of God upon his endeavours. Hus-
bandmen take pains for the precious fruits of the
earth, and pray for the blessing of God ujion their
labour ; and why may not natural men do so much
for their souls? Surely the neglect of the use
of means is, and wiU be, the condemnation of many,
John iii. 19.

For in the means God ^iUeth their gathering,

Ver. 12.]

PIERSOM ON PSALM XXVII.

Mat. xxiii. 37 ; and our Saviour tells the Jews,
' They would not come unto him that tliey might
have life,' John v. 40, saying, that 'the queen
of the south should rise up in judgment against
them,' for her pains to hear Solomon's wisdom, ' and
yet a greater than Solomon was there,' Mat. xii.
42. Therefore wait on the means, as John v. 3-5.
So did Cornehus fast and pray. Acts x. 3, then
reverently hear Peter, ver. 33. The three thousand
converted on the day of pentecost, Acts ii. 41, first
heard Peter preach and apply the law, to the prick-
ing of their hearts, ver. 26, 27, then they heard the
gospel and gladly received it, and after continued m
the apostle's doctrine, ver. 41, 42. He that had
but one talent might have employed it, and is justly
condemned for not so doing. Mat. xxv. 25, &c.
The unbelieving Jews might have heard Paul and
Barnabas preach, but they would not, but 'put
away the word, and judged themselves imworthy of
eternal life,' Acts xiii. 46.

The second thing to be noted in this petition is
the favour and kindness which David craveth of God,
namely, that he would not deliver him to the will of
his enemies, so as they should have liberty to accom-
phsh their bloody designs upon him : see Ps. xxxv.
19, 25, 'Let not them that are mine enemies rejoice
over me. Let them not say in their hearts. Ah, ah,
our soul.' Ps. xxxvi. 11, ' Let not the foot of pride
come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked
remove me.' Ps. Ixxi. 4, 'DeUver me, O my God,
out of the hands of the mcked, out of the hand of
the unrighteous and cruel man.' Ps. cxl. 1, 4, 8,
' Deliver me, Lord, from the evil man : preserve
me from the ■\dolent man. Keep me, Lord, from
the hands of the wicked. Grant not, Lord, the
desires of the -nicked.'

The reasons hereof are many : first, respecting
himself; as the conscience of his sins that deserved
this evil, to be deUvered into the hands of hLs
enemies ; for so he knew God thi'eatened to do with
his o-nii people, and had formerly performed it,
Judges ii. 14, 15, ' The anger of the Lord was kindled
against Israel, and he deUvered them into the hands
of spoilers, and sold them into the hands of their
enemies round about them. The hand of the Lord
was against them for evil, as he had said, and sworn
unto them.'

Secondly, In regard of his enemies; whom he
knew, first. To be without conscience of dealing
justly, and full fraught with all cruelty. This reason
is rendered in this verse, 'For false witnesses are
risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty;'
ver. 2, ' They would swallow him up,' as Ps. Ivi.
1, 2. For then- strength and cruelty he resembles
them to strong bulls of Bashan, Ps. xxii. 12 ; to
ravening and roaring lions, ver. 13 ; and to dogs,
ver. 16; Ps. Ivii. 4, set on fire, 'Their teeth are
spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword ;'
yea, Ps. cxl. 3, ' They have sharpened their tongue
like a serpent ; adder's poison is under theu' lips.'
Secondly, He knew they would vaunt and boast of
then- triumph over him to God's dishonour, as Ps.
xxxv. 19, 26, 'Let not them that are mine enemies
wrongfully rejoice over me ;' they rejoice at his hurt,
and magnify themselves agamst him, saying, to his
greatest grief, ' Where is now thy God ? ' Ps. xhi.
3, 10. Herein, no doubt, sacrificing to their net,
praising their own power and policy, as the Philis-
tines praised Dagon for the conquest of Samson,
Judges xvi. 23.

Thirdly, In regard of God ; knowing, first. That
his power and providence over-ruled all : Ps. cxxxv.
6. ' ^Vhatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in
heaven and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.'
If he speak the word, it is done, Ps. xxxiii. 9 ;
' Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee : the
remainder of -nTath shalt thou restrain,' Ps. \xxvi.
10 ; 'He shall cut off the spirit of princes,' ver. 12.
He knew they would have no power over him but
by God's permission, as John xix. 11. Secondly,
That by his sovereignty he miglit so deal with his
dearest servants, either for their trial, as he dealt
with Job, or to give way to the wicked to fill up
their sins in afflicting the godly, that so his justice
and power may be glorified in then- destruction : so
he suffered Pharaoh to afflict his people in Egypt,
Exod. ix. 16; Rom. Lx. 17. Thirdly, That God
having received him into covenant, stood bound to
help him, as Ps. cxix. 94, and Lxxxix. 3, 21, 22.

This serves for instruction and admonition.

For instruction three ways : first. See here what
may be the estate of the godly, even of God's dearest
childi-en ; they nray he in the hand of then- enemies,
under the power of their distressors, plainly by the

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 12.

bondage of Israel in Egypt, for a long time, Gen. xv.
13, with Exod. i. 9-11, 13, U. The three servants
of God were thus cast into the fiery furnace, Dan.
ill. 20, 21 ; and Daniel himself into the lions' den,
chap. vi. 16. Jeremiah felt this evil, chap. xxvi. 14 ;
yea, Christ himself, by the wicked hands of the
Jews, was taken, crucified, and slain, Acts ii. 23 ;
which we are to mark, to prevent rash judgment,
as well against others as also against ourselves in
this case. A fault in which the godly themselves
may fall, as well against others : Job iv. 7, ' Remem-
ber, I pray thee,' saith EHphaz to Job, ' who ever
perisheth, being innocent;' as also against them-
selves : Isa. xlix. 1 i, ' Sion said. The Lord hath for-
saken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me ; ' Ps.
xxii. 1, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me ? ' But if we mark every man's deserving by sin,
and God's sovereignty over the best, it will stay our
hearts and tongues from the sin of rash judgment.

Secondly, This petition shews that if the godly
fall into the hands of the wicked, it is by God's per-
mission and dispensation, for ' a sparrow ligliteth
not on the ground without the will of God,' Mat. x.
29 ; therefore Christ saith to Pilate, ' Thou wouldst
have no power over me at all, except it were given
thee from above,' Jolin xix. 11 ; and the church
saith unto God, ' Thou hast given us like sheep ap-
pointed for meat ; thou sellest thy people for nought,'
Ps. xliv. 11, 12. Paul saith, 'I think that God
hath set us forth the last apostles, as it were, ap-
pointed to death ; ' which is a thing very observable
as the only ground of true patience, Ps. xxxix. 9,
with 2 Sa:n. xvi. 10-12, and also of sweet comfort
in the greatest persecution, ' For he hath said, I
will not leave thee, nor forsake thee,' Heli. xiii. 5 ;
Ps. xci. 15, ' I will be with him in trouble;' Ps.
Ixvi. 10-12, 'Thou, God, hast proved us; thou
hast tried us as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us
into the net ; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
Thou causedst men to ride over our heads : we went
through fire and through water ; but thou broughtest
us out into a wealthy place.' Mark the comfortable
end of the troubles of the godly : as Job. xxiii. 10,
' He knoweth the way that I take ; when he hath
tried me, I shall come forth as the gold.' And so
the story shews : Job xlii. 12, 'So God blessed the
latter end of Job more than the beginning.'

Thirdly, See here that prayer is a sanctified means
to obtain of God safety and preservation from the
hands of those that desire our hurt. Thus the Jews
escaped from the bloody design of Haman, Esther iv.
16, 17, and vii. 3, 4, &c. Thus Jehoshaphat escaped
in battle, when the captains of the chariots beset
him about, 2 Chron. x\'iii. 31. And thus were he
and his people preserved from three kings that came
against him, 2 Chron. xx. 3, 4, &c. And thus was
Hezekiah preserved from the great army of Senna-
cherib, Isa. xxxvii. 21, 33, 34. And no marvel; for
as God requires the duty, so he hath made the pro-
mise, which he will perform, Ps. 1. 15, and xci. 15.

For admonition, it serves effectually to stir up
eveiy child of God to become a follower of David in
the performance of this duty, to be much and earnest
with God in prayer for the preservation of himself
and the church of God out of the hands of their
enemies ; a most needful duty in these evU times,
wherein the enemies of God's church do band them-
selves. Eke Edom, Moab, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek,
and the rest, Ps. Ixxxiii. 3, 4, &c., to root out re-
ligion, to cut off God's people, that the name of
Israel be no more in remembrance. Consider the
good success of this duty, in this case, by the former
examples ; for it is not, as natural men do think, a
vain thing to serve the Lord, and unprofitable to
pray unto him, Mai. iii. 14; Job xxi. 15. Experi-
ence shews that this duty is prevalent with God, one
of these three ways, at all times : either it prevents
their attempts, as the former examples shew fully
and jslaiuly ; or else it procures deliverance out of
the enemy's hands, after some time of trial and cor-
rection by them ; as it did for Peter, when he was
kept in prison by Herod with purpose to put him to
death, Acts xii. 5, 6, &c., and for Israel to procure
then- deliverance out of Egypt, Exod. ii. 23, 24 ; or,
at least, it procures strength of grace to bear the
violence and the cruelty of the enemy, though he
proceed to inflict upon them most violent death, as
we may see in Stephen, Acts vii. 59, 60,- and in the
saints of God that would not be delivered, that they
might obtain a better resurrection, Heb. xi. 35.
For, indeed, when the godly do sincerely perform
this duty, ' though the outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed daily,' 2 Cor. iv. 16, and in
death itself the child of God is more than conqueror,

Ver. U.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XSVII.

Rom. viii. 37. Let us not tlierefore be weary of this
dut}' ; ' the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much,' James v. 16. While Moses'
hands were lifted up, Joshua prevailed ; but when
they were let down, Amalek prevailed, Exod. xvii.
11. God is much moved by prayer; it stays the
wrath of Grod against his people, as Exod. xxxiii. 10,
11, &c. ; Ps. cvi. 23; Deut. ix. 18-20. And there-
fore, when God is resolved to bring a judgment, he
forbids Jeremiah to pray for the Jews, Jer. vii. 16,
xi. 1-1, and xiv. 11.

Quc'gf. Is this all we have to do, to jiray in time of
danger I

Am. No; we must like'nase serve God's pro\'idence
in the use of ordinary means, and withal use prayer
for God's blessing thereon. So ]\Ioses did for
Joshua, when he fought against Amalek ; and Mor-
decai prayed for Esther, when she went unto Aliasu-
erus in the behalf of the Jews. And besides these,
we must have due regard to our estate and be-
ha\aoiu- when we perform this duty, and pray : and
namely, first we must see that we stand rightly in
covenant ■with God, and be his people, through faith
in Cluist ; for then we have a promise of protection,
as Ps. Ixxxix. 3, 20-22, and of audience in time of
trouble, 2 Chron. vii. 13, 14; which encouraged the
church in adversity : Isa. Ixiii. 19, ' We are thine :
thou never bearest rule over them ; they were not
called by thy name.' And Jeremiah herewith
moveth God to mercy, chap. xiv. 8, 9, '0 the hope
of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why
shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land ? as a
man that cannot save ? yet thou, Lord, art in the
midst of us, and we are called Ity thy.name ; leave
us not.' Secondly, If we have failed by transgi'es-
sion (for ' in many things we sin all,' James ii.) then
we must be careful to renew covenant \nth. God, by
renemng our repentance for our sins, and our faith
in Christ Jesus. So did the Jews, and found help
for deliverance, Judges x. 10, 15, 16 ; so did Jehosh-
aphat, and was preserved, 2 Chron. xx. 3, &c.

This renewing of repentance and faith is, for a
Christian, T\4th God as the sounding an alaiin on the
silver trumpets' was for the old Israelites, when they
went out to war ; it causeth remembrance before
the Lord, that we may be saved from our enemies.
Num. xi. 9. Lastly, We must make conscience of

new obedience, and do that which the Lord com-
mandeth ; then mU he be an enemy to our enemies,
and an adversary to our adversaries, Exod. xxiii.
22. If herein we approve ourselves the children of
Abraham, we shall receive from God the blessing of
Abraham ; God will bless them that bless us, and
curse them that curse us, Gen. xii. 3.

For false witnesses are risen np against me, and such
as breathe out cruelty.

The reason of David's former request, that he
might not be delivered to the vnW of his enemies,
drawn from their unconscionable behaviour and
deadly hatred towards him. Their imconscionable
behaviour ; they rose up against him in false witness-
bearing ; their deadly hatred, in breathing out cruelty
or violence.

Both which may be referred to the same persons ;
for a man that beareth false witness against his
neighbour is as a maul, and a sword, and a sharp
arrow, Prov. xxv. 18; aU which are evidences of
great %'iolence. Yet because these two sentences are
in the original in divers numbers, (for the latter
is expressed in the singular number, ' He that
breatheth out cruelty,') therefore, I take it, in
the latter he pointeth out Saul himself, and in the
former such as did falsely accuse him unto Saul ;
for Da\'id elsewhere pointeth out Saul by the term
and phrase of a violent man : Ps. xviii. 48, ' Thou
hast preserved me from the violent man ; ' and Ps.
cxl. 4, 'Preserve me from the violent man.' Here
then we have to consider two grievous e^ils that be-
fell David from his enemies : the first from Saul's
flattering followers, the second from Saul himself

For the first ; false witnesses did rise up against
David, such as without all conscience accused him of
evils whereof he was not guilty: see Ps. xxxv. 11,
' False witnesses did rise up against me, they laid to
my charge things that I knew not ; ' Ps. hd. 5,
' Every day they ^vrest my words ; ' Ps. hii. 4,
' My soul is among lions : I lie among them that are
set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are
spears, and their tongue a sharp sword ; ' Ps. ILx.
7, ' Behold, they belch out ^vith their mouth : swords
are in their lips;' Ps. Ixiv. 3, 'They whet their
tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot
their arrows, even bitter words.' Such a one was
Cush the Benjamite, of whom he complains to God,

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 12.

Ps. vii., see the title ; and such was Doeg the Edomite,
Ps. lii., the title.

The reason hereof is twofold. Fii-st, God's divine
providence disposing that, under this affliction of
sustaining false accusations, David should be a tyi^e
of Christ, who was thus ■wronged. Mat. xxvi. .59, CO.

Secondly, This proceeded from the dominion of
corruption in David's enemies themselves : who, want-
ing the fear of God, as Ps. liv. 3, and hating David
without a cause, Ps. lix. 3, 4, even because lie
followed goodness, Ps. xxxviii. 20, and kno\ving
Saul desired to hear evil of David, as 1 Sam. xx. 7,
8, that he might have some colour at least to put
him to death, to which purpose false witnesses served
fitly, as 1 Kings xxi. 10, therefore to please Saul,
and to procure David's hurt, did they thus bear
false ■ndtness against him.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction : see in David's enemies into what
fearful evils and horrible sins the corruption of
nature will bring natural men, whom God doth
leave to themselves, even to bear false witness
against their neighbour, which is a most heinous
and horrible sin, even against the light of nature,
which teacheth that men should not do to others
what they would not have done unto themselves ;
and the very heathen have most severely punished
this sin. And the word of God accounts false wit-
nesses to be the children of the devil ; for who is
meant by Belial, 2 Cor. vi. 15, but the devil? So
the SjTiac renders the word by Satan. Now false
witness-bearers are the children of Belial, 1 Kings
XX. 10; Prov. \'i. 12, xvi. 17, and xix. 28; they
do the lusts of the devil, John viii. 44, in a most
horrible thing, even putting upon God the person of
the devil, to be the patron of a lie.

For admonition, to wicked men that dare be
bold upon such ungodly practices ; consider the
heinousness of this sin, as proper to the wicked,
and the dreadful judgments it must needs bring
upon them, being so dishonourable to God and
abominable in his sight; see Prov. vi. 16, 19;
Ps. lii. 4, 5, ' Thou lovest all devouring words,
thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy
thee for ever, and root thee out of the land of the
living.'

For comfort to the godly that are thus wi'onged ;
it hath befallen better than thyself, Christ Jesus,
David, Stephen, &c., see Luke xxiii. 31 ; and let
the godly consider that the de%dl is the false accuser
of the brethren, Rev. xii. 10. If they can find that
they have repented truly, and do rest upon Christ
for pardon, and walk in new obedience, they may
rest assured of mercy upon God's promise, Prov.
xxviii. 13; 1 John i. 9 ; and so prove the devil a
false accuser in their consciences, as he was to Job,
chap. xiii. 16. For when God hath pardoned sin,
he doth not behold it. Num. xxiii. 21 ; ' His sin is
covered,' Ps. xxxii. 1.

The second branch of the reason why Da^'id
desires to be kept out of the hands of his enemies,
is, because of their deadly hatred towards him. Saul,
Da\'id's arch-enemy, breathed out violence against
him : 1 Sam. xx. 31, ' Send and fetch him unto me,
for he shall surely die ; ' therefore doth David so
often style him by the name of ' the violent man,'
Ps. cxl. 1, 4, and means him and his followers
when he saith, ' Mine enemies hate me with hatred
of violence,' Ps. xxv. 19. 'In heart you work
wickedness ; you weigh the violence of your hands
in the earth,' Ps. hdii. 2. Magistrates should dis-
pense justice and mercy, Ps. ci. 1, but Saul and his
council became the tradesmen of violence : violence
covered them as a garment, Ps. Ixxiii. 6.

The reason hereof in Saul was twofold. First,
Envy at David's honour ; for when the women sang
to his renown, ' Said hath slain his thousands, and
David his ten thousands,' Saul was very wroth, and
the sajing displeased him ; and he eyed Da\id from
that day forward, and shortly after cast a javelin at
him to kill him, 1 Sam. xviii. 7-11, plainly verify-
ing that of Solomon, ' Wrath is cruel, and anger is
outrageous ; but who is able to stand before envy ! '
Prov. xxvii. 4.

Secondly, Ambition, an insatiable desire to enjoy
the honour of the Idngdom in his o^vii person, and
to leave the same to his posterity, which he feared
would be crossed by David, and thereupon hates him
to the death ; so as he cannot endure his own son
Jonathan, who spake in his behalf, but calls him
the son of a perverse rebellious woman, who had
chosen the son of Jesse, David, to his own confusion :
' For as long as the son of Jesse liveth on the

Ver. 12]

PIEKSON ON PSALM XXVIl.

ground, tliou slialt not be established, nor thy
Idngdom ; wherefore send and feteli liim unto nie,
for he shall surely die,' 1 Sam. xx. 30, 31.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first. Touching the
state of the godly, that they are in this world
liable to the deadly hatred of ungodly kings and
governors — a grevious thing to God's poor ser-
vants, but too true, as with divine testimony plain
instances will manifest. For testimony ; Mat. x.
IS, 'Ye shall be brought before governors and
kings for my sake, for a testimony against them ; '
Mat. xxiv. 9, ' They shall deUver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you : and ye shall be hated
of all nations for my name's sake.' For instance,
consider the bondage of Israel under Pharaoh in
Egypt, E.xod. i., ii., and iii ; their seventy years' cap-
tivity in Babylon, Jer. xx\". 11 ; the bloody design
of Haman for the destruction of all the Jews in the
kmgdom of Ahasuerus, Esther iii. 8-10, 13; the
persecutions of the apostles by the Jews, Acts
iv. 24-27 ; the persecutions of the apostles and
other Christians by Herod, Acts xii. 1-4 ; and
the ten most bloody persecutions by the heathen
Roman emperors, recorded in the ecclesiastical
stories.i

Secondly, See in this violence of Saul against
Davdd an infallible sign of the dominion of malice
and envj' in the heart — namely, when the mouth
doth breathe out violence ; for ' of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh : an evil man out
of the evil treasure of his heart bruigeth forth evil,'
JIat. xii. 34, 35. Indeed, sometunes the godly may
over-shoot themselves in words of \'iolence, through
sliai-p and sudden provocations, as Job and
Jeremiah did when they cursed the time of their
birth. Job iii. 3; Jer. xx. 14; therefore the do-
minion of malice by violent words must be judged,
not by some particular acts, but by ordinary and
continual course, as the apostle doth, Eom. iii. 9,
14, prove a man to be in the state of nature under
sin, when 'his mouth is fuU of cursing and Intter-
ness : ' wherewith that of Solomon doth fitly accord,
Prov. X. 11, sajdng, 'Violence covereth the mouth
of the wicked ; ' and Prov. xvi. 29, 30, ' A ■violent
man shutteth his eyes to devise froward things :
' Foxe, Acts and Monuments, torn. i.

moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass ; ' like unto
Saul, Acts ix. 1, who 'breathed out tlireatening
against the church.'

For admonition, it serves two ways : first, To the
godly, not to think it strange that the great ones
of the world do frown upon them, for they may
breathe out violence against them. They are by
nature the seed of the serpent as well as others,
and so continue till they be effectually called ;
and therefore no marvel though they shew enmity
to the seed of the woman, and join -with the old
dragon in bitter persecution against the true mem-
bers of the church, as Rev. xii. 1 7. It is wisdom
therefore for the godly to prepare for it, by getting
strength of grace to cleave fast to the Lord, in the
strongest oppositions of the world ; whereat our
blessed Saviour directly aimeth, Luke xiv. 26, 27 ;
Jolm xvi. 33. And when their violence is breath-
ing out against them, then to do as David did in
like case — namely, for sure direction in acceptable
carriage towards God and men to meditate in God's
word : Ps. cxix. 23, 95, ' The wdcked have
waited for me to destroy me : but I will consider
thy testimonies;' ver. IGl, 'Princes have persecuted
me -irithout cause : but mine heart standeth in awe
of thy word;' and for preservation and deliver-
ance give themselves to praj'er, as Ps. cxl. I, &c. ;
Ps. xxx-\'. 1; Ps. lix. 1-3.

Secondly, This senses very profitably to all
natural men, to warn them to consider their be-
ha\-iour towards those whom they do not love ; for
if, like Saul toward Da\-id, they breathe out vio-
lence with their mouth, then no doubt, as it was in
Saul, the hellish fire of rage and fury is kindled in
their breast ; which is a plain e\'idence that original
corruption hath dominion in them— they are yet
carnal, sold under sin, they are in the snare of the
devil, held captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. ii. 26.
And as in this particular case of envy and wrath,
the dominion of corruption is discerned by the
ordinary fruits of these corrupt aflfections, in bitter
words and cruel deeds, so it may be in any other
sin. Filthy speaking and wanton dalliance are
plain flames of the fire of lust ; when the mouth is
full of cursing and swearing, the heart undoubtedly is
fuU of corruption : such stinking breath argues un-
sound lungs. Coal mines, that lie deep in the earth.

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Vee. 13.

do ordinarily discover themselves by black smuts in
the outward face of the ground ; and so doth the
corruption of nature in the heart bewray its dominion
in natural men by their ordinary practice of sin in
life. Solomon makes the desii'e of sleep the smut
of sluggishness, Prov. xxiv. 33 ; and keeping com-
pany \vith drunkards, seeking where the good liquor
is, and sitting by it, the smuts of drunkenness, Prov.
xxiii. 20, 30. So is oppression, hard dealing, lying,
and deceiving for gain, the smut of covetousness,
Micah ii. 2. A high look is a shrewd smut of a
proud heart, Ps. ci. 5 ; and so is meddling with
matters above our place, Ps. cxxxi. 1, and humour-
ing those that may be means of our advancement —
whether by flattery, with Absalom, 2 Sam. xv. 2, 3,
or by bribery, with the devil himself, that for the
honour of homage from our Saviour Christ offers to
give all the kingdoms of the world, Mat. iv. 8, 9.
Let all simonists in the church, and bribers in the
commonwealth, look towards their ghostly father ;
for like wll to like, the briber to the devil. Now
when, by these smuts of sin, they discern the black
mine of corruption, then (unless they will be as the
fuel of hell-fire) they must set themselves to seek a
change of estate. This flesh and blood cannot eff'ect,
for ' the way of man is not in himself,' Jer. x. 23 ;
man, accustomed to do evil, can no more do good
than the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the
leopard her spots, Jer. xiii. 23. Yet with God this
is possible, Mat. xix. 26 ; he can raise up children
unto Abraham of stones. Mat. iii. 9. And this
change he worketh by regeneiation, whereby we are
' born again, not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the
will of man, but of God,' John i. 13, even by his
Spirit blessing the word unto our eflfectual calling
into his holy mountain, his true church, where ' the
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie
down with the kid,' &c., Isa. xi. 6, &c. ; where most
cnael and bloody-minded men, as Saul was before
his conversion. Acts ix. 1, shall lay aside their cruel
nature, and live most lovingly and peaceably with
the children of God, as Acts ix. 26, and xx. 24.

Now this holy calling is wrought by God, in the
use of means ordinarily, even in the word preached :
the law to discover sin, Rom. iii. 20, and the gospel
to sow the seeds of grace, Acts xx. 24. Herein
must we exercise ourselves, as Cornelius did, Acts

X. 33, and as Lydia did. Acts xvi. 14, and sanctify
our endeavour therein by prayer to God for the
blessing of his Spirit ; for by prayer the Spuit is
obtained, Luke xi. 13, of those that by repentance
turn from sin, Prov. i. 23, and by new obedience
endeavour to adorn the gospel of Christ, Acts v. 32.
Thus waiting on the Lord, we may vnth comfort
expect his blessing, as the poor impotent peof)le did
for their bodily cure at the pool of Bethesda, by the
angel's moving of the water, John v. 1, &c.

Ver. 13. / Jiad fainted, unless I had believed to see
the ffoodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Ver. 1 4. TFait on the Lord, be of good courage, and
he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the
Lord.

These two last verses contain the third and last
part of the psalm, which is this : upon acknowledg-
ment of the great benefit he received by belie\ing,
he doth notably encourage and stir uja himself and
others to wait still on God by faith. The acknow-
ledgment of the great benefit of his behoving on
God's pi'omise is, ver. 13, the encouragement to his
own soul, and others also, by faith to wait on God,
as in the last verse.

The sentence in the original, setting down the
acknowledgment of the gi-eat benefit David had by
believing, is for some words, though not in sense,
defective and imperfect, (aposiopesis,) requuing
some sujjply, which the scope and circumstances of
the place do shew must be, either what his enemies
would have done if he had not believed — namely,
they had prevailed and overthrown him, and so
some ^ supply the defect ; or, what he himself should
have done if he had not believed — namely, fainted
and sunk under the burden of violent persecution, as
Vatablus, whom our translations follow ; for we
must not leave out the word t^^'O, except, as the
papists 2 do, saying, It was left out by the Septua-
gint because it was of no gi'eat moment. Follow-
ing, therefore, the supply, which is rightly made in
our Bibles, the words bear this sense : as if he should
have said, So great was my persecution that I had
fainted, and so the enemy had prevailed against me,
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord,
— that is, to enjoy those good tilings, both temporal

' Juuius and Piscatur. * Bellarm.

Ver. 13.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

and spiritual, which the Lord hath promised me of
his goodness and bounty. So the phrase is taken,
Eccles. ii. 1, enjoy pleasure; in the Hebrew it is,
see good ; as also ver. 24, and chap. iii. 13, and v.
18. In the land of the living, — that is, in this
■world here on earth, where the li\ing are ; so, with
the scope of the prophet here, the use of the phrase
generally in Scripture doth shew it must be taken
and understood, as shall be fully shewed after-
ward.

In the words thus understood note two things.
First, The name or title which the Holy Ghost gives
to this world. Secondly, That in this world God
vouchsafes to impart his goodness unto the sons of
men. Tlurdly, That David for his part believed to
enjoy God's goodness here on earth. Fourthly, That
by belie^dng he was upheld from faintmg in himself,
and from ruin by his enemies.

For the first ; God by the mouth of David here
calleth this world the land of the living. This
habitable place of the earth, wherein men live a
natural life, is the land of the living, in the style
and phrase of the Holy Ghost ; this is plain and
certain by the ordinary use of this phrase in Scrip-
ture, see Job xx\iii. 13. The place of wisdom 'is
not found in the land of the living' — that is, among
li\'iag men in this world ; for it were absurd to say,
the place of understanding were not to be found in
heaven, seeing it is there said, ' God understandeth
the way thereof,' ver. 23 ; see also Ps. Iii. 5, Da\-id,
foretelling the destruction of Doeg, saith, ' God shall
take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-
place, and root thee out of the land of the living,' —
not out of heaven, where he never was planted, nor
grew, but of this world, where he grew, as a great
tree, till God plucked him up, and rooted him out,
by death and destruction. Isa. xxx\-iii. 11, 'I said,
I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land
of the living,' — that is, among the li\-ing here on
earth ; for who can imagine that Hezekiah meant he
should not see the Lord in heaven ? But here on
earth the godly saw him in his ordinances, as Ps.
Ixiii. 2, and ]x\-ui. 25 ; and his meaning he further
cleareth in the end of the verse, ' I shall behold men
no more with the inhabitants of the world.' The
same phrase in the same sense is used, Isa. liii. 8 ;
Ezek. xx\i. 20, and xxxii. 23 ; Ps. cxvi. 9, and

cxhi. 2 ; Jer. xi. 9 ; and in the same sense is the like
plirase taken, ' the light of the living,' Job xxxiii. 30 ;
Ps. Ivi. 13.

The reason why this habitable world is called the
land of the living, is because God created it, and
doth maintain and preserve it for man's habitation
whUe he Lives a natural life in this world : Ps. cxv.
1 6, ' The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's ;
the earth hath he given to the children of men.'
And opposeth hereunto the place of the dead, calling
it a ' land of darkness, and the shadow of death ; a
land of darkness, as darkness itself ; and of the sha-
dow of death, without any order, and where the
light is as darkness,' Job x. 22, 23 ; a ' land of forget-
fulness,' Ps. Ixxxviii. 12.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For insti-uction, see here plainly that it is an
error and mistaking to take the land of the living
for the kingdom of heaven, as generally tlie papists
do, following herein the ancient fathers, who i many
of them do so ex^jound it. Which I do therefore
note to shew how uncertain a rule it is to tie our-
selves, for the right understanding of Scripture, to
the exposition thereof made by the ancient fathers ;
for in very many things they differ in judgment one
from another, as the learned do plainly shew.^ And
they themselves, in differences, do disclaim the
authority of men, though never so learned, and send
us to the Scripture ; see August., Ep. 19 ; Iren., vi.
Adversus Hajres, cap. 63.

For admonition, that we consider God's provi-
dence over us herein, causing us to have our time in
the land of the living, which we cannot deny to be
a gTeat favour, and therefore should endeavour to
walk worthy of this blessing, which, after the
example of Christ, is to work the works of him
that sent us, John ix. 4. First, That we repent of
our sins. Mat. iii. 2 ; Luke xiii. 3, 5. Secondly,
That we beUeve on Jesus Christ, whom God hath
sent to be our Saviour, John vi. 28. This God
commandeth to all that would be saved, 1 John ui.
21, with V. 13. Thirdly, That we 'work out our
salvation ivith fear and trembling,' PhU. ii. 12 ;
which is then done, when, with i-everence to God,

' Jerome in Vs. xxvi. August, in Ps. xxvi. Cassiodorus.
' Whitalt. de Script. Interpret., Coutrov. 1, quKst. 5, cap. 8.
Reynolds and Hart.

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Y]R. 13.

who worketh all grace, wc do humbly and con-
stantly exercise ourselves in the means thereof, ever
making conscience of sin, till we ' receive the end of
our faith, which is the salvation of our souls,' 1 Pet.
i. 9.

The second point to be here obsen-ed is this, that in
the land of the living, — that is, in this world, — God
doth bountifully impart his goodness to the sons of
men ; this is here taken for granted, and elsewhere
plainly affirmed : Ps. xxxui. 5, ' The earth is full of
the goodness of the Lord.' Ps. cxix. 64, ' The earth
is full of thy mercy.' Ps. cxlv. 9, 'The Lord is
good to all ; ' even the brute creatures do daOy taste
of his bounty. Ps. civ. 27, 28, ' They all wait upon
him ; he gives them their meat in due season. That
he giveth they gather : he ojjeneth his hand, and
they are filled %vith good.'

The reason hereof is twofold : first. Because in
nature and essence he is goodness itself, love itself,
and bounty itself, and so can no more detain his
goodness from the creatures, than the sun can his
light from the world when it is risen ; and indeed
by the exercise of goodness and bounty doth he
manifest this essential property; as Ps. cxix. 68,
'Thou art good, and doest good.' James i. 17, by
his good gifts and perfect giviugs he is seen to be
the ' Father of lights.'

Secondly, By his free and abundant communica-
tion of goodness he binds every creature unto him,
and man i?articularly to honour him ; for even tem-
poral benefits are his witnesses, that he from whom
they come is the true God, and that he must be
honoured for them, see Acts xiv. 17. Hereupon
the godly do stir up themselves to due and daily
thankfulness, as Ps. ciii. 1, 2, and cxvi. 12.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, two ways : first. This shews
plainly that the true God is not knowai as he ought
to be, no, not in this property of goodness. That
which Pharaoh professed of himself without fear —
Exod. v. 2, ' Who is the Lord ? I know not the
Lord ' — is true of all natural men ; for if they rightly
knew this one property of goodness and bounty in
the' communication of Ijlessuigs, their hearts would
cleave unto him in an unfeigned desire to be Ids by
covenant ; for ' every man is a friend to him that

giveth gifts,' Prov. xix. 6. While they therefore
say, 'AVlio is the Almighty, that we should serve
him? and what profit should we have if we pray
unto him 1 ' Job xxi. 15, they shew themselves worse
than the devil himself, who said, ' Doth Job serve
God for nought 1 hast thou not made an hedge about
him'? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands,'
Job i. 9, 10.

Secondly, This shews what manner of persons all
those ought to be who call God Father, — namely,
free and forward in doing good ; so we shall re-
semble our heavenly Father, which is enjoined us.
Mat. v. 44, 55. This was Clirist Jesus's property
wliile he was on earth, he ' went about doing good,'
Acts X. 38 ; and it is commanded and commended
to us all : Eph. v. 1 , 'Be followers of God as dear
children, and walk in love.' Heb. xiii. 16, 'To do
good and to communicate forget not.'

For admonition, it serves three ways : first. In
the want of any good thing to go to God by prayer,
for he is the Father of lights, fi-om whom all good
Cometh, and for the obtaining thereof, flith the use
of lawful means, join prayer to him that saith, ' Ask
and ye shall have,' Mat. vii. 7. But withal we
must look that we go not on in a course of sin, for
that mthholds good things, Jer. v. 25, and causeth
God not to hear our prayers, Ps. Ixvi. 18.

Secondly, This must move us to labour to be such
as shall surely partake of God's best blessings. For
God is the great housekeeper, that makes provision
for children, for servants ; yea, for brute creatures,
even for his very dogs. And answerable to his
greatness in provision is his justice and ■wisdom in
distribution ; he gives not to all alike, but to eveiy
one his i^ortion, and will not have children's bread
given to dogs, Mat. xv. 26. Indeed, for temporal
blessings he many times gives a larger portion to
the wicked than to his children, as we may see by
the outward state of Dives and Lazarus, Luke x. 19,
20, as great housekcejaers ^vill many times feast
strangers more liberally than their own children.
Yet God hath better things for his own than for the
world, as Mat. iii. 11, 16. And the right way to par-
take of the best blessings is, first, in general to make
sure we be in covenant with God through faitJi in
Christ Jesus ; for he that cometh unto God must
believe, Heb. xi. 6 ; yea, believe in Christ, for ' he

Ver. 13.]

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

is the \va}-, the truth, and the life : no man comcth
to tlie Father but by liim,' John xiv. G. Now, being
thus in covenant, all is ours, whether ' things present
or things to eonie,' 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22 ; we partake
hereby of his fatness and sweetness, Eom. xi. 17,
and God will prevent us with blessings of good-
ness, Ps. xxi. 3. In particular, to testify the trath
of our fiiith, we must get and manifest the grace of
love ; for this is a sure companion of faith. Gal. v.
6, and a sure fruit of the same sanctifj-ing Spirit,
Gal. V. 22, and this entitles us unto God's best bless-
ings : 1 Cor. ii. 9, ' \\Tiat eye hath not seen, ear
hath not heard, nor heart conceived, hath God pre-
pared for them that love him.' 1 John iii. 14, 'We
know we have passed from death to life, because we
love the brethren.'

Secondly, We must fear God with a filial fear, liy
the consideration of God's power and presence, seek-
ing to brmg our hearts to true conscience of eschew-
ing evU, and doing good, wherein his grace is certainly
made e^■ident, as Job i. 8 ; Prov. xiv. 2 ; thus shall
we be surely entitled to God's blessings : Ps. xxv.
12-14, 'What man is he that feareth the Lord?
His soul shall lodge in goodness,' or dwell at ease,
as it is translated. ' The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him, and he will shew them his cove-
nant.' Ps. xxxi. 19, ' how great is thy goodness
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee,
and ■(VTOught for them that trust in thee, even before
the sons of men.'

Thirdly, We must walk in obedience in well-doing,
according to the duties of our places, labouring in
all things to keep a good conscience both towards
God and men. Herein stands the power of godli-
ness, which ' hath the promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come,' 1 Tim. iv. 8.
' Xo good thing shall be lacldng to him that walketh
uprightly,' Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. 'Wliat man is he that
desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see
good ? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips
from speaking guUe. Depart from evil, and do
good ; seek peace, and pursue it,' Ps. xxxiv. 12-14.
Yea, to them that ' by continuance hi well doing
seek for glory and honour and immortality, shall be
eternal life ; glory, honour, and peace, to every man
that worketh good,' Eom. ii. 7, 10.

Thirdly, When we enjoy any good we must re-

member whence it comes, and stii' up ourselves to
true thankfulness : 1 Thes. v. 18, ' In all things give
thanks.' Ps. 1. 23, 'He that offereth praise and
thanks honoureth him.' Therefore we must with
David study the art of thankfulness, as Ps. cx^a. 1 2,
'What shall I render unto the Lord for all his
benefits towards me ? ' and call upon our souls for
^he performance of this duty ; as Ps. ciii. 1, 2,
' Bless the Lord, my soul,' &c. ; remembering the
Samaritan, Luke xr^di. 15, 19, who, upon his thanks-
giving, was sent away mth a better blessing for his
soul than he obtained for his body by humble sup-
jjUcation.

For comfort, this makes greatly to all the godly
in any vrant or distress ; for surely theii- God is kind
to the unldnd, and in temporal blessings very
liberal, even to the wicked, as we may see, Ps.
bcxiii. 3-5, &c. ■ The wicked have prosperity ;
there are no bands in theii- death, theu- strength is
film, &c., Ps. xvii. 14. They have their portion in
this world ; their bellies God filleth with his hid
treasure. Now all they have are but effects and
fruits of liis common favour; what then do we
think hath he in store for those whom he loves La
Christ ? Surely for them he hath a worthy do^vly,
as 1 Sam. i. 5. Consider Mat. vi. 26, &c., ' Behold
the fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly
Father feedeth them. Ai'e not you much better than
they 1 ' &c. "Wlien a gentleman keepeth his dogs and
his hogs fat and fair, shall we think he will sufier
his children to starve for want of food and I'aiment ?
Nay, nay ; though dear parents may sometimes prove
unnatural, and a mother forget her sucking child,
j'et will not God forget his children, Isa. xlix. 15.

The third thing to be noted here is this : David
believed that he should enjoy the goodness of the
Lord in this world. Ps. cxvi. 9, 10, 'I will walk
before the Lord in the land of the Uving. I be-
lieved, therefore have I spoken ; ' and more plainly,
Ps. xxiii. 1, 5, 6, ' The Lord is my shejiherd ; I shall
not lack. Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies : thou anomtest my head
with oil ; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.'

The reason of this his persuasion was the good-
ness of God to Dand, both making promises of

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 13.

these blessings unto David, and also enabling him
by grace to rest and rely thereon, as he confesseth
unto God : Ps. cxix. 40, ' Remember the word unto
thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to
hope.' The promises of God to Da\'id were two-
fold : first, General, which are good to all God's
people that be truly in covenant with God, and
make conscience of obedience ; which are at large
set down. Lev. xxvi. 3, 4, &c. to 14, and Deut.
xxviii. 1, &c. to 15, and fully, though briefly, Ps.
xxxiv. 9, ' There is no v^ant to those that fear him.'
Ps. xxxvii. 3, ' Tiiist in the Lord, and do good ; so
slialt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt
be fed.' Secondly, More particular and personal, unto
David himself alone, for the honour of the kingdom
over Israel, assured by special promise, Ps. Ixxxix.
20-22, and ratified by holy anointing, 1 Sam. xvi.
13, and for the building and blessing of his house,

1 Sam. vii. 11, 27.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see here plain evidence of the gi-eat
use and benefit of faith ; it serves to entitle us, not
only unto spnitual and heavenly blessings in Chi'ist,
but even to the good things of this world, in temporal
blessings ; as here David lays hold on God's good-
ness promised in this world. So did Noah by faith
build the ark, for the saving of his household in the
flood, Heb. xi. 7. So did Paul receive safety to
himself, and those that sailed with him in his
dangerous voj^age. Acts xxvii. 24, 25. Thus Asa
and his people received ^'ictory in time of battle,

2 Chron. xviii. 8 ; and Jehoshaphat's preservation
from assault, 2 Chron. xx. 20. ' And what shall I
more say 1 (saith the apostle ;) for the time would ftvil
me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, of
Jephthah, of Samuel, David, and the prophets ; who
through faith subdued kingdoms,' &c., Heb. xi.
32-34. So as we may well say of faith, what the
apostle doth of godliness, 1 Tim. iv. 8, that it is
'profitable for all things, and hath the promise of
all kind of blessings; for true faith is the prime
grace of godliness to the sure entitling of us to the
best blessings, as Gal. v. 6.

Here, indeed, every Christian must wisely and
rightly consider the difierent nature of blessings
promised, and according to the Lord's meaning,
entitle themselves thereunto. For some promises

concern blessings simply necessary to true happi-
ness, as be justification and sanctification ; other
promises are made of blessings, both spiritual and
temporal, which are very good and comfortable, but
not simply neeessaiy to salvation, as be peace of
conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and all
degrees of spiritual graces, above that which shews
the truth and life thereof, as abundance of know-
ledge, strong faith, fervent love, and the like ; which
high degrees of grace some have had, as Abraham,
Rom. iv. 19, 20 ; the centurion, Luke -sdi. 9 ; and the
woman of Canaan, Mat. xv. 28 ; whereas the dis-
ciples themselves were, for a good wliUe, men of
little faith. Mat. vi. 30, and x^^. 8, and the church
of Philadelphia had a little strength. Rev. iii. 8.

Now the promises of blessings, simply necessary
to true happiness, are made absolutely in Christ to
true believers, without any other condition, as Acts
xvi. 31 ; John iii. 16 ; but the promises of blessings,
not simply necessary to salvation, must be under-
stood to be made with the exception of the cross,
wliich is this : that God, out of his sovereignty over
his dearest cluldren, may deny the accomplishment of
these promises, either for correction, or prevention
of sin, or trial of grace, which well considered pre-
vents much perplexity and distress in soul to those
that labour to walk honestly, and yet are more
under the cross than some of God's children be, with
whom they live.

For admonition, this serves notably to stir up
every one to get true faith, for every one desu'es to
enjoy God's goodness : ' Many say. Who will shew
us any good?' Ps. iv. G. Now the way is to get
faith, which entitles us to all God's promises ; and
the right course herein is, to begin with the main
promise in Christ, to get that faith in him which
may entitle us to his righteousness, for in him we
are restored to sanctified right in the creature, and
in him all things are ours, 'things present and
things to come,' 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. 'All the pro-
mises of God are in him, Yea, and in him Amen,' 2
Cor. i. 20. Therefore Christ himself bids his dis-
ciples, ' First seek the kingdom of God and his right-
eousness ; and then all these things, pertaining to
food and raiment, shall be ministered unto us,' ]\Iat.
vi. 33. 'For if God spared not his own Son, but
gave him for us, how shall he not witli him give us

Yee. H.]

PIEESON ON PSALM XXVII.

all things also ? ' Rom. viii. 32. Now this tnie faith
is never severed from true repentance nor new
obedience ; for by sight and sorrow for sin the way
is prepared for Christ and his kingdom, Mai. iii. 1,
and Mat. xxi. 32. iVnd new obedience in eschew-
ing evil and doing good is that behaviour which
comes from love, a fruit of the Spirit, by which
faith worketh. Gal. v. 6, 22.

The fourth and last point to be here observed is,
the benefit wliich Da\dd received by behe^'ing God's
word and promise. Hereby he was preserved from
fainting in himself, and from being foiled by his
enemies in their most violent opposition ; for one or
both of these e\als he confessetli would have be-
fallen him if he had not believed. See Ps. iii. 3, 6,
'Thou, Lord, art a buckler for me,' — there is his
faith ; ' I will not be afraid of ten thousand of the
people, that have set themselves against me round
about,' — there is his security from faith. Ps. Ivii. 1,
3, ' My soul trusteth in thee : yea, in the shadow of
thy -nings will I make my refuge, till these calamities
be overpast. He shall send from heaven, and save
me,' &c.

The reason hereof is plain, for liis faith entitled
liim to God's power and providence for protection
and safety in time of danger, from whence sprang
that courage which upheld him from fainting in the
depth of distress ; whereas, if he had wanted faith,
he had indeed been out of covenant with God, and
so void of title to God's power and pro^adence, and
so must needs have fainted when worldly power and
refuge had wholly failed him. This David's ene-
mies knew well ; and therefore, thinking that God
had forsaken him, they do thereupon encourage
themselves to persecute him, ynth assurance to take
him, Ps. Ixxi. 11.

This serv-es for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first, It lets us plainly
see the great evil of unbelief, for it takes away heart
and courage in time of persecution. This we may
see by Nabal, whose heart died witliin him when he
heard of deadly danger already past, 1 Sam. xxv.
37 ; and in Saul, when the Philistines came upon
him, he was sore troubled at the sight of that huge
army, 1 Sam. xxr\dii. 5 ; and afterwards fainted
when he heard, by the witch of Endor's means, the
hea^'y tidings of his approaching ruin, ver. 20 ; and

the day follo\ving desperately fell upon his own
sword when the Philistines pressed near unto him,
1 Sam. xxxi. 4. Hence Aliaz and his people's
hearts were shaken as a leaf when they heard that
Syria and Ephraim were conspired against him, Isa.
vii. 2, at which time the Lord promised him mercy,
but withal tells him of the hurt of unbelief : ver. 9,
' If ye will not believe, shall ye not be established f

Secondly, Here again see the great benefit of faith,
both for courage and comfort in time of danger ; for
' the righteous is bold as a Uon,' Prov. xxviii. 1, when
'the -wicked fly, and no man pursueth;' and also
for safety and deliverance, while it is a blessing to
them, see Ps. xxxi. 19, 20, and xci. 1, 2, 9.

For admonition, it serves notably to move every
one to get the grace of true faith, and to set the same
a^working in the time of danger. This world is fuU
of evils and troubles, as the sea is of storms and
waves; now faith is as the stern that guides, and
the anchor that holds fast, against the greatest blasts
and billows, Heb. vi. 1 9 ; tliis entitles us to God's
power and providence, which is like the pUlar of a
cloud by day, and fire by night, to giude and keep
us, as it did Israel, Exod. xiii. 21, 22, and xiv. 19.
This gave courage to the three children, Dan. iii.
lG-18.

Ver. 14. JVait on the Lord: be of good courage, and
he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the Lord.

These words are the prophet's zealous exhortation
and encouragement, both to his own soul and to
others to wait on God and be of good courage,
meaning in time of trouble and affliction. Unto
which good duties he doth stir up himself and others
by the benefit they shall receive thereby — \\z., God
will strengthen their hearts ; and afterward repeats
the first duty again, for waiting on God to shew the
necessity of it. So that here in general we have to
handle the duties propounded, and the reason to
enforce them. The duties are two, both of them
respecting our behaviour in time of affliction : first,
To wait on God ; secondly. To be of good courage.

For the first ; To wait on God, is patiently to tarry
the Lord's leisure for the things we desire, whether
it be to be freed from e\Tls, or made partakers of
blessings, or both ; though here the exhortation
hath special conference to expectation of deUverance

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 14.

from evils. So that the first thing we have here to
note is this :

That every child of God who is under any evUs
of body or mind, or both, must stir up Ins heart to
wait the Lord's good pleasure and leisure for deliver-
ance : Ps. cxxx. 6, ' Let Israel hope in the Lord.'
Luke xxi. 19, 'By your patience possess yourselves,'
when you are betrayed by parents, kinsfolks, and
friends ; now waitmg on God is the holy art or work
of patience, Eom. viii. 25. The examples of God's
chiklren professing the practice of this duty are
many: as of Jacob, GeiL xlix. 10, 'I have waited
for thy salvation, Lord.' Job, chap. xiv. 4, ' All the
days of mine appointed time will I wait.' David,
Ps. cxxx. 5, 6, 'I wait for the Lord, yea, my soul
doth wait : my soul waiteth for the Lord more than
they that watch for the morning.' Yea, this is the
practice of the chm'ch itself : Isa. xxv. 9, ' It shall be
said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited
for him, and he ■\vill save us. This is the Lord, we
have waited for him ; ' all which are an excellent
cloud of faithful mtnesses, she-sving plainly that the
duty is required of God, and that the performance
of it is acceptable in his sight.

The reasons hereof are plain. First, All afflictions
come by God's disposing and ruling providence : as
Isa. xlv. 7, ' I create peace and evil' Amos iii. 6,
' Is there evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done
it ? ' And the remo^'ing of them is his doing also ; for
he doth heal and bind up, as well as tear and smite,
Hosea vi. 2 ; Jer. xxxiii. 6. Therefore it is wisdom
to go to him that smitcth, and to wait upon liim for
help.

Secondly, Waiting on God is a work of faith, Isa.
xxviii. 1 6, and ascribes unto God the honour of the
blessing we wait for ; whenas refusing to wait on
God be^v^ays an evil heart of unbelief, as 2 Kings
vi. 33, ' Wherefore should I wait on the Lord any
longer ? '

Thirdly, By waiting on God we are sm'ely entitled
to singular benefits ; Lam. iii. 25, ' The Lord is good
unto them that wait for him.' See this his good-
ness in sundry particular blessings : first. They shall
inherit the earth — that is, every good and comfort-
able blessing in this world, Ps. xxx\'ii. 9 ; secondly,
God will save them from their enemies, Prov. xx.
22 ; thirdly, He hcareth their cry and pi-ayer, Ps.

xl. 1 ; fourthly, They sliall never be ashamed, Ps.
xxv. 3; Isa. xlix. 23; fifthly, They shall renew their
strength, chap. xl. 30 ; sixthly, God preijareth for
them blessings spiritual in Chi'ist, which surpass the
conceit and reach of man, chap. Ixiv. 4.

Tliis serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction it may well inform us to conceive
what is likely to be our estate in this world in re-
gard of troubles — namely, seeing we must wait upon
God for deliverance from them, it seems he would
have us to resolve, they may be our portion here on
earth. When an earthly king enjoins all his sub-
jects to prepare arms and be in readiness, they ^^^U
easily conceive they shall have wars. And thus
deals the Lord with his children ; he bids them wait
upon liim for cleUverance from troubles when they
come. Now patient waiting is the act of hope in
God for his help, which is one part of defensive
armour in time of trouble, as Luke xxi. 19, ' By
your patience possess your souls;' Eph. vi. 15,
' And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace,' which needed not but for afflictions,'
which ai'e jilainly foretold, John x\'i. 33 ; Acts xiv.
22 ; 2 Tim. ii. 12, and preparation for them enjoined,
Luke xiv. 26, 27, amj^lified there by two resem-
blances, ver. 28, &c.

For admonition, it serves efiectually to stir up
every godly man to make sure he be indued with
those graces, and- give himself to that beha^^our
wliich may enable him with patience to wait on the
Lord in the time of affliction. Every good husband
is jjrovident in summer to make provision for winter ;
and shall not Christians be wise for their souls in
the like? The sure way to Christian patience is
this :

First, To break off the course of every sin by true
rejjentance, for the guUt of sin takes away peace of
conscience unless it be seared ; and they that^ai'e in
that estate and case are ' like the troubled sea when
it cannot rest, whose waters cast out niii'e and cUrt,'
Isa. hni. 20, who can rightly wait on God for no-
tliing but judgments, for while they go on in sin
they have no title to mercy ; and therefore it is said
the hope of the ungodly shall perish, Prov. x. 28, it
shall be like the giving up of the ghost. Job xi. 20 ;
but if they repent, putting iniquity far away, as
chap. xi. 14, then there is hope, ver. 18.

Ver. 14.]

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

Secondly, They must believe iu God through
Christ ; for thus they are justified and have peace
with God, Rom. v. 1 ; and this faith is the ground
of things hoped for, Hob. xi. 1,. and when it is tried
in alHiction it bringcth forth patience, James i. 3,
the perfect work whereof is this -waiting on God here
enjoined.

Thii'dl}-, They must fear God, by remembering his
hand and providence iu these evils that lie upon
them ; for a sparrow lights not on the ground with-
out liis will. Mat. x. 29. This wUl check and sup-
press both repining and grudging towards God, as
Luke xxiii. 34, 49, and envy and desire of revenge
against men, and give us hope of a comfortable end.
Prov. xxiii. 17, IS, 'Let not thine heart envy sin-
ners : but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the
day long. For surely there is an end; and thine
expectation shall not be cut off.'

Fourthly, They nuist walk in obedience : Ps.
xxx\'ii. 34, ' Wait on the Lord and keep his way,
and he shall exalt thee to inherit the earth.'

Be of good courarje.

The second duty whereunto David stirs up him-
self and others in the time of affliction — namely, they
must not suffer themselves to be daunted, dismayed,
or faint-hearted, but stu' up themselves, encourage
their hearts, and keep fast the confidence of their
hope even iu the depth of distress ; this is the mean-
ing. ]\Iark, then, God's children must not suffer
themselves to be dismayed or daunted in time of
affliction, but cheer up their hearts and encourage
themselves in the Lord their God : see Ps. xxxi. 24,
' Be of good courage ; ' Isa. xxxv. 3, ' Strengthen
the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees,'
1 Peter iii. 4, not being dismayed with any terror ;
even as David did when his own men would have
stoned liim — he ' encouraged liimself in the Lord his
God,' 1 Sam. xxx. 6 ; and this is the meaning of the
apostle's charge, 1 Cor. xvi. 3, ' Staud fast in the
faith ; quit you like men : be strong.'

The reasons hereof are plain, and of great import-
ance.

First, To be fearful and famt-hearted in affliction
comes either from the want, or at least from the
weakness of grace, even of that most excellent and
needful grace of faith. As Solomon saith, ' If thou
be faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is

small,' Prov. xxiv. 10 — even thy faith ; as Christ
told his disciples in a great stonn upon the sea, Mat.
viii. 2G, ' Why are ye fearful, ye of little faith 1 '

Now there is gi-eat danger herein, for hence comes
apostasy in religion, when men withdraw themselves
for fear of persecution. In those the Lord's soul
takes no pleasure ; such drawing back is unto perdi-
tion, Heb. X. 38, 39, and such fearful ones are set in
the first rank of those that must be cast into the
burning lake, Eev. xxi. 8.

Secondly, God's children must do as much for
God's glory in a good cause, as wicked men do to
his dishonour in that which is evil. Now they en-
courage themselves in an evil matter, Ps. Lxiv. 5,
and hearten one another to do wickedly : Isa. xli. 6,
7, ' They heljied every one his neighbour ; and every
one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the
carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,' &c., about
their idols. Say thou therefore •with Nehemiah,
'Should such a man as- 1 fly?' chap. -vi. 11. Re-
member that the Spii'it of glory, and of God, is glori-
fied when we shew courage in suffering for a good
cause, 1 Pet. iv. 14. Yea, and our weak brethren
are much heartened by our example : as Phil. i. 14,
' Many of the bretluren in the Lord, waxing confi-
dent by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the
word -without fear ; ' whereto old Eleazar had great
resjject in his sufl'erings, 2 Maccab. -vi. 18, 24, 25.

Thirdly, Courage is needful under afflictions in
respect of the reward, which, not of our merit, but
of God's bounty, is no less than a Idngdom, even the
kingdom of heaven and the crown of Ufe ; see 2
Thes. i. 4, 5, Paul tells the Thessalonians, that
tlu-ough faith and patience in suffering they shall be
counted worthy the kingdom of God : and 2 Tim. ii.
12, 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with liim.'
Rev. ii. 10, 'Be thou faithful unto the end, and I
-wUl give thee the crown of Ufe.' Now what courage
will men shew for earthly kingdoms ! and what will
they not endure to get them ! And much more
should we do so for that kingdom which is undefiled,
immortal, and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven,
1 Pet. 1, 4.

Fourthly, God is with them that suffer for well-
doing ; and if they be courageous for liis glory he
will strengthen their hearts, as it foUoweth in tliis
verse, Ps. xci. IT), 'I will be with him in trouble.'

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 14.

Herewith he encouraged Paul at Corinth, Acts x^dii.
9, 10 ; and David herewith did notably encourage
himself, Ps. cxviii. 6, ' The Lord is on my side ; I
will not fear.' See Eom. viii. 31, 'If God be -ndth
us, who can be against us f ' Thus the angel encour-
aged Gideon, Judges ^d. 12; Jeremiah encourageth
himself, chap. xx. 1 1 ; God encourageth his people,
Isa. XXXV'. 4, and xh. 10.

This serves for instruction and admonition.

For instruction, it shews what manner of persons
the professors of true religion ought to be, for truth
and strength of grace — namely, not babes or chil-
dren, but men of stature and courage in Christ
Jesus, even perfect men, Eph. iv. 13, 14. Children
are so fearful, and not fit for war ; but Christians
must fight the Lord's battles against spiritual ene-
mies, Eph. vi. 12, and 'endure hardness, as good
soldiers,' 2 Tim. ii. 3. Few do think on these things,
but the most content themselves with the shows of
godliness, and want the powers thereof, 2 Tim. ii. 5 ;
but ' wisdom is justified of her children,' Mat. xi. 9.

For admonition, according to this charge, every
one should give all dihgence to get this spiiitual
courage into their hearts, which wiU enable them to
wait upon the Lord in times of distress.

The way hereto is to make sure of two things :
first. That the state of our persons towards God be
good; secondly, That our godly behaviour exjaress
the same. That the state of our persons may be
good before God three things are required: re-
jientanoe, faith, and sanctification. Repentance is
that grace of God, whereby we, considering our
own ways in our hearts, do humbly confess our
wicked ways unto God, and praying for mercy and
pardon, do forsake the sins wherein we have lived.
And this is needful unto true courage, because the
guilt of every sin brings fearfulness : as Gen. iii. 8,
10; Deut. xxv'iii. 6G, 'Thou shalt fear day and
night ; ' Prov. xxviii. 1 , ' The wicked fly when
none pursueth : ' ' Neither shall any man strengthen
himself in the iniquity of his life,' Ezek. vii. 13.
Faith is that grace of God's Spirit whereby we
rest and rely on God's mercy in Christ's merits,
for justification and salvation : hereby we are jus-
tified, and be at peace with God, Rom. v. 1 ; and
'the righteous arc bold as a lion,' Prov. xx\'iii. 1.
Hereby we are in Christ the Son of God, Gal. ii. 20 ;

and in him we shall be strong and courageous, as
Eph. vi. 10; PhD. iv. 3.

Thirdly, Sanctification is the work of the Spirit,
abolishing coiTuption, and renewing grace more
and more every day. Now they that are in this
estate have the Spii-it dwelling in them, Rom. -viii.
1 1 ; which is the sjiirit of strength, Isa. xi. 2 ; the
sphit of jjower, and of a sound mind, 2 Tim. i. 7.
These graces bring quietness and confidence, which
are the strength of the godly, Isa. xxx. 19.

The godly behaviour needful to true spiritual
courage is threefold : first, To make sure our
trouble be for a good cause : for ' if we suffer for
righteousness' sake, we need not be afraid for any
terror,' 1 Pet. iii. 14. ' Let none of you suffer as an
evil doer : but if any man suffer as a Christian, let
him not be ashamed,' 1 Pet. iv. 15, 16. So the
Jews strengthened their hands for the good work,
Nell. ii. 18. Secondly, We must store our hearts
with the word of God, both for direction in
carriage and consolation in distress. So did
David, Ps. cxix. 11, hide God's sayings in his
heart, and hereby kept himself from the paths of
the destroyer, Ps. xvii. 4 ; ' This is my comfort in
mine affliction; for thy word hath quickened me,'
Ps. cxix. 50. And in particular, know God is
present with us, Deut. xxxi. 6 ; 1 Cliron. xxviii.
20 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8 ; Haggai ii. 4. Thirdly,
Beside all the former, we must ever join humble
and earnest prayer for strength and courage from
God : as Neh. vi. 9, ' They made us afraid. Now
therefore, O God, strengthen my hand ; ' Acts iv.
29, ' Now, Lord, behold their threatenings : and
grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they
may sijeak thy word.'

^ml he shall strengthen thine heart. The reason
whereby the prophet doth encourage liimself and
his godly brethren to the former duties of waiting
upon God, and being of good courage in the time
of affliction, drawn from the great benefit they shall
i-eap hereby — namely, God will strengthen then-
hearts : he will put strength and courage into them,
and make them resolute, or steadfastly minded, as
this phrase is translated, Ruth i. 18, and alile to
hold out until they have a blessed issue.

Mark then, they that wait on the Lord, and
encourage themselves so to do, in the times of

Ver. 14.]

PIERSON ON PSAL5I XXVII.

affliction, shall have the Lord in mercy to put
strength into them, for their better enabling to
wait on him ; Ps. xxxi. 24, ' Be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that
hope in the Lord.' This David found to be true
by good experience : Ps. xl. 1 , 2, ' I waited patiently
for the Lord ; and he inclined unto me — and estab-
lished my goings ; ' according to the Lord's promise,
Isa. xl. 30, 'They that wait upon the Lord shaU
renew their strength.'

The reason hereof is plain : first. To wait on the
Lord, and to encourage ourselves in affliction, are
notable actions of faith, as is shewed before. Now
the gi-ace of faith doth surely entitle us to the parti-
cipation of God's power : 2 Chron. xx. 20, ' Believe
in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established.'

Secondly, In waiting on the Lord, and encourag-
ing ourselves in time of affliction, are the right im-
proving and employing of the talents which the
Lord hath left with us, for in so doing we set faith
a-work. And this behaviour hath title to increase,
for ' to every one that hath it shall be given,' Mat.
XXV. 28, 29. It is said of Paul that he increased in
strength. Acts ix. 22, and the way and means
thereof is shewed by himself: 1 Cor. xv. 10, 'I
laboured more abundantly than they all.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, two ways : first. See here plainly
that God's gracious gifts and works in our hearts
are vouchsafed, though not for, yet in and upon our
endeavour, in obedience to his will, in the use of
those means wherein he is pleased to work the
same; as here, increase of strength from God is
promised upon our obedience in waiting on the
Lord, and encouraging our hearts so to do : so Isa.
Iv. 3, ' Hear, and your soul shall live ; ' for ' faith
comes by hearing,' Eom. x. 1 7 ; and ' he that be-
lieveth in me,' saith our Saviour, ' shall never die,'
John xi. 26. A most needful point, worthy of all
observation, because the corruption of nature is such
that we ^villingly yield to the contrary conceit, which
is, to hope for good from God, though we neglect
the means wherein God is pleased to work the same,
and therein separate the means from the end : as
the Jews looked to have eternal life in the word,
and yet would not search to find therein what it
testified of Christ, John v. 39 ; they would have

life, but they would not come to Christ to have it
in him, ver. 40. As, on the other side, we easily
persuade ourselves we shall escape damnation, though
we make bold upon sin, tlie meritorious cause there-
of, to live therein.

Secondly, Here see the true fountain of all that
courage and boldness which in all ages God's chil-
dren have shewed for God's glory and for the main-
tenance of his truth, even to the amazement of their
adversaries ; as in David against Goliath, 1 Sam. xvi.
32, 34 ; Ps. iii. G, and xxiii. 4 ; in the three servants
of God before Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iii. 16, 17; in
the apostles before the rulers of the Jews, Acts iii.
13; and in many thousand martyrs before their
persecutors, whereof the ecclesiastical histories give
plentiful testimony. Surely they had it from the
true God, who did strengthen theii- hearts ; and this
the godly have confessed, as David often, calling the
Lord his strength, as Ps. xviii. 1, 2, and cxliv. 1 ;
and Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 1 7, ' The Lord stood with me
and strengthened me.'

For admonition, it serves, first. To observe the
ways and means whereby God doth strengthen the
hearts of his children, that so we may therein wait
upon God in the day of affliction, for increase of
strength and courage in our souls. God's ways for
this end are of two sorts : some extraordinary, as
the touch of Christ's hand vouchsafed to Daniel,
chap. X. 10, 16, 18; and the laying on of his right
hand, vouchsafed to John, Eev. i. 17. Others are
ordinary, and that of two sorts, outward and in-
ward. God's ordinary outward ways of strengthen-
ing the heart are four.

Fii-st, and chiefly, His word spoken, either by God
himself, as Joshua i. 6, 7, 9 ; or by his servants in
the ministry thereof, as Heb. xii. 12, 'Lift up the
hands that hang down ;' Isa. xl. 1, 2, ' Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people ; speak ye to the heart of Jeru-
salem.' Hence David saitli, ' This is my comfort in
mine affliction, for thy word hath quickened me,'
Ps. cxix. 50 ; and Jer. xv. 1 6, ' Thy word was unto
me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.' A good
weapon in a man's hand puts courage in his heart
against an enemy : now God's word is the sword of
the Spirit, Eph. vi. 1 7 ; yea, the sword of God's
mouth. Rev. ii. 16; nay, sharper than any two-edged
!!word, Heb. iv. 12.

riERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

[Ver. 14.

Secondly, The works of liis providence, wherein
we have had experience of his goodness in former
deliverances. Thus David's heart was strengthened
to encounter with Goliath, by the experience of God's
power and pro^^dence, in lolling the lion and the
bear, 1 Sam. xvii. 34-37 ; yea, the remembrance of
God's power and mercy unto others in like case,
puts life and courage into the hearts of God's chil-
dren in distress : Ps. xxii. 4, 5, ' Our fathers
trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them. They
cried unto thee, and were delivered.' Here thou
maye-st say as Elisha did, at the waters of Jordan,
' Where is the God of Elijah?' 2 Kings ii. 14.

Thirdly, The company of the godly puts courage
into the distressed. Acts xxviii. 15. When Paul
saw the brethren in his dangerous voyage, he
' thanked God, and took courage : ' Prov. xxrsdi. 9,
1 7, ' Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so
doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty
counsel. Iron sharpeneth iron ; so a man sharp-
eneth the countenance of his friend.'

Fourthly and lastly. Prayer to God, as well by
ourselves, as by others in our behalf. Thus the
apostles sought courage and boldness when they were
tlireatened by the rulers of the Jews, Acts iv. 24,
29 ; and Paul, for this end, entreated the Ephesians
to pray for him, Eph. vi. 19.

God's inward way of strengthening the heart is
by the work of his Spirit ; for that is the comforter,
John xiv. 16, 17, and the Spirit of strength, Isa. xi.
2, of power and of a sound mind, 2 Tim. i. 7.

By the assurance of the abode of this Spirit
among them, the Lord encourageth Zerubbabel,
Joshua, and the people, Haggai ii. 4, 5.

Now these being some of God's special ways
whereby he strengthenetli the hearts of his chil-
dren, we must stir up ourselves to wait for his
work of mercy, for the strengthening of our hearts
when terror and fears take hold upon us.

Secondly, We must labour to be such, both in
state of soul and behaviour of life, as to whom God
will vouchsafe the blessing of strength of heart in
evil times. This requires (liesides the duties here
named, of waiting upon God and encouraging our
hearts in evU times,) that beforehand in the days
of peace, first. We beware of sin, and break off the
course thereof by true repentance ; for guilt of sin

brings a trembling heart and great astonishment,
as Deut. xxviii. 65, 66 ; even feai-, where no fear is,
Ps. liii. 5 ; it makes the heart to fail, Luke xxi. 26.

Secondly, That we are truly in covenant with
God, not only receiving the seals thereof for out-
ward admittance and assurance, as baptism and the
Lord's supper, but humbly receiving and obeying
the word of the covenant, Christ's holy go.spel ;
which when we do, the Lord will say, ' Fear thou
not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am
thy God. I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help
thee ; yea, I wUl uphold thee with the right hand of
my righteousness,' Isa. xli. 10.

Thirdly, That by faith we rest and rely upon
God's mercy in Christ Jesus. This is the ground
of hope whereby we wait on God, which hath the
jiromise of being strengthened ; as when it is said,
that by faith some ' of weak were made strong,'
Heb. xi. 34, as Abraham was ' strong in the faith,
Eom. iv. 20. This faith unites us unto God in
Christ, Gal. ii. 20, and God's promise is to strengthen
such in the Lord, Zech. x. 12.

Fourthly, That we be upright-hearted towards
God, for the Lord makes himself strong for such,
2 Chron. xvi. 9. This we may see by his jaromise
and dealing with David, who was upright before
him, Ps. xviii. 23, and God's hand was established
with him ; his arm did strengthen him, Ps. Ixxxix.
21.

The fourth and last point here to be noted is, the
repetition of the first duty here prescribed, ' Wait,
I say, on the Lord ; ' that is, even after the Lord
hath strengthened thine heart, yet wait still on God,
and abide his leisure for thy full deliverance.

The like repetition we may see in the same case :
James v. 7, 8, 'Be patient therefore, brethi'en, unto-
the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman
waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. Be ye
also patient ; stablish your hearts, for the coming of
the Lord draweth near.'

The reason of such repetitions is to shew the ne-
cessity of this duty, of waiting upon God in the time
of afflictions ; for tribulations are like to continue to
the godly iu this world, as Clu-ist told his disciples,
John xvi. 33, in regard of the malice of the devil
and his instruments, who, being the seed of the ser-
pent, do bear continual enmity to the godly, which

Ver. 14.]

PIERSON ON PSALM XXVII.

are the seed of the woman. The wicked ordinarily
are many and mighty, as David complaineth, Ps.
Ixix. 4, 'They that hate me without a cause are
more than the hairs of mine head : tliey that would
destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are
mighty.' So as the godly had need, with the same
prophet, to say and do, as Ps. lix. 9, ' Because of his
strength will I wait upon thee : for God is my de-
fence.'

This sei-ves to justify a profitable ministerial prac-
tice, in the zealous pressing of needful duties by
often rej^etition. Many have itching ears, ever de-
sirous to hear novelties ; like the Athenians, who
' spent the time in nothing else but to tell or hear
some new tiling,' Acts xvii. 21. But 'wLsdom is
justified of her children.' They that mind to be
Clirist's discijiles, are desirous to hear needful things
again and again ; as John ix. 2 7, ' Wherefore would
you hear it again and again 1 will ye also be his
disciples ? ' Acts xiii. 42, the Gentiles besought
that these words might be preached unto them the
next Sabbath. For which purpose Paul saith, ' To
write to you the same things is not indeed grievous
to me, but for you it is safe,' Phil. iii. 1 ; as his often

practice of it plainly shews ; in the same chapter, vcr.
18, 'Many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies
of the cross of Christ.' Gal. i. 8, 9, ' Though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach unto you any other
gospel than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I
now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.'
And our blessed Saviour, about material duties, took
the same course, as we may see in his often-repeated
woes against the scribes and pharisees. Mat. xxiii.
13-16, &c., and his pressing the duty of watching
on his disciples by this often repetition : Mark xiii.
33, ' Take ye heed : watch and pray ; ' ver. 3-5,
'Watch ye therefore;' ver. 37, 'What I say unta
you, I say unto all men, Watch.'

Secondly, This repetition of the duty, she-sving the
importance of it, must stir up our diligence in the
constant and conscionable use of such means as God
hath ordained for the attaining of this vii'tue ; which
way and means is plainly prescribed in the use of
admonition, where this duty is handled in the be-
ginning of the verse.

Tfi 0E.a AOSA,

DAVID'S HEART'S DESIRE

OR,

AN EXPOSITION OF PSALM LXXXIY.

PSALM LXXXIV. To the chief mudcian v2}on
Gittith. A jKCihn for the soiis of Eorah.

This psalm may not unfitly be called David's
heart's desu-e : for though his name be not prefixed,
as it is to sundry others, yet the matter of it being
well weighed, doth most fitly accord to his trouble-
some estate under persecution, whereby he was de-
barred from safe access to the place of God's solemn
and public ser\-ice, and most fully express Ids heart's
desire after the house of God, which was in him both
frequent and unfeigned, Ps. xx\ii. 4 ; in regard of
the Ijlessings there to be enjoyed, Ps. Ixv. 4, which
is matter profitable for God's children ; for that
which, being denied, will prove the heart's desire,
should, being enjoyed, become the heart's delight;
and that is the pure and holy public worship of God.

In the handling of this psalm we have, first, The
dedication of it, in the title prefixed ; then the psalm
itself

The dedication was to ' the chief musician,' or
master of the choir: for, 1 Cliron. xvi. 4, David
ordered a choir to sing thanksgiving, and penned
psalms for that end, which he delivered to the
master of the choir, ver. 7. Of their ordering, see 1
Chron. xxv. 1, 7.

Upon Gittith. Three psalms hath this word Gittith
in the title, viz., viii., Ixxxi., Ixxxiv., the meaning
whereof is difficult, being much controverted amongst
interpreters. The Septuagint reads it, vTrerp twv
\rivSiv, pro tomilaribus; which the ancients' allegor-
ising, expound of particular churches, where Cluist is
1 Evithytnius, August, in Ps. viii.

the vine, believers are branches, and faith and other
graces are grapes, which yield that wine which
cheereth God and man. Judges ix. 1 3.

Others following the LXXIL, yet refer it to the
time of vintage thus celebrated.

The Chaldee paraphrast takes it for a musical
instrument, which David brought from Gath, where
he remained in his exile from Saul with. Kmg
Achish.

Eabbi Da\'id Kimlii takes it to note and signify
that this psalm was penned by David in the foresaid
Gath.

Also a city of the Levites was called Gath-
Rimmon, Joshua xxi. 25, whereon Obed-Edom the
Levite is called the Gittite, 2 Sam. vi. 10 ; and so
by Gittith here may be meant, either such instru-
ments as was used by Obed-Edom's posterity, the
Gittite, or that these psalms were made upon occa-
sion of transporting the ark from Kirjath-Jearim to
Jerusalem — namely, the 8th, when it was brought to
the house of Obed-Edom ; the 81st, upon the death
of Uzzah ; the 84th, when it was brought to
Zion.

It is most probable it was a musical instru-
ment. The less to be stood upon, because this
music was typical, and in their time the instraments
of God, 1 Chi-on. xvi. 42, but now, as John iv. 21,
23, ' Ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father : but the true wor-
shipper shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth ;' ' Singing and making melody in your heart
to the Lord,' Eph. v. 19.

Title.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

For the sons of Korah.

These sons of Korah were the posterity of that
rebellious Levite, who vnth Dathan and Abiram
rebelled against Moses and Aaron, Num. xvi., which
Korah was consumed with fire, ver. 35, with 17.
Howbeit there were of his sons that died not, Num.
xxd. 11, departing, as it seemeth, from their father's
tent, as all were commanded, Num. xvi. 24, 26 ; and
of these is numbered a family of the Korathites,
chap. xxvi. 58, of whom came Samuel the prophet,
and Heman his nephew, 1 Chron. vi. 33, a great
singer, chap. xxv. 4, 5.

In tliis dedication note two things : first. King
Da\'id's emplojTnent in troublesome times ; he com-
posed and penned psalms of special purpose for the
public worship and service of God, 1 Chron. xvi. 7.
The dedication of sundry psalms to the chief musician
shews the same.

The reason hereof was his holy zeal for God's
glory, Ps. Lsix. 9, and fervent desire thus to testify
his thankfulness to God, that had highly advanced
him, Ps. lxx-\dii. 71, 72. Therefore he argues the
matter with his own heart, that he may do it efFec-
tuallj', Ps. cxvi. 12.

Use 1. Here see that neither dignity nor distress
should exempt men from the zealous pursuit of God's
holy worship. If either one or both would have
aiforded a good excuse, David needed not to have
taken such pains about God's service, as to pen
.sjjecial psalms for the solemn and public use thereof.

Use 2, A good precedent for every man in his
place, especially for magistrates and superiors, to
further God's worship to the uttermost of their
power. Too many are of Michal's mind, that it is
too base a thing for David to be seen among the
Levites, dancing before the ark, especially clothed
with a linen ephod, 2 Sam. vi. 20. But ' them that
honour me,' saitli God, ' I will honour ; and they that
despise me shall be lightly esteemed,' 1 Sam. ii. 30.
"Was it not David's special honour that he was a
type of Clirist? And herein, among other things,
did he prefigure him, that he was zealous for the
house of God, as Ps. box. 9, ^vith John ii. 1 7.

But, alas ! how few follow David and Christ herein !
DaAdd gave liberally toward the temple, 1 Chron.
xxix. 3-5. Christ whipped buyers and sellers out
of the temple, because he would not have his Father's

house made a den of thieves : now many take liberally,
and so bring thieves and robbers into the church ;
and of others we may say, as Mat. xxiii. 4, ' They
bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, but
they themselves will not move them with one of
their fingers.'

Secondly, Here note that the sons, that is, the
posterity of \vicked and rebellious Korah, have an
honourable place in God's sacred and solemn service :
for to them sundry of David's psalms are commended,
as Ps. xlii. 44-4G, &c.

No doubt David saw them, being by place and
birth Levites, to be faithful and diligent in their
place, and thus renowns them to all posterity, that
he composeth special psalms for their ministry in the
solemn serxdce of God.

Use 1. Here see the verifying of God's word, for
the comfort of all godly children, that the son shall
not bear the inicjuity of the father, Ezek. xviii. 14,
17, 20, if he see his father's sins and turn from
them.

Object. 1. But, Exod. XX. 5, God saith he is a jealous
God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the
children.

Ajis. That is, inquiring for the sin of the fathers
among the children, and if there he find it, then
pays he them home.

Ohjeet. 2. Achan's sons and daughters are stoned and
burnt for the father's sacrilege, Joshua vii. 24, 25 ;
and Dathan's and Abiram's little children are swal-
lowed up. Num. xvi. 27.

Alls. For aught we know they might be of yeai's
of discretion, and privy to their father's stealth.

"Wlien little ones die m the punishment of the
father's sin, God lays not the punishment of the
father's sin upon the chUdi'en ; but, to make the
father's sin more odious, doth then bring upon the
children the fruit of their own original corruption,
which is death determined upon all flesh, as appears.
Gen. ii. 17, with Eom. v. 12. As a creditor, that
hath both the father and the sou debtors unto liim
by bond, may, upon the father's provocation, lay
the forfeiture ixpon both, being both in his danger.

Use 2. Secondly, Here is special encouragement
to the children of wicked parents to become godly
and faithful in their places. In some sense they are
the sons of strangers ; for, Ps. Iviii. 3, ' The mcked

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

Ver. 1.]

are estranged from the womb,' yet if tliey leave
their father's sins, and become faithful to the Lord,
here is comfort for them in the honour of Korah's
posterity : see Isa. Ivi. 3, ' Let not the son of the
stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak,
saying, The Lord hath separated me from his
people ; ' for, ver. 6, 7, ' The sons of the stranger,
that joined themselves to the Lord to serve him,
and to love the name of the Lord, even them wiU I
bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful
in my house of prayer,' &c. ; for, 1 Sam. ii. 30, ' Them
that honour me I -will honour, saith the Lord.'

Ver. L How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of
hosts !

The matter of this psalm is a most solemn and
pathetical expressing of David's high esteem of the
place of God's public worship, -with his ardent and
earnest desire to have freedom and liberty to enjoy
the same, which some i think, and that probably, he
penned in the time of Absalom's rebellion, when he
fled for his life out of Jerusalem, 2 Sam. xv. 14 ; for
he mentioneth appearing in Zion before the Lord,
ver. 7, which was after the ark of the covenant was
brought thither, which was not in Saul's lifetime
but after, 2 Sam. vii., about the thirteenth year of his
reign. Or as others,^ in the troublesome times of
his great wars, whereby he was detained from the
public place of God's worship, for that Absalom's
rebellion was not so long.

He begins \nt\\ the high esteem he had of the
place of God's pubUc worship, which by way of ad-
miration he doth acknowledge unto God to be most
lovely and amiable, ver. L

In the handling whereof we have these two
things : first. The description of the person unto
whom the acknowledgment is made ; secondly. The
matter that is acknowledged.

The description of the person is the Lord of hosts,
/T)S2^ nin\ so as the point is this : the true God
is the Lord of hosts, so ver. 3, 8, 12; Ps. xxiv.
10.

He is so called because all creatures in heaven

and earth are at the Lord's command, as sokliers in

an aimy at the command of the general, ready

pressed to do his will. Hence all creatures in

1 Musculus, Piscator. ^ MoUeruf.

heaven and earth are called the host of heaven and
earth. Gen. ii. 1.

Use 1. This title shews the Lord's power and
sovereignty over all creatures ; he may command and
set their places and stations at his pleasure, as
generals do their soldiers in an army, see 1 Kings
xxii. 19, 20. And hence are those strange events
in war that the weaker do conquer, as Deut. xxiii.
30 ; one chase a thousand, and two put ten thou-
sand to flight. So, 1 Sam. xiv. 6, 13, Jonathan and
his armour-bearer smote a whole garrison of the
Philistines.

Use 2. For admonition it serves three ways : first,
For fear and reverence towards God's majesty ; he is
the Lord of hosts, having all creatures at his beck :
Ps. 1. 1, 4, ' The mighty God, even the Lord, hath
spoken, and called the earth, from the rising of the
sun unto the going down thereof ; ' ' He shall call to
the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he
may judge his people ; ' Jer. v. 22, ' Fear ye not
me ? saith the Lord ; ■will ye not tremble at my pre-
sence 1 ' Mat. X. 28, ' Fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell.'

Secondly, That we take heed of abusing any of
God's creatm-es ; for be they never so mean, God
can make armies of them to destroy the wicked.
Consider his wonders in Egypt, of had, of frogs, of
flies, of lice, Exod. viii. 9, &c. ; his dealing ynth.
Herod, Acts xLi. Reason, as Isa. xxxvi. 9, &c.,
' How wilt thou turn away the face of one captain
of the meanest of my master's servants 1 ' A terror
to the wicked.

Thirdly, That we make sure we fight under his
banner : for he is the Lord of hosts, and hath his
spiritual annies and weapons ; see Ps. ex. 3 ; Eph.
vi. 10, &c. ; and 2 Cor. x. 5 ; see Ps. xxiv. 7, &c.,
' Lift up your heads, ye gates ; and be ye lifted
up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of glory
shall come in ; ' that is, the ark. Then the Lord
himself into men's hearts : 1 Cor. iii. 16, ' Know ye
not that ye are the temjjle of God, and that the
Spiiit of God dwelleth in you 1 ' Eev. iii. 20, ' Be-
hold, I stand at the door, and knock ; if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I \n\\ come in to
liim, and sup mth him, and he with me.'

Use 3. For consolation sundry ways : First, to
those that fight the Lord's battles, and stand in

[Ver. 1.

PIEKSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

defence of liis cluircli ; see Ps. xlvi. 7, 11. As he
is the Lord of hosts, so he hath made Jesus Christ
the captain of his host, Joshua v. 14. 'No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper,' Isa. liv.
17.

Secondly, To any child of God in his particular
distress ; for he hath all creatures at command to
serve and save his children, and to destroy theu-
enemies ; see Kxod. xiv. 28, 29, the waters of the
Ecd Sea are a wall unto the Israelites, but dro-mi
the Egj'jJtians ; Dan. iii., fire saves the three ser-
vants of God, and kills them that cast them in ; so
do the lions, Daniel, chap. %-i. Dost thou want?
the ravens shall feed thee, 1 Kings xvii. 4, 6 ; or
angels, Ps. Ixxviii. 25. Ait thou in the sea? a
whale shall bring thee to land, Jonah i. 1 7, and ii.
10.

The matter acknowledged is the loveliness of
God's tabernacles, which, surpassing David's abihty
to express, he propounds by way of adniii'ation,
inipl\ing that they were to him most lovely and
amiable, far surpassing his abUity to express.

For our better understanding hereof we are to
search out, as well the place, as the property for
which Da^-id doth admire it.

The place is God's tabernacles or dwelling-places:
whereby he meaneth that special place of God's pub-
lic and solemn worship which God had chosen for
himself among liis people in Da\"id's time, promising
there to be present with them, and to dwell among
them, Exod. xxv. 8; Lev. xxvi. 12.

Quest. But why doth he use a word of the plural
number, sajdiig tabernacles, whereas Moses erected
but one for the Lord ; neither did the Lord allow of
any other, till the temple was built by Solomon.

Ans. Some' think he hath reference to the divers
places where God was worshipped at that time ; for
the tabernacle was at Gibeon, and the ark at mount
Moriah, 2 Cliron. i. 3, 4.

But it is more probable that he hath respect to
the several parts and places of the tabernacle, which
were made distinct by God's appointment. The
court was for the people, as ver. 2 ; the holy place
was for the priests ; and the holy of holies was for
the high priest once every year, as Heb. ix. 2, 3, G,
7. In all of which God dwelt, though not inclu-

' Junius, Piscator.

sively as men do in their houses, for so the ' heaven
of heavens cannot contain him,' 1 Kings viii. 27 ;
but in regard of more special manifestation, testify-
ing his favourable respect unto their worship and
service, as 1 Kings ix. 3.

The property ascribed to this place is lovely or
amiahle, that is, such as draws the best affections of
the heart unto it.

Here then note two points : one taken for
granted, the other purjiosely intended. The point
taken for granted is, that God hath his tabernacles,
or dweUmg-places, where he doth in special manner
abide among his peojile : so as we may say, ' The
tabernacle of God is -n-ith men, and he will dwell
with them,' Eev. xxi. 3. Under the law he had
a material building, called the tabernacle of the
congregation, erected by Moses at his appomtment,
Exod. xxv. 8, and xl. 34, 35, which place was
moveable, and continued for God's worship, till
God had given rest unto liis peojile round about,
and then he caused Solomon to build him a temple,
1 Kings vi. 1, 2. Under the gospel he hath a
spii'itual buUdmg ; 1 Pet. ii. 5, ' Ye, as lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house, whose house
are we : ' speaking of all the faithful who believe
in God thi-ough Clu-ist, Heb. iii. 6, who are the
temple of the living God, in whom he dwells,
1 Cor. iii. 16, whether we conceive them jointly
altogether, Eph. ii. 21, or di^dded into particular
holy assemblies. Mat. x^iii. 20, or personally con-
sidered, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17, and vi. 19.

The reason hereof is twofold : first. The clearer
evidence of his especial favour and respect unto
them above all the people of the world : for ' the
whole world is his, and the fulness thereof,' Ps.
xxiv. 1, yet none can say, but the church of God,
who are his people by covenant, that God doth
dwell among them.

Secondly, For the better assuring of all the bless-
ings of the covenant to those that be his people.
For God in Clirist is the true fountain of all good
things : and his dwelling among them, in that
manner which he cUd manifest in his tabernacle,
gave plain e^^dence of his readiness to commu-
nicate his goodness imto them, according to all
that he had promised in his covenant. This 'nill
appear by a brief view of the several parts of God's

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 1.

tabernacle, considered ^\dtll the special ends for
which they were ordained. The whole tabernacle
was made ' according to the pattern shewed in the
mount.' It contained three distinct places — the
court, the holy place, and the holy of holies; and
in each of these there were several ordinances, serv-
ing by their use and signification to testify God's
readiness, who there dwelt among them, to com-
municate his goodness to his people there serving
him.

Take a ^ne^v of some. In the court (which sig-
nified the visible church, wherein hypocrites may
have a place for outward worsliip) was, first, the
ministry of the word and prayer. Here the priests
and Le\-ites taught the people ; as it is said of
Chi'ist, Luke xvii. 47, ' He taught daily in the
temple ; ' here the scribes and pharisees sat in
Moses' chair. Mat. xxiii. 2, and here both priests
and people prayed, as Luke i. 10; for 'my house
shall be called the house of prayer,' Luke xix. 46.
Secondly, Here was the altar of burnt-offering, a
type of Clirist ; for the altar and the twelve pillars
resembled God and the twelve tribes making a
covenant together with sacrifice, Exod. xxiv. 4.
This altar in the court of the tabernacle was over-
laid with brass, a strong metal, to signify that
Christ God did sanctify his manhood to be an
acceptable sacrifice, and strengthen him to do
and suffer all things needful for our redemption and
salvation. Thirdly, The laver for washing — a type of
sanctification. Tit. iii. 5 ; Heb. x. 22.

In the holy place were three memorable thmgs :
first. The altar of incense, shado^^'ing out Christ's
intercession in heaven ; secondly, The table of sliew-
bread, signifjing that standing table of the word and
sacraments, wherem God kcepeth plentiful provision
to feast his elect in Christ. Every one had in his
incense cup pure incense put upon it, signifjing ful-
ness of joy in Christ Jesus.

Thirdly, The golden candlestick, a figure of the
church, Rev. i. 20, because it holdeth up the light
of God's word ; the several branches resembled
particular churches ; and the lights therein signi-
fied the words of the prophets, or the holy Scrip-
tures, 2 Pet. i. 19. The seven branches from one
shaft, all of one matter, signified variety of gifts and
graces, proceeding from one Spirit, Zech. iv. 2, 6.

In the most holy place, or holy of holies, was, first.
The ark, whose lid was called the mercy-seat, over-
laid M-ith pure gold, and ■n'ithin it the two tables of
the covenant, all shado-sraig Christ, who is our cove-
nant, Isa. xUx. 8, and our propitiatory, Eom. iii.
25 ; 1 John ii. 2. Over the ark did God ajipear
between the cherubims, siguif}dng God teaching
tlirough Clu'ist, who is attended by the ministry of
angels.

Secondly, Here were the golden censers, to bring
fire ■mih incense to the mercy-seat, signifying that,
with the incense of the spirit of Christ's sufferings,
must be mingled by Christ himself upon the altar
with fire, before that our service can be accepted,
Lev. xvi. 12, with Eev. viii. 3, 4.

Tliii'dly, Here was the pot of manna which God
gave them from heaven, signifying Christ crucified —
' The bread that came down from heaven,' John vi.
41 ; 1 Cor. x. 3 ; also Aaron's rod that budded,
testifying their rebellion. Num. xvi., yet, being near
to the mercy-seat, was pardoned in Christ. These
two last, Heb. ix. 3, 4, are said to be within the
ark ; where some ^ refer the relative to the fonner
antecedent, which needs not, seeing that, standing
before it, they were with it, for nothing was witliin
but the two tables, 1 Kings viii. 9.

Besides these that did severally belong to some of
the holy places, there were some things common to
all. As, first. The anointing oil, wheremth every
particular vessel and instrument was consecrate to
his lioly use, signifying the graces of the Spirit
sanctifjing us to God ; secondly. The coverings for the
whole tabernacle, signifying God's protection by his
special pro\"idence over his whole church and every
member thereof, as Isa. iv. 5, 6, ' Upon all the glory
shall be a defence,' &c. ; Ps. xxvii. 5, ' Thou wilt
hide me in thy tabernacle.'

In all these, and many other, he both manifested
his presence among his people, and also his readi-
ness to do them good by communicating spiritual
blessings among them. If any say. These things
proved his presence amongst the Jews, but what are
they to us? I answer. Much. They were types
and ' shadows of good things to come ; but the body
is Christ,' Col. ii. 17, who is 'come by a more per-
fect tabernacle,' Heb. ix. 11 ; and him we have

' Jun., par.

Ver. 1.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

among us in the word of the gospel, fully perform-
ing all that was prefigured in legal ceremonies.

Quest. Are our churches and chapels answerable to
the Jews' tabernacle and temple for prerogative of
God's presence ?

A)is. No ; difference of place in respect of holiness
for God's service is taken away by Christ in the
New Testament, John iv. 21, 23 ; 1 Tim. ii. 8.
But the congregations of God's people, assembled
for holy worship according to God's ordinance, have
Christ present, as J\Iat. xviii. 20. They are God's
house, Heb. iii. 16, and God's temple, 1 Pet. ii. 5;
Eph. ii. 21.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1. For instruction, two ways : fii'st. How to
judge rightly of difference of place in respect of
holiness, — namely, if it be God's habitation and
dweUing-place ; thus were the temple, the tabernacle,
and people of the Jews more holy than others under
the law. Papists say consecrated places for holy wor-
ship be more holy than other places, Bdlar., De C'uliu
Sand., lib. ui. cap. 4. But the truth is, our churches
and chapels are as the Jews' synagogues, whereof, Ps.,
Ixxiv. 8 ; of which we may say, as Mat. xxiii. 16,
1 7, ' Woe unto you, blind guides,' &c. ; or as Ber-
nard, Hahent sanditatem, sed propter corpoj-a vcstra,
&c.. Churches are holy because of your bodies, your
bodies because of your souls, your souls because of
the Spirit of God. As it was said of the Israelites,
Non propter locum gentem, sed propter gentem locum
elegit, (ConcU., Aquisgr.) As Austin, Quid supplica-
twus Deo locum sanctum requiris ? Volens in templo
ware in te ora, et ita age semper id Deo templum sis :
ibi enim Deus exaiulif, uhi habitat, (Aug., lib. sentent.)
And Origen, (Hom. 5 in Lev.,) Locum sanctum in
terris non requiro positum, sed in cordc.

Use 2. Secondly, See whence the church of God
in general, and every time member thereof in par-
ticular, have their stabUity, even from this, that they
are the temple of God, God dweUeth in them, and
he is stronger than he that is in the world, 1 John
iv. 4.

Use 3. For admonition, here learn to take notice
of God's dwelling-places, and to cairy ourselves an-
swerable to his goodness and bounty therein. His
public dwelling-places are the holy assemblies of

ministers and people in hoi}- worship ; towards
which we must have David's aftection towards the
tabernacle, Ps. xlii. 2, 3, and bdii. 1, 2, and shew
forth our desne to glorify God by provoking others
to frequent the same, Isa. ii. 2, 3 ; Micah iv. 1,'_2.
But, alas ! here justly we may complain, as Lam. i.
4, ' The ways of Zion mourn.' Few frequent these
assemblies in comparison of those that run thick and
tlireefold to sinful and shameful assemblies, where
Satan dwelleth, as he doth in places of idolatry and
impiety.

For comfoit it makes greatly to all God's cliildreu
who are the members of his church ; they have a
double assurance that Clirist dwelleth in them, their
inward jjiety, and their outward profession. Here-
on they may say, as Jer. xx. 11, ' The Lord is with
me as a mighty terrible one : therefore my persecu-
tors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail : they
shall be greatly ashamed ; for they shall not pros-
per : their everlasting confusion shall never be for-
gotten.' And with David, Ps. cxiii. 5, 6, ' Who is
like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on liigh,
who humbleth himself to behold the things that are
in heaven, and in the earth ! ' Consider Luke xi.
21, 22, and John xiv. 17, 18.

The point purposely intended is, that God's taber-
nacles are most lovely and amiable, surpassing
Da\ad's ability to express, Ps. xxvi. 8, xx^ii. 4, and
cxxii. 1.

The reason is, first, God's gracious presence as he
stands in covenant with his people ; for so he shews
himself in his sanctuaiy, the place of his worsHp,
and his presence is lovely : Ps. Ixiii. 2, ' To see thy
power and glory, so as I have seen thee in thy sanc-
tuary.' This liked Moses so well that he had rather
stay with it in the wUdemess than go -without it to
Canaan, Exod. xxxiii. 25 ; Mat. x\'ii. 2-4. "When
Christ was transfigured in the mount, in the sight
of Peter, James, and John, Peter liked the place so
well that he said, ' ALaster, it is good to be here,'
and moves for liberty to buOd three tabernacles.j

Secondly, There God doth lovingly admit com-
munion and society with his people, speaking unto
them in his word, as Ps. 1. 5, 7 ; Isa. xl. 1, and hear-
ing them speak to him in prayer, Ps. 1. 15 ; as Cant,
ii. 14. It is, as we may speak with reverence, the
wooing-place between Christ and his church ; here

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 1

the contract is made in tlie covenant of grace, as 2
Cor. xi. 2 ; here is the love of espousals, Jer. ii. 2 ;
here God allows and speaks comfort, Hosea ii. 14.

Thirdly, Here God doth shew himself most gra-
cious in mercy and bounty unto his chiu'ch. His
gi'acious mercy is seen in remo\'ing evils from them :
as, first, Blindness of mind, Isa. xxii. 7, with 2 Cor.
iii. 14; secondly, Hardness of heart, Ezek. xxx\'i.
26; tliirdly. Transgression of life, Hosea xiv. 4. His
gracious bounty is seen in spiritual and heavenly
gifts ; for where is regeneration wi-ought but in his
church 1 Ps. Ixxxvii. 4, 5, ' Man and man ' — that
is, every man that is born again — ' was born in her ; '
for 'Jerusalem is the mother of us all,' Gal. iv. 26.
Now hereby we are made the sons of God, heii's of
heaven, 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. Where are all the particular
saving graces of the Spirit begotten in the hearts of
men, but in the church ordinarily ? Ps. Ixxxvii. 7,
'All my springs are in thee.' The Spuit is the
fountain, and peculiar graces the streams that issue
thence, see John vii. 37, 39. Here God begets grace
in thy soul, and is it not a most lovely thing to have
such near and sweet society with God I It was
divine joy to the Virgin Mary that the Holy Ghost
did overshadow her, and foi-m the blessed body of
Christ in her womb, as we may see by her song :
Luke i. 46, 47, 'My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.'
Oh, consider that God begetting grace in thy heart
in his church, Clirist is formed in thee spiritually.
Gal. iv. 19, which should be more joyful unto thee,
if more might be, than Christ's conception was to
her ; because she might have been saved without
that honour, but thou canst not unless Christ be
formed in thee ; here thou beholdest and art changed
into the same image, 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Tliis serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1. For instruction, first. That our Christian
assemblies for evangelical worship are lovely places ;
for what David said of the legal tabernacle is most
true of evangelical assemblies for the holy worship of
God in Christ, in the word, sacraments, and prayer.
For, Heb. ix. 11, 'Clirist is now come an high priest
of good things to come, by a greater and more per-
fect tabernacle ; ' and here he is present. Mat. xviii.
20, admitting liis elect to holy society and fellowship

with himself, also exercising most gracious mercy
and bounty in removing evils, and bestowing hea-
venly blessings and graces upon his.

Use 2. Secondly, See here a reason of David's
strong affection towards the legal tabernacle, and
proportionably of the affection of God's children to-
ward evangelical worshijj : he was sick for sorrow
when he was debarred from it, see Ps. xlii. 1, 2,
and most joyful when he had freedom thereto, Ps.
cxxii. 1. The reason is the loveliness of the place,
for the presence, favour, and gi'ace of God there to
be enjoyed after a special manner. The world doth
account God's children, for their zeal in following the
preaching of the word, brain-sick persons, giddy-
headed, and suchlike. But the truth is, these cen-
surers — like sorry physicians, '^'y^ ^K3~l' Jo^^ ^"i- ^
— mistake the place affected (as Festus did of Paul,
Acts xxvi. 24 ;) they are sick indeed, yet not brain-
sick, but heait-sick, sick of love, as Cant. v. 8,
■"Jl^ n2nj>} jn';>"inii'i after Christ. "Whereof they need
not to be ashamed, for God the Father loves them,
and Christ also, John xiv. 21. Now it is no news
that those that are in love should frequent the places
where they may meet with their beloved.

Use 3. For admonition, it serves profitably two
ways. First, To those that can see no loveliness in
God's tabernacles among us ; can take no delight or
pleasure in the assemblies of God's people for his
holy worship. Consider tliine estate, for certainly
as yet thou hast not David's heart, and he was a
man according to God's own heart. Acts xui. 22.
Such are, first, recusant papists ; secondly, profane
contemners — of both whom we may say, as Mat. xi.
16, &c., ' Whereunto shall I liken this generation?'
&c. These have no heart for God that are weary of
his worship, see Mai. i. 13 ; Amos vLii. 5. It is not
the May -pole dance that will di-aw recusants : the
danceabout the gold en calf would drawthem all, Exod.
xxxii. 6, 19. Jeroboam's calves at Dan and Bethel
they like well, 1 Kings xii. 28, 29 ; and to set their
posts by the Lord's, as Ezek. xliii. 8 ; but wisdom
is justified of her children. Mat. xi. 19. These men,
professing themselves to be wise, become fools, see
Eom. i. 22-24. Mark well, till thou hast a heart
for God's worship, thou hast no soul fit for heaven.
How canst thou be a pillar in God's house, and
never brought to the framing place ] In the material

Ver. 2.]

PIERSOX ON PSALM LXXXIV.

temple tlicre Avere tliree places : so public assemblies
are for regeneration and glory. For motives, think
on John iii. 5, ' Except a man be born of water and
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.'

Use 4. Secondly, To C4od's children ; are they
lovely to thee? Let thine actions towards God's
worship declare the truth of thine affections.

Men of authority and wealth must apply both for
the maintenance and furtherance of God's worship :
so did David, 1 Chron. xxix. 2, 3, 'I have prepared
with all my might for the house of my God,' &c.
' Because I have set my affection to the house of
my God,' &c. Ministers especially must shew love
unto, and delight in, the Lord's worship ; by negli-
gence they conceal the knowledge of God, see Mat.
xxiii. 13 ; Luke xi. 52. The shew-bread must be
set upon the table in the tabernacle every Sabbath
new, Lev. xxiv. 8 ; by profaneness they cause the
Lord's tabernacle and service to be forsaken and
loathed, 1 Sam. ii. 17. People also must call one
on another, Isa. ii. 2, 3 ; and all, both magistrates,
ministers, and people, must iway for the Lord's
power and providence in maintaming his pure wor-
ship. The next week being the time of ordination
of ministers, it is not unfit to take notice of it, to do
that wliich Christ enjoined. Mat. ix. 38, ' Pray ye
therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth labourers into his harvest.'

Though papists observe such times superstitiously,
yet we may do as Gideon, who sacrificed to the Lord
that wliich was prepared for Baal, Judges \i. 26.

Yer. 2. My soul longeth, yea, even faintelh for the
courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crkth out for
the living God.

In the former verse David, by way of admu'ation,
ackuowledgeth unto the Lord the loveHness of his
tabernacles ; in this verse he doth in his own person
verify his former confession, by discovering his own
ardent and earnest affection, first, to the place of
God's worship, then to God himself, for whose
sake he so affected the place. His fervent affection
towards the place is in these words, ' My soul
longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord.' The courts of the Lord were two : one was
the great court, that place whither the people came ;

the other was for the priests, 2 Chron. vi. 9 ; for
this Da\'id's soul longed and fainted. He had as
great a desire after it as a woman with child hath
after the things she longeth for ; and being deprived
hereof his soul fainted, as women will do when they
miss of the things they long for. His vehement
desire after God himself is in the latter branch,
' My heart and my flesh crieth out for the hving God.'

In the words note two points : first, David's
earnest and ardent affection towards the places of
God's public worship — his soul longed and fainted
after them ; his affection towards this place was like
the appetite of a woman with child, who is apt to
desii'e some things inordinately, see Ps. xxvii. 4,
xlii. 1, and Ixiii. 1.

The reason hereof stands on a double ground :
first, The sense of his own estate in soul for some
spiritual wants. His estate in soul was this : first,
He had a true spuitual hunger and thirst after
heavenly things, as Ps. cvii. 5, which things were
only to be had in the tabernacles of God. His case
was like the prodigal child's, Luke xv. 1 7 ; he was
hunger-starved, and there was bread enough at his
father's house, for the tabernacles of God are Betli-
lehcm, the house of bread. Mat. ii. 6. Here Christ
is born, the true bread of life, John vi. 48, 50. It
might well be called the house of bread, for anciently
it was Ephrath, or Ephratlia, a place of fruitfulness.
Gen. xlviii. 7 ; and at Bethlehem was an excellent
well, after wliich David longed, 2 Sam. xxiii. 15 ;
so in God's tabernacles is the river of his pleasures,
the fountain of life. Hither apply Ezek. xlvii. 1,
'The waters of the sanctuary,' and Zech. xiii. 1,
' A fountain for uncleanness.'

Secondly, Da^^d was in love, which affection will
grow to be strong — strong as death. Cant. viii. 6, 7.
Now the paity he loved was here, and here only, to
be enjoyed, for special spiritual society, 1 Kings ix.
3 ; see Cant. i. 7, 8.

Thirdly, David's soul was with child ; he had
spuitually conceived Christ. Now longing is ordi-
nary to women with child, it is gravidarum malacia,^
and the thing he longed for was in the courts of the
Lord.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

' Plin lib. xxiii. cap. C.

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 2

f « 1. For instruction, touching tlie good or bad
estate of men's souls ; for if our souls be in good
estate, we must be affected towards evangelical wor-
ship, as David's was towards legal, for hunger and
tliu'st, love and longing after heavenly things. In
evangelical worship is our communion and 'fellowship
with Christ and his benefits, and indeed in this world
herein only and chiefly, because of God's ordinances.
If thou say, with Naaman, 'Are not Abana and
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel?' 2 Kings v. 12, thou must keep
thy leprosy of sin unless thou change thy mind, for
all God's springs are here, Ps. Ixxxvii. 7.

Now after trial it ^^^I1 be found true, that many
neither himger nor thirst, love nor long, but say, as
Mai. i. 13, ' It is a weariness ; ' and as Amos viii. 5,
' When will the new moon and Sabbath be gone ;' as
Job xxi. 14, they say unto God, 'Depart from us ;'
and as the mixed multitude, Num. xi. 6, ' Our soul is
dried away : there is nothing at aU, besides this
manna, before our eyes.

Use 2. For admonition, to labour to have our
hearts affected towaixls evangelical worshij), as
David's was towards legal. The . way is to inform
ourselves of our natural misery in ourselves, for
which there is no remedy but in the Lord's taber-
nacles, his Bcthesda, John v. 4, &c., where ' whoso-
ever first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in,
was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.' Our
misery is spiritual, in blindness of mind, hardness of
heart, &c. Now here only is the Lord's eye-salve,
Eev. iii. 18, and the Spirit that takes away the stony
heart, and gives an heart of flesh, Ezek. xxx\'i. 26.

Us; 3. For comfort, it makes generally to those
that truly desu-e and delight in evangelical worshiji ;
if herein they deal sincerely, they cannot but be ac-
ceptable to God, and he will give testimony to them,
as he did to David, ' I have found Da'sid the son of
Jesse, a man after mine own heart,' Acts xiii. 22 : of
them it may be said, as Mat. xiii. 1 6, ' Blessed
are your eyes, for they see : and your ears, for they
hear ; ' and as Mat. xvi. 17, ' Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-jona : for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.'

My heart and my flesh crkth out for the licinij God.
The second sentence, declaring David's vehement
desu-e after the true God, here called the li\ing God.

He names lioth heart and flesh, to shew the truth of
his affection ; as it was conceived in his soul, so it
was expressed and manifest in his body, in voice
and gesture, looking towards it, and crying out for
it : so the word is translated, Prov. i. 20, ' Wisdom
crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets,'
Lam. ii. 19, ' Arise, cry out in the night ;' Ps. x^di. 6,
' I have called upon thee ; ' Ps. Ixxviii. 65, ' Like a
mighty man that shouteth.'

Here note the description of God, and Da^id's af-
fection towards him.

For the first. The true God is ' the living God,'
so Ps. xiii. 2 ; Jer. x. 10, and in other places : for
the better understanding whereof we must consider,
first. In general what the life of God is ; and then
more particularly, what those special properties are
whereby God shews himself indeed to be a li'^ing
God.

For the first. The life of God is an essential pro-
perty of the divine nature, whereby it is, and is con-
ceived of us to be, in perpetual action, living and
moving in itself and of itself. To give a reason
hereof a priori, by way of causality, it is impossible ;
but a posteriori, or from the effect, we may argue
thus : If God had not life in himself, he could not
give life and being unto other things. But ' in him
we live, we move, and have our being ; ' yea, ' he
giveth unto all, life, and breath, and all things,'
Acts xvii. 28, 25. Therefore he is a living God.

For the second. The special properties whereby God
shews himself indeed to be a living God are three :
his wisdom, his power, and his will. His wisdom,
whereby in and of himself he doth linow both him-
self and all things else, both universal and particular,
that either have been, are, or shall be — yea, that
might have been, or may be. His power, whereby
he effectually doth whatsoever he mil, and is able to
do whatsoever he can ■will, both how, and when, and
where -he will. His will, whereby he cloth most
freely and justly, by one eternal immutable act, vidll
his own glory as the end of all things, and all things
else as the means of that end. He that hath these
properties, and exerciseth these efl^ects of life, must
needs be a livmg God ; which consideration may
serve for a second reason of the point.

By way of use, it serves for instruction, admoni-
tion, and comfort.

Ver. 2.]

riERSON ON rSALM LSXXIV.

Use 1. For instraction, it serves to distinguish
between the true God and idols. That wliich lives
not at all, or lives not of itself, cannot be God : this
use the prophet Jeremiah makes of it, chap. x. 10 ;
and the apostle Barnabas, and Paul, Acts xiv. 15, and
1 Thes. i. 9.

Use 2. For admonition : to the end we may have
the like affection towards God as David had, we
must imitate him in his esteem of God, and labour
to have our hearts well settled in this persuasion,
that the true God is indeed a living God. Other-
wise, as he were not worth the crpng after, so would
it not be easy to induce us to it ; for were he not a
hving God, how loud soever we should cry, he could
not hear, and then we might conceive it as good to
be silent ; a deaf God and a dumb religion may do
well enough together.

But (as the psalmist intimates, Ps. Ixv. 2, when
he saith, 'Thou art the God that hearest prayer;
unto thee shall all flesh come ') hope of audience is
that wliich openeth the mouth of invocation ; for
' how shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed ? ' Kom. x. 1 4 ; and how shall men believe
in any but a li-ving God 1 what good can a dead god
do them ?

Use 3. For comfort : they that are the servants of
the true God are the servants of the living God, and
whilst God lives they need not fear to lack anything
that is good for them ; they need not fear falling
into any temptation, out of which they may not as-
suredly expect a comfortable issue. This use Darius
seems to have made of this consideration, Dan. vi.
20, 26, 27 ; and God himself may be thought to aim
at and intend the same, when, to confirm the faith of
his servants in the assured certainty of his promises,
he sweareth by his own life, as Isa, xUx. 18, and
teacheth his people so to swear, Jer. iv. 2, and when
they commemorate his mercies unto them, to make
mention of his hfe, Jer. xxiii. 7, 8, as the psalmist
doth, Ps. xviii. 48.

To this description of the true God, the i^salmist
adds this exiwession of his affection towards him,
' My heart and my flesh crieth out,' — as much as to
say, I do not only earnestly desire to enjoy God's
presence in his sacred ordinances, but likewise out-
wardly, in all the parts of my body, I give evidence of
that earnest desire. The observation will be this :

They that have the same esteem of the true God
that David had, will earnestly in their hearts desire,
and diligently in their actions and behaviours endea-
vour, to exjiress and give evidence of that desire.
The like expression is used, Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 26,
' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is
none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My
flesh and my heart faUeth : but God is the strength
of my heart, and my portion for ever.'

The reason is, first. Because they make account
that in communion with, and fruition of, the true God,
consists then- happiness.

By him they exjsect to be freed from all evdl, and
made partakers of all good things, as the psalmist
expresseth more at large in the 4th, 5th, 11th, and
12th ver.ses.

Secondly, Because an earnest desire in the heart
is as sap in the root, which in the branches wiU bud
and break forth into leaves and fruit. As the oint-
ment in the hand will not be hid, but bewrayeth
itself, Prov. xxvii. 16; so grace in the heart will
discover itself in the words of the mouth and the
actions of the life : ' Out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh,' Mat. xii. 34 ; and if the
heart be inditing a good matter, the tongue vill be
as the pen of a ready writer, Ps. xlv. 1. 'I be-
lieved,' saith the psalmist, ' therefore have I spoken,'
Ps. csrvi. 10; 'We also believe,' saith the apostle,
' and therefore speak,' 2 Cor. iv. 13.

By way of use it serves for reproof and admoni-
tion.

Use 1. First, For reproof of tliem that pretend
they believe the true God to be the living God, yet
neither with their hearts nor with their flesh cry
out for him ; who, if they have any desires at all to
be made happy in fruition of him, and communion
with him, yet even those desires are so remiss and
cold, so faint and feeble, that others can perceive no
evidence, and may well make a question whether
they themselves be sensible of them. Perhaps they
may say, as the psalmist tells us many do, ' Who
will shew us any good '] ' Ps. iv. 6 ; but witli him to
cry out for the living God is a thing they think not
of. Such spiritual sluggards the world hath too
many, whose souls desire and have nothing, Prov.
xiii. 4 ; nay, whose desires kill them, because their
hands refuse to labour, chap. xxi. 25.

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Vee. 3.

Use 2. For admonition unto all, that as ever they
desire to assure themselves, or to testify to others,
that they have the same esteem of the true God and
of his sacred service that David had, to believe him
indeed to be the living God, and account his taber-
nacles amiable ; that they labour vrith him to stir up
both tlieu' hearts and their flesh to cry out for him ;
that they earnestly desire the fruition of him and
communion with him ; that they diligently endeavour
by all good means to express and give evidence of
that desire. To move them the rather hereunto, let
them consider that God is so delighted with his
servants' importunities, and loves the loudness of
their voice so well, that of purpose sometimes he
takes upon him, as it were, to be asleep or hard of
hearing, and will not be seen to take notice of their
desires, untU they attain to such a height of fer-
vency that he cannot rest for them, as the plu'ase is
by the prophet Isaiah, chap. Ixii. G, 7. ' The effec-
tual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much,' James v. 16. Fervency makes much to the
eflBcacy of desires amongst men, much more with
God, as our Saviour shews plainly in the parable of
the importunate widow and the unjust judge, Luke
x\^ii. 1, &c. To weary men is but a small thing in
comparison of wearying God, Isa. vii.' 1.3. If we
walk after the Lord, as Hosea xi. 10, we are never
so like to overtake him as when we have wearied
him. A memorable example to tliis purpose we
have in the woman of Canaan, Mat. xv. 21, &c.,
who, as if she had meant to try masteries with our
Saviour, wrestled first with his silence by her im-
portunity, crying after him so that his disciples
besought him to send her away, and then, with liis
speech by her faith, making such advantage of his
arguments against her for her own behoof, that
with reverence we may say she got the better of
him, and went away mth an ample commendation,
and grant of her desire to the full.

Ver. 3. Yea, the sjvirrow hath found her an house,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay
her young, thine altars, Lord of hosts, my King, and
my God.

Having in the first verse, by way of admiration,
acknowledsed unto God the loveliness of his taber-

nacle, the place of his holy worship, and in the
second verified the same by discovering his own
ardent affection, first to the place of God's holy
worship, then to God himself, for whose sake he so
aflected the place, in this third he proceedeth iu
the former discovery of his heart's desire towards
the place of God's worship, by debasing his present
estate as worse than the condition of the sjjarrow
and swallow, the one whereof finds her a house,
the other a nest where she may lay her young ; but
he wanted liberty of access to the Lord's altars, —
that is, to the Lord's tabernacle, where his altar
was, the holy place of his solemn worship, which
was to David's soul as the house to the sparrow and
the nest to the swallow.

This application he enfoldeth in an aposiopesis,
an interrupted exclamation unto God of his altars,
concealing some words which should express his full
meaning, from the passionate aff'ection of liis soul ;
wliich kind of speaking is most frequent, and fit to
manifest fervent desires.

I am not ignorant that the Chaldee parajihrase hath
other names of bu'ds — viz., the dove, and the turtle,
X/12V and N2^J3Ii? — and the Septuagiut, bt^vOIov xai
T^uydiv, the sparrow and the turtle, whom the vidgar
Latin follows ; but the jiroper signification of the
words is as our English Bible hath them. Besides,
interpreters differ in applying the latter part of the
verse : some refer it by ajiposition to the former, as
though the Lord's altars were the jjlace where these
birds did build their nests, which yet some others,
not without cause, do dislike ; because, though in
the temjile sparrows and swallows might build their
nests, it being very sf)acious, yet it is not like they
did build them in the tabernacle, wliich was the
place of God's worship, when David penned this
psalm. Now the application which I make, in a
sacred aposiopesis, prevents that scruple, and yet
prefers the condition of these birds before David's
for outward liberty, which way soever we refer it.
Though I conceive the true meaning of the prophet
to be this, that the sparrow and swallow had liberty
to build their nests and breed their young in houses
which were belonging to others, whether near unto
or far off from the tabernacle it matters not, all
houses were ahke to them : yet in houses they de-
sired to build and were permitted, wherein these

Ver. 3.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

birds had their desire ; hut David was debarred
from the Lord's tabernacle, where his altar was,
wliich to his soul was as a house and nest to the
sparrow and swallow, and whereto he had right and
interest, having the Lord of hosts for his king and
his God.

In the words thus explained and taken, note these
jioints :

First, Tliat David prefers the outwai'd condition
of silly little birds, as the sparrow and swallow,
before himself ; to his sense and feeling their outward
estate was better than his.

They had Hberty to enjoy the place of their desii-e,
even other men's houses to rest and nestle in, whose
birds they were not ; but he was debarred from the
Lord's sanctuary, the only resting and nestling-
place for his soul, though he had title thereto by
special covenant, having the Lord of hosts for his
king and his God.

This serves for instruction, admonition, aud com-
fort.

Use \. For instruction thus, that God's special
favour must not be measured by outward things ;
we must not judge them rejected from God's favour
whose outward estate is mean and miserable, for so
shall we ofl'end against the generation of God's chil-
dren, Ps. XXXV. 15. David was a man according to
God's own heart, Acts xiii. 22, a pattern of piety to
all succeeding kings of Judah and Israel ; as 1 Kings
iii. 14, to Solomon; 1 Kings xi. 38, to Jeroboam ;
yet for outward estate he was very miserable, 1 Sam.
xxvi. 20, hunted as a flea or a partridge ; Ps. cii.
6, 7, as a pelican, an owl, and a sparrow. Yea,
Christ himself, the Son of God's love. Col. i. 13,
had not whereon to lay his head. This his mean
and miserable estate made the people in his time to
judge rashly of him, see Isa. liii. 3.

Use 2. For admonition, beware of rash judgment
either against ourselves or others. Consider, beside
Da«d, and Chiist, before mentioned, the parable of
Dives and Lazarus, Luke xvi., and the state of many
whom the world was not worthy of, Heb. xi. 37, 38,
which is a needful thing in these troublesome times
of the church of God ; beware of rash judgment,
consider that ' judgment must begin at the house of
God,' 1 Pet. iv. 1 7.

Use 3. For consolation, this makes greatly to the

afflicted and banished. Consider David's case at
this time ; nay, the case of Christ, who ' had not
whereon to lay his head,' Mat. viii. 20. Now ' the
servant is not above the master ; ' if it were so with
the green tree, what may it be mth the diy 1 Luko
xxiii. 31. In such case we must say, as Christ of
his kingdom, so we of our comfort, It is ' not of this
world,' John xviii. 36. In this case and state no-
thing doth befall us but that which appertaineth to
man, and God will give the issue, 1 Cor. x. 13.
Consider the case of Christ's apostles, who were
near and dear unto him, yet, 1 Cor. iv. 11, such as
did ' both hunger and thirst, were naked, were
buffeted, and had no certain dwelling-place.'

Secondly, Here see that to Da\'id's soul the Lord's
altars were as house and nest to little bii-ds : the
jjlace of God's worship was the place of his cliief
desire, Ps. xxvii. 4, and cxxxvii. .5, 6, for the good
things which were there to be enjoyed, which are
fully set do%vn in the next verse.

Use 1. First, See he had good cause of this grievous
complaint : birds will mourn in their kind when they
are driven from their nest.

Use 2. Secondly, See a notable evidence of the
state of man before God, to discover whether he be
acceptable to God, as David was, for then undoubtedly
his heart cleaveth to the place of God's worship, as
David's did here, and ver. 10, '0 Lord of hosts, my
King, and my God.' These titles serve to amplify
David's complaint ; the first, ' Lord of hosts,' shews
what God is in himself, and hath been handled in
the first verse ; the two latter, ' My King, and my
God,' are titles of relation, shearing what God was
unto Da\nd, namely, his King and his God, as he
stood in covenant with him. In calling God his
king, he doth not only acknowledge his absolute
sovereignty, whereby he is king of all creatures, as
Ps. ciii. 19; Dan. iv. 32, but his special regiment
by his word and Spirit, which he doth exercise in
his chui-ch on earth, which is his kingdom of grace,
wherein David was a subject, being a member of his
church, and so speaks to God as to his king: so
likewise calhng the Lord his God, he means not
only by creation and preservation in general, but
also by special covenant, wherein God, requiring
faith and obedience of his creatures, doth undertake
to afford unto them all the blessings of the covenant,

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 4.

as well pertaining to tins life, as to the life to come,
see Exod. xxiii. 22 ; Deut. xxx. 15, 19.

Here observe, that David, a king, ackuowledgeth
God to be his king, as likewise he doth, Ps. v. 2 ;
so that God is ' King of kings,' Dan. ii. 47. Nebuchad-
nezzar confesseth it : ' Of a truth it is, that your God
is a God of gods and a Lord of kings.'

The reason is, because he hath the rule and com-
mand over kings, as kings have over their subjects.

Use 1. This serves for admonition : first, To
superiors, directing them to use equity, justice, and
conscience in all their deahngs with their inferiors,
for they themselves have a superior in heaven. By
this argument the apostle persuades masters to use
moderation towards their servants, Eph. vi. 9. And
if this were thought upon, it would prevent negligence
and injustice, the bane of superiority.

Use 2. Secondly, To inferiors, directing them to
obey their superiors, not absolutely, but in the Lord.
So in a family servants obey the steward, not against
the will of the lord when they know it. Hence that
of Shadi-ach, Meshach, and Abednego, Dan. iii. 16-
18, and that of the apostles. Acts iv. 19, and v. 29.

Use 3. Thirdly to all, teaching us humility and
reverence in every action of worship we perform to
God. How do men carry themselves in petitioning
unto their king? They put up their petitions on
their knees. ^Yhat then are we, that we shoidd not
bow to the King of kings? Consider, Ps. xcv. 6,
childi-en asking blessing kneel to their bodily fathers,
how much more should we to the Father of spuits ?
And reason to that purpose as the apostle doth for
patient suffering of correction, Heb. xii. 9 ; for
howsoever kneeling be not of absolute necessity, yet
humility in gesture is necessary.

Ver. 4. Blessed are they that dwell in thine house :
they will he still praising thee. Sclah.

In these words the psalmist expresseth the state
and behaviour of the true members of God's church,
who have the free and comfortable fniition of God's
holy worship and service, thek estate is happy, and
their behaviour godly and comfortable ; which doth
notably justify the equity of David's complaint, who
by trouble and persecution was debarred from this
happy and comfortable estate, in which regard he
prefers the condition of silly birds before himself.

ver. 3. This verse doth naturally branch itself into
two parts or propositions ; whereof the first shews
the happy estate ; the second, the holy and com-
fortable beha\'iour, of the true members of God's
Church.

For the first he saith, ' Blessed are they that
dwell m thine house.' God's house in Da\'id's tune
was the place where the Lord's tabernacle was, as
Ps. xxvi. 8 ; unto which, till the temple was built,
God had appropriated his holy solemn worship,
whereof see 1 Kings ix. 3. But now, in the New
Testament, difference of jilace in respect of holiness
is taken away, John iv. 21 ; and the true church of
God is the house of God, 1 Tim. iii. 15 ; that is,
such companies and assemblies as meet together in
Christ's name. Mat. xviii. 20 ; that is, by warrant
and authority from him, and according to his ^vill
revealed in his word ; worship God in the right and
reverent use of his holy ordinances, the holy word
and sacraments sanctified by prayer, 1 Pet. ii. 5.
To dwell in God's house is to abide and continue a
true member of God's church, enjoying the comfort
and liberty of God's holy worship and ser\ice, either
in the place of the ministry, or of one of God's
people ; for though the priests and the Levites made
special abode there, 1 Sam. iii. 2 ; and Ps. cxxxiv.,
yet others of the people, who did diligently frequent,
and freely enjoy the liberty of God's worship, might
be said to dwell therein, else David would not have
used that phrase praying for himself, Ps. xxvii. 4 ;
which I say, because some interpreters ' would limit
the first branch to the priests and Levites, but
the 15th Psalm doth enlarge the benefit to all the
godly.

The tiling then to be observed in the first branch
of the verse is this, that the true members of God's
church, who have the comfort and liberty of God's
holy worshij) and ser'N'ice, are blessed and happy :
see Ps. Ixv. 4, ' Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that
he may dwell in thy courts.' Hence it follows, ver.
10, 'A day in thy courts is better than a thousand:
I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my
God, than to dwell in the tents of Tvickedness.'

The reason hereof is, from the wonderful, rare,
heavenly blessmgs, which are here certainlj"^ enjoyed
. ' Piscat., Junius.

Ver. 4.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

by the true members of the church, and nowhere
else. "Whereof the first and principal, from which
all the rest do flow, is the fruition of communion
and fellowship with the true God, one in essence,
three in person — the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost — who is only in his church to the true
members thereof a God of grace and mercy; and
therefore they that are out of the church, are ' with-
out God in the world,' Eph. ii. 12. Here the first
person is 'the Father of mercies, and God of
all consolation,' 2 Cor. i. 3 ; the second person is a
blessed Saviour and Redeemer : Isa. ix. 6, ' Unto us
a child is born, unto us a Son is given ; ' a Saviour,
Luke ii. 10, II, with Isa. xlix. 6, 8. The Holy
Ghost is the blessed sanctifier and comforter, being
'the Spu'it of grace,' Zech. xii. 10, yet only in his
church, John xiv. 17. Now this true God is in his
church, to all the true members thereof, not only a
master far excelling Solomon, of whom the Queen
of Sheba testifies that his servants were blessed, 1
Kings X. 8, with Mat. xii. 42 ; and such a master as
saith, 'Where I am, there shall also my servant be,'
John xii. 26, with Luke xii. 37, 43, 44 ; but a
father. Mat. xxui. 9, John xx. 1 7 ; yea, a hus-
band, Isa. liv. 5, ' Thy maker is thine husband ; '
^nd Isa. Ixii. 4, 5, Thy land shall be married.'
'As a young man marrieth a virgin, as the bride-
groom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God
rejoice over thee.' Jer. iii. 14, ' I am married unto
you.' Hosea ii. 19, 20, ' I have betrothed thee unto
me for ever,' &c.

Secondly, This true God in Christ gives to all the
true members of his church freedom and deliverance
from all the miseries of nature — that is, from the
whole guilt and curse of sin, in original corruption
and actual transgressions ; see Luke i. 68, 74 ; Gal.
iii. 13; Eom. viii. 1 ; Acts xiii. 39.

Thirdly, Here is afforded the full fniitinn of all
needful blessings, as Eph. i. 3, ' AMio blesseth us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Clirist.'
And not only so, but even with all needful temporal
blessings. Mat. vi. 32, 33. These blessings may be
reduced to four heads :

First, To du-ection in all the ways wherein they
ought to walk : Ps. xxxii. 8, ' I will instruct thee and
teach thee in the way that thou shalt go;' Ps. Ixxiii.
24, ' Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.' If the

good housewife order the ways of her household,
Prov. xxxi. 27, how much more God?

Secondly, To provision both for soul and body :
for, Ps. xxxiv. 10, 'They that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing ;' for soul, John vi. 33, 35,
55, 63 ; 1 Cor. x. 16. Here is Christ the tree of
life, and the well of life, whereon, Ps. Ixxxvii. 7,
' All my springs are in thee ;' Eev. xxii. 1, 2 ; and
heaven for an inheritance, Luke xii. 32 ; 1 Pet. i.
3, 4. For temporal, .see Isa. Ix-v. 13 ; Ps. xxxvii. 3,
4.

Thirdly, To protection and preservation by special
pro\-idence, Ps. xxv. 5, and xci. 1, implied and
assured to all the faithful. Mat. x. 29-31. The
king's servants in ordinary may not be arrested but
upon waiTant from the lord chamberlain ; but God's
servants have a greater privilege ; God himself must
grant the warrant, else they may not be meddled
with, Job i. 10; John xix. 11 ; Acts xviii. 10; Ps.
Ixxx-ix. 22.

Fourthly, To remuneration, both here with honour
of grace to be his friends, John xv. 14, 15 ; 1 John
iii. 1, and attendance of angels, Ps. xxxiv. 7, and
xci. 11 ; and hereafter. Mat. xxv. 21, 23 ; Luke xix.
17, &c. ; Mat. xix. 28, 29.

Use 1. Is it such a blessing to dwell in God's
house 1 then it is a great curse to dwell out of it ;
for so they should be deprived of all the forenamed
blessings. This made David to say, 'Woe is me
that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents
of Kedar,' Ps. cxxv., and 1 Sam. xxvi. 19, 'If they
be the children of men, cursed be they before the
Lord : for they have driven me out this day from
abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go,
serve other gods.' The ancient resemblance of
God's church to Noah's ark is true, and fit for this
place.

Use 2. Secondly, We must examine whether we be
such as dwell in God's house, as true members of
the church ; and such only are true believers in
Christ, for ' no man cometh to the Father but by
him,' John xiv. 6. Whereby will be excluded all
Gentiles, who are without Christ, Eph. ii. 12, and
Turks and Jews, who though they acknowledge the
God that made the world, and lirought Israel out of
EgyjJt, yet not beLie\ing Christ Jesus, the Son of the
Virgin Mary, to be the Son of God and Saviour of

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 4.

the -world, they ' shall die in their sins,' John viii. 24 ;
Luke xiii. 28.

Yea, besides them papists holding the doctrine
established in the Council of Trent, who do not
only deride,' but accuse " the doctrine of justification
by imputed righteousness, will be found Ishmaelites,
the sons of the bondwoman, such as must be put out
of the house. Gal. iv. 21, 30, and such guests as
want the wedding garment, which is Cluist's right-
eousness imputed and received by faith, see 2 Cor.
V. 20 ; Eev. iii. 18. Our white raiment to cover our
filthy nakedness of sin must be had of Christ ; also
by their idolatry they hold not the head. Col. ii. 18,
19. Also they that profess the truth, and yet con-
tent themselves with a dead faith, are not dwellers
in God's house; that is, such as 'have a show of
godliness, but want the power thereof,' 2 Tim. iii. 5,
who profess they know God, but by their works deny
him,' Tit. i. 1 6. Of such St James speaks, chap. ii.
18, 20, 'Shew me thy faith without thy works,'
&c. He that must abide in the house for ever must
be a son, John viii. 35, which we all are tlirough
faith in Christ, Gal. iii. 26, and by regeneration,
1 John V. 1 ; for of such the apostle saith, ' Thou art
no more a ser^'ant, but a son,' Gal. iv. 7. Therefore,
whosoever would certainly know himself to be in
God's house, and to continue therein, must get tnie
faith, and keep it, and shew the trath of it by works
of love, Gal. v. 6, and of obedience to God's word,
1 Thes. ii. 13.

Use 3. As we desire the assurance of tnie happiness,
we must approve ourselves dwellers in God's house —
that is, such as continue and abide the true servants
and children of God. Our holy calling to the faith
of the gospel gives us entrance and admittance into
the family of God, 1 Cor. i. 2, 9 ; Eph. ii. 18, and
iii. 12 ; and our perseverance and continuance in
the same faith is it that doth manifest our abode
and dwelling in God's house, 1 John ii. 19. Now
this faith is one, Eph. iv. 5, as God is one ; and if it
be true it worketh by love, Gal. v. 6, and is seen by
obedience, wherein we must be constant, Phil. ii.
12; Mat. xxiv. 13; and herein we must approve
ourselves dwellers in God's house, having our ears
bored, Exod. xxi. 6 ; Ps. xl. 6 ; ' Endeavouring,' as
1 Tim. L 19, 'to keep faith and a good conscience,'
I Rhem. on Eom. iii. 22. ' Cone. Trid,, sess. vi. can. 10.

and, 2 Tim. i. 13, 'Holding fast the wholesome word in
faith and love.' In great houses here on earth we
see great men make use of retainers, which are not
servants in ordinary at bed and board, but have
houses of their own, where for the most part they
live, and look to their own business. Only at good
times, as they say, and on some special occasions,
they come to their lord and master and wait upon
him in his livery, and are welcome to him, and well
accepted as his servants ; but in the church of God,
which is the house of the living God, the Lord of
heaven and earth, it is not so ; all whom he owneth
and acknowledgeth for his servants are sen'ants in
ordinary — they dwell in his house, Ps. Ixv. 4, per-
forming the service of prayer and thanksgiraig, and
the works of obedience, every day. He hath no re-
tainers acknowledged by him for his servants, I mean
such as take liberty to live as they list, and for the
service of God, like retainers, think now and then, as
on high days, and once on the Sabbath, is well
enough.

Indeed, such attendance will sen'e for a retainer,
but God acknowledgeth none such for his servants, see
Jer. vii. 9-11. He knoweth, that is, acknow-
ledgeth, those that be his, John x. 14, but such as
be workers of iniquity he knows them not, as Mat.
vii. 23. So we may say for idolaters, as papists be
in the worship of saints and of their breaden god,
they have another master than God, namely, vain
idols, 1 Thes. i. 9 ; ' Now none can serve two mas-
ters,' Mat. vi. 24. Time-servers are in the same
rank ; which be, first, Such as make conscience of
sin at communion times, but afterward live as they
list ; also such as embrace and hold true religion
only because the authority under which they live
doth enjoin it, and if it should alter by the will of
man they would turn with it; thirdly, Church
papists, who now and then come to our service and
sermons to answer the law, but in their hearts they
are for Romish superstition, like the carnal Israelites,
whose hearts turned back into Egypt. Of these we
may say, as 1 Kings xviii. 21, 'How long halt ye
between two opinions ? ' &c.

Use 4. A great comfort and encouragement to
them that persevere in the faith and go on in obedi-
ence ; they are blessed, and shall certamly, if they
go on, be glorified, see Mat. xxiv. 13; Eev. ii. 10,

Ver. 5.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

and iii. 12. Every one that is such shall he made a
pillar in God's house, and shall go no more out.
Therefore in general let all be encouraged to follow
the good servants that improve their master's tal-
ents, Mat. xx\\ 21, 23 ; and the apostle Paul, 2 Tim.
iv. 7, 8. In special let ministers, who ai-e stewards
and disposers of the mysteries of God, look to their
behaviour, ' shewing all good faithfulness,' 1 Cor. iv.
2. This fidelity is set down, Luke xii. 42-44, with
1 Pet. V. 1-4.

Thus much for their happy estate ; their holy
behaviour is answerable, — ' They will be still prais-
ing thee.' God's children and servants, who have
the happiness to dwell in God's house, will be much
and constant in praising God: see Ps. cxxxv. 1, 2,
' Praise the Lord, ye servants of the Lord,' &c.
Ver. 19, 'Bless the Lord, house of Israel: bless
the Lord, house of Aaron.' Ver. 20, 'Bless the
Lord, honse of lievi : ye that fear the Lord, bless
the Lord.' Ps. cxlv. 1, 2, 'I will extol thee, my
God, and my King ; I will bless thy name for ever
and ever. Every day -ndll I bless thee.' Ps. cxl\'i.

1, 'Hallelujah. Praise the Lord, my soul.' Ver.

2, 'While I live I ^viU praise the Lord.'

The reasons hereof are two : first, The sacred
ordinance of God, and his holy commandment, Ps. 1.
15 ; 1 Thes. v. 18. This makes it pleasant and
comely, Ps. cxl'vdi. 1.

Secondly, The power of his grace given to his
children and sei-vants, which, making them mindful
of the Lord, of his word, and of his works and bene-
fits, stirs them up to praise God. True grace is en-
forcing, as 2 Cor. v. 14 ; and hence it is with God's
servants in the matter of praising God, as it was
■n-ith the apostles for preaching, Acts iv. 20, and as
Luke xix. 40, ' If these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediatelj- cry out.'

This by way of use serves, —

Use 1. First, To let us see that praising God is
not a thing indifferent, but a necessary duty.
Hence the want of it brings the :nTath of God, as
on Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25.

Use 2. Secondly, We may see by this that they
have slender testimony that they be of God's house,
who fail of this duty. A usual thing for many to
have no prayers nor praising God in their famOies,
as also to go out of church when singing psalms

begin, as though praise were no part of that ser-
vice, the perfomiance whereof appertains unto them
who dwell in God's house and would be blessed
there.

Thirdl)', This .should serve as a most forcible
motive to endeavour this duty, which we shall the
rather do if we consider the motives in God, in his
properties, his works, for his church and against his
enemies ; also what our behaviour in heaven should
be, whereto we should begin to mure ourselves here
upon earth.

Ver. 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee ;
the hiyhwaijs are in their heart.

Ver. 6. They going through the valkj/ of Baca make
it a well.

Ver. 7. Theij go from strength to strength ; erenj one
of them apjieareth before God in Zion.

Here the prophet proceedeth in the commenda-
tion of the state of God's people, whom he doth ex-
pressly affirm to be blessed, and likewise plamly
and particularly describeth them by their tiiie and
certain properties, which axe of two sorts : first,
They are such as are strong in the Lord.

Secondly, They do sincerely and earnestly affect
the holy worship of God, wliich property is here
fully exjaressed by three things : first. Their hearts
are set upon the highways that lead to the Lord's
sanctuary, ver. 6. Secondly, They do courageous
and comfortably endure and break through all diffi-
culties in the way, ver. 6. They increase in num-
ber and strength in their journey, and aU of them
in troops appear before the Lord in Zion, ver. 7.

For the fii-st : ' Blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee.' To be blessed is to be in a happy
estate, wherein a man enjoyeth the true and chiefest
good, which is the true God in his special favour, as
Ps. cxliv. 15. But who do so?

Ans. First, 'The man whose strength is in the
Lord,' — that is, who resteth not nor relieth upon
himself, but on the Lord, and by him is made strong
against enemies, both corporal and spiritual, and
also enabled for every good duty which the Lord
requireth at liis hands. And thus understanding
the words, the point is clear to be observed : that
man is in a blessed and happy estate whose strength

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 5.

is in tlie Lord, — tliat is, who trustetli not to him-
self, or to any other person or thing, for his safety
from evils, and abiUty to do well ; but only on the
Lord his God, on wliom he resteth, and resteth by
true faith and confidence : see Prov. xvi. 20,
'Whoso trusteth in the Lord is haj^py.' Jer.
xvii. 7, 8, ' Blessed is the man that trusteth in the
Lord.' Ps. cxxv. 1, and cxlvi. 5, 'Happy is he that
hath the God of Jacob for his help.'

The reasons are, first, No man is or can be
strong by his o^\ti power. This is true, both in things
pertaining to the body, Deut. A-iii. 17, 18, and to the
soul, John XV. 5.

Secondly, No enemy shall be able to hurt him that
is strong in the Lord. This is true both for corporal
and spiritual enemies : for corporal, see Ps. Ixxxix.
21, 22, ' With whom mine hand shall be established :
mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy
shall not exact upon him ; nor the son of wicked-
ness afflict him.' Ver. 23, ' I -will beat down his foes
before his face.' Hence, Ps. iii. 6, 'I will not be
afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set
themselves against me round about ; ' and Ps. xxvii.
1-3, ' The Lord is my light and my salvation ;
whom shall I fear?' &c., Jer. xx. 11.

Thirdly, No work nor duty which God requires
at his hand shall be hard for him who is strong
in the Lord; see 2 Cor. iii. 5, and xii. 10; Phil,
iv. 12, 13.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1. For instruction, first. In the way to true
happiness ; it stands not m any outward thing, as
natui'al men think, but in the fruition of the true
God ; for he is the chiefcst good, whom whosoever
enjoys can lack nothing that is good, for he is all
in all to those that are his; hence Ps. xxxiii. 12,
' Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and
the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheri-
tance.' Gen. XV. 1, 'Fear not, Abraham, I am thy
shield, and thy exceednig gi'eat reward : ' and chap,
xvii. 1, ' I am the Almighty God ; walk before me,
and be perfect.' Hence Exod. xxxiii. 15, 19, ' If thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence,'
&c.

He communicates his goodness to those that enjoy
lum, as 2 Cliron. xvi. 9 ; Ps. xxviii. 8. Hence Jer.

ix. 23, 24, 'Let not the wise man glory m his wis-
dom,' &c.

Use 2. Secondly, See here who be miserable and
accursed — namely, all such as are not strong in the
Lord, but in themselves, or something beside the
Lord ; see Jer. xvii. 5, ' Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm ; whose
heart departeth from the Lord.' Now such are
many, as well for earthly as for heavenly things.
For earthly, all such as use unlawful means to pro-
cure earthly blessings, as lying, fraud, stealing, op-
pression, &c. Can these say, as Ps. xliv. 3, ' Thy
right hand and thine arm,' &c. Nay, as 1 Kings
xxi. 1 9, ' Hast thou killed and also taken possession,'
&c. And for heavenly, they that trust to their own
righteousness, as paj^ists do, the Jews did, Eom. x.
3.

Use 3. Thu-dly, This should admonish us to be as
careful to be strong in the Lord as we are desirous
to be truly happy ; for the man is blessed whose
strength is in him.

To this end we must give all dihgence for three
things :

First, That we stand truly in covenant with God
in Christ, which is by believing on liim, see Ps.
cxxv. 1.

Secondly, That we be upright-hearted, dealing
truly and sincerely with him in our profession, 2
Chron. xvi. 9.

Thirdly, That we be constant in obedience, 2
Chron. XV. 2; Ps. Lxxxi. 13.

Use 4. Fourthly, This serves for comfort to the
upright-hearted, trusting in God, and walking in
obedience, see Ps. xc. 1. Let such assure themselves
the Lord will be their strength ; see Ps. Ixviii. 28-
35, and xxviii. 6, 7. They may say, as Ps. iii. 6,
and xxvii. 1-3, ' The Lord is my light and my salva-
tion ; whom shall I fear ? the Lord is the strength of
my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? '

The highways are in their Jieart. Here the second
property of those that are God's true peojjle is ex-
pressed ; they do sincerely and truly aflect the holy
worship of God, as is manifest by their behaviour in
three branches : first. The ways to God's house are
in their heart, — that is, they love and like, and in
heart desire and delight in the ways that lead to
God's house.

Veu. 6.]

' PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

They that be traly God's people have their hearts
set upon the way and means of God's worship, see
Ps. cxxii. 1, and xxvi. 8.

Because by those ways they come to enjoy tlie
presence of God, society and fellowship with him in
whom tliey place all their liajipiness.

Uic 1. This serves, first, To let us see what we
may think of those that have no love nor liking to
tlie ways of God's house, but think it is a weariness,
as Mai. i. 1 3, that say of the Lord's day, as Amos
viii. 5, ' When will it be gone "i ' And of the word
and worship of God, as Job xxi. 14, ' Depart from
us, we desire not the knowledge of his ways.' Cer-
tainly these are in a cursed estate, as Acts xiii. 1 ;
as EljTnas the sorcerer was, see Acts xix. 9.

Use 2. Secondly, It is a matter of great comfort
to those that desire and delight in the means where-
in they may have society with God in Chri.st.
Surely ' flesh and blood hath not revealed it ' unto
them, Mat. xvi. 17. Let these consider Luke xi. 22.

Use 3. Thirdly, It is a good caveat to labour with
ourselves, that the ways to God's house may be in
our hearts, that we may desire and delight in them,
love and like them. Now as we have another taber-
nacle and sanctuary, which is Christ Jesus, Heb.
\Tii. 2, so our ways are not material but spiritual,
which we must love and mind ; and that is the
evangelical worship by which we come to have
society and fellowsliip with God, see Acts xxiv. 1 4 ;
and xix. 9. This is called the Lord's highway,
Isa. XXXV. 8, b'hVQ, xi. 16, xlLx. 11, xl. 3. xix. 23,
and Ixii. 10 ; Jer. xxxi. 21.

Ver. 6. Thcij ginng ilirovgh tlie vallei/ of Baca make
it a well ; even with blessings shall the rain cover.

The second evidence of God's people's sincere and
earnest affection towards his holy worship, they do
courageously and comfortably endure and break
through all difficulties and troubles in the way.

That we may conceive so much by the words, we
must know that the word K33, Baca, signifieth a
mulberry-tree, which loves to grow in dry places
that be sandy and barren, 2 Sam. v. 23, 24, or
1 Clu'on. xiv. 14, 15. Now they whose hearts be
set upon God's house and holy worship, when they
go thitherward through a sandy, dry, barren valley,
do make it a well, — that is, repute and count it as a

well ; the word imjT'li?^ signifieth to put or set, as
Gen. iii. 15; Ps. xxi. 6, 12, and Ixxxiii. 11, 13.
For thus will they say with themselves, thinlcing
upon the comfort of God's favour to whom they go,
that it shall be to them as the rain of blessings, a
plentiful and liberal rain upon the dry ground. Or,
as Tremellius, Junius, Wilcocks, &c., 'Whom also
the rain of blessing falletli much upon,' — that is,
they sometime endure the trouble of the way when
abundance of rain falletli upon them. If we follow
our own translation, ' The rain also filleth the jjools,'
— that is, where springs are not, the people dig and
make pits and places to receive rain water, and
theremth refresh themselves in their way to Zion,
though I most incline to the first of them. The
seventy uiterpreters, £/', rnv aoiXdoa Toij >iXauS,'/.uvoc, ug
rot tC^ov Sv iS-To, ' In the valley of tears, in the
place which he hath set.' Ka; yao i'jj.oyias ouhbi 6
to/iohruiv, ' For the lawgiver shall give a blessing.'
The Chaldee paraphrast, Peccatores awtem transibunt
in pvfundum gehennce; planctum2Jlangent, sicut fontem
ponent ilium : atqui benecUctione amicientur qui insudunt,
ut discant legem tuani.

In the words note two points : first. What manner
of way some of God's people had to go to the public
solemn worship of God ; secondly. How the gocUy
esteemed of it, and cheer up themselves in it.
For the way, it was the valley of Baca, — that is, of
mulberry-trees, and so dry, and barren, and sandy,
which is very wearisome; some say the vale of
misery, others vale of tears, of weeping ; all import
a painful and troublesome way.

The reason was the providence and ordinance of
God ; his providence in their situation by lot, for
so Joshua divided the land to God's people, Joshua
xiv. 12, and his ordinance in appointing them to
come to that place which he should choose, Deut.
xii. 5, which was Jenisalem, mount Zion.

Use. See then here, that God in his providence
may dispose so of the estate of his cliildren, that it
shall be troublesome and painful for them to go to
the place of God's public and solemn worship ; so it
was to those that dwelt far from Jerusalem, in the
latter end of the days of David and afterward.
And so he dealt upon his sovereignty, to teach
them, and all after them, that there is but one
Clirist, in whom we can come to the Father, John

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 6.

xiv. G, for partaking of whom, he may in liis pro-
vidence dispose that it may be far more troublesome
and painful for some than others, as it was among
the Jews for partaking of his special worship ;
which we must take notice of, to acknowledge God's
sovereignty over us and our estate, as John xxi. 22,
with 18, as also Job xxi. 23, 25.

In the second place, observe how the godly deal
about the troubles of the way unto God's solemn
worship ; they put it for a well. Now in those
countries wells were cheerful and refreshing places.
Judges i. 15 ; so as the godly among the Jews
esteemed the troublesome and painful way to God's
solemn worship pleasant and cheerful.

The reason was the great desire they had unto
the service of God, and the true delight they took
therein ; this made the wearisome way seem pleas-
ing. They looked at the comfort they should enjoy
in the presence of God, and therewith refreshed
themselves against the wearisomeness of the way,
as Jacob was affected with his seven years' service
for Rachel, Gen. xxix. 20.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1. For instruction two ways : first, See here the
power and strength of the grace of love to God, and to
his holy worship — neither pains nor cost can stand be-
fore it : see Cant. viii. 7, ' Many waters cannot quench
love.' For pains here we see it ; and for cost in
David, 2 Sam. xxiv. 24 ; 1 Chron. xxix. 3, 4. Nay,
it breaks through worldly credit and esteem, which
is a strong let, as John xii. 42. Yet, Luke xix.
2-4, we see it had little force in Zacchisus, and
in David, 2 Sam. vi. 20-22.

Use 2. SecontUy, See here what to think of our-
selves and others, when, ease, pleasure, and worldly
profit or repute will hinder from God's ser\ice.
Can we say they are blessed 1 Sayest thou ' a lion
is in the way ' t Then art thou Solomon's simjile
one, whom ease slayeth, Prov. i. 32, xiii. 4, and
XX. 4. So Prov. xxiv. 10, 'If thou faint in the day
of adversity, thy strength is small.' Consider Mat.
xii. 42, and xi. 22, 23.

Use 3. For admonition ; labour to come to this
ability of grace in the high esteem of God's worship.
For which end know that it is the ordinary way
and means of society with God.

Use 4. For comfort to those that have this affec-
tion ; to them it may be said, as Mat. xiii. 1 6,
' Blessed are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears,
for they hear.'

Even with blessings shall the rain cover ; or, the rain
of blessintjs shall even cover. This translation I take
to be most proper and agreeable to the words and
matter in hand.

In these words the prophet propounds the very
thought and meditation of the godly going up to
God's wor^iip, whereby they do cheer uj> their
hearts against the weariness of the dry and hot
sandy way. They say thus within themselves in
their greatest weariness, ' The rain of blessing shall
even cover ; ' thinking upon the grace and favour
which God showereth down upon his servants in
his holy worship, which as comfortably and sweetly
refresheth their souls in any weariness as a plenti-
ful rain doth the dry ground : for the better con-
ceiving whereof we must know that it is usual with
God in Scripture to resemble the sweet comfort of
liis grace and favour, vouchsafed to the souls of his
servants in his holy worship, to the sweet refreshing
that rain and showers give to the dry ground ; see
Deut. xxxii. 2, ' My doctrine shall drop as the rain ;
my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small
tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass : '
Ps. Lxxii. 6, 'He' (that is, Christ in his doctrine,
as the truth ; and also Solomon, as the type, in his
■wise and righteous judgment) ' shall come do^vn as
rain upon the mown grass : and as showers the dis-
persed moisture of the earth ; ' Hosea vi. 3, ' He
shall come to us as the rain ; as the latter and former
rain upon the earth.' No marvel, then, if the godly
do in such jihrase and words express their thoughts
and meditations upon God's grace and favour, vouch-
safed to his children in liis holy worship, especially
in the time of their bodily weariness through heat
and drought in a sandy way.

Now then, thus taking the words of the prophet
to express the thoughts of the godly in their weari-
some way, to be set upon the comfort of God's grace
and favour, wherewith in his holy worship he
plentifully refresheth their souls, as a plentiful rain
doth the dry ground, in them we may plainly note
and observe three things ; two expressed, and the
third necessai'ily implied. The two things here ex-

Veu. 6.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

jiressed are, first, Their gracious thoughts and
meditations in their wearisome way ; secondly. The
esteem and account they make of God's grace and
favour. The thing imphed or presupposed is the
means and place wherein they make account to en-
joy the same.

For the first ; the godly Jews that dwelt far from
Jerusalem, in their wearisome way to Zion, do set
theu' hearts to think upon the sweet and plentiful
refreshing of God's gi'ace and favour which shall
be showered upon their souls in his holy worship.
We are now, say they, parched and scorched with
heat in this diy and barren wilderness ; but when
we come before the Lord, our souls shall be plenti-
fully refreshed with the showering down of his
grace, ' We shall be satisfied with the goodness of
liis house, even of his holy temple,' Ps. Ixv. 4.

This they do to strengthen and hearten them-
selves to endure the toil and pains of their weari-
some way ; even as in nature merchants do hearten
themselves, by the hope of gain, to endure the toil and
terror of the troublesome seas ; and husbandmen, by
the hope of harvest, do readily undertake the labour
of seed-time.

Tins serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1 . For instruction two ways : first, It lets us
see plainly the right way to sound comfort, and so
to true patience in any outward distress or bodily
misery, (which is a great matter to God's children,
who through manifold tribulations must enter into
the kingdom of heaven, Acts xiv. 22,) namely, to
bring the heart to feel and feed upon God's spiritual
and heavenly blessings and graces, which be contrary
to our misery ; as in worldly jioverty and want,
to set thy meditation upon the heavenly treasure
and riches of God's grace in Christ, Mat. vi. 20 ;
Col. i. 27, whereby the poorest in the world may
by true faith be made rich to God, James ii. 5 ; for
by it thou purchasest the field wherein the treasure
is hid, Mat. xiii. 44, 4-5, and buyest the pearl of
price, and so art rich to God, Luke xii. 21. So in
imprisonment of body, by faith to meditate on our
Christian liberty, and enlargement from spiritual
bondage by Christ Jesus. In banishment and
exile from our friends and country on earth, to
meditate upon our heavenly home, and consider

that our heavenly Father is -ndth us leading us, Ps.
cvii. 4, 7. In bondage to hard masters, to remem-
ber we are Christ's freemen, 1 Cor. vii. 22. In
danger, to remember God's presence and pro\'idence,
Ps. cxviii. 6, 7. In sickness, to meditate on the
health of the soul, in the pardon of sin in Christ,
as Mat. ix. 2. In blindness, to meditate on the
spu'itual light and sight of grace, which Christ
gives, Luke iv. 18. Yea, iu death itself, either
natural or violent, both which be the loss of life,
to meditate upon our spiritual life in grace, and of
eternal life hid with Christ in God, Col. iii. 4.
And so for any worldly want, or hurt, or loss, we
may see there is a spiritual and heavenly supply.
Mat. xix. 29 ; Luke xviii. 29, 30. Thus we shall
see God's servants have done in former tijnes,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; Heb. xi. 8, 9, ' By faith
they sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country, looking for a city whose Ijuilder and maker
is God.'

Thus Job did in his losses consider God's provi-
dence and hand, chap. i. 22 ; and in deepest distress
meditates on the resurrection to life, chap. xix. 19-21,
25. Thus did David, Ps. xx\'ii. 13, ' I had fainted,
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord
in the laud of the living.' And hereupon in distress
he stirs up his soul to wait upon God, Ps. xlii. 11,
and xliii. 5 ; and prays to God, as Ps. cxvi. 3, 4,
' The sorrows of death compassed me ; the pains of
hell gat hold upon me. Then called I upon the
name of the Lord.' Yea, he saith, Ps. xciv. 19, 'In
the multitude of my thoughts within me thy com-
forts delight my soul ; ' and Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though
I walk through the vaUey of the shadow of death, I
will fear none evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod
and thy staff comfort me.' Therefore see Zech. xi.
7. Thus did the godly under the persecution of
Antiochus, Heb. xi. 35, 2 ; Maccab. vii. 7. Thus did
Paul, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, and v. 1 ; yea, the Son of
God in our nature did thus, Heb. xii. 2.

Use 2. Secondly, This lets us see the true reason
or ground of the different behaviour and carriage of
God's children from natural men in two things.

Fu'st, In times of danger, wherein ' the righteous
are bold as a lion,' but ' the wicked flee when none
pursueth,' Prov. xxviii. 1 ; as we may see in Da^dd
at Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxx. 6, and Nabal hearing of a

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 6.

danger past, 1 Sam. xxv. 37. Surely the godly have
a heart indued with grace, which is as a hand to lay
hold on God's mercy and pro\'idence, and so have
hope even in death ; whereas ' the wicked is driven
away in his wickedness,' Prov. xiv. 32. The wicked
are men without hope, 1 Thes. iv. 13 ; now 'hope is
the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast,' Heb. vi.
19.

Secondly, About God's worship and service they
greatly differ. God's child takes great delight in
pains about God's service, as here we see, and Ps.
cxxii. 1, and in cost also ; as 1 Chron. xxix. 9, the
people rejoiced at their great gifts, and Da^-id re-
joiced -tvith great joy, and 2 Sam. xxiv. 24 ; yea,
though it cost them their lives, Acts xx. 24, and
Phil. ii. 17. But the \\'icked count it a weariness,
Mai. i. 13 ; and with the Gadarenes, had rather want
Christ and his gospel than their hogs, Mat. viii. 32,
34.

And no marvel, for they think it a vain thing to
serve God, Mai. iii. 14.

Usi 3. For admonition it serves two ways. First,
With these religious Jews to give ourselves to medi-
tate and think upon the true and sweet comfort
which the blessings of grace, bestowed in God's holy
worship, will bring to our souls ; for certainly herein
is plentiful spiritual supply to all wants, as is im-
plied, Luke iv. 18, whereof, if we were resolved, we
would watch at the posts of wisdom, Prov. viii. 34,
and hang upon this ordinance, as the impotent per-
sons did at the pool of Bethesda, John v. 3, 4. The
want hereof causeth contempt of God's worship in
some, Mai. iii. 14, and formal usage in the most, as
John iv. 11 ; Acts xxviii. 22.

Secondly, Labour for that estate in grace whereby
we have stay and comfort for our souls in times of
distress. The way is to get and practise true faith
in Christ ; for thereby we shall live in want, Phil,
iv. 12, 13; in persecution, Heb. x. 38; yea, resist
the devil, 1 Pet. v. 9, and quench all his fiery darts,
Eph. vi. IG. But know it works by love. Gal. vi. 5,
purging the heart. Acts xv. 9, and reforming the
life, Acts xix. 19.

For comfort, this practice of the godly shews
plainly that the child of God is never left of God in
misery, without true ground of stay and comfort.
God may hide his face, and we may be troubled, Ps.

XXX. 7, and Ixix. 2, 3 ; but, as Ps. xliii. 5, ' wait,'
for, Heb. xiii. 5, 'he hath said, I vnW never leave
thee, nor forsake thee ; ' and consider 2 Cor. iv. 8,
9, ' We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ;
we are perplexed, but not in despair ; persecuted,
but not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed ; '
ver. 16, 'Though the outward man perish, yet
the inward is renewed daily ; whUe we look not at
things that are seen, but at things which are not
seen.'

The second thing to be noted here is the high
esteem and account which the godly Jews did make
of God's blessings of grace to be received in his
holy worship ; namely, that they are to their souls
as the rain of blessings that covereth, that is, as a
plentiful rain, which abundantly refresheth the dry
and thirsty land. This may be seen in David's
desire and acknowledgment, answerable to the
matter in hand: Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, 'My soul thirsteth
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land, where no water is ; to see thy power
and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in thy sanc-
tuary.' What benefit should David reap by this?
ver. 5, ' My soul shall be satisfied as mth marrow
and fatness,' for Christ in grace comes do^vn into
men's hearts 'as rain upon the mown grass, as
showers that water the earth,' Ps. Ixx. 6 ; ' In his
days shall the righteous flourish, ver. 7 ; so Hosea
vi. 3.

Now thus they express their esteem of God's
grace, partly because the remembrance hereof did
notably serve to cheer up their souls in their dry,
sandy, and wearisome way, as is said before.

And principally because they knew out of God's
word, and by experience in themselves, having tasted
formerly of God's good work of grace, that God's
graces were to man's soul, that which plentiful
seasonable rain is to the dry ground ; which is
evident by the state of the soul, as well wanting
grace, as being indued there^vith. In the want of
grace, what is the soul but as dry, barren ground
without rain or water : Jer. xvii. 5, 6, ' He whose
heart departeth from the Lord shall be like the
heath in the desert, and shall not be seen when good
cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in
the -Hdlderness, in a salt land, and shall not abide,'
(^liTIN"?!-) But the soul stored with grace is like

Ver. 6.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

a field which the Lord hath blessed with plentiful
rain, viz., both fruitful in itself, and pleasing and
profitable to the owner; see Ps. Ixxii. 6, 16, when
Christ comes down like showers, ' there shall be an
handful of corn upon the top of the mountains; the
fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the
city shall flourish like grass of the earth.' Ezek.
xxxiv. 2G, 27, ' I will make them and the places round
about my hUl a blessing ; I will cause the shower
to come clown in his season ; there shall be showers
of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her
fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase.'

This serves for instruction, for admonition, and
comfort.

Um 1 . For instruction two ways : first, See in this
resemblance the absolute necessity of grace to the
welfare of the soul ; for so is the moisture of rain or
water to the earth, that it may be fruitful, and so
pleasant and profitable unto man, as we may see by
the cursed vineyard, Isa. v. 6, and by the mountains
of Gilboa, whereon Saul and Jonathan fell, 2 Sam.
i. 21, which is a most material point for every man's
heart to be resolved of

Use 2. Secondly, This resemblance doth plainly
and sweetly illustrate this material and weighty point
in Cliristian religion, \iz., that saving grace to the
soul is a supernatural gift of God, neitlier is it in
the power of man of himself to get saving gi'ace ;
see John iii. 27, ' A man can receive nothing except
it be given from heaven ; ' as before, ver. 3, ' Except
a man be bom from above he cannot see the king-
dom of God,' with ver. 7, 8. Can the earth be fruit-
ful without moisture? and can it of itself cause
the clouds to drop down rain upon it? No such
thing.

Use 3. For admojiitiou, it serves notably to move
every one to set his heart to think seriously on this
resemblance, as Deut. xxxii. 46, with reference to
ver. 2, that so we may labour to bring them to be
aifected to God's saving graces, as dry ground is
toward rain and moisture, which we see doth chop
and gape after moisture, and so in its kind cry to
the clouds for showers.

This was in David, Ps. cxliii. 6, ^^^th Ixili. 1.
But, alas ! this tlurst is rare to be found. Worldly
thirsts there are in many : the drunkard's thirst,
Deut. xxix. 1 9 ; the worldling's thirst, Hab. ii. 5 ;

the epicure's thirst, whose belly is his god, Phil. iii.
19 ; the ambitious man's thirst, — Diotrephes, 3 John
9 ; and the malicious man's thirst, the bloodthirsty,
Ps. V. 6. Thirst after these things doth keep away
this thirst after grace, without which we .shall never
escape Dives' thirst in hell, Luke xvi. 24. If we
have a godly thirst, it will appear by diligence in
frequenting the place and means of gi-ace, Prov. viii.
34 ; bnite beasts for want of water will break
through hedges, and grace-thirsty souls will make
their ways through all encumbrances to come wliere
they may have satisfaction. Secondly, We wUl de-
light herein, as David did, Ps. iv. 7. Thirdly, We
will receive satisfaction and shew it.

Use 4. For comfort, it serves to encourage them
that find themselves so affected to the blessings of
grace as the Jews did here, — viz., to esteem them
as the rain of blessings ; they may assure themselves
that they likewise shall find the like fruit and effect
of them, to be covered, — that is, to be abundantly
refreshed by them.

The third point to be noted here is implied — viz.,
the place and means wherein they assure themselves
of these blessings, namely, in the holy wor.ship of
God which he ordained in his tabernacle, which
made David to long and to thirst after them, ver. 2 ;
see Isa. ii. 3, ' Let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; ' Ps. Ixv. 4,
' Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,' &c.

The reason hereof is God's sacred ordinance, who
hath here assured the blessing and life : for, 1 Kings
ix. 3, his eyes and his li^rt are there perpetually,
and so as elsewhere it ia not to be had, Zech. xiii.
17, 18. Now the gospel preaclied is to us God's
tabernacle. Rev. xxi. 3, as Acts xv. 16.

This serveth for instruction, and that two ways :

Use 1. First, See one main cause of the want of
grace in men's souls ; they do not love God's house,
nor wait upon him in his ordinances, but count them
a weariness, Mai. i. 13, with iii. 14; and Job xxi.
14, as John v. 40, ' Ye will not come unto me tliat
ye might have life ; ' so Acts xiii. 46.

Use 2. Secondly, See here the honour of God's
house, and now of his holy worship above other
ordinances, as Micah iv. 1, 2. Here is the well of
life, and tree of Ufe, Rev. xxii. 1 , 2 ; all his springs
are here, Ps. Ixxxvii. 7.

PIERSOX ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ylr.

Yer. 7. Thci/ go firm slrcnglh to strength : every one
of them in Zion appeareth hefore God.

The third thing whereby the prophet cloth de-
clare the sincere .'iffectiou of the godly towards God's
holy worship is theii- alacrity and courage, which
they, lilce valiant soldiers in marching array towards
the enemies, do manifest in the way to Zion. For
the better conceiving whereof, we must know that
the word b^U, here translated strength, doth properly
signify vigour, courage, alacrity, power, or spirit, as
Exod. xviii. 21. Jetliro's magistrates must be "p^n
"•tyjN men of courage, and a woman complete
and furnished for all good parts of a wife is ^T]
rWii, mulier strenua, a vii'tuous woman, a woman of
all good pai-ts for her place, Ruth iii. 11; Prov.
xxd. 10 ; and therefore also the people of God by
this word express their valour, as Ps, Ix. 12, ' Tiirough
God we shall do valiantly ; ' b'H nV}?:, Ps. cviii.
13, and Ruth iv. 11, ' Do thou worthily ;' Deut. iii.
18. Moses calleth men of prowess and valour, "p-n
^22, sons of prowess or power. And hence it is
taken to signify an army, wherein power is both
required and shewed, Exod. xiv. 4, and it signifies
riches and wealth, because that makes men potent
in the world, as Ps. xlix. 7, 11 ; Prov. x. 15, and
xviii. 11 ; and in all the book of Job ; for compare
Job xxi. 7, with 2 Kings xv. 20, and it vriil be plain.
Now in this place I take it in the first and proper
sense, for the alacrity, vigour, and prowess which a
man of spirit will shew in that thing which he de-
sires to effect. So the godly Jews, desiring to come
to Zion, the place of God's worship, go from strength
to strength— that is, they do not faint or leave off
through weariness or length of the way, but ever
and anon renew their courage, and cheer up them-
selves, and so go from strength to strength. And
the latter part of the verse shews what it is wliich
puts life and courage into them — namely, their
spiritual sight or vision of God in Zion, when there
they appear before the ark of the covenant, the
pledge of his presence, according to his ordinance,
Deut. xvi. IG, as was said from Abraham's time, 'In
the mount will the Lord be seen,' Gen. xxii. 14.

To come, then, to the first part of this verse,
therein this is plain :

The godly Jews, in David's time, went cheerfully
and courageously to the jilace of God's worship, and

did increase in strength and courage, notwithstand-
ing. the weariness and length of the way, and so ^t^ent
from strength to strength. Ps. xlii. 4, ' I had gone
with the multitude ; I went with them to the house
of God, ■oath the voice of joy and praise, Mith a
multitude that kept holiday;' Ps. cxxii. 1, 'I re-
joiced in them that said unto me. Let us go into the
house of the Lord.' Look how courageous soldiers
will stir up themselves, and hearten one another
unto fight ; so did the godly Jews stir up and cheer
up themselves in the way to God's worshij).

The reason was their desii-e through grace to en-
joy spiiitual society with God, which was assured
unto them in the holy worship of the tabernacle and
temple, as 1 Kings ix. 3, 'I have chosen this place,
here wLU I dwell : mine eyes and mine heart shall
be there continually.' Hence Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One
thing have I desired,' &c. This is the wooing place
between Christ and his church ; and hence is his
direction prescribed to her, inquiring where he did
feed and make his flock to rest ; and her affection
declared toward this place. Cant. iii. 4, ' It was
but a little that I passed from them, but I found
him whom my soul loveth : I held him, and would
not let him go, untd I had brought him into my
mother's house, and into the chamber of her that
conceived me.' And the nearer they come to God,
the more lively they are : ' From foith to faith,' Rom.
i. 17, with xiii. 11.

This serves for instruction, reproof, admonition,
and comfort.

Use 1. For instruction, it lets us see, first, That
there is a spirit of life in the faithful under the
gospel, to make them forward and courageous in
their holy profession, and to cheer up themselves unto
God's holy worship. We have herein some more
encouragements than they had under the law, from
the ministry of the Spirit under which we Hve, see
2 Cor. iii. 13-18; though the same God, and the
same Mediator Jesus Chjist, to-day, yesterday, and
the same for ever, Heb. xiii. 8; see 2 Cor. iv. 13,
16, 18 ; 1 Cor. ix. 24-26 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. So that
a Christian may say, as Paul doth. Acts xxi. 13,
' What do ye weeping,' Ac.

Use 2. Secondly, The vigour and strength of the
godly increaseth more and more in their way of
God's worship, and in the course of a godly life.

Ver. 7.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

Pi'ov. iv. 18, 'The path of the just is as a shining
light, that shineth more and more unto the pei-fect
day.' Ps. xcii. 13, 14, 'Such as be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our
God,' &c. Rev. ii. 19, 'The last works of ThyatLia
are more than the first;' add Eph. iv. 11-15.

Use 3. Thu'dly, This is a just reproof of those that
say they are Christians, and yet have no spirit, no
courage, no life for religion and for God's holy wor-
ship ; but are dead and cold — every little thing doth
daunt and hinder them — they have no courage for
the truth, nor for God's glory. Is the Lord's hand
shortened 1 Is Laodicean lukewarmness a matter of
no danger? Rev. iii. 16. Certainly they want the
sph-it of gi-ace, for it is as fire that will break out,
Jer. XX. 9 ; like new wine that will vent, Job x.xxii.
18 ; see Prov. vi. 27.

Use 4. Fourthly, It must admonish us to shew
life and courage in holy worship and in a godly life.
They did it going to mount Zion, we to the heavenly
Jerusalem. Consider what i^Testlers do, 1 Cor. ix.
2.5, 26. Quest. How shall we get it 1 Ans. It is a
fruit of the Spirit, as 2 Tim. i. 7, in those that are
redeemed. Tit. ii. 14; Rev. iii. 19.

Use 5. Fifthly, A comfort to the children of God
against the reproach of the world, which will re-
proach and brand them with odious names, hot-
spirited and mad, as they did our Saviour, Mark iii.
21 ; and Festus, Paul, Acts xx\'i. 24.

The God of gods shall be seen in Zion.

This is the thing that puts life and \dgour into
God's ser\-ants ; when their way to God's worship is
long and painful unto them, God shall be seen in
Zion, the place appointed by himself for his holy
worship ; or, as our translation hath it, ' Every one
of them in Zion appeareth before God ; ' both one in
substance, for when God is seen in Zion, they that
see him appear before him. The reason of the dif-
ferent manner of translation is the divers acception
of the word 7K, which sometimes is a preposition
signifying ad, to, unto ; otherwise it is a noun, signi-
fpng strong, and so noteth the mighty God. "The
ordinary difference is 7H, Deus, is written with a
long e, but 7ii, ad, a preposition, with a short e ;
and so most Hebrew books with pricks have it here,
which moved our new translators to take it for a
preposition, wherein many other godly and learned

do join with them. Which yet others as learned
stick not at, because they say that vowel is there
short because of Maecaph, which joineth two words
together, and usually doth abbre\'iate the precedent
vowel. And so the most ancient Greek and Latin
translations' take it, and divers learned modern
writers, as Pagnin, Calvin, Mollerus, and our old
church Bibles. But since in sense and substance
both come to one, I will herein follow the ancients,
and so note in the words two things : first. That
the true God is the God of gods ; secondly, That
this true God shall be seen in Zion, the place where
the temple was built.

For the first, The true God is the God of gods,
Joshua xxii. 22 ; ' The God of gods the Lord,' Ps. 1.
1, and cxxxvi. 2 ; 'The mighty God,' Dan. xi. 36 ;
' The Lord of lords, and King of kings,' Rev. x^'ii.

14, and x-ix. 16 ; 1 Tim. vi. 15.

The reason of this title is his divine sovereignty over
all those that do partake with him in his name, as
angels and magistrates : angels, Ps. xcvii. 7, with Heb.
i. 6, and Ps. ^dii. 6, with Heb. ii. 7 ; and magistrates,
P.S. Ixxxii. 1 ; Exod. xxii. 8, 9, 28 ; John x. 34, 35.
And false gods, though unlawfully, for they are vani-
ties, D v^7i^. Now God's sovereignty over them is
plain : for angels, Heb. i. 7, ■with Job i. 6 ; and for
magistrates, 1 Tim. \'i. 15 ; and for idols, Exod. xii.
12. Dagon falls dowTi before the ark, hath his head
and hands cut off, 1 Sam. v. 3, 4.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1. For instruction, see the blessed estate of
those that have the God of gods for their God, as
Ps. xxxiii. 12, 'Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord,' and Ps. cxUv. 15 ; for he hath power
over angels and kings and de\"ils.

Use 2. For admonition, first. To choose the God
of gods for our God ; herein following Rahab, Joshua
ii. 9, 11, and xxiv. 15 ; and Naaman, 2 Kings v.

15, 17. Now our way is through Christ, John xiv.
6 ; Mat. xi. 27.

Use 3. Secondly, To sanctify liim in our hearts,
and let him be our fear and dread, Isa. -v-iii. 13.
Remember the angels before his glorious majesty
cover their faces with then- wings, Isa. vi. 2.

Use 4. For comfort to those that stand rightly in

' Sept. aud Vulg.

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 8.

covenant with God ; they need not be dismayed for
any terror, as 1 Pet. iii. 6; as Ps. xxiii. 1, 4, iii.
6, 8, cxvi. 7, 8, and cxviii. 6 ; as Dan. iii. IG, 17 ;
and hereon, as Rom. viii. 31, 'What shall we say to
these things 1 If God be for us, who can be against
iisr

The second thing to be noted here is, that in Zion,
the holy hUl, the seat of his sanctuary, will God be
seen. This was so well known, that from Abraham's
naming of it Jchovah-jireh, when there he should have
sacrificed his son, it became a proverb and common
saying, ' In the mount will the Lord be seen ; ' and
so Musculus acknowledgeth that all the late writers
do translate it, though he himself do not very well
like of it, saying, that if he durst, he would think
that those who put pricks to the Bible in Hebrew,
did without need change the verb active HKT, will
see, into the passive nX"l\ will be seen. But Mer-
cerus, a most learned and judicious man for the
Hebrew te.xt, judgeth it was done by di\'ine provi-
dence, that posterity might know that there God
would place his sanctuary, and therein appear unto
his people, and there also have Christ the Lord to
be seen ; and the LXXII do translate it by the
verb passive oijr^»j. And for proof, see Ps. Ixxxvii.
2, ' The Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than
all the dwellings of Jacob.' It is the mountain of
liis holiness, 'beautiful for situation; the joy of the
whole earth is mo- mt Zion,' where God is known.
Ps. xlviii. 1-3, and 1. 2, ' Out of Zion, the perfec-
tion of beauty, hath God sliined.' When Solomon
had built his temple here according to God's direction,
then God said, ' I have chosen this place, here will I
dwell,' &c., 1 Kings ix. 3.

Quesl. How was God seen in Zion? Ans. Not
in essence ; for so ' no man hath seen God at any
time,' John i. 18. But, first. In his sacred ordinances,
which were pledges of his presence, as the ark of the
covenant. Num. x. 35 ; 2 Chron. vi. 41 ; Ps. cxxxii.
9, ' Arise, Lord God, into thy resting place,' &c. ;
also the cloud sometime filling the house, Exod. xl.
34; 2 Chron. vii. 2; 1 Kings viii. 10, 11; and the
fire consuming the sacrifices. Lev. ix. 24 ; 1 Kings
xviii. 36-39.

Secondly, and chieflj'. In his Son incarnate, as Mai.
iii. 1, with Luke ii. 26-28; for in Christ the Father
shews himself, as John xiv. 9, 10.

This God was pleased to do, first. For the honour
anil advancement of h's people Israel : as Deut. iii.
7, ' What nation is so great, that hath God so nigh
unto them 1 '

Secondly, To beautify his sanctuary : as Hag. ii. 7,
' I will fill this house with glory.' Hence it is called
high, 1 Kings ix. 8.

Thu-dly, and chiefly. To stir up his people to de-
sire and delight to come to his sanctuary, as Ps. xlii.
1, 2.

Quest. What is this to us ? This place belonged
to the Jews.

A lis. See Isa. ii. 2 ; Micah iv. 1. It was a tj'pe of
the church of Christ, as Heb. xii. 22, which is there-
fore called ' the holy city, new Jerusalem,' Rev. xxi.
3, 10, and thereof it is true, Mat. xxviii. 19, 20, with
xviii. 20.

This serves for instruction, reprehension, admoni-
tion, and comfort.

Use 1. For instruction, it lets us see that though
difference of place in respect of holiness of the places
be taken away in the New Testament, as John iv. 21,
23, yet in respect of God's sacred ordinances there
used, some places have an honour above others, at
least for the time when those ordinances are in hand,
as Mat. xviii. 20. And so M. Calvin acknowledgeth
that there is a beauty belongmg to temples and
churches in the New Testament, which should draw
the affections of the faithful unto them.

Use 2. Secondly, A just reproof of \vilful recu-
sants and profane protestants, that care not for the
place of God's worship ; they are far from David's
mind, Ps. xxvi. 8, %vith xlii. 1, 2, and cxxii. 1, and
vers. 1, 2 of this psalm, nay, they are as those. Job
14, that say unto God, 'Depart from us.'

Use 3. Thirdly, This should stir up all that have
care of the true welfare of thek souls to love God's
house, and God's worship, the house for the worship,
as David did. Consider his comfort in death, Ps.
xxxi. 5, which will be contrary to the wicked, as
Mat. XXV. 41.

Use 4. Fourthly, For comfort to the godly ; their
love to God's house for grace is an entrance to his
house of glory, as 2 Pet. i. 9, 10.

Ver. 8. Lord God of host.% hear my prayer : give
ear, God of Jacob. Selah.

Ver. 8.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

Here lie returns to pray for audience to his re-
quest for free and safe fruition of the place of (Aod's
worsliip, in whicli he shews the more earnestness
by doubling his requests, and enforcing them by
several titles given to God, to whom he prays,
which may strengthen his heart in his assurance to
obtain liis requests.

The first title is, ' Lord God of hosts,' which he
hath given to God twice before in this psalm, — viz.,
vers. 1,3; yet here it is repeated vnth more emijha-
sis by addition of the title God ; which shews that
the godly in prayer do not faint, but increase in
zeal and fervency, till they obtain their requests, as
Dan. ix. 19.

For they are enabled to this duty by the Spirit,
whicli helpeth their infirmities, being neither weaiy
nor faint, Rom. viii. 26.

Also they know that God liketli importunity,
Luke xviii. 1, 6, 7, and fervency, James v. 16.

Use. Which should be a precedent and encourage-
ment to us in prayer, to shew fervency and con-
stancy therein.

For the first deserijjtion of God by these titles,
' Lord of hosts,' it hath been handled in the first
verse, with the application thereof:

The point is this. The true God is the Lord God
of hosts, &c.

The matter he here prays for is audience, ' Hear
my prayer : give ear ; ' the doubling hath its em-
phasis, and shews his fervency and earnestness for
audience. Mark, then, the holy prophet prayeth
earnestly to have his praj'ers heard ; see Ps. v. 1, 2,
and xiii. 1, 2.

This he doth, because to his seeming God did too
long delay to satisfy his desii-e ; for David longed
and fainted like a woman ■w"itli cMld, ver. 2, whose
case will hardly admit delay.

This serves for instruction and admonition.

Use 1. For instruction see tliis, that sometime God
useth long delays in answering the prayers of his
children, see Ps. xxii. 2, Ixxvii. 7-9, and Ixxx. 4.

Quest. How can this be, seeing he saith, ' Ask, and
ye shall have ' "i Mat. vii. 7.

Ans. First, The sins of God's children may hin-
der this blessing, as Ps. Ixvi. 18 ; John ix. 31 ; Isa.
lix. 2 ; as 2 Sam. xii. IG, &c.

Secondly, God may delay to answer for a time, to

kindle zeal in his children, as Mat. xv. 22-28 ; as
our Saviour dealt with the father of the child that
was possessed with a dumb and deaf spirit, Mai'k ix.
18, 22, &c.

Thirdly, To express theii' patience under the
cross, as 2 Cor. xii. 19.

Fourthly, To teach them to rest contented with
such supply as God ministereth, for he heareth and
answereth not always in that particular men beg,
but sometime in that which is more for God's
glory, and as good for his children, as Heb. v. 7.

Use 2. For admonition, every child of God must
mark God's dealing herein with his dearest ser-
vants, that by God's delays they neither be dis-
mayed in this duty, nor doubt of God's favour ; for
this was David's case, and Christ's. We should
wisely consider the reasons of God's delay, and make
use thei'eof

The latter title he gives to God is, ' God of
Jacob,' which he propounds upon his second and
more earnest request for audience.

Mark, then, that when David would fain have
audience mth God in jjrayer, he calls him the God
of Jacob.

The reason of this title here is, first. In regard of
the covenant whicli God made with Jacob and his
posterity, who are often styled by the name of
Jacob ; as Ps. lix. 1 3, ' God ruleth in Jacob ; ' and
Isa. xliii. 1, 'But now saith the Lord that created
thee, Jacob, and he that formed thee, Israel.'
Chap. xliv. I, 'Hear now, Jacob my servant, and
Israel, whom I have chosen.' ' I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel,' chap, xliii. 3. ' Fear
not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun,
whom I have chosen,' chap. xliv. 2. Now this is a
great ground of assurance of audience, that the God
to whom he prayed was his God by covenant ; for
God saith of this people, ' Jacob and Israel, thou
art my servant ; I have formed thee ; thou shalt not
be forgotten of me,' chap. xliv. 21.

Secondly, and more especially, In regard of the
special favour that God shewed to Jacob when he
changed his name to Israel, in suffering himself to
be overcome by Jacob when he wrestled with him :
Gen. xxxii. 2-i, 26, 28, ' As a prince,' saith he, ' hast
thou power.' Hosea saith, chap. xii. 3, ' By his
strength he had power with God ; ' ver. 4, ' yea, he

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 9.

had power over the angel,' (that is, Christ the angel
of the covenant;) ' he wept and made supplication
unto him ; ' mark the means of his prevailing
prayers and tears. Now Da^dd remembers this,
and calls him ' the God of Jacob,' to encourage him-
self in prayer, and to get assurance of prevailing :
for the God of Jacob is he that suffers himself to be
prevailed with in prayer, and he is without shadow
of turning, James i. 17; 'To-day, yesterday, and the
same for ever,' Heb. xiii. 8.
This serves for instruction, admonition, and comfort.

Use 1. For instruction, see here a gracious j^rac-
tice of God's servants, both to mark and mention in
their prayers such dealing of God with their fore-
fathers as may encourage them in this duty, and
strengthen their faith in assurance to prevail. It is
here plain in David, when he calls God the God of
Jacob; but more plain in EUsha, 2 Kings ii. 14,
when coming back to the waters of Jordan, with
the mantle that fell from Elijah, wherewith Elijah
had a httle before made a way through the river on
dry ground, ver. 8, he doth the like thing that
Elijah did, using these words, ' Where is the God of
Elijah?' as if he should have said. Sure he can do to
me as he did to him. This thing moved the church
of God often to mention God's gracious dealing with
their forefathers, as Ps. xliv. 1-4, and xcix. 6-8 ; see
Ps. Ixxiv. 13, 14, and Isa. li. 9, 'Awake, awake,
put on strength, arm of the Lord ; awake, as in
the ancient days. Ai't thou not he that hath cut
Rahab, (that is, Egypt,) and wounded the dragon
in the waters ] ' (that is Pharaoh ;) and ver. 10, ' Art
not thou he which dried up the seal' &c., meaning,
that he can do so still. So Jehosliaphat in his prayer,
2 Chron. xx. 7.

Use 2. For admonition, remember that ' "whatso-
ever was written afore-time was written for our
learning ; that we through patience and comfort of
the Scriptures might have hope,' Rom. xv. 4. We
therefore must read the Scripture with observation,
and thus encourage ourselves in prayer to prevail
with God for his church, and for ourselves.

Use 3. For comfort, in prayer remember the true
God is the God of Jacob ; he will be prevailed with
by prayers and tears ; but follow and imitate Jacob,
leave not off, give not over tUl he answer, as Isa.
Ixii. 1, 2.

Ver. 9. Behold, God our shield, and look "upon the
face of thine anointed.

In the former verse, David did most eai'nestly beg
of God audience to his prayer. In this verse, con-
tinuing the same duty of prayer, he begs of God,
(whom he calleth their shield,) with like earnest
affection, (for he doubleth his request,) the favour and
kindness to be beheld and looked upon ; moving the
Lord thereto by the honourable state whereunto
God had advanced Mm, in anointing him to be a
Icing, so as he was the Lord's anointed.

In tills petition note three things ; first. The title
which he gives to God ; secondly. The favour he
craves of God ; thirdly, The reason whereby he
would move the Lord to grant that favour. For
the first ; the title he gives to God is their shield,
' God our shield.' A shield we know is a part of
armour for defence, serving to keep off and award
the hurts and blows wliieh an enemy might give ;
and so by fit resemblance shews what God becomes
to those that be his — namely, a sure defence and
safeguard from all hurtful assaults of their enemies.
Mark then in this title, that God is a shield for his
children, that is, their sure and safe jjrotector and
defender from the hurts of all their enemies : Ps. iii. 3,
' Thou, Lord, art a shield for me ; ' Ps. xviii. 2, ' The
Lord is my rock, and my fortress, my deliverer; my
God, my strength, in whom I will trust ; my buckler,
and the horn of my salvation ; ' Ps. xxxiii. 20, ' He
is our help and our shield ; ' Ps. lix. 11, ' Bring them
down, Lord our shield : ' and as it followeth in this
psalm, ver. 11, ' The Lord God is a sun and shield.'

The reason hereof is his own free grace and
favour in Christ to those that be truly in covenant
with him, as Gen. xv. 1.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

Use 1 . For instruction two ways : first, To let us
plainly see the great happiness of the godly, that
though they have many and mighty enemies, both
corporal and spiritual, yet their God is an all-suffi-
cient safe buckler and shield of defence against
them all, see Deut. xxxiii. 29, ' Happy art thou,
Israel : who is like unto thee, people saved by the
Lord, the shield of thy help.' Ps. cxliv. 15, 'Happy
are the people that be so ; yea, happy is that people
whose God is the Lord.'

Ver. 9.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

Use 2. Secondly, This shews how magistrates
should sliew themselves toward the godly, when
any wrong is offered unto them, namely, as the
Lord himself is, whose name they bear, Ps. Ixxxii.
6 ; so they should become shields, — that is, sure pro-
tectors and defenders of the godly ; so Job was, chap.
xxix. 11, itc, 'When the ear heard me, it blessed
me ; and when the eye saw me, it gave ear to me.
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the
fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish
came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to
sing for joy.' Magistrates are called shields, Ps.
xlra. 9; Hosea iv. 18, and therefore should become
protectors of the good, unless they mil have their
own names to rise up in judgment against them.

Use 3. For admonition, it serves effectuallj' to
move every one to laliour carefully for that estate
wherein they may truly have the Lord for their
shield. Hereunto three things are necessary.

First, That we stand rightly in covenant ivith
God, having avouched him for our God, not only
by recei\ing the seals of the covenant, in being
baptized and coming to the Lord's table, which
hj-pocrites may do, but especially by reverent re-
cei^•ing the word of the covenant, and humbly
submitting ourselves thereto, as God required, when
he avouched Israel to be his people, Deut. xxA'i.
16-18, and they performed, when they sat down
at his feet, every one receiving his word, Deut.
xxxiii. 3.

Secondly, We must see that our hearts be indued
with true faith, whereby we trust in God unfeignedly,
resting and relying upon his promise for all the
blessings of the covenant. This grace entitles us
to have God for our shield. Prov. xxx. 5, ' Every
word of God is pure, he is a shield to those that
trust in him.' Ps. xviii. 30, ' The word of the Lord
is tried ; he is a buckler to those that trust in him.'
Ps. xxviii. 7, ' The Lord is my strength and my
shield : my heart trusted in him, and I am helped ; '
also Ps. xxxiii. 18-20.

Thirdly, We must walk uprightly before him,
making conscience of all sin, and leading a godly
life. Tins God required of Abraham, to whom he
promised to become a shield. Gen. xvii. 1, with
Gen. XV. 1 ; and Solomon gives assurance hereof.

Prov. ii. 7, ' He is a buckler to them that walk
uprightly,' — that is, to those that look in all things
to please God, and lean neither to this sin nor that.
And to move us hereunto, let us consider the evils
of the times, in the abundance of iniquity, which
cry to heaven for most heavy judgments ; let us
think upon the troubles of other nations, and our
own present danger sundry ways, especially from
di\'isions both in church and state. Now in times
of trouble, nothing can be better for us than to
have the Lord for our shield, for then we need not
fear ; what can man do unto us ? Ps. cxviii. 6.

Use 4. For comfort, this makes gi-eatly to all that
be in covenant with God, and testify the truth of
their faith by upright walking before him ; for God
is their shield ; what need they fear t Consider Ps.
xxvii. 1, 2, 'The Lord is my light and my salvation ;
whom shall I fear?' &c. ; Jer. xx. 11, 'The Lord is
with me like a mighty terrible one : therefore all
mine enemies shall be confounded, but I shall not
be confounded.' This made Da\-id not to fear ten
thousand of the people that should beset him round
about, Ps. iii. 6 ; nor walking through the shadow of
death, Ps. xxtii. 4. This made the three servants
of the Lord not fear the hot fiery furnace, nor the
fierceness of the king, Dan. iii. 16, 17, &c.

Now consider that God is without shadow of
change, James i. 1 7 ; and he was a shield to Abra-
ham, David, Jeremiah, and others. Let us therefore
labour to be like them, and we may with like confi-
dence rest assured of God's protection, as the Lord
promised, 1 Kings ix. 4, 5, and as the godly do
comfortably expect, Ps. xxii. 4, 5.

The seccnd thing to be noted here, is the favour
which he begs and craves of God, namely, that God
would behold and look upon his face, that is, look
upon him favourably, taking gracious notice of his
estate and desire : Ps. cxlii. 4, ' Look upon my right
hand, and see,' so the words are in the original, as
the marginal reading hath it ; Ps. cxix. 132, 'Look
upon me, and be merciful unto me ;' Ps. Ixxx. 14,
' Look down from heaven and behold ; ' so Isa. Ixui.
15, ' Look do^vn from heaven, and behold, from the
habitation of thy holiness, and of thy glory.'

The reasons hereof are two : first. Because God's
looking upon his face was a comfortable sign of his
favour and kindness ; as Ps. Ixxx. 3, 7, 19, ' Cause

9(5

PIEUSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

Ver. 9.

thy face to shine, and vre shall he sayed ; ' Ps. xxxi.
36, ' Make thy face to shine ; save me for t% mercies'
sake.' This is more plain by the contrary, God's
hiding of his face, which is in Scripture a plain sign
of God's anger and displeasure : Deut. xxxi. 17, 18,
' Then shall mine anger be kindled against them, and
I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from
them : ' and Ps. xiii. 1, ' How long wilt thou forget
me, Lord 2 for ever ? How long mlt tliou hide thy
face from me 1 '

Secondly, Da^dd desired God to look upon his
face, because he conceived it might be a special
means to move to mercy. For David no doubt
shewed in his very countenance a godly sorrow for
his restraint from God's sanctuary, as also an earnest
desire of that favour, that he might safely frequent
the place of God's worship ; see Ps. xlii. 1, 2, for his
earnest desire, and ver. 3, 4, 9, for liis soiTOW and
mourning.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

Use 1. For instruction, two ways : first. The
form of words and phrase here used shew a notable
way to stir up and move compassion towards others —
namely, to look upon and behold their miseries ; for
therefore, no doubt, doth David entreat the Lord to
look upon his face, that the view of his mournful
countenance might stir up compassion towards him :
so Lam. i. 12, ' Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass
by 1 Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like my

SOITOW.'

Use 2. Secondly, See here that the favour of God
is to the child of God a thing of high esteem, else
the smallest sign thereof in a cheerful countenance
and lovely look would not be so earnestly desii-ed ;
indeed, with natural men it is not so ; they say
unto God, ' Depart from us ; what can the Almighty
do for us?' Job xxii. 17. But ■\\'ith the godly it is
otherwise : Ps. xxx. 5, ' In his favour is hfe ; ' nay,
Ps. Ixiii. 3, ' His lo^^lng kindness is better than life ; '
which made Da\-id to bid Zadok to Ijring back the
ark of God unto his place, saying, ' If I have found
favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me
again, and shew me both it and his habitation.
But if he say, I have no delight in thee ; behold, here
I am, let him do to me as seemeth Mm good,' 2 Sam.
XV. 25, 26.

Use 3. For admonition, it serves three ways : first,

To imitate Da^nd in our prayers, labouring in our
very countenance to express truly the good afiections
of our hearts by mournful looks in confession of sins,
as Ps. Iv. 2, ' Attend unto me, and hear me : I mourn
in my complaint, and make a noise ; ' and by cheer-
ful countenance in thauksgi\ang : so ser^dng the Lord ■
with a cheerful and glad heart for his good blessing, "
as Deut. xx^^ii. 47.

Use 4. Secondly, To learn of Da\'id how to stir
up our hearts to charitable compassion towards
them that be in misery — namely, exeixise our
senses upon the objects of mercy. Hitherto belongs
the charge ; Isa. Iviii. 7, ' Hide not thyself from
thine ovm flesh.' That was the uncharitable prac-
tice of the priest and Le-\ite, to turn away from the
wounded man, Luke x. 31-33.

Use 5. Thirdly, This must teach us, with Da\-id,
to make high account of God's favour, esteeming it
as our own life, as David. And for the sure ob-
taining of it, labour to be found in Christ, in whom
only it is to be had ; John xiv. 6, vdth Exek. xxxix.
29, 'Neither wiU I hide my face any more from
them.' Also to beware of all sin, whereby it is
certainly lost, as Deut. xxxi. 17, 18; Ezek. xxxix.
23, 24. And in particular, seeing the want of faith
and obedience, the chief fruits of the word of the
kingdom, cause God to take it from us. Mat. xxi. 43 ;
therefore in special manner we must give all dili-
gence to make our callmg and election sure, 2 Pet.
i. 5, 6, &c.

The third thing to be noted here is, the reason or
argument implied in the title wliich David gives to
himself, to move God to shew favour unto him —
namely, because he is the Lord's anointed. It is
most true that the Son of God, the second person
in Trmity, was at this time, and from the beginning
of the world, iu God's purpose and promise, the
Lord's anointed, as he is called the lamb slain, Eev.
xiii. 8, whereon he is called the Messias, or anointed,
long before his incarnation, Dan. ix. 24, 25, whose
coming was expected by aU the Jews, as John iv.
25. And it may be David in this title had refer-
ence to his mediation, in whose alone merits and
worthiness the godly in all ages have audience with
God ; as Dan. ix. 1 7, ' Cause thy face to shine upon
thy sanctuary for the Lord's sake,' that is, for the
Lord Christ Jesus' sake. And so from David we

Ym. f).]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

must learn to beg all blessings of God for Christ's
sake, as John xvi. 23, 24, with John xiv. 6. Yet
withal we must know, that David styles himself
God's anointed, with special reference to that high
favour and honour whereto God had advanced him,
when he anomtcd liim by Samuel, to be king over
his people, as 1 Sam. xvi. 12; Ps. Ixxxix. 20,
whereby he made him not only a type, but an
honourable progenitor of Chi'ist, as that same Psalm
implies, ver. 20-29. And upon consideration of
that great and extraordinary favour, he begs that
which is less, even a gracious resjject for freedom
and hberty in God's holy sanctuary ; as the next
verse, which propounds the reason of his earnest
desire, doth plainly import.

Mark, then, that because David was the Lord's
anomted, therefore he begs that gi-ace and favour to
enjoy with freedom the ordinances of God in his
holy sanctuary. To the same effect, he prays, Ps.
cxxxii. 1 0, ' For thy servant David's sake, turn not
away the face of thine anointed.'

The reason hereof is plain : first, Because the
very external unction was an high honour and a
rare favour : as is implied, 1 Sam. xv. 1 7, ' When
thou wast small and httle in thine own eyes, wast
thou not made the head of the tiibes of Israel, and
the Lord anointed thee king over Israeli But
being joined with the thing signified, even the in-
ward graces of the Spirit, as it was in David, 2
Sam. xxiii. 1, 2, where he is said to be the man
that was raised up on high, the anomted of the
Lord, indued with the Spirit ; thus it did entitle
him to God's .special mercy, as Ps. Ixxxix. 20, 28,
' God promised, sajing, I have found David my
servant ; 'with my holy oO have I anointed him.
My mercy will I keep for liim for ever : ' and David
acknowledgeth, Ps. xviii. 50, ' Great deliverances
giveth he to his king : he sheweth mercy to his
anointed.'

Secondly, David propounds this motive to God,
to bestow upon him this favour, because hereby he
should be better enabled to walk worthy of the
honour conferred upon him in his anointing : as
see Isa. ii. 3, here God teacheth his ways for their
enabling to walk in his paths.

This serves for instruction and for admoni-
tion.

U)>e 1. For instruction, two ways : first. It lets us
see a commendable property in the godly, to oliserve
and mark God's favours towards them, for their
better encouragement to depend upon him, and to
pray unto him for further blessing : see 2 Sam. x\di.
34, 37, 'Thy servant kept his father's sheep,' &c. ;
Ps. Ivi. 1 3, ' Thou hast delivered my soul from
death ; wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling 1 '
So did Samson in his great thirst, Judges xv. 18.
This we should the rather mark for our example in
following the godly herein, both because God re-
quires it for our good : Ps. cxi. 4, ' He hath made
his wonderful works to be remembered ;' and ver. 2,
' They are sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein.' Micah vi. 5, ' Remember now, my people,
what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim
unto Gilgal ; that ye might know the righteousness
of the Lord.' And also blames those that forget his
works and deahng towards them : as Ps. cvi. 7, ' Our
fathers understood not thy wonders in Egj-pt ; they
remembered not the multitude of thy mercies ; but
provoked him at the sea ; ' ver. 13, 'They soon for-
gat his works ; they waited not for his counsel ; '
ver. 21, 'They forgat God their Sa\'iour.' For this
good king Asa is blamed : 2 Chron. x\'i. 8, ' Were
not the Ethiopians,' &c.

Use 2. Secondly, Here behold a great prerogative
and privilege of aU the godly that be true believers,
for they have ever in themselves, though not of
themselves, but from the Lord, a comfortable ground
of encouragement to go to God in prayer for any
needful blessing ; which is, beside his command and
pi-omise, Ps. 1. 5, 15, the honour of holy unction ;
they are the Lord's anointed ones, though not with
material oil, the use whereof ended in Christ, as all
legal tj^pes did, Col. ii. 1 7 ; Heb. x. G, yet with the
graces of the Holy Ghost, which are spiritual oil, as
John ii. 20, 27. By which they are 'made kings
and priests unto God,' Eev. i. 6, 'an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accejitable to God by
Jesus Christ,' whereon they are called ' Christ's
fellows,' Ps. xlv. ; yea, Christ himself is ' not
ashamed to call them brethren,' Heb. ii. 11. And
so they are indeed by the grace of faith, as Gal. iii.
26 ; 1 John v. 1. Christ indeed hath the pre-emi-
nence, for he is the natural Son, as he is the second

L 2

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXIV.

[Ver. 10.

person in Trinity, the only begotten, John i. 1 4,
and as incarnate, made man, the Son of God also,
Mat. iii. 1 7, by the grace of personal union.

Use 3. For admonition, two ways to every one
that would pray with comfort.

First, To make trial whether we be the Lord's
anointed spiritually, which is, by endowment with
such graces of the Spirit as declare us to be made of
Christ priests unto God, to offer up spuitual sacri-
fices, which are : first, Ourselves in souls and bodies
through faith in Christ, as Eom. vi. 13, 'Yield up
yourselves unto God,' Eom. xii. 1, which is laiown
by sanctification joined ■\\dth profession of faith, as
Eom. XV. IG.

Secondly, Our prayers and praises : as Ps. clx.
2, ' Let my prayer be set forth as incense ; ' and
Heb. xiii. 15, 'The sacrifice of praise, the fruit of
the lips ; ' or as Hosea xiv. 2, ' The calves of our
lips.'

Use 4. Secondly, In the want of assurance of this
honourable state, to give aU diligence in the sa^^ng
and holy use of God's means to attain iinto it, which
requires, first. Leaving the world, though not for
habitation, yet for behaviour and condition ; for the
world receives not this anointing, John xiv. 17,
whence Christ told his disciples he had chosen them
out of the world, John xv. 19, meaning by his holy
calling, whereto Paul exhorteth the Eomans, chap,
xii. 2, 'Fa.shion not yourselves,' &c. The world's
fashion to be left is sin in general, 1 John v. 19,
and in particular ' the lusts of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and pride of life,' 1 John ii. 16. Now this
is by true repentance, whereon the Spirit is promised,
Prov. i. 23, with Acts ii. 38. Secondly, Wait for this
gift of the Spirit in the sacred ordinances of the word
and prayer ; the word. Acts x. 44 ; Gal. iii. 2 ; and
prayer, Luke xi. 13, do herein as the people did at
Bethcsda, John v. 3, 4 ; yet let us look to the afi'ec-
tions of our hearts towards this anointing in the use
of means ; for we must do it with an holy desire,
Isa. xliv. 3, and ever join obedience with our en-
deavour, Acts v. 32.

Ver. 10. For a day in thy courts is letter tlmn a
thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of
my God, than to dicell in the tents of wickedness.

The prophet having sundry ways expressed his
zealous affection towards the house of God ; 1. By
way of admh-ation, ver. 1. 2. By plain discovery
of his affection, ver. 2. 3. By lamentation, ver. 3.
4. By instruction, touching the happiness of the
priests and Levites, ver. 4. 5. By humble and
earnest supplication for audience and favour to en-
joy the blessings he so much desired, ver. 8, and 9,
doth in this verse (to prevent the admiration of
some, and the derision of others, who would account
this holy longing to be but foolish doting) render a
good reason of his earnest afiection towards the
Lord's sanctuary, drawn from the surpassing benefit
of time spent there above any other place in the
world : ' For a day ia thy courts,' saith he, ' is
better than a thousand' anywhere else. Speaking
of the sanctuary, as the spouse doth of Christ, Cant.
V. 9, 10. To give a reason of her ardent affection to-
ward him, she saith, ' He is the chiefest of ten thou-
sand.' And because the greater number might
perhaps be other-\vise affected, therefore he doth
make instance in himself, because he best knew
his own heart, and plainly professeth that his
affection did more cleave to the Lord's sanctuary
than to any other place, saying, ' I had rather be a
doorkeeper,' &c., like as Joshua had done before
about the wor.ship of the true God, Josh. xxiv.
15.

To begin with David's reason, it stands upon this
ground : man's heart for earnest desire and dehght
should be there set, where most and best good is to
be received ; this is according to the apostle's counsel,
1 Cor. xii. 31, ' Covet earnestly the best gifts ; ' and
1 Thes. V. 21, ' Prove all things, hold that which is
good.'

There rh xaXov must needs sometimes be icdX-
Xidrov, for we must not only choose good before evil,
but of diver's good things the 1:)est, as the very
heathen have well prescribed.' Now the prophet
David doth here assume, ' But a day in God's courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere,' and therefore
do I desire it.

In this, which the prophet assumeth, this must be

remembered for the meaning, that by God's courts

here is not meant heaven, the place of glorj^, but the

place of Ills solemn worsliip here on earth, even his

1 TuU. Off. lib. 1.

Ver. 10.]

POSTSCRIPT.

sanctuary, wliicli to David's religious heart was
heaven upon earth. And so the point to be observed
is this :

That time bestowed in God's holy worship and
ser\dce is better than a thousand times so much

spent elsewhere. This is here plainly affirmed, and
to gain our more cheerful assent, mark the reasons
following :

First, here only is the certain perfect cure of all
spiritual evils and maladies in the soul.

A POSTSCEIPT BY THE PUBLISHER TO THE READERS.

CHRISTIAN READERS,— Having drawn forth
^ this Exposition of the 84th Psalm as far as the
perfect copy of the author's ovra handwriting had
carried it on, and having lost the hopes I had once
of supplying what is wanting, on the three last verses,
out of his other papers, I had an intent to undertake
that task myself ; but, upon further consideration, I
have now resolved to let it alone, and leave it as I
found it, rather than to fall under his censure that
said, Infelix operis smnma; and to owe them an an-
swer who should ask a reason of the dissimilitude in
the words of the poet, when he said, Amphora capit
institui, cuirente rota cur urceus exit 1 For why should
I strive, non passibus cequis, to follow him afar off
whom I can have no hojDe to overtake? Such a
master of this sacred art (rightly dividing the word
of truth) he was, that it would be jwesumption in
me to imagine, that what was left unfinished by him
should be perfected by me. And for works of this
natui-e to be published in this sort, is not without
example amongst the writings either of ancient and
modern authors. Besides, (if I be not mistaken,)
both the matter and expressions in these three verses,
either all or the most part, are such as you may find

handled either in the former verses of this psalm, or
in the expositions of those other three, which it is
intended shall be pubHshed together with this, viz.,
27th, 8.5th, and 87th. As the former part of ver.
10, 'A day in thy courts is better than a thousand,'
seems parallel to that of ver. 4, ' Blessed are they
that dwell in thine house ; ' the latter part of the
same verse, ' I had rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness,' unto the fourth verse of the 27th Psalm,
' One thing have I desired of the Lord,' Szc. So the
former part of ver. 11, ' The Lord God is a sun and
a shield,' doth not difier much more from that of ver.
9, 'Behold, God our shield, and look upon the
face of thine anointed,' than a profession doth from
a petition, and mercy acknowledged from mercy de-
sii'ed. And the latter part of the same verse, ' No
good thing TviU he withhold from them that walk
uprightly,' what is it but the same mth that of the
85th Psalm, vers. 12, 13, 'The Lord shall give that
which is good, &:c. The like I might say of the rest,
but that I suppose this to be sufficient, if not more
than needed. Vale.

TO THE EIGHT WOESHIPFUL,
]\r\^ TRULY NOBLE AND THRICE MOST HONOURED PATRON",

SIR ROBERT WHITNEY, Kt.

IT is not unknown unto him, unto whose eyes all
things are naked and opened, that a strong de-
sire doth possess me (if it be not more proper to call
it ambition) of offering to the present age, and leav-
ing to posterity, some public evidence of that un-
feigned thankfulness which I humbly acknowledge
to be due unto you for your altogether undeserved,
as well as unexisected at the first, and now little
less than twenty years continued, favour, expressed,
amongst many other particulars, by three several
presentations unto such church-liidngs as were in
your power to dispose of; and those not only so
freely, but also so fiiendly, not gi'anted, but offered,
that, would the severest censurer of simony that
ever was, choose of purpose a pattern in that particu-
lar for patrons perpetually to practise by, the world
could not afford him any one that might more truly
say than you can, N(c 2»'cce, nee pretio. And of all
the relations wherein men stand to one another, in
that between ministers and their people, I think it
is the gi-eatest happiness when we can tell ourselves
truly that it was not our own doing, but God's, by

the means of others, without any solicitation of our
own, that brought us together. This hath been my
comfort in many trials of affliction, and will be, I
hope, my joy and my crown whenever God shall see
it good to turn his hand upon me ; and next, under
him, I shall ascribe it unto you. And having long
ago put on almost an obstinate resolution never to
send mine o'mi name to the press, (except it be, as
now I do, to bring to light another man's labours,) I
am glad I have such a good opportunity, that, whilst
I am publishing some of his works, whose memory
is not only precious with you and others unto whom
he was known, but also like to last as long as ortho-
dox Christian religion keeps footing in England, I
may both honour one part with your name, and
^^'ithal tell the world, what I hope you vnA believe,
that I am,

Your Worship's most obliged orator, in

the strictest bonds of all observant

duty uufeignedly devoted,

CHRISTOPHER HARVEY.

THE

CHUECH'S EXEECISE UNDER AFFLICTION;

OE,

AN EXPOSITION OF PSALM LXXXV.

pSALM LXXXV. To the chief Mum-ian. A
-'- psalm for the sons of Korah.

Ver. 1. Lord thou hast been favourable to thj land ;
thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

I have chosen to entreat of this psalm, as contain-
ing fitting matter unto our times and occasions :
wherein, as well the works of God's providence as
the godly government and authority under which we
live, do call us to the consideration both of former
mercies and favours, as also of present evils and
further dangers ; that, renewing our thankfulness for
blessings received, and humbling our souls to beg of
God the removal of judgments, both present and
imminent, we may with better assurance wait upon
God for the fruition of his blessings.

Answerable to all which, we have in this psahn,
as a pattern showed us in God's holy mountain ;
first, The church's acknowledgment of God's favour
and mercy in the removal of former e\'ils, ver. 1-3.
Secondly, Her humble and earnest prayer for the per-
fecting of that mercy begun, by the removal of some
heavy judgments, which were renewed upon them
for their sins, ver. 4-7. Thirdly, Her godly be-
haviour in waiting for mercy, in a gracious answer to
her prayers, wth the sure grounds thereof, ver. 8,
<S.-c.

These are the general parts of this psahn, which I
will handle in order. But first a word or two of the
title prefixed, wliich sheweth the dedication thereof
to the chief musician, and pointeth out the persons
that were specially to be employed in the singing
thereof — namely, the sons of Korah.

The dedication is to the chief musician, or master
of the choir. For, 1 Chron. xvi. 4, David ordered a
choir to smg thanksgiving, and penned psalms for
that end, which he delivered to the master of the
choir, ver. 7. Of their ordering, see 1 Chron. xxv.
1-7.

The parties by whom it is to be used are the sons
of Korah. These sons of Korah were the posterity
of that rebelhous Levite, who, with Dathan and
Abiram, rebelled against Moses and Aaron, Num.
xvi. ; which Korah was consumed with fire, ver. 35
with 17. Howbeit there were of his sons that died
not. Num. xxvi. 11, departing, as it seemeth, from
their father's tent, as all were commanded. Num.
xvi. 24, 26. And of these is numbered a family of
the Korathites, Num. xxvi. 58, of whom came
Samuel the prophet, and Heman, his nephew, 1
Chron. vi. 33, a great singer, 1 Chron. xxv. 4, 5.

In this title observe two things : first. That God
required joy and gladuess in his service, which

Ver. 1.]

PIERSON ON rSALM LXXXV.

103

David prepared, 1 Chron. xxiii. 5, and xxv. 1, and
bids all his people to rejoice in their feasts, Deut.
x^-i. 11, 14, which feasts did represent the life of
Christians. And in evangelical worship he requires
making melody to the Lord iu their hearts, Eph.
V. 19.

The reason is great. For in God's ser\nce we
have society with God, which is a just cause of ex-
ceeding joy. Herein God vouchsafeth evidence of
special favour, and if we should take no delight
therein, it argues fearful contempt, which God can-
not endure without revenge, as Deut. xx\-iii. 47, 48,
whereto add, Amos \-ui. 5, 11.

This should make us to stir up iu our hearts, and
to express in our beha^'iour, this spiritual joj' in God's
service. To this end we have need of the Spirit to
sanctify us, which will make us to rejoice in God's
word as one that finds a great spoil, Ps. cxix. 162,
and concei\'ing it to be the food of our souls, labour
to hunger and thu'st after it, and then with Job
shall we esteem it above our appointed food, Job
xxiii. 12. Aiid when we know God to be our God,
and the fountain of blessings to us, we shall ' come
before him with gladness ' in prayer, Ps. c. 2 ; and
' our mouth shall praise him with joyful lips,' Ps.
Ixiii . 5.

Secondly, Here note that the sons — that is, the
posterity, of wicked and rebellious Korah, have an
honourable place in God's sacred and solemn serNace,
for to them sundry of Da^'id's psalms are com-
mended, as Ps. xlii., xliv.-xl\-i., S:c., which is no small
honour.

No doubt Davdd saw them, being by place and
birth Le\-ites, to be faithful and diligent in then-
place, and thus renowns them to all posterity, that
he composeth special psalms for their ministiy in
the solemn service of God.

Here see the verifying of God's word for the com-
fort of all godly children, that the son shall not
bear the inicpiity of the father, Ezek. XA-iii. 14, 17,
20, if he see his father's sins and turn from
them.

Ol/j. Exod. XX. 5, ' Visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children.'

yins. That is, inquiring for the sin of the fathers
among the children, and, if he find it there, then
pays he them home.

Ohj. Achan's sons and daughters are stoned and
burned for the father's saciilege, Joshua vii. 24, 25.
And Dathan's and Abiram's little children arc swal-
lowed up. Num. xvi. 27.

Alt':. For aught we know, they might be of years
of discretion, and privy to their father's stealth.

When little ones die in the punishment of their
father's sin, God lays not the punishment of the
father's sin upon the children, but, to make the
father's sin more odious, doth then bring upon the
chikken the fruit of their o^^m original corruption,
which is death determined upon all flesh, as Gen. ii.
1 7, with Rom. v. 12. As a creditor that hath both
the father and the son debtors unto him, may, upon
the father's provocation, lay the forfeiture upon
both, being both in Ids danger.

Secondly, Here is special encouragement to the
children of wicked parents to become godly and
faithful in their places. In some sense they are the
sons of strangers, for ' The wicked are estranged from
the womb,' Ps. Iviii. 3. Yet, if they leave their
father's sins and become faithful to the Lord, here is
comfort for them in the honour of Korah's posterity,
see Isa. Ivi. 3, ' Let not the son of the stranger, that
joineth himself to the Lord, say. The Lord hath
utterly separated me from his people ; ' for, ver.
6, 7, ' The sons of strangers, that join themselves to
the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the
Lord, shall be brought unto his holy mountain, and
made joyful in liis house of prayer ; ' for ' them that
honour me I will honour, saith the Lord,' 1 Sam.
ii. 30.

Thus much of the title, the psalm itself fol-
loweth.

Ver. 1. Lord, thou hast been farourahk to thy land:
thou hast brought again the captivity of Jacob.

In this and the two next verses are contained the
church's acknowledgment of God's great favour and
mercy, here propounded not only to testify their
thankfulness for the blessings they enjoyed, but also
to be a ground of encouragement unto their new
requests, vers. 4-7 ; and so conceived, we may
therein ob.serve one thing in general, viz., —

That God's church doth think upon and acknow-
ledge the blessings [they enjoy, though] they lie still in
other things under some heavy judgments. Compare

104

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[A'er. 1.

the three first verses with the 4th aud 5th, which -n-ill
well agree either to the times of Ezra and Nehcmiah
— when, notwthstanding their return from Babylon,
the people were in great distress at Jerusalem, as
Neh. !.■> 3 — or to the more hea\'y times, when Autio-
chus Epiphanes did tyi-annise over them, as the
book of Maccabees shews more at large, 1 Mac. i.
25, 36, &c. Like unto this is Ps. xliv. 1, &c., ' We
have heard with oui- ears, God, our fathers have
told us, what works thou didst in their days, in the
times of old,' &c. 'Thou hast saved us from our
enemies, aud put them to shame that hated us,' ver.
7. ' But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame ;
and goest not forth with our armies,' ver. 9.

The reason is twofold : first, To shew themselves
thankful for blessings received; for so God is
honoured, Ps. 1. 23, 'Whoso oflfereth praise glori-
fieth me,' which is very profitable, as Luke xvii.
17-19.

Secondly, To lay a ground of assurance of deliver-
ance in present e^dls ; for hereby their hearts are
settled in assurance of God's power, and further, in
the love of his mercy : as appears by that of Da-s-id,
1 Sam. xvii. 34, &c., 'The Lord that deUvered me
out of the paw of the Hon, and out of the paw of
the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of tliis
Philistine.'

Tills serres for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see a difference between the
wicked and the godly under crosses and afflictions.
The godly, we see here, doth guide liis affairs with
discretion ; as he looks with one eye on God's pre-
sent judgments, so with the other he beholds prece-
dent mercies: see Job i. 21, 'The Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of
the Lord;' and chap. ii. 10, 'What? shall we re-
ceive good at the hand of God, and shall we not
receive e\'iir But the wicked are like Haman —
aU his honour is nothing, while Mordecai sits in
the king's gate, Esther v. 13. The godly are Uke
David, 1 Sam. xxx. 5, 6, who, when ' the people
spake of stoning him,' ' encouraged himself in the
Lord his God ; ' but the wicked are Uke Nabal in
distress, whose ' heart died within him, and he be-
came as a stone,' 1 Sam. xx^'. 37 ; or hke Saul, that,
when God would not answer liim, consulted with a
witch, 1 Sam. xxA-iii. 7, 'Seek me a woman that

hath a familiar .'jjirit, that I may go to her and
inquire.'

For admonition, labour to become followers of
God's church and peojile in this godly behaviour.
AVe have just cause so to do in this land, every true
member of God's church. God's favour hath been
gi-eat unto us, in preventing the designs of our ene-
mies, and in -ndthdrawing the hea\'y judgment of
jjlague and pestilence from our bretliren, and that
not once alone, but often : the remembrance of
which mercies no present judgments should be able
to deprive us of.

Now, particularly in the church's acknowledgment
of God's great favour and mercy to them, we have
sundry things to note : —

First, The prophet calls Judea, wherein the people
of Israel dwelt, God's land, ' Thou hast been favour-
able to thy land;' so Ps. x. 16, 'The Lord is king
for ever and ever : the heathen are perished out of
his land,' — that is, the Canaanites and the rest of
the nations that once possessed it are now destroyed.
Jer. ii. 7, ' Ye defiled my land, and made mine heri-
tage an abomination.' Ezek. xxxvi. 5, God is angry
with all those heathen that ajDpoint his land into
their possession ; and ver. 20, ' These are the people
of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.'
Chap. xxy\d. 5, ' I will bring thee against my land.'
Hosea ix. 3, 'They shall not dwell in the Lord's
land.' Joel i. 6, 'A nation is come ujion my
land.'

The reason, or gi-ound hereof, is tlireefold. First,
God chose this land for his own people, wherein he
promised to dwell among them : see Lev. xxvi. 1 1 ;
Ps. xlra. 4, xlviii. 1-3, and Ixxvi. 1, 2 ; Ezek. xx.
6, and xxxvii. 26.

Secondly, He became king over tliis land, Zech.
xiv. 9 ; ' Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his
dominion,' Ps. cxiv. 2.

Thirdly, He undertook to be protector and blesser
of this land, and that in an extraordinary manner,
as Deut. xi. 11, 12, 'The land, whither thou goest
to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, &c. A
land which the Lord thy God careth for : the eyes
of the Lord thy God are always upon it.' Experi-
ence whereof may be seen by example, 1 Sam. \'ii.
10-12 ; 2 Kings xtx. 32, 33.

In these respects the land of Jewry was, as it were.

Ver. 1.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

105

God's peculiar enclosure, hedged in from his com-
mons, ■which was the whole earth.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, it shews plainh* that some lands
and people have a privilege above others, for sure
title and interest unto the true God, — namely, those
that do receive, believe, and obey the word of the
covenant, as did the Jews under the law, and all
Christian nations under the gospel. It is true that,
by creation and common pro\'idence, all lands and
all people are the Lord's, as Ps. 1. 12, 'The world
is mine, and the fulness thereof;' yet they only are
his by bond of covenant, and so entitled to his spe-
cial mercies, that truly receive, believe, and obey his
holy word, see Exod. xix. .5, 6 ; Deut. x. 14, 15 ; P.s.
Ixv. 1.

For admonition it serves two ways. First, To
those that as yet are without, not called nor brought
into the bond of the covenant with God, that, if
ever they desire true happiness for their souls, they
labour to become rightly entitled to the true God
by special covenant tlirough Christ Jesus; for 'happy
are the people that have the Lord for their God,'
Ps. cxHv. 15. Now, for this end, they themselves
must seek unto God's ministers, and say, as a man
of Macedonia did unto Paul in a vision, ' Come and
help us,' Acts xvi. 9 ; they must inquire of them, as
the eunuch did of Philip, ' I pray thee, of whom
speaketh the prophet this?' Acts viii. 34. Nay,
they must study in the word themselves, and search
the Scriptures daily, by the example of the noble
Bereans, Acts xvii. 11. And, above all, they must
desire of God that he will teach them to do that
which is pleasing unto him, as Ps. cxliii. 10.

Secondly, To us in this land, who, by oiu' holy
profession, do entitle ourselves to the true God, and
say, as Ps. xlviii. 14, ' This God is our God for ever.'
We must look unto it, that we do truly and sincerely
receive, believe, and obey the word of the covenant,
and take heed of those things which tend to separate
between God and his peojile. Amongst which, we
are most in danger of these two : first. The idolatry
of popery ; secondly, Profaneness in Clmstianity.
Popery is a false faith ; and proftmeness in the pro-
fession of the true religion argues a dead faith.

For popery, it is at this day, amongst God's

people, in comparison of true religion, as the worship
of the golden calves, erected by Jeroboam at Dan
and Bethel, was to the true worship appointed by
God himself at Jerusalem, 1 Kings xii. 26, 28, 29,
&c.

For papists worship God in images, as they did :
now, the danger thereof see 2 Chron. xv. 13, Israel
without a true God ; and chap. xxv. 7, ' The Lord
is not with Israel.' Therefore, if we desire the con-
tinuance of this privilege, to have our land to be
God's land, we must set ourselves against popery ;
lament and repent that it hath any corner and
closet by allowance amongst us ; yea, we must, by
prayer to God, seek the removal of it. Consider Ps.
Ixxxi. 8, 9, ' Hear, my people, and I will testify
unto thee : Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me ;
there shall no strange God be in thee ; neither shalt
thou worship any strange God.'

Then, for profaneness among the professors of true
religion, tliis argues a dead faith ; for such deny the
power of true rehgion, 2 Tim. iii. 5. Now, God's
kingdom is ' not in word but in power,' 1 Cor. iv. 20 ;
and this is a spreading evil amongst us, as God's
judgments shew : see Jer. xxiii. 10, ' The land is full
of adultery, and because of oaths the land mourns ;'
also Hosea iv. 1-3, ' The Lord hath a controversy
with the land,' &c.

The same sins are rife amongst us, whereof we
must take special regard against the day of humilia-
tion.

For comfort, this makes greatly to any land or
people thatkeep covenant with God, when they are
oppressed with idolatrous enemies or wicked men, as
usually the true church is. They must remember
their interest in the true God, and in the time of
danger, with Hezekiah, Isa. xxxvii. 6, 29, humble
themselves in earnest prayer, and, with Jehoshaphat,
fast and pray, 2 Kings xx. 3, 4, 12, and then they
shall receive a gracious answer, as he did, ver. 14,
and good success, as Abijah did, 2 Chron. xiii. 8,
10, 12.

Secondly, Note here, as taken for granted, that
Jacob — that is, the Jews, who were the posterity of
Jacob — had been taken captive ; for the churcli's
thankfulness for then- bringing back is an acknow-
ledgment of their can-jing out.

The truth hereof is manifest by plain and manifold

106

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 1.

relation in the holy storj', see 2 Kings xxiv. 10, 11 ;
Dan. i. 1, 2 ; for the beginning of it, in part, in the
reign of Jehoiakim ; and for the accomplishment
thereof, see 2 Kings xxv. 2, 8, 11 ; Jer. xxxix. 2, 3,
&c., and lii. 4, &c.

The reason hereof was their gi'ievous sins against
God : Lam. i. 8, ' Jerusalem hath grievously sinned,
therefore she is removed,' according to God's tlu'eat-
ening. Lev. xxvi. 14, 15, 25, 33; Deut. xxviii. 15,
20; Jer. xrvi. 10, 'Wherefore hath the Lord pro-
nounced all this great evil against us?' ver. 11,
' Thou shalt say. Because your fathers have forsaken
me;' ver. 12, 'And ye have done worse than your
fathers;' ver. 13, 'Therefore will I cast you out of
this land.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, see plainly that God's own people,
for the sins committed against him, may He under
most heavy and grievous judgments, as here we see
they are led into captivity : among whom were
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Dan. i. ;
also Mordecai and Esther, chap. ii. 5, 6 ; yea, Zerub-
babel and Joshua : yea, see Ps. xliv. 9, 10, &c., to
the 18th.

For admonition, two ways : first, To beware of rash
judgment, either against ourselves or others, for the
grievous calamities that lie upon us and them ; for
God saith, ' Many are the afflictions of the righteous,'
Ps. xxxiv. 19; ' Whosoever vnW live godly must
suffer persecution,' 2 Tim. iii. 12; ' Through mani-
fold afflictions we must enter into the kingdom of
heaven,' Acts xiv. 22.

Secondly, Hereby learn to know to repent of for
the time past, and to beware of for the time to come,
those sins that brought the captivity ; which are
these : In general, the transgressing of God's com-
mandments, as Lev. xx\'i. 14, 15, 25. In particular,
idolatry, 2 Chron. ^-ii. 19, 20; Sabbath-breaking,
Neh. xiii. 15-17; covetousness, Jer. vi. 12, 13;
swthing teaching, Jer. yi. 14, &c.

For comfort to the godly in the times of their
great affliction, consider that nothing befalls thee
which hath not lit on God's dear children, what-
ever thine affliction be, whether inward in mind, or
outward in body, see 1 Cor. 10, 13. Consider the
state of Job, chaps, i., ii. ; and of David, Ps. Ixxvii.

2, 4, ' My sore ran in the night, and ceased not : my
soul refused to be comforted. Thou boldest mine
eyes waking : I am so troubled that I cannot speak ;
yet I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God
■with my voice, and he gave ear unto me,' ver. 1.
Consider also the restoration of Israel in this text,
and Zeph. iii. 14, &c. ; Isa. xii. 1, &c., and liv. 1,
&c. ; Micah iv. 6, 7.

The third particular thing to be here observed, is
expressed — namely, that God brought back his
people that had been led into captivity. This is
plain, for the captivity of Babylon, in the first and
second chapters of Ezra, where both time, and
means, and persons that did return, are set do\^^l
particularly, and at large.

The reason hereof is twofold : first, and chiefly,
In God, who of mere grace and favour undertook
this great work, and bound himself thereto by
promise : see Jer. xxvii. 22, ' They shall be carried
to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day
that I visit them ; then will I bring them up, and
restore them to this place.' Jer. xxix. 10, 'After
seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will
visit you, and perform my good word towards you,
in causing you to return to this place.' 2 Chron.
xxxvi. 22, ' Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be accompU.shed, the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyras, that he made a proclamar
tion throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in
■writing, saying,' &c.

Secondly, God herein had respect to the godly
behaviour of his children in ti^ue repentance and
earnest prayer, wheretinto he did enable them by
his grace, that so he might perform his good word
unto them. For that was Solomon's request, at the
dedication of the temple, 2 Chron. ■vi. 36-38, as-
sented unto, chap. \ii. 1, by sign of fire consuming
the sacrifice, and by voice, ver. 12, 'I have heard
thy prayer.' And so we find that Daniel did, chap,
xi., according as God had said the godly should do :
Jer. xxix. 12, &c., 'Then shall you call upon me,
and go, and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto
you. And ye shall seek me, and find me ; I wHl be
found of you, and turn away your captivity.'
This serves for instruciion and for admonition.
For instruction, two waj"s : first. See that God

Ver. 2.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

107

doth actually for his church ' exceeding abundantly,
above all that men can ask or think,' Eph. iii. 20,
■wath Ps. cxxvi. 1, ' When the Lord turned again
the captivity of Zion, we were like them tliat
dream.' Such was Peter's deliverance, both to
himself, and others of the church, Acts xii. 9, 15,
IG.

Secondly, Here see a plain difference between
God's dealing with his own people and with the
wicked, when he enters into judgment with them.
His people, we see here, do return, but the wicked
are cut off, and cast off for ever : Isa. xx\'ii. 7, 8,
' Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote
him 1 ' &c.

For admonition, two ways : first. To the wicked,
that they insult not over God's children in their
affliction and misery ; for God will one day restore
comfort to his children, and judge the mcked : see
Micah \'ii. 8, ' Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy : when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in
darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.'. And
for judging the wicked, see Ps. cxxx-vii. 7-9, and
Zeph. ii. 8, 9.

Secondly, To the godly in affliction, that they be
not dismayed with any terror, for peace and deliver-
ance shall come, see Ps. xxiii. 4 ; James v. 7, 1 1 ;
Acts ii. 24. Christ now is made both Lord and
king, though once crucified. Acts ii. 36 ; ' Declared to
be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,'
Eom. i. 4.

Ver. 2. Hiou haSt fm-given the iniquity of thy people ;
thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

Here the prophet proceeds in the further acknow-
ledgment of God's favour to his people, and doth
instance, in this great blessing, the remission and
forgiveness of their sins, which were the cause of
his judgments that formerly lit upon them.

In exjjressing whereof he usetli variety of phrase,
for the greater comfort of his people ; intimating thus
much, that whether their sins were small or great,
yet God had pardoned them, and hid them out of
his sight.

In this confession note two things : the first
implied. That God's ovm people have their iniqui-
ties and their sins : the second expressed. That

God forgives the iniquity of his people, and covers
all their sins.

For the first, God's own people, that are his by
covenant, have their inicjuities and their sins : 2
Chron. vi. 36, ' If they sin against thee, (for there is
no man that sinneth not.) ' Prov. xx. 9, ' Who can
say, I have made mine heart clean : I am pure from
my sin 1 ' Eccles. vii. 20, ' There is not a just man
upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.'
James iii. 2, ' In many things we sin all.' 1 John
i. 8, ' If we say we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us.' Consider the
best that have lived, Noah, Abraham, Job, Moses,
David, Peter, &c., who, though they were most
worthy men, yet were not jjure and free from sin.

The reason hereof is their original corruption,
furthered by the malice of Satan, and the deceitful-
ness of the world.

And touching this corruption, which is in every
man the seed of liis sin, thus much we must know,
that it is in God's people in a different manner and
measure according to their estate before God. For
among God's people, some are his by a general call-
ing only, and outward profession, and in them cor-
ruption reigueth ; for the grace they have as yet is
restraining only, which keepeth them from the ser-
vitude of some gross sins only. Others are his also
by effectual calling and inward sanctification ; in
whom, though corruption do not reign, and hold
them captive under the bondage of sin, yet doth it
remain in them, and allure and draw them many a
time to commit iniquity and sin.

Thus much Paul confesseth, speaking of himself re-
generate, Rom. vii. Now there he saith, to express the
strength of his corruption remaining, ' What I hate,
that do I,' ver. 15 ; now then, 'It is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.
The good that I would, I do not ; but the evil
which I would not, that do I. I see a law in my
members warring against the law of my mind,' &c.,
ver. 17-19, 23.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, two ways : first. That original
sin is not quite taken away by baptism. True it is,
they that rightly believe in the Lord Jesus, and are

108

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 2.

regenerate by the Holy C41iost, are Ijoth freed from
the guilt of original sin, and have corruption, though
not quite removed, yet so weakened and lessened
that sin shall not reign in them : yet some i^art
thereof remains, and thence proceed actual transgi'es-
sions, as St Paul confesseth, Eom. vii. 21.

Secondly, Here see the error of the more ancient
heretics, as the Catharists, the Novatians, and Dona-
tists, who held a man might live in a state of purity
and perfection in life ; from whom the papists do
not much differ, who do not only hold the total re-
moval of oi-iguial corruption by baptism, but also
that the child of God may keep God's command-
ments. For proof whereof they urge 1 John ii. 4,
;ind do instance in Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke i.
G ; but they err, mistaking evangelical obedience
there spoken of, as though it were legal.

For admonition two ways : first, To the wicked,
that they beware of the common stumbling-block
whereat many natural men do fall, that is, to mislike
true religion because of the faults and sins of those
that be the professors of it. For God's people have
their iniquities, they have their sins.

There is a woe to them that give that offence, yet
thou shalt not be excused that takest it ; for, ' woe
be to the world because of offences,' Mat. XA'iii. 7.

Secondly, The godly have hence to consider their
estate of subjection to commit iniquity and sin, that
thei'eby they may be moved to daily repentance for
their sins past, and to watchfulness against sins to
come : for which end they must remember Christ's
charge of pulling out the right eye, &c.. Mat. v. 29,
30, and beware of the sins which their constitution
of body, and their calling or state of life doth tempt
them unto ; for there especially is this right eye
that must be plucked out, and right hand that must
be cut off. And against all sin we must labour daily
to 'put on the whole armour of God,' prescribed
Eph. -vi. 12, 14, 16 ; and also ever labour to
weaken corruption, and to renew and strengthen
grace in our souls ; for which end we must be much
exercised and conversant in the word and prayer.

For comfort, it makes greatly to those that be in
Christ Jesus, and yet be troubled for their iniquities
and for their sins.

Qued. \Maerein then do they differ from natural
men?

Alts. In the servitude of sin, whereto natural
men give themselves willingly and with delight, if
they may so do with safety from men's laws ; but the
child of God is giieved for them, and doth watch
against them, and strive to leave them, and so walks
not after the flesh, but after the Si^irit, whereby he
is freed from condemnation in Cluist, though he be
not quite cleared from his own corruption, Eom.
viii. 1, with vii. 24, 25.

The thing here expressed is, that God forgives the
iniquity of his peoj)le, and covers all their sins.
When God describes himself to Moses, he makes
this a part of his name, one of his special properties,
to ' forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin,' Exod.
xxxiv. 7 : ' The Lord is long-suffering, and of great
mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression,' Num.
xiv. 18: 'Who forgiveth all thine iniquity,' Ps.
ciii. 3.

The reason hereof is principally in God, even his
mercy and truth, which go before his face, Ps.
Ixxxix. 14. Mercy moves him to pity those that be
in misery, as all are that stand guilty of sin : and
therefore he is said to ' pardon iniquity, and to pass
by transgression, and not to retain his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy,' Micah vii. 18.
Also, his truth causeth him to perform covenant
with those that be his people in Christ ; which is to
pardon their sins, for the merit of his death and
passion, when they do repent and beg mercy and
pardon, whereunto he doth enable them, and excite
and stir them up by his word and works : as Lev.
xxvi. 40-42, ' If they shall confess their iniquity, and
the iniquity of their fathers, &c. If then their un-
cu'cumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept
of the punishment of their iniquity : then will I re-
member my covenant,' &c. Likewise, Jer. xxxii.
39, &c., ' I will give them one heart and one way,
that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them
and of their- chihlren after them, Sec. So will I bring
upon them all the good that I have promised them.'
Quest. Why doth Moses say, ' He will not pardon
your transgressions ' ? Exod. xxiii. 21; and Joshua,
' He is a jealous God, and will not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins '? Joshua xxiv. 19.
j4ns. The cu-cumstances of those places shew the
ue meaning— namely, if men provoke him, and
forsake him by idolatry, serving other gods : and if

Yek. 3.]

PIERSON ON rSALM LXXXV.

109

they sin presumptuously, despising the word ; so
Num. XV. 30, 31, 'The soul that doth aught pre-
sumptuously, the same reproacheth the Lord ; and
that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and
hath broken his commandment, that soul shall
utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon
him.'

This servos for mstruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, two ways : first, It shews tlie ex-
cellency of the true God above aU false gods ; as
Micah TO. 18, 'Who is a God like unto thee, that
pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgres-
sion of the remnant of his heritage ? ' Yea, and
above all creatures ; for ' who can forgive sin, but
God only '] ' Mark ii. 7 ; which ^rill better appear, if
we consider the way which God makes for the satis-
fying of his justice in this work of mercy — namely,
he gives his Son to become man, that so he may be
righteousness and redemption to his peof>le, 1 Cor.
i. 30 ; and gives his gospel to reveal that mercy, 2
Tim. i. 10 ; and his Holy Sjjirit, to teach and sanc-
tify the souls of his elect, and to fiu'nish them with
those graces that may entitle them to God's mercy
in Christ, Zech. xii. 10 ; 2 Cor. iv. 13. That the
Ephesians might have the knowledge hereof, Paul
bowed his knees to God, Eph. iii. 14, IS.

Secondly, See here a prerogative of God's people
above aU others ; for they that stand rightly in
covenant with God ai'e the proper subject of this
gi-eat blessing, to have from God the pardon of their
sins, wherein, we know, stands true happiness, Ps.
xxxii. 1, 2; and in that regard especially, though
not onl}^ are those people said to be blessed above
others, that have the Lord for their God, Ps. cxliv.
15, and xxxiii. 12.

For admonition, two ways : first, To all natural
men that are jet strangers from the covenant of
grace, as wanting true faith and true repentance,
that they give all diligence to the blessing of forgive-
ness of sins from God : see Esther viii. 1 7, ' Many
of the people of the land became Jews ' upon the
view of a temporal blessing. Eahab embraced the
Jews' religion, upon the notice of God's power and
mercy in the deUver}' of Israel out of Egypt, &c.,
Joshua ii. 9, &c. And shall not we, upon e^ddence

of greater power and mercy, be induced to enter into
covenant with God ?

Object. But what is this to us 1 we are all in cove-
nant with God already.

Alls. As ' he is not a Jew that is one outwardly,'
&c., Eom. -viii. 28, 29, so, Rev. iii. 1, 'Thou hast a
name that thou livest, and art dead.' Consider
Simon Magus, Acts viii. 13, 21, 22, though said to
believe, and be baptized, yet ' in the gall of bitter-
ness, and in the bond of iniquity,' see Ps. xciv. 20,
and 1 John i. 6.

Secondiv, God's own people must hereby learn to
fear and love the true God. For fear, see Ps. cxxx.
4, ' There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest
be feared ; ' and for love, Luke vii. 47, ' Many sins
ai-e forgiven her; for she loved much.'

Now true fear makes a man eschew evil. Job i.
1; Prov. viii. 13, and xiv. 27; and true love
moves to obedience in keeping God's word, as John
xiv. 21, 23; 1 John v. 3. Yea, they must with
David pray against presumptuous sins, Ps. xix. 13,
and give themselves daily to the exercises of faith
and repentance, which entitle them truly to this
blessing of forgiveness.

For comfort, it makes greatly to God's children
that do repent and believe in God through Christ,
for then this prerogative belongs unto them, wherein
stands true happiness ; even as ' David also [de-
scribeth the blessedness of the men unto whom
God] imputeth righteousness without works, sajing,
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and
whose sins are covered ; ' Eom. iv. 6, 7, ' Son, be of
good comfort, thy sins are forgiven thee.'

Ver. 3. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou
hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

The last effect of God's favour to his people here
acknowledged, for the understanding whereof we
must search out two tilings : first. Whether i^Tath
and fierce anger be in God properly, for they are
often ascribed unto God in Scripture ; secondly. In
what sense they are ascribed unto God.

For the first ; Wrath and fierce anger are strong,
sudden passions and perturbations of the mind,
caused by things offensive and displeasing. Now,
to speak properly, they are not in God, as Isa. xxvii.
4, ' Fury is not in me.'

110

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Vee. 3.

For the second ; the Scripture, speaking of God
by way of resemblance unto men, ascribeth these
passions to God for two causes : first. To acquaint
us with the mward constant disposition of his nature
against sin — namely, that he distasteth and disliketh
the impurity and impiety thereof, as man doth the
most hateful things. Secondly, To let us know the
course of his actions in punishing sin — namely, that
it shall be with that severity which men use when
they are angiy : Exod. xxxii. 10, ' Let me alone, that
my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I
may consume them.'

Here then there are two things to be ob-
served. The first is unplied. That in the sense
before shewed, God hath been wroth and fiercely
angry with his own people : ' AVhen God heard
this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel;'
he was 'wroth with his inheritance,' Ps. Ixxviii. 59,
62 ; ' The wrath of the Lord was kindled against his
people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inherit-
ance,' Ps. cvi. 40.

The reason hereof is the sins of his people, which
many times are many and grievous, such as the
holy nature of God cannot but detest, and in diviae
justice severely punish. For sin is the provoca-
tion ; 2 Kings xxii. 13, 'For great is the wrath of
the Lord which is kindled against us, because our
fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this
book.' 'Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; there-
fore she is removed,' Lam. i. 8. And, 'We have
transgressed and rebelled : thou hast not pardoned.
Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us,'
Lam. iii. 42, &c.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, two ways : fii'st, Here we may
plainly see the contrariety of sin to the holy nature
of God. It is such a thing as God cannot endure :
no, not in those that be most near and dear unto
him, even his oivai people. Nay, when his own
Son takes upon himself our sins, divine justice will
not spare him ; God's heavy wrath makes him to
sweat water and blood, and to cry out, 'My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me 1 ' Mat. xxvii. 46.

Secondly, See that God is a God of justice
against sin ; he will not wink at it nor endure it,
no, not in his own people : though that be a great
privilege, to be in covenant mth God, yet that

procures not a dispensation to sin freely : much less " "
wiU other outward things, as worldly wealth, and
strength, and honour, and the like.

For admonition, to all God's people, that they be-
ware of all sin, and especially of those that are said
in Scripture to provoke the Lord to wrath, whereof I
will name some of the chief.

1. As, first. Atheism: Zeph. i. 12, 'I will search i
Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that ^
are settled on their lees : that say in their heart,

The Lord mil not do good, neither will he do e\'il.

2. Idolatry : Ps. Ixxviii. 58, 59, ' They provoked
him to anger with their high places, and moved him
to jealousy with their graven images. When God
heard this he was wroth, and gi'eatly abhorred Israel.

3. Witchcraft : see it in Manasseh, 2 Kings xxi. .
2, 3, 6, 'He did that which was evil in the sight |
of the Lord, &c. He made his son pass through the '
fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and
dealt with familiar spirits and wizards : he wrought
much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to pro-
voke him to anger ; ' with 2 Kings xxiii. 26, ' His
anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the
provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.'

4. Opposing Clirist in the gospel, not receiving
it : Ps. ii. 1-5, ' 'Wliy do the heathen rage, and the
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord, and against his anointed,
saying. Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall have them in
derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his
wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure ; ' 1
Thes. ii. 16, 'Forbidding us to speak to the
Gentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up their
sins always ; ' for ' the wrath is come upon them
to the uttermost.' Typified in the spies and people
disliking the land of Canaan, Num. xiv. 11, 23.

5. False and flattering teaching: Jer. v. 30, 31,
' A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the
land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests
bear rule by their means; and my people love to
have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof < '
So Ezek. xiii. throughout.

6. Luke warmness, opposed to zeal : Rev. iii. IG, 19,
' Because lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I mil

Ver. 3.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

Ill

spue thee out of my mouth. As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten ; be zealous therefore, and repent.'

7. Blessing a man's self in his sinful course : Deut.
xxix. 19, 20, ' If it come to pas.s, when he heareth
the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his
heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in
the imagmation of mine heart, to add drunkenness
to thirst : the Lord will not spare him, but then the
anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke
against that man,' &c.

8. Rebellion against God's magistrates and minis-
ters : Num. xvi. 30, ' Then shall ye understand that
men have provoked the Lord.'

9. Helping the wicked : 2 Cliron. xix. 2, ' Shouldst
thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the
Lord ? therefore is wrath upon thee from before
the Lord.'

10. Oppression of the poor: Zeph. iii. 1, 3, 8,
' Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the
oppressing city. Her princes ^vithin her are roaring
lions ; her judges ai-e evening wolves. Therefore
wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that
I rise up to the prey ; to pour out upon them mine
indignation, even all my fierce anger : for all the earth
shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.'

11. Adultery: Jer. v. 7-9, 'When I fed them to
the fuU they committed adultery, &c. Shall I not
Hsit for these things ? saith the Lord. Shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this I '

12. Drunkenness : Isa. v. 21, 24, ' Woe unto them
that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength
to mingle strong drink. Therefore is the anger of
the Lord kindled against his jieople,' &c.

13. Blasphemy against God, either in common
swearing, or in more fearful perjury : see Jer. xxiii.
10, 'Because of swearing the land mourneth, the
pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.' And
for perjury, it puts upon God the jjerson of the devil,
by calling him to be a witness of a lie, whereof the
de^"il is the father, John ■\'iii. 44.

AU these we must lay to heart ; lament and repent
for that which is past, and for the time to come be-
ware of them, if we look to remove and prevent the
wrath and fierce anger of the Lord.

The second to be here observed is expressed :
That, though God had been fiercely angry with his
people, yet aftenvard he took a'w-ay his WTatli, and

turned from the fierceness of his anger; so Jer.
xxix. 10, 11, 'After seventy years be accomplished
at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good
word toward you,' &c. ; chap. xxx. 17, 18, ' I will
restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy
wounds. I -vvill bring again the captivity of
Jacob's tents,' &c.

The reason hereof was not any merit or worthiness
in them, but indeed God's own mercy and work of
grace, bringing them by his judgments to be humbled,
and by his graces to repent, to pray, and to rely upon
him for deliverance : see Ezek. xxx\'i. 32, compared
with ver. 25, &c., to 31, according to the promise,
Deut. xxx. 1-4.
This sen'es for instruction, admonition, and comfort.
For instruction, it doth accjuaint us with the gra-
cious disposition and sweet mercy of God towards
his children : ' His anger endureth but a moment,'
Ps. xxx. 5. ' He will not always chide, neither wiU
he keep his anger for ever,' Ps. ciii. 9.

For admonition, consider what it is in us that
turns away God's anger, that so we may conscionably
exercise ourselves therein. As, first. True and un-
feigned repentance, whereby we consider our own
ways in our hearts, confess our sins with godly
sorrow, and turn from the evil of them : Jer. XN-iii.
7, 8, ' At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and
to pull downi, and to destroy it ; if that nation,
against whom I have pronounced, turn from their
e^-il, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do
unto them ; ' Ezek. xviii. 30, ' Eepent and turn your-
selves from all your transgressions : so iniquity shall
not be your ruin.' Even Aliab's legal repentance
turned away a temporal judgment for a time, 1
Kings xxi. 29.

Secondly, Earnest and efl'ectual prayer for mercy
and deliverance, Joel i. 14, and ii. 16,17, 'Gather
the people, &c. Then will the Lord be jealous for
his land, and pity his people.' There it is com-
manded, and was notably practised by Moses, Deut.
ix. 25, 26, &c. ; Ps. c\d. 23.

Thirdly, Justice must be exercised in the punish-
ment of sinners that provoke God's wrath, as did
Phmehas on Zimri and Cozbi, Ps. c\'i. 29, 30, and
Jonah, that troubled the ship, was cast into the sea,
and so it was calm, chap. i. 12, 15.

112

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 4.

For comfort to the godly in trouble and affliction ;
for peace shall come : Ps. xxxiv. 19, ' Many are the
afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth
them out of them all ;' Ps. cxii. 4, ' Unto the upright
there ariseth light in darkness;' Ps. xxsrvii. 37,
' Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright : for
the end of that man is peace.'

Yer. 4. Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause
thine anger toward us to cease.

In this verse and the tliree next we have the
second part of this psalm, containing the church's
petitions and complaints about the great miseries
that yet lay heavy on them. The jsetitions are pro-
pounded in this fourth verse and the seventh : the
complaints are inserted between them, vers. 5, G.

This fourth verse contains two requests : first.
That God would turn them ; secondly. That he
■would cause his anger toward them to cease : both
which ble.ssings they beg of the true God, whom
they call the God of their salvation — that is, the
God who saves and delivers them from the e^'ils
and miseries that lie upon them.

Here, then, in this verse we have to note both to
whom they pray, and for what. They pray to God,
whom they call the God of their salvation ; and
therein we have two things to be observed : first.
What God is to his church — namely, the God of
their salvation ; secondly. What they do to God in
that regard — namely, pray unto him for that blessing.

For the first, note, God is the God of salvation
to his church : Ps. iii. 8, ' Salvation belongeth unto
the Lord;' Ps. Ixviii. 19, 20, 'Blessed be the Lord,
the God of our salvation.' ' He that is our God
is the God -of salmtion.' The word in the original is
of the plural number, she'oang that all manner of
salvation belongs to God, both of body and soul,
temporal and eternal, in this world and in the world
to come : so Ps. Ixxiv. 1 2, ' God is my king of old,
working salvations in the midst of the earth.' See
admirable instance of temporal saving. Exod. xiv. 13,
&c., of Israel at the Red Sea; and Dan. iii. 17, 27, 28,
of the three sen'ants of God out of the fiery furnace :
and undoubted assurance of eternal, Titus iii. 4, 5 ;
Kev. xix. 1; Mat. i. 21, Jesus '.shall save his
people from their sins : ' and this is ' the great salva-
tion,' Heb. ii. 3.

The reason hereof is God's power and mercy, which
in him are infinite ; as we may see, for power, Ps.
cxv. 3, and cxxxvi. 6, ' Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven and in earth : in the seas and
in aU deep places.' And for his mercy, it is as large :
Ps. cxix. 64, 'The earth, O Lord, is fuU of thy mercy;'
Ps. cxlv. 9, His ' tender mercies are over all his
works.' Now both these God doth put forth for
those that be truly in covenant with him : as Exod.
xxxdii. 1 9, ' I will make my goodness pass before thee ; '
Ps. Ixxxix. 1 7, ' Thou art the glory of their strength,
and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.'

Object. 1. But sometimes God's people are not
saved from temporal evils : as Ps. Ixxix. 1, 2, &c., ' O
God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance.
The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to
be meat unto the fowls of the heaven,' &c.

Ans. Outward and bodily safety is but a temporal
blessing, and thereof must be understood -n-ith ex-
ception of the cross ; so as when God wUl either
con-ect them for their sins, or make trial of his
graces in them, then they may want outward safety.
But ' though the outward man perish, yet the in-
ward man is preserved and renewed day by day,'
2 Cor. iv. 16; nay, their eternal glory is hereby
increased, ver. 17; as Rev. vii. 9, 14, an infinite
number ' clothed with white robes, and palms in their
hands, came out of great tribulation.'

Object. 2. But the Scripture acknowledgeth other
saviours beside the true God, both for temporal and
eternal salvation, as Judges ii. 16, for temporal ;
and Obadiah, ver. 21 ; Ps. xxi. ; 1 Tim. iv. 16, for
eternal.

Ans. Understand them to be instrumental saviours
under God, not sole or principal, as 1 Cor. iii. 5, 9.
And know that it pleaseth God sometime to ascribe
the effect to the instrument, as James v. 20, to teach
us not to contemn the means, which is a fearful
tempting of God, as Acts xiii. 46, and othersvliile to
deny it to the means, as 1 Cor. iii. 6, that we should
not trust in it : Ps. xliv. 3, 6, 7, ' They got not the
land in possession with their own sword, neither
did their own arm save them : but thy right hand,
and thine ann, and the light of thy countenance.'
' For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my
sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our
enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.'

Vek. 4.]

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

113

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instniction, see the prerogative of God's
chiu'ch and people above all other states and con-
ditions in the world ; they being by covenant
the people of God, have him to be unto them the
God of salvation : see Deut. xxxii. 31, 'Their rock
is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves
being judges ; ' Jer. iii. 23, ' Truly in vain is salva-
tion hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude
of mountains : truly in the Lord our God is the
salvation of Israel.'

Secondly, See here the impiety of poperj', that
sets up other sav-iours among them than the true
God, both for temporal and spiritual safety.

For admonition two ways : first, To take heed of
those sins that deprive a people of this prerogative,
to have the true God to be the God of their salva-
tion. And those are especially two : first. Idolatry ;
when men either worship a false God, as the
heathen did and do, or else worship the true God
in a false manner, as did Jeroboam and his succes-
sors, 1 Kings xii. 28, and as the papists do at this
day ; for which sin see God forsaking, Judges iii. 8,
compared with x. 13, 'Ye have forsaken me, and
served other gods : wherefore I wiU dehver you no
more.' Secondly, Impiety; when men 'hold the
truth in unrighteousness,' Rom. i. 18 ; 'Have a form
of godliness, but deny the power thereof,' 2 Tim. iii.
5 ; ' For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in
power,' 1 Cor. iv. 20.^

Secondly, "We must all labour to become such as
ai'c truly entitled to God's power and mercy for sal-
vation, that he which is the God of salvation may
become our God ; for assui'ance whereof we must look
to these things :

First, That we become the children of Abraham ;
for to such salvation comes, Luke xix. 9. Now such
may be known by doing the works of Abraham,
John viii. 39. He is the father of the fiiithful,
Rom. iv. 11, who by faith, first, Forsook his own
people and his father's house, Heb. xi. 8, 9, com-
pared ■Nvith Gen. xii. 1, 4 ; secondly. Commanded
his household to ser\'e God, Gen. xviii. 19 ; thirdly.
Made intercession to God for the sparing of Sodom,
no doubt for the elect's sake that he hoped had been
tlierein, Gen. x^'iii. 23, &c. ; fourthly, By faith

off"ered his own son, yea, his only son Isaac, for an
off'ering upon God's command, Gen. xxi. 1, &c. ;
Heb. xi. 1 7. In all these we must labour to shew
ourselves to be the sons of Abraham. Consider all,
and look especially at the mortification of corrap-
tion, the sins of our hearts and souls : see Rom.
viii. 12; Gal. v. 24; Col. iii. 5. We should be
ashamed to hear that we love our sins better than
Abraham did his only son.

Secondly, The true God is a Sa^•iour unto every
one that is a true member of Christ's body, Eph. v.
23. Now true members are joined to their head
by the Spirit, 1 Cor. xii. 13, and by virtue thereof
receive life and sense from Christ spiritually, as
Rom. viii. 11. Now such with Christ — 1. Leave
the grave of sin, Rom. vi. 17, 18; 2. They converse
with the godly, Acts x. 40, 41 ; 3. They walk in
the Spirit, Gal. v. 25 ; 4. They talk and speak
religiously. Col. iv. 6 ; Prov. xxxi. 26 ; 5. They
taste spiritual food with delight, the word and
sacraments.

Thirdl}'-, God will save those that trust in him,
Ps. xvii. 7, and xci. 1, &c. ; they ' shall be as mount
Zion,' Ps. cxxv. 1. Now they that trust in the
Lord will not use unlawful means to helj^ them-
selves out of misery, but will wait his leisure, as Isa.
xxviii. IC, 'He that believeth shall not make
haste.'

Fourthly, He that would be delivered by God
must be upright-hearted, Ps. vii. 10. Now such
lean not to sin, but, as Isa. xxxviii. 3, can say to
God, ■svith Hezekiah, ' Remember now, O Lord, I
beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in
truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that
which is good in thy sight.'

For comfort to God's children in trouble and
misery, they have a Saviour and deliverer, see Ps.
xxiii. 1, 4 ; and Dan. iii. 17.

The second point to be here observed is the prac-
tice of the church towards God in theii' trouble, —
namely, they go to God in prayer for salvation and
deliverance : see Ps. Ixxix. 9, ' Help us, God of
our salvation, for the glory of thy name ; and deliver
us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake ; '
and Ps. Lxxx. 1,3,' Give ear, shepherd of Israel,
thou that leadest Joseph as a flock ; thou that
dwellest between the chei-ubims, shine forth. Turn

114

PIERSOM ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 4.

US again, God, and cause thy face to sliiiie, and
we shall be saved ; ' Ps. cxviii. 5, ' I called upon the
Lord in distress,' &c.

The reasons which induce them to do so are
these :

First, God's command : Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me
in the day of trouble.'

Secondly, God's property to hear and help : Ps.
Ixv. 2, 'Oh thou that hearest prayer, unto thee
shall all flesh come;' Ps. xlvi. 1, 'God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble ; ' see this in the heathen mariners, Jonah i.

14, 15.

Thirdly, God stands bound by promise and cove-
nant to hear and help his church in distress : see
2 Chron. vii. 14, 'If my people, which are called by
my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their
sin, and will heal their land;' Ps. xci. 15, 'He
shall call upon me, and I will answer him : I will be
with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour
him.'

Fourthly, Observation of the success of this duty
in others before them, as Ps. xxxii. 3-6, i. 3-5, and
xcix. 6, 8, 9 ; and in their own persons, as Ps. Ivi.
13, ' Thou hast dehvered my soul from death ; wilt
not thou deliver my feet from falling? '

First, This serves to discover a threefold impiety
as contrary to the practice of the church, of atheists,
witches, and idolaters. 1. Atheists in their hearts
say there is no God, and therefore make no con-
science of this practice of the church to call upon
God : see Ps. xiv. 1,4,' The fool hath said in his
heart there is no God.' They call not upon God :
Ps. X. 4, ' God is not in all his thoughts.' Job xxi.

15, 'What is the Almighty that we should serve
him ? and what profit should we have if we pray
unto him 1 ' Job xxii. 1 7, ' Which say unto God,
Depart from us : and what can the Almighty do for
them ? ' 2. Witches, wizards, and conjurers, for a
show and colour, may have the name of God in
their mouths, but sure the affiance of their hearts is
in the devil ; with him they are in league and
society ; all their spells, charms, circles, and incanta-
tions are prayers, homage, and service done to him.
And like unto these, though not in so high degree.

are all they that seek unto them and use their help :
Isa. \iii. 19, 'When they shall say unto you. Seek
unto those that have familiar spirits, and unto
wizards that peep and that mutter, should not a
people seek unto their God I ' When Ahaziah, king
of Israel, sent unto Baalzebub, the god of Eltron, to
inquire whether he should recover of his disease,
the Lord by Elijah tells his messengers, ' Is it not
because there is not a God in Israel that ye go to
inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron 1 ' 2 Kngs i.
2, 3. Lastly, Idolaters say to saints and idols, Hear
us, help us, pray for us, as 1 Kings xviii. 26. This
we know is the common practice of papists to the
Virgin Mary and to all the saints. But herein they
shew themselves not to be God'.s people, but such as
have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and
hewed them out broken cisterns that can hold no
water, Jer. ii. 11-13.

For admonition, that we observe and remember
this practice of the church of God, and conscionably
endeavour to conform ourselves thereto ; in the day
of our trouble to seek the Lord, remember God
and complain, as Ps. Ixxvii. 2, 3 ; to say with the
godly man, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee 1 '
Ps. Lxxiii. 25 ; and with the church, Isa. Lsiii. 16,
' Though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel
acknowledge us not : thou, Lord, art our father,
our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.' Ps.
XX. 7, ' Some trust in chariots, and some in horses :
but we will remember the name of the Lord our
God.' Hosea xiv. 3, ' Asshur shall not save us ; we
will not ride upon horses : neither will we say any
more to the work of our hands. Ye are our gods :
for in thee the fatherless find mercy.' Consider
the reasons of this duty, as before, and the success,
as Ps. XX. 8, ' They are brought down and fallen :
but we are risen, and stand upright.' Ps. cxvii.
5, &c., ' I called upon the Lord in distress : the
Lord answered me, and set me in a large place,'
&c.

Thus much of him to whom they pray ; the things
for which they pray are two : 1 . That God would
turn them ; 2. That God would cause his anger
toward them to cease. For the first; when they
beseech God to turn them, they mean from the
evils under which they lay, whether of sin or
punishment, unto a comfortable state : for so largely

Ver. 4.]

riERSON ON PSALM LXXSV.

115

dotli the use of the word extend ; sometime there-
with is begged conversion from sin, Jer. xxxi. 18,
19, ' Turn thou me, and I shall be turned,' — 'after
that 1 was turned, I repented,' &c. Sometimes
restitution to comfortable outward state, which is
turning from punishment, as Ps. cxx-vd. 4, ' Turn
again our capti\-ity, Lord.' And though here the
latter is specially aimed at, yet we may not exclude
the former, because, ■nithout turning from sin, the
ceasing of God's -(vrath would not be expected, Ps. \di.
12, &c., ' If he turn not, he will whet his sword,' &c.

Mark then, God's people do beg of God the bless-
ing of conversion from e^^.ls under which they lay,
whether of sin or punishment, see Lam. v. 21,
' Turn thou us unto thee, Lord, and we shall be
turned : renew our days as of old.' Ps. Ixxx. 3,
7, 20, ' Turn thou us again, Lord God of hosts ;
cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.'

The reason is enfolded in the title which here
they give to God — namely, that he is ' the God of
their salvation,' both for soul and body. He re-
storeth the soul, Ps. xxiii. 3 ; the same word is there
used, 3nVil"- And he preserveth and delivereth
the body and outward estate : Ps. xci. 15, 'I %vill
be vnth. him in trouble ; I will deliver him.' Job
V. 19, 'He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea,,
in seven there shall no evil touch thee.' He is
almighty, and so all-.sufficient ; nothing is too hard for
him, Jer. xxxii. 27, and this power he puts forth
for the good of his people.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, touching the author of true con-
version to the soul. The practice of the church
shews her judgment herein ; she prays to God to
be turned from evUs, whether spiritual or corporal,
and therefore no doubt acknowledged him to be the
sole author tliereof. It is true, in temporal evils,
man by nature hath some abOity to discern and
endeavour the way and means of his deliverance.
But in spiritual evUs, of corruption and sin, it is not
so ; for therein man naturally is dead, and so wants
ability of himself to conceive and act the things that
belong to the Ufe of grace, see Acts xxvi. 9. The
wisdom and will of natui e is to oppose the means of
conversion ; ' I verily thought vriih myself,' saith
the apostle, ' that I ought to do many things con-

trary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.' For 'to
be carnaUy-minded is death ; because the carnal
mind is enmity against God,' Rom. viii. 6, 7.
Therefore hereof men do not become God's chil-
dren, John i. 13; which wiU be plain, if we con-
sider that the Scripture calls regeneration a new
creation, 2 Cor. v. 17, and the first resurrection,
Eev. XX. 6.

Quest. 1. Why then doth God bid men turn? as
Ezek. xr\-iii. 30, ' Repent, and turn yourselves from
all your transgressions.'

Alls. First, To shew us our duty, not our ability ;
what we ought, not what we are able of ourselves
to do : for, John xv. 5, ' Without me ye can do
nothing.' 'We are not sufficient of ourselves to
think anything, as of ourselves,' 2 Cor. iii. 5. ' No
man can come to me, except the Father, which hath
sent me, draw him,' John vi. 44. Believers are
born, ' not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God,' chap. i. 13.

Secondly, God in these commandments hath an
aim at the outward actions, wherein he desires
reformation, whereto naturally man hath some
power, as we may see by Ahab's humiliation, 1
Kings xxi. 27.

Thirdly, God requuing of us the grace of conver-
sion, means we should endeavour ourselves in the
outward means thereof, — to get ability thereto of
God. Though gi'ace be God's gift, yet is the use of
means in our power.

Quest. 2. Are not such commands unjust or vain 1

Ans. No, not unjust ; because in Adam we were
able to do anything God should require of us. And
vain they are not, because they are means of con-
version in God's elect, as to Lydia, Acts x\-i. 14,
' Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul.' Deut.
xxxii. 46, 47, ' Set your hearts unto all the words
which I testify amongst you ; for it is not a vain
thing for you.' 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16, 'For we are unto
God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are
saved, and in them that perish. To the one we
are the savour of death unto death, and to the other
the savour of hfe unto hfe.' And they leave the
wicked without excuse, because they yield not such
obedience as nature enables them unto, Luke x. 10,
11.

116

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 4.

For admonition, this serves to move every one,
under any evU or misery, corporal or spiritual, to
become a follower of God's church, in beseeching
God to give deliverance from it. This Christ
teacheth in the Lord's Prayer, ' Deliver us from
evil,' Mat. vi. 13. 'Is any man afflicted? let him
pray,' James v. 13. Herein we must continue and
watch. Col. iv. 2 ; yea, pray and not faint, Luke
xviii. L Eemember the many sharp repulses which
Christ gave to the woman of Canaan, Mat. xv. : in
the 23d verse he is silent ; in the 24th he denies he
was sent to such ; in the 2Gth he likens her to a
dog ; but in the 28th there is this happy conclusion,
' woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even
as thou wilt.'

Object. But natural men cannot pray.

Ans. Not so well as they ought, but let them do
so well as they can, as did the Niuevites, Jonah iii.
8 ; and get others to pray for them, as Simon Magus
did, Acts viii. 24 ; do as the sick of the palsy did,
Mark ii. 3, who got four men to bear him, being not
able of himself to come to Christ.

For comfort, this shews that God's church hath
no evil to befall them from which they have not an
all-suflBcient deliverer, to whom they may go, as
Dan. iii. 17. And this door cannot be shut up
against them, as 2 Cor. iv. 8, ' We are troubled on
every side, yet not distressed ; ' therefore remember
and apply the precept, Pliil. iv. 6, ' Be careful for
nothing ; but in everything by prayer and supplica-
tion with thanksgiving let your request be made
known unto God.'

And cmise thine anger towards us to cease. The
second request of the church here made unto God
for the ceasing of his anger, — that is, for the re-
moval of his judgments, which they conceive to
come from his anger, provoked by their sins.

This petition may be considered two ways. First,
With reference to the confession made in the former
verse ; secondl}^ By itself.

In the former verse we have this confession, ' Thou
hast taken away all thy wrath, and turned thyself
from the fierceness of thine anger.' Yet here the
church entreats that God would cause his anger to-
ward them to cease. How do these things agree 1
Well enough, if we refer the confession to the time
of their return out of Babylon, caused by Cyrus,

Ezra i. ; Ps. cxxvi. 1, 3; and this supplication to
some time of troubles that befell them after their
return, as under Cambyses, Artaxerxes, or Antiochus
Epiphanes, in which times the adversaries did sore
vex God's peojile. Now then in this reference see
plainly.

That God's church and people, who have formerly
felt his great favour and love, may afterward come
to the sense and feeling of his bitter anger and dis-
pleasure. This thing is plain in this j^salm, by com-
paring the first verse with the fifth and sixth ; also
in the 29th and 30th chapters of the book of Job ;
and in David, Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah,
and many others, both for their own persons, and
the people of God under their government. For
David's person, see Ps. xxx. 6, 7, 'I said in my pros-
perity, I shall never be moved. Thou didst hide
thy face, and I was troubled ; ' and for the estate of
God's jjeople under him, Ps. Ixxxix. 20, 28, com-
pared with the 38th and 39tli verses : in his time
were war, famine, and pestUence. For Solomon, his
peace, power, and plenty are at large set down, 1
Kings X. 27, &c. ; his troubles, chap. xi. 11, &c.
For Asa, his power and peace, see 2 Chron. xiv. 6 ;
his great conquest over the Ethiopians, ver. 9 ; the
joy of his people rene\ving covenant ivith God, chap.
XV. 15 ; but chap. xvi. 8, 9, a great change. So for
Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii. 3, the Lord was with
him ; and ver. 5, he had riches and honour in great
abundance ; yet, chap. xLx. 2, wrath from the Lord
was toward him ; and, chajj xx., feai'ful war was
made against him. So for Hezekiah, the Lord was
with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went
forth, 2 Kings xviii. 7 ; and by restoring of religion
he brought great joy to God's people at Jerusalem,
2 Chron. xxx. 26 ; and dealing uprightly, he pros-
pered, chap. xxxi. 21 ; but, chap, xxxii., troubles
come upon him by Sennacherib; and yet, upon God's
deliverance, he was magnified in the sight of all
nations, ver. 22, 23 ; but, ver. 24, he is sick unto
death, from which being extraordinarily delivered,
he was lifted up with pride, and so wrath was to-
ward him, ver. 25.

The reason hereof is twofold. First, and most
usually, Correction for sin, as we may see in the
forenamed examples of David, Solomon, Asa, Jehosh-
aphat, and Hezekiah. So Ps. Ixxxix. 31, 32, 'If

Ver. 4 ]

riERSON ON rSALM LXXXV.

117

tliey break my statutes, and keep not my command-
ments; then \nll I visit their transgressions with
the rod, and their iniquities with stripes.'

Secondly, God doth it sometimes for the trial of
grace, as is plain in Job, by God's own confession,
chap. ii. 3, ' Still he holdeth fast his integrity, al-
though thou movedst me against him, to destroy him
without cause.'

This serves for in.^truction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, sec here that the church of God
here on earth is very fitly resembled to the moon,
not only for recei\dng all the light of knowledge and
comfort she hath from Christ, but even because of
change and alteration in estate. As the moon is
sometimes in the wane and eclipse, and sometimes
in the full, so is God's church here on earth. Though
outward prosperity, with the sense and feeling of
God's favour, do most properly belong to God's
church and people, yet they are not so entailed upon
them infallibly, but that many times, instead of
prosperity, they have great misery.

Christ is to his church, for joy and comfort, the
Sun of righteousness ; but yet sometimes the light
of his countenance doth not appear for many
days.

For admonition it serves two ways : first. In the
days of peace aiftl comfort to take heed of all sin, as
being the true cause of echpsing the light of God's
flvvour : as we may see in general, Lam. iii. 39,
' Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for
the punishment of his sins?' ver. 42, 'We have
transgressed and have rebelled : thou hast not par-
doned.' If we would know the causes of God's
anger, more particularly in those special sins that
stir up his wrath, see before in the third verse, the
use of admonition upon the first observation.

Secondly, When God's favour is any way eclipsed
towards his rhurch, or any member of it, hence
learn to inquuc into the true cause thereof, which
ordinarily is some sin or sins ; for the finding out
whereof we must use God's law, as Joshua did the
lot to find out Achan with the execrable thing, Joshua
■\ii. 18, and the mariners did to find out Jonah,
chap. i. 7.

This concerns eveiy one for the true peace of his
own sold, that hereby they may be brought to re-

pentance and reformation, and so shall God's favour
he restored unto them.

For comfort this makes greatly to those that find
and feel God's anger towards them, either in outward
crosses or in inward terrors. Herein consider thy
state is no worse than God's dearest children have
been in, as Jol), David, &c. ; do therefore as they
have done — repent of thy sins, pray for mercy, and
wait by ftxith and patience, and peace shall come.

The petition, considered in itself, sets before us
this practice of God's church and children ; that
when they lie under any evil or misery, they pray
for the removal of God's anger towards them, see
Ps. Ixxiv. 1, '0 God, why hast thou cast us off for
ever 1 why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep
of thy pasture?' Ps. Ixxix. 1, &c., '0 God, the
heathen are come into thine inheritance ; thy holy
temple have they defiled ; they have laid Jerusalem
on heaps,' &c. Ps. bcxxix. 46, 'How long. Lord,
wilt thou liide thyself, for ever 1 shall thy wrath burn
Hke fire?' So did David, Ps. xxxviii. 1, t^'c, '0
Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath : neither chasten
me in thy hot displeasure,' &c.

The reason is, because they know that all affliction
comes by divine dispensation, and ordinarily is the
proper fruit of God's anger provoked by our sins,
see Job v. G, ' Affliction cometh not forth of the dust ;
neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.' It
is a thing of God's sending : Isa. xlv. 7, ' I form
the light, and create darkness ; I make peace, and
create evil : I the Lord do all these things.' Amos
iii. 6, ' Is there evil in the city, and the Lord hath
not done it?' Mat. x. 29, 'A sparrow shall not fall
on the ground without your Father.' The sword, the
famine, the noisome beasts, and the pestilence, are
God's four sore judgments, Ezek. xiv. 2L

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first. It lets us see the
blindness of some, that in miseries never consider
God's anger, but only look at second causes : hereof
the prophet Isaiah doth complain, chap. xx^d. 11,
' Lord, when thy hand is hfted up they will not see.'
This provokes to anger and desiie of private re-
venge, which is a brutish part ; the dog bites at the
stone, without regard to him that threw it.

Secondl)', See what a desperate course they take,
that under miseries use unlawful means to help

118

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[VZE. 5.

themselves, as especially they do that go to wizards
and witches ; they increase the wrath of God against
themselves, as Saul did by this course, 1 Chron. x.
13, 14; see Isa. viii. 19.

For admonition three ways : first, In every misery
we must do as God's church here doth, lift up our
thoughts to God's anger against us, provoked by our
sins. For ordinarily misery is a fruit of God's anger
against our iniquity ; and therefore, if we desire the
removal of the evU, we must take a course for the
appeasing of God's anger ; which is only to be done
through Christ his Son, whom God hath set forth to
be a propitiation for sin, Eom. iii. 5 ; 1 John ii. 2.

Secondly, As we desire to escape evils, we must
beware of provoking the Lord to anger: 1 Cor. x. 22,
Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we
stronger than he ? ' Jer. vii. 19, 'Do they provoke
me to anger 1 saith the Lord ; do they not provoke
themselves, to the confusion of then- own faces 1 '

Thirdly, That under every misery we follow the
church in prayer to God for the appeasing of his
anger. This will prevail, if it be joined with true
humiliation, see 2 Chron. vi. 36, 37, compared with
chap. vii. 13, 14; and consider how far Ahab pre-
vailed, 1 Kings xxL 27, 29.

Ver. 5, 6. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever ?
wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations ? Wilt
thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in
thee?

These words contain the church's humble com-
plaint unto God for two great evils : first. The long
continuance of his anger toward them; secondly.
The long delay of Ids favour from them.

The long continuance of his anger is twice pro-
pounded, ver. 5, to express their deeper sense
thereof, and their more earnest desire to have it
removed. The delay of his favour is lamented in
the sixth verse, and there ampUfied by the good
effect of his renemng thereof— namely, their rejoic-
ing in him.

In theii- double complaint of his anger continued
note two things.

First, That God's anger may long continue to-
wards his own children and people. This is the
matter of their complaint in this place ; and so, Ps.
Ixxiv. 1 , ' God, why hast thou cast u.<; ofi' for ever ?

why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy
pasture?' ver. 10, '0 God, how long shall the adver-
sary reproach ? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name
for ever ? ' Ps. bcxvii. 7-9, ' WUl the Lord cast off
for ever 1 and will he be favourable no more 1 Is his
mercy clean gone for ever ? doth his promise fail for
evermore 1 Hath God forgotten to be gracious 1 hath
he in anger shut up his tender mercies V Ps. Ixxix. 5,
' How long. Lord 1 wilt thou be angry for ever 1 shall
thy jealousy burn like fire V Lam. v. 20, 22, ' Where-
fore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so
long time? Thou hast utterly rejected us : thou hast
been very wroth against us.'

The reason hereof is twofold : first, The commit-
ting of sin and omitting of repentance, either in
general, as Isa. ix. 13, 'The people turneth not unto
him that smiteth them : neither do they seek the
Lord of hosts ; ' ver. 14, ' Therefore the Lord will cut
off from Israel head and tail, branch and rushj in one
day ;' ver. 17, ' Everj' one is an lij-pocrite and an e^nl
doer, and every mouth speaketh foUy : for all tliis his
anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out
stdl ;' ver. 18, 'For wickedness burneth as the fire,'
&c. When men grow obstinate in sin, God becomes
resolute in punishment: see Jer. vi. 17-19, 'The
watchmen say, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet :
the people answer. We will not hearken. Therefore
hear, ye nations : behold, I will bring evil upon this
people;' ver. 21, 'Fathers and sons together shall
fall,' &c. ; chap. vii. 13, 15, 16, 19, 'I spake unto you,
rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not : and
I called you, but you answered not. Therefore wiU
I cast you out of my sight. Pray not thou for this
people : for I wiU not hear thee. Do they pro-
voke me to anger ? saith the Lord : do they not pro-
voke themselves to the confusion of their own faces V
Or they repent not in sincerity, Isa. hdii. 2, 3, 6.
Or repentance is not practised in particular by the
sinners themselves, amongst God's people, though
the godly there may repent and lament. See this
plainly in the days of good king Josiah, who did
greatly humble himself, 2 Kings xxii., and most
worthOy endeavour the reformation of religion, the
rooting out of idolatry and impiety; as 2 Kings xxiii.,
where his rare goodness is commended from ver. 2 to
25, and yet, ver. 26, the Lord's anger stUl continued.
And the reason we may see, Zeph. i. and iii.,

Ver. 5.]

FIEBSON OX PSALM LXXXV.

119

where is shewed that in his days continued much
impiety ; and the Uke we may see, Ezek. xiv. 13, 14,
' AVhen the Land sinneth against me, by trespassing
grievouslj', S:c. Though these three men, Noah,
Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but
their o-svn souls by their own righteousness.'

The second reason is the continuing of scandal
and reproach unto religion, amongst the wicked,
by the grievous sins of God's children. Though
they themselves may truly repent, yet their sins,
causing the enemies of religion to blaspheme, may
procure the continuance of God's anger, in tem-
poral judgments : as in David's case, 2 Sam. xii.
10, &c.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first, It lets us see
what a fearful thing it is to live in impenitency, or
to commit sins that are scandalous to religion,
though we do repent ; for both these ways we kindle
God's anger ; and who may stand when he is angry ?
for thereupon follows destruction; see Ps. ii. 12;
Ps. Ixxvi. 7.

Secondly, Here see who be the great hinderers
of the welfare of any estate, church, commonwealth,
or family — namely, the wicked, who commit sin
wth greediness, and draw iniquity as it were with
cart-ropes ; these are the persons that biing plague,
famine, war, and other judgments. For affliction
followeth smners : where is lying, swearing, stealing.
Sec, there the Lord hath a controversy with the
inhabitants, Hosea iv. 1, &c. ; so Jer. xxiii.
10, ' Because of swearing the land mourneth,'
&c. ; and 1 Kings xviii. 18, 'Thou art he that
troubles Israel.'

For admonition two ways : first. Take notice of
the causes for wliich God's anger, is kindled, and
doth continue, that we may avoid them ; and when
we have fear or feeUng of his anger, then make sure
we look back towards our sins committed, and see
what repentance we have shewed, and reformation ;
and ever beware of hypocrisy and of scandalous sins.

Secondly, To beware of rash judgment, either
against ourselves or others, when God's anger doth
long continue towards us or them. Indeed this
state causeth the godly to think themselves forsaken
of God; as Isa. xlix. 14, and to judge hardly of

others that be in that estate, as Job iv. 7, but both
■without good ground. Therefore we must do, as
Micah vii. 8-10, 'Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy : when I fall, I shall arise,' &'c.

For comfort to them that lie long under the
heavy hand of God in any affliction, in soul, body,
or outward estate, wherein they cannot but appre-
hend God's anger continued. They must consider
that herein nothing doth befall them, but what hath
lit on God's dear children ; and therefore must neither
murmur nor despair.

The second thing to be observed is the behaviour
of God's people under the sense and feeling of God's
long continued anger. They return to him that
smote them, in humble complaint of his long con-
tinued anger toward them; see Ps. xliv. 9, 10, 17,
2.3, and Ixxiv. 1,2. So in Job, chap. vii. 7, 8, 12 ;
in David, Ps. vi. 1, xxxviii. 1, and Ixxxrai. 14 ; in
Clirist Jesus, in his agony. Mat. xxvi. 38, 39.

For, first. They know that affliction comes from
God, Amos- iii. 6 ; it comes not by chance. Job v. 6,
but by divine providence and dispensation. Mat. x.
29, 30.

2. They know God sends them afflictions to
make them seek unto him, Hosea v. 14, 15; Isa.
xxvi. 6 ; as Absalom, by setting on fire Joab's corn-
field, brought Joab to come to him, 2 Sam. xiv.
29, &e.

3. They know that, till God's anger be appeased,
the strongest helps do fail. Job ix. 13.

4. That when they complain with godly sorrow,
God is merciful, and will hear and help : Exod. xxii.
27, 'When he crieth unto me, I will hear, for I am
gi-acious;' Ps. xxii. 24, 'He hath not despised nor
abhorred the affliction of the afflicted ; neither hath
he hid his face from him ; but when he cried unto
him, he heard ; ' Ps. li. 1 7, ' A contrite and a broken
heart, God, thou wilt not despise ; ' Ps. cii. 1 7,
' He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not
despise their prayer.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first. That all God's
people do conceive the true God to be not only a
God of power, able to deliver, but a God of mercy
and compassion, most willing to help and relieve
those that be in miserv. Joel ii. 13.

120

riERSON ON PSALM LX-XXV.

[Ver. 6.

Secondly, See here the great impiety of tliose
that, under tire sense of God's anger in any afflic-
tion, seek other help than from God, as do seekers
to witches and sorcerers, forbidden of God, Isa. viii.
1 9 ; and papists, that make intercession to saints for
deliverance from sundry evils. They have fourteen
helping saints, by whose intercession and merit men
may l)e delivered from all adversity, as St George,
St Blase, Erasmus, Panthaleon, Vitus, Christopher,
Denis, &c. ; (see Tilheman, Heshusius, in errorihus
pontijiciorum, loco 28, de cidhi et invocations sanctorum,)
wherein they deal like to Ahaziah, that sent to
Baalzebub, the god of Eltron, 2 Kings i. 1, &c. ;
add Isa. ix. 13, 'The people turneth not unto him
that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of
hosts.'

For admonition, that we liecome followers of the
saints and people of God, who in time of distress
go to God and make their comj)laints to him : see
Job's resolution in keeping close to God, Job xiii.
15, ' Though he slay me, yet wUl I trust in him.'

For comfort to the godly, they may go unto God
for mercy and help when they feel God's anger to-
wards them, as Ps. Ixxvii. 1, &c. ; Judges x. 10, 15.
Here it is true, though fire be in the bush, the bush
consumeth not. Hence, 2 Cor. iv. 8, 'We are
troubled on every side, yet not distressed : we are
perijlexed, yet not in despair.'

Ver. 6. JJ'ilt thou not revive us ar/ain, that thij
people may rejoice in thee ?

The second complaint of God's church and people
for the long delay of his love and favour, which
testified, by restoiing them to comfortable state, they
esteem and account as life itself, and therefore do
complain of the want thereof as of the state of
death : for the change whereof they have recourse to
God, saying. Wilt not thou revive us again ? moving
him thereto by his good fruit and eflfect thereof,
' that thi/ 2>e'^ple may rejoice in thee' as if they should
have said. While we remain in misery, under the
sense of thy displeasure, we are as dead men, and
therefore do complain to thee, who, by removing our
misery, and renewing thy favour, canst revive us ;
whereupon will follow this good eflfect, that we thy
people shall rejoice in thee, which will be for thy glory.

Here, then, we have to consider as well the

church's complaint, as her reason propounded to
move God to give them relief from that misery
whereof they complain.

In their comjilaint note two things : the first im-
plied. That the sense of God's displeasure, in a state
of misery, is to God's people as a state of death,
Ps. xxxi. 9-11. David complains of his trouble and
misery ; and ver. 12, saith, ' I am forgotten as a
dead man out of mind : I am like a broken vessel ; '
Ps. Ixxxviii. 3-5, ' My soul is full of troubles, and
my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted-
with them that go down into the pit : I am as a
man that hath no strength. Free among the dead,
like the slain that he in the grave, whom thou
rememberest no more, and they are cut off from
thine hand.'

The reason hereof is the high esteem which God's
people have of his favour, when once they have felt
the joy and comfort of it in their souls : as Ps. xxx.
5, ' In his favour is hfe ; ' Ps. Ixiii. 3, ' Thy lo-\dng-
kindness is better than hfe.' For look, as the
reasonable soul is a spirit of life from God, quicken-
ing the body and giving unto it sense and motion,
Gen. ii. 7, so God's favour testified to the soxd by
the Spirit of grace, gives a lively cheerfulness to the
heart of man, which makes him leap for joy : Ps.
xxxii. 11, 'Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice ye
righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright
in heart ; ' yea, even in affliction, as Acts v. 41, they
' rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory,'
1 Pet. i. 8.
This serves for instruction and admonition.
For instruction two ways. First, It gives light to
the better understanding of some places of Scripture,
which, under the terms of life and resurrection, note
out unto us the calling of the Jews, wherewithal
God ■vviU vouchsafe unto them comfortable outward
estate; as Isa. xxvi. 19, ' Thy dead men shall live,'
&c. In assurance whereof, was shewed to Ezekiel
the \'ision of the dry bones raised up to a great
army, Ezek. xxxvii. 1, &c., there plainly shewed to
belong to their restoring, bj' the union of the two
sticks, to signify the union of Judah and Israel, ver.
16, &c. This is their resuiTcction from the dust
of distress, Dan. xii. 1 ; for, ' what shall their restor-
ing be,' saith St Paul, ' but Ufa from the dead ?
Eom. xi. 15.

Veb. 6.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

121

Secondly, It lets us see a plain diflfcrence between
God's children and natural men under affliction.
The child of God lays more to heart God's displea-
sure towards him, testified by his affliction, than the
affliction itself; as a toward child is more grieved
that his lo\'ing father is offended with him, than for
the smart of his correction. This David shewed in
his flight from Absalom, when he bade Zadok the
priest carry back the ark of God into the city: 2
Sam. XV. 25, 26, ' If,' saith he, ' I shall find favour
in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and
shew me both it and his habitation. But if he thus
say, I have no delight in thee ; behold, here I am, let
him do to me as seemeth good unto him.' Secondly,
Tliey more desire the feeling of God's favour, than
the removal of the affliction, as Ps. li. 8 ; after
Nathan had told David, ' The Lord hath put away
thy sin, thou shalt not die,' 2 Sam. xii. 13, yet he
l)rays the Lord to make him to hear joy and glad-
ness, and, ver. 12, to restore him to the joy of his
salvation. Now natural men in these cases deal
otherwise. First, They look more at the outward
misery than at God's displeasure: as Isa. xxvi. 11,
' AVhen thy hand is Hfted up, they will not see ; ' Ps.
X. 5, ' Thy judgments are far above out of his sight.'
Secondly, They more desu'e the removal of God's
judgments than the renewing of his favour ; and
therefore are said ' not to cry to the Lord with their
hearts, when they howled upon their beds. They
assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they
rebel against me,' Hosea vii. 14. If they respected
God's favour above freedom from evils and fraition
of blessings, they would not for these things use
unlawful means, which increase God's displeasm-e,
as Saul did, 2 Sam. xxviii. 7.

For admonition two ways : first. That in all
afflictions we endeavour to approve ourselves to be
God's people, by laj-ing to heart God's displeasure
for our sins above the smart of our affliction, and
also desire the renewing of his favour above the
removal of any outward evil, or the fruition of any
temporal blessing.

Secondly, That we beware of those things which
will eclipse his favour, and provoke his anger agauist
us ; for those are to the soul, as poison to the body.
Oh that we could esteem sin in every action, as the
children of the prophets did the vnld \me in the

pottage, run away, and ciy, ' Death is in the pot,'
2 Kings iv. 40. From the deadly plague and noi-
some pestilence we are careful to fly away betime,
and far enough off'; and so should we do from the
unprofitable works of darkness, which are death to
the soul.

Secondly, here observe, both in the phrase and
matter therein expressed. That it seems strange to
God's j)eople that he suffers them to lie long in
affliction, under the sense of his displeasure, Ps. xiii.
1,2; four times is the length of God's delay com-
plained of, and, Ps. Ixxvii. 7, 8, by way of admira-
tion, ' Will the Lord cast off for ever?' &c.

The reason is in a double knowledge winch they
have of God : first. In his essential properties of
mercy and compassion ; Ps. ciii. 8, ' The Lord is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous
in mercy.' Ps. Ixxxvi. 15, 'Thou, Lord, art a
God fuU of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering,
and plenteous in mercy and truth.' Ps. cxlv. 9,
' His tender mercies are over all his works.'

Secondly, In his gracious and faithful promise
made to his people when they enter into covenant
vnth him, Ps. 1. 5, 15, 'Gather my saints together
unto me ; those that have made a covenant with
me by sacrifice.' ' Call upon me in the day of
trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify
me.' Luke x\-iii. 7, 8, ' Shall not God avenge his
own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though
he bear long -ndth themi I tell you that he -svill
avenge them sj^eedil}'.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first. This their admira-
tion doth presuppose their good and commendable
information in the knowledge of God, for his gracious
disposition towards his children, and the truth of
his promises, assured in covenant with them, else
they would never have thought it strange it should
be otherwise with them. And therefore men should
take heed how they lay claim to be God's people
and yet be ignorant of his properties and promises.
1 Cor. XV. 34, ' Some have not the knowledge of
God ; I speak this to your shame.'

Secondly, Their admii'ation shews plainly that
there is a justice and wisdom in God, even in the
course of his providence over the state and ways of

122

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 6.

men, which many times surjsasseth the reach of God's
children to discern and find out, till it please God
of liimself to reveal the reason and cause of his deal-
ing, as Jer. xii. 1, 2, 'Kighteous art thou, O Lord,
when I plead -^atli thee ; yet let me talk with thee
of thy judgments : wherefore doth the way of the
wcked prosper ? ' &c. "Who can but admire that the
wicked Benjamites should twice prevail in fight against
their brethren, that came for the execution of justice
upon the sons of Behal, that had committed \-illany
with the Levite's concubine? Judges xx. 18, &c.

For admonition, it serves very fitly to move us to
godly behaAdour under long affliction, that we care-
fully suppress in ourselves all thoughts of hard or
unjust dealing in God towards us, therein bringing
our hearts to this resolution, with Jeremiah, that
God is righteous, even then, when his dealing seems
most strange unto us.

Quest. How shall we be able so to do 1

Ans. By evincing our hearts of four things in
God : justice, sovereignty, wisdom, and power.
First, Of justice ; to do right to all, and wrong to
none. This is so essential in God, that he may as
soon cease to be God, as not to do right, Gen xviii.
25; Ps. cxlv. 17; Jer. xii. 1; Job xxxiv. 10, 23.
And therefore the godly under affliction must not
be worse than Pharaoh, who confesseth, Exod. ix.
27, ' I have sinned ; the Lord is righteous, I and my
people are bricked.' Secondly, We must lay to heart
God's sm-erei(jnty, whereby he may do with his own
what he -will ; he may exercise his under the cross,
not only for correction for sin, but also for trial of
grace, as he did Job, chap. ii. 3. We grant this
liberty to men over their goods and cattle, which
are th.e gifts of God's providence unto them, and
shall we deny it to the Lord over man, who hath
absolute sovereignty over liim, both by creation and
providence 1

Thirdly, We must bethink ourselves of God's
u-isdum, which indeed is infinite, Ps. cxlvii. 5 ; and
therefore may Ln liiniself perfectly discern that that
affliction which he continues upon his children is
most for his own glory, and best for their good,
though they conceive the contrary, as children do
under the rod in the hand of their parents. Lastly,
Consider his almighty poicer ; he can bring light
out of darkness, 2 Cor. iv. 6, and so he useth to do

to his chikh'en, Ps. cxii. 4 ; so as they shall confess it is
good for them that they have been afflicted, Ps.
cxix. 71. And indeed, whosoever considereth the
end which God brought unto Job, to Da^dd, and
the rest, whom he exercised under gi-eat affliction,
will confess no less. These things, well considered,
wOl make us know our duty, and acknowledge that
repining against God's correction continued is ever
a fruit of corruption which reigneth in natural men,
and maketh them to blaspheme under God's judg-
ments. Rev. xvi. 9.

For comfort, it makes greatly to God's children
under long affliction to consider that such an estate
may continue upon his own children and servants,
by the rule of his justice, sovereignty, wisdom, and
power ; and therefore they need not to murmur or
despair, when nothing befalls them but that which
hath befallen their betters in grace, as Job, David, &c.

That thy people may rejoice in thee. The reason
propounded by God's church to move the Lord to
hasten their deliverance out of misery, and the re-
moval of their afflictions, — namely, because there-
upon they should be justly occasioned to rejoice in
God, as plainly discerning this to be a fruit of his
mercy and loving providence over them.

Here then note, that when God's people are de-
livered from affliction they rejoice in God, as well
by receiving it as from God's hand ; as Ps. cxxvi. 3,
' The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof
we are glad ; ' as by giving all the honour and praise
thereof to God alone, as Moses and Aaron did for
their deliverance at the Eed Sea, Exod. xv. 1, &c. ;
and as Deborah and Barak did, Judges v. 1, &c.;
David also, Ps. cxvLii. 1, &c. ; and Jehoshaphat and
the people, 2 Chron. xx. 26, 27.

The reason hereof is, that though means be used
by God's people, yet they know that the blessing is
not in the means, but in the Lord, who doth pros-
per the same : Ps. xhv. 6-8, ' For I will not trust in
my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou
hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them
to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the
day long, and praise thy name for ever.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, it shews us a plain difference
between God's children and natural men in the
fruition of temporal blessings, and so gives e\'idence

Ver. 7.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

123

of nature and grace in the days of peace ; for mere
nature looks at outward means and at second
causes ; and so men either glory in themselves, as
Dan. iv. 30, or sacrifice to their nets, as Hab. i. 15,
16. But the godly, though they use means, yet
they first look at God, and give the chief praise to
him, and look to the means in the second place, as
1 Sam. xx\-. 32.

For admonition, it serves effectually to move
every child of God to conform himself to this pro-
fession and practice of the godly ; even for every
blessing, whether of deliverance from evil or fruition
of good, to rejoice in the Lord. This was David's
ordinary practice, Ps. xxxiv. 1, 2, 4. This also we
shall do, if we be careful of three things : first. To
see God's hand of mercy in everything wherein we
rejoice; as Ps. cr\'iii. 15, 16, 23, 21, 'The voice of
rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of
the righteous ; the right hand of the Lord doth
valiantly,' &c. Secondly, To give him praise and
thanks for every blessing : thus God is honoured,
Ps. 1. 23 ; therefore David stirreth up his soul here-
unto, Ps. ciii. 1, 2, 'Bless the Lord, my soul ; and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless
the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.'
The very blind heathen have done this for the
honour of their idols, as Judges xr\'i. 23 ; Dan. v. 4.
Shall not God's people much more do it to the true
God!

Thirdly, To use the blessings wherein we rejoice
to God's glory, stirring up ourselves thereby to walk
more obediently to God's commandments : Ps. cxvi.
8, 9, 'Thou hast delivei-ed my soul from death,
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling : I
will walk before the Lord in the land of the livins;.'

Ver. 7. Sliew xis thj mercy, Lord, and grant- us
thy salvation.

Here the church doth return again unto humble
petition or supplication, and that for two things :
first. That the Lord would shew them his mercy ;
secondly, Give them liis salvation.

For the first ; when they say, ' Shew us thy mercy,
Lord,' they do plainly imply that his mercy or
loving-lcindness was hid from them ; and yet for aU
that, they do not leave the Lord in that estate, but
humbly beg the sight and e\idence of his mercy.

So that in this first petition we have to note two
things — the miserable state of God's church for a
time, and the godly behaviour of the church in that
estate.

For the first; the miserable estate of God's church
is this — for a time they are without the sense and
feeling of God's mercy and kindness, else they would
not desire to see it: Ps. Ixxiv. 1, 9, '0 God, why
hast thou cast us off for ever? We see not our
signs' — to wit, of thy mercy towards our help. Ps.
Ixxvii. 8, 9, ' Is his mercy clean gone for ever 1
Hath God forgotten to be gracious 1 ' Ps. Ixxxix.
49, ' Lord, where are thy former loving-kindnesses? '

The reason hereof is, first, Trial of grace, as in
Job : chap. xiii. 24, 'Wherefore hidest thou thy face,
and boldest me for thine enem}'.' Ver. 26, ' Thou
writest bitter tilings against me.'

Secondly, Correction for sins, which stir up God's
anger against his people, and so hide his mercy and
kindness from them. Lam. iii. 42-44, ' We have
transgressed and have rebelled : thou hast not par-
doned. Thou hast covered mth anger, and perse-
cuted us : thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our
prayer should not pass through.' This is acknow-
ledged in Solomon's prayer : 2 Chron. vi. 36, ' If
they sia against thee, for there is no man which
sinneth not, and thou be angry with them,' &c.
Ps. cvi. 39, 40, ' Thus were they defiled with their
own works, and went a-whoring with their own in-
ventions. Therefore was the w'rath of the Lord
kindled against his people, insomuch that he ab-
horred his own inheritance.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction two ways : first. Touching the
true God. This state of the church, wanting the
sense of God's mercy, teacheth'us to conceive and
laiow, that though God be to his church a God of
mere}' in Christ, and so delight therein, that his
mercy is said to be above all Ms works, Ps. cxlv.
9, and that he would be known to delight therein,
Jer. Lx. 23, yet withal that he is a God of severity
and justice, not sparing his own people when they
sin against them. Thus he describes himself, Exod.
xxxiv. 6, 7, Though he ' keep his mercy for thou-
sands,' yet he will ' by no means clear the guilty.'
How did he punish his own people the Jews ! See

124

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 7.

Lam. i. 12, and his own dearest servants for sin!
David, 2 Sam. xii. 10, Sec; Asa, and others; nay
his own Son, when he bore our sins. "NMiich, well
considered, wUl be the ground of God's fear in our
hearts, Exod. xxiii. 20, 21, ' I will send mine angel,
which shall keep thee in the way, &c. Beware of
him, obey his voice, provoke him not ; for he will
not pardon your transgressions ; for my name is in
him.' Heb. xii. 28, 29, 'Let us have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptabl}', with reverence and
godly fear : for our God is a consummg fire.' Jer. v.
22, 'Fear ye not me? saith tlie Lord; will ye not
tremble at my presence 1 ' Jer. x. 7, ' Wlio would
not fear thee, King of nations ? for unto thee doth
it appertain.'

Secondly, Touching God's people, see here, that
they may truly belong to God by covenant in
Christ, and yet for a time be -ndthout the sense
and feeling of his mercy and kindness, as Ps.
Ixxiv. 1, 19, '0 God, why hast thou cast us off
for ever 1 why doth thine anger smoke agaiiist the
sheep of thy pasture 1 Forget not the congregation
of thy poor for ever.' Ps. Ixxvii. 8, 9, ' Is his mercy
clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for ever-
more? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath
he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? '

Object. Where, then, is the truth of his promise, Isa.
liv. 10, 'The mountains .shall depart, and the hills
be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from
thee,' &c. Whereupon, Ps. xxiii. 6, 'Mercy and
kindness shall follow me all the days of my life;' for,
Ps. Ixxxix. 28, ' My mercy will I keep for him for
ever.' Ps. cxxx^'i. twenty-six times, in every verse
once, ' For his mercy endureth for ever.'

Ans. We must put a difference between God's
mercy, and kindness conceived in himself and vouch-
safed to his children and people, and the expressing
and manifestation thereof The former, once begun,
is ever continued towards those that be in Christ :
John xiii. 1, 'Having loved his own which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end ; ' Eom. xi.
29, ' For the gifts and calling of God are without re-
pentance ; ' but the manifestation thereof is many
times restrained for good causes, as either trial of
grace, or correction for sin, which liberty we give to
natural parents towards tlieir children, and therefore
must take heed we deny it not to God.

For admonition two ways. First, That we take
heed of all those things that cause the Lord to hide
his favour from us, which indeed is all sin, and
only sin, that separates, Isa. hx. 2, — even pride and
haughtiness upon the fraition of his favour ; as Ps.
xxx. 6, 7, ' In my prosperity I said, I shall never be
moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my
mountain to stand strong : thou didst hide thy face,
and I was troubled.'

Secondly, Not to be dismayed, or to despair under
the sense of God's displeasure ; for it is the state of
the godly sometimes to feel it. We must say %vith
the church, ' I will bear the wrath of the Lord, be-
cause I have sinned against liim,' Micah ■vii. 9 ; we
must humble ourselves, and wait for mercy, as Ps.
xlii. 1 1 , and then know that his favour shall be re-
newed : ' They that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength.' We must learn to ' walk by faith,
and not by sight,' 2 Cor. v. 7 ; to live by faith, and
not by sight, Hab. ii. 4; for, Ps. Ixxxix. 30, &c.,
' If his cliildi-en forsake my law, and walk not in my
judgments ; if they break my statutes, and keep not
my commandments ; then ^vill I ■N'isit their trans-
gression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Nevertheless my lovingkindness ■will I not utterly
take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail,' &c.
The second thing here to be noted is, the be-
haviour of God's people in this their miserable estate,
here plainly expressed. When they want the sense
and feeling of God's mercy and kindness, they leave
not God, but go to him by humble and earnest
prayer for some evidence thereof : Ps. Ixxvii. 2, ' In
the day of my trouble I sought the Lord ; ' Ps. xl.
11, 12, ' Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from
me, Lord : let thy lovingkindness and thy trath
continually preserve me. For innumerable e^als
have compassed me about,' &c. ; Ps. xlii. 7-9, ' All
thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet
the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the
daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me,
and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say
unto God my rock. Why hast thou forgotten me ? '
&c. ; Ps. xUv. 17, 2-t, ' AU this is come upon us, yet
have we not forgotten thee. Wherefore hidest thou
thy face, and forgettest our affliction ? '

The reason of this their behaviour is, partly in
their knowledge, but prmcipally in their faith in

Ver. 7.]

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

125

God. For their knowledge, by God's word tlwy are
certainly assured that mercy is essential in God : Ps.
Ixii. 12, 'Also unto thee, Lord, belongeth mercy;'
' He is plenteous in mercy,' Ps. ciii. 8 ; ' His mercy
is great above the heavens,' Ps. cviii. 4 ; ' The eartii
is fuU of his goodness,' Ps. xxxiii. 5 ; ' His tender
mercies are over all his works,' Ps. cxlv. 9. Also they
know he takes pleasure in those that hope in his
mercy, Ps. cxhii. 11. Now, will they that know
this do less to God, than Benhadad's servants did to
the king of Israel? 1 Kings xx. 31, 32, 'We have
heard that the kings of the house of Israel are mer-
ciful kings,' &c.

Secondly, They trust in God, and therefore have
recourse unto him in misery, and under the sense of
his anger. Ps. xiii. 3, 5, ' Consider and hear. I
have trusted in thy mercy.' Ps. xxii. 1, 4, 5, 'My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken mel Our
fatliers trusted in thee : they trusted, and thou didst
deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were de-
livered : tliey trusted in thee, and were not con-
founded.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, it lets us see a difference both in
judgment and practice between the godly and the
wicked. For judgment ; even about prayer in afflic-
tion, the wicked think it unprofitable to pray, Job
xxi. 1 5 ; Mai. iii. 1 4 ; but the godly know it is
othemase, James v. 16. For practice; the wicked
call not upon God, but only for show, Ps. xiv. 4 ;
Hosea v-ii. 14. But the godly are much in this
duty : Ps. v. 3, ' My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning,' &c. ; Ps. Iv. 17, 'Evening, and morning,
and at noon, will I pray : and cry aloud ;' Ps. cxix.
164, 'Seven times a day do I praise thee.' Yea,
herein they offer a holy -violence unto God, as
Jacob held the angel, and would not let him go tiU
he blessed him. Gen. xxxii. 24, 26 ; and Moses, as
it were, held God from destrojing the Israelites
when they had made the golden calf, Exod. xxxii.
10, &c.

For admonition, that we endeavour to approve
ourselves to be God's people, and true members of
his church, by following them in this godly practice,
even then to press upon the Lord by our humble
and earnest prayers, when he seemeth to oppress us
with his judgments ; when he hides his mercy from

us we must by our prayers sue and seek to find
mercy with him, as David did, 2 Sam. xxi v. 14.

Quest. How shall we be enabled hereunto ?

A US. By doing two things : first. We must inform
our hearts rightly in the nature of God for mercy and
comjjassion, as is shewed in the first reason, and in
the gracious promises made to his people even when
they are in misery. Secondly, Fit ourselves to have
good title to the same, which requires two things
at our hands : 1 . True and unfeigned repentance,
whereby our sins be removed, and so a way made
to his mercy, Jer. xviii. 7, 8 ; 2. The getting and
exercising of those graces of the Spirit, which testify
we stand rightly in covenant with God : as, 1. Faith
in God through Christ ; rely upon him for the
pardon of sin and saving of our souls, and we shall
not distrust for lesser deliverances : as Ps. hi. 1 3,
' Thou hast delivered my soul from death : wilt thou
not deliver my feet from falling ? ' 2. Fear God in
heart, and shew it by eschewing evil and doing good
m life: Ps. xxv. 12, 14, 'What man is he that
feareth the Lord 1 him shall he teach in the way
that he shall choose. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him ; and he vnW shew them his
covenant;' Ps. ciii. 11, 'For as the heaven is liigh
above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them
that fear him.' 3. Exercise mercy towards our
brethren, so shall we find the Lord merciful unto us ;
Ps. x\'iii. 25, 'With the merciful thou shalt shew
thyself merciful.' For on the contrary, James ii.
13, 'He shall have judgment without mercy that
hath shewed no mercy;' and Ps. cix. 12, 16, 'Let
there be none to extend mercy unto him, &c. Be-
cause that he remembered not to shew mercy,' &c.
4. Be much in prayer to God in the name of Christ
for whatsoever we lack, Phil. iv. 6. See encourage-
ments, Ps. 1. 15, ' Call upon me in the day of trouble :
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me ; ' and
Ps. Ixxxvi. 5, ' Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive ; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that
call upon thee.'

And grant us thy salvation.

The second benefit which God's church and people
here beg of God as a fruit and evidence of his mercy
and kindness, namely, to give them his salvation —
that is, deliverance from the troubles of their enemies,
and from all other evils that lay upon them ; for

126

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 7.

that is the salvation here meant, as Exod. xiv. 13,
' Stand still and behold the salvation of the Lord,
which he will work for you.'

In this petition note two things : 1. The place
and order in which this blessing is sought ; 2.
What kind of salvation they desire, namely, that
which comes from God, — ' Grant us tluj salvation.'

For the first, note, God's people seek God's salva-
tion after they have sought his mercy ; first they
beg mercy at his hands, and then deliverance from
evils: Ps. xl. 11, 'Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, Lord : let thy lovingkindness
and thy truth continually preserve me.' Ps. vi. 2,
' Have mercy upon me, Lord ; for I am weak :
Lord, heal me ; for my bones are vexed.' First
mercy, then healing: Ps. xxx. 10, 'Have mercy
upon me, Lord, be thou my helper.'

The reason . hereof is twofold: first. Their partak-
ing of God's mercy was necessary for the removal of
the cause of their misery, which ordinarily is sin ;
that brings death, and all evils that be forerunners
thereof, Rom. v. 12. Now there is no way to have
sin removed but through God's mercy in Christ, as
Da\'id shews, Ps. H. 1, 2, 14.

Secondly, Mercy and kindness in God is properly
the moving cause of his saving us, both temporarily
in this world, and eternally in the world to come.
For preservation, which is temporal salvation, see Ps.
vi. 4, David, being sick and weak, prays thus : '
save me for thy mercies' sake ; ' and so, when he was
in danger of his life by enemies, he makes the same
prayer, ' save me for thy mercies' sake,' Ps. xxxi.
16; Ps. xliv. 3, ' Their own arm did not save them :
but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of
thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto
them.' This the people say of God's dealing with
their forefathers, bringing them out of Egj-jit into
Canaan ; and thereupon being in misery, they fly to
the same ground of help : ver. 26, 'Arise for our help,
redeem us for thy mercies' sake.' So David, as a type
of Christ in his passion, prays : ' Help me, Lord
my God : save me, according to thy mercy.' And
for salvation eternal, it is wholly founded on God's
mercy in Christ ; Tit. iii. 5, ' Not by works of right-
eousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us,' &c. Ps. cxli. 4, ' Lord, be merciful
unto me ; heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.

This serves for instruction, for admonition, and
for comfort.

For instruction two ways : fir.st. They that have no
good title to God's mercy can have no good assu-
rance of God's salvation, either temporal or eternal ;
a point very considerable of ^vicked men, that hate
instruction, as Ps. 1. 1 7, and encourage themselves in
a wicked course, as Deut. xxix. 19, 20, blessing
themselves in their hearts, saying. We shall have
pence, &c. Such the Lord vrill not spare, see Prov.
i. 25, 26. Hereupon, Ps. cxix. 155, ' Salvation is far
from the wicked.' It is true, wicked men flatter
themselves in their own eyes with this. Oh, God is
merciful ; but whoso is wise will consider whose
word shall stand, God's or theirs, as Jer. xUv. 28.

Secondly, See here the true church, seeking God's
salvation, pleads mercy, not merit ; and so did Paul
profess and teach, 1 Cor. iv. 4 ; Phil. iii. 9 ; Tit. iii.
5 ; so Ps. cxv. 1 ; Isa. Ixiv. 6.

For admonition two ways : first. To all that look
for God's salvation, temporal or eternal, to make
sure they stand rightly entitled to God's favour and
mercy, for salvation follows mercy. Now God's
mercy is only had in and through faith in Christ
Jesus, 'whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,
through faith in his blood,' ifcc, Rom. iii. 25.

Secondly, In the use of lawful means for preserva-
tion to renew our title to God's mercy. The want
hereof liinders many times the fruition of God's
blessing : as in Asa, 2 Chron. xvi. 12, 'In his dis-
ease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physi-
cians,' and so died. But the practice of it by Heze-
kiah procured the reversing of the sentence of death,
Isa. xxxviii. 2, &c.

For comfort, to those that are truly entitled to
mercy, and yet lie under affliction, they may assure
themselves of a better deliverance, as Heb. xi. 35 ;
God's mercy shall be magnified in them, ' whether
by life or death,' Phil. i. 20. If deliverance be good,
they shall have it ; if they want deliverance, their
affliction shall be sanctified unto them.

The second thing to be noted in this last petition
is, Wliat Idnd of salvation or deliverance the people
of God do desire when they are in misery ; namely,
that which comes from God. God's people in misery
desire the deliverance which is of God's sending :
Ps. Ix. 11, 'Give us help from trouble: for vain is

A^KR. 8.]

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

127

the help of man.' Ps. xx. 7, ' Some trust in
chariots, and some in horses ; but we will remember
the name of the Lord our God.' Ver. 9, ' Save,
Lord.' Ps. c^^. 47, ' Save us, Lord our God.'

First, They know that salvation belongs unto him,
Ps. iii. 8. ' He is the God of salvation,' Ps. Ixviii.
20. ' With him is plenteous redemption,' Ps.
cxxx. 7.

Secondly, They know that without him the
strongest helps do fail: as Job ix. 13, 'If God
will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do
stoop under him;' and Isa. xxx. 1, &c., 'Woe to
the rebellious children, &c. They were all ashamed
of a people that could not profit them, nor be an
help,' itc.

Thirdly, They know that deliverance is easy unto
him when distress and danger is most grievous,
Jer. xxxii. 27 ; there is nothing too hard for him.
He can save with many or with few, 1 Sam. xiv. 6 ;
with weak means. Judges vii. 20 ; without means,
Isa. Ixiii. 5 ; by his bare command, Ps. xliv. 4, as
Mat. viii. 3, 'I will; be thou clean.' Yea, by de-
stroying means, as Israel through the Eed Sea,
Exod. xiv. 2C, &c. ; and the three sen'ants of God
in the fire, Dan. iii. 25, 27.

Fourthly, They loiow that God stands bound by
promise, in the covenant which he makes with his
people, to deliver them out of misery and distress
when they humble themselves and pray : see Ps. 1.
5, 1.5; 2 Chron. vii. 14.

This serves to discover their impiety, which use
unlawful means to help themselves from under
miseries and afflictions, as the help and direction of
■svitches and wizards : like to Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii. 7 ;
and to Aliaziah, 2 Kings 1-3 ; forbidden. Lev. xx.
6 ; Isa. viii. 19 ; also theft, oppression, bribery, per-
jury, lying, &c.

This is not the practice of God's people. Help
and deliverance by such means as these is not of
God, but of the de\'il ; and such persons should
think of Christ's speech to the Jews : John viii. 44,
' You are of your father the de\-il, for the lusts of
your fixther you \yi[\ do.'

Secondly, To admonish us in all miseries to imi-
tate God's people in seeking only that help and
deliverance which comes from God. Consider herein
the practice of the godly, that would not receive de-

liverance by unlawful means, Heb. xi. 3.5, alluding
to 2 Mac. vi. 23, 30.

Ver. 8. I will hear u'hat God the Lord will speak:
for he will speak peace to his people, and to his saints :
hut let them not turn a(jain to folly.

In this verse, and those which foUow to the end
of the psalm, is contained the thu-d and last part
thereof, shewing the church's godly behaviour after
she had made her complaint and prayer, in promis-
ing to wait upon God for a gracious answer; whereof
she lays down sufficient ground, first in general in
this verse, then more particularly in the rest of the
psalm.

Her beha\aour is in these words, ' I will hear what
God the Lord will speak,' meaning by way of answer
to my complaint and prayer. Wherein we have to
note two things : 1. How she styleth God in this
place ; 2. What duty she undertaketh towards him.

For the first, The titles here given to God by the
church are two, mn"' 'PXH, God, the Lord. The
first notes out his power, the second his performance
of what he hath promised : as Exod. vi. 3, ' I ap-
peared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by the
name of God Almightij, but by my name Jehovah
was I not known unto them.' Ver. G, ' Wlierefore
say unto them, I am the Lord ; I will bring you
out.'

And this is used by the church and godly else-
where : as Ps. cxviii. 27, 'God is the Lord, who
hath gdven us light.'

The reason of this practice of the church is to
.strengthen herself to the better performance of the
duty she undertakes, which is to wait for God's
answer to her prayers; whereto she shall be the
better encouraged and enabled by considering that
God is Jehovah, one that not only hath being of
himself, but gives being to his promises. Now,
being God, he is able, and being Jehovah, he is
faithful : as Heb. x. 23, ' He is ftiithful that pro-
mised ; ' 1 Thes. v. 24, ' He will also do it.' And
for his promise, see Ps. 1. 15.

This should teach us to labour to understand the
holy titles whereby God is styled in Scripture, that
so we may the better make a right use of them, both
to teiTify us from sin, and to encourage us in faith
and obedience. As for terror, to consider that he is

128

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXSV.

[Ver. 8.

called an everlasting burning and devouring fire, Isa.
xxxiii. 14. For encouragement in difficult cases, to
consider that lie is the maker of heaven and earth,
'great in counsel, mighty in work,' Jer. xxxii. 17,
19. For mercy, ' The good God,' 2 Chron. xxx. 18 ;
for encouragement in prayer, ' Our Father, which art
in heaven,' Mat. vi. 9, wliich lays a ground both of
confidence, in that he is our Father, and of fear and
humility, in that he is in heaven.

Secondly, Is God the Lord 1 Then those that call
him so must fear him in regard of his power, Jer. v.
25 ; Mat. x. 28, obey him as their Lord, Luke vi.
46, and rest upon him by faith ; because he makes
good his gracious jJromises, 2 Cor. i. 20.

The duty which the church here undertakes to
perform to God is this — she will patiently attend for
God's gracious answer to her complaint and prayer.
So doth Job, chap, xiv., ' All the days of my ap-
pointed time will I wait, till my change come ; ' Ps.
xl. 1, ' I waited patiently for the Lord;' Ps. cxxx.
5, 6, ' I wait for the Lord ; my soul doth wait.'

The reason hereof is from the work of God's Spirit
in his children, enabling them by faith, 1. To re-
verence his command, enjoining them so to do : Ps.
xxvii. 14, ' Wait on the Lord, be of good courage.'
2. To rely upon his promise to hear and help, 2
Chron. vii. 14, wherein they know he will not fail;
because he is a God of power, able to do whatsoever
he wiU, Ps. cxv. 3, and of mercy, exceeding abundant,
above all that we can ask or think, Eph. iii. 20.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, it acquaints us with a plain dif-
ference between the godly, who are believers, and
the wicked, who are unbelievers. The godly do not
only pray to God, but wait also for an answer when
they have made their prayer, as Ps. xlii. 5,11; Isa.
xxviii. 10. But the wicked either pray not, as Ps.
xiv. 4, or if they do pray, yet they will not wait :
as 2 Kings vi. 33, 'What should I wait upon the
Lord any longer 1 ' They deal with their prayers as
the ostrich doth ■with her eggs, which she leaveth in
the earth, &c.. Job xxxix. 14, &c., because God hath
deprived them of understanding, as punishment of
their contempt of the means of grace, else they would
not account the exercise of prayer inijirofitable, as
Job xxi. 15 ; Mai. iii. 14.

For admonition, that we endeavour to approve

ourselves to be God's people by waiting iipon God
for a gracious answer to our prayers. This we
should do every day, according to the practice of the
church in tins place, whereunto, if we did indeed set
ourselves, we would make conscience of all sin, that
we might keep ourselves in the love of God, -nathout
which we cannot comfortably expect a gracious an-
swer from him to our prayers. Now, to enable us
to wait and listen for a gracious answer when we
have prayed, we must be well exercised in godly
consideration and practice.

The consideration needful hereto is threefold :
first. Of God's promise made to those that pray unto
him ; for it is presumption to wait for that which
God hath not promised to give. True expectation
is a frait of faith, which ever looks at God's word of
promise. Secondly, Of God's power and mercy ; for
as his power will assure us that he is able, so his
mercy will shew that he is most ready and willing
to grant our recjuests. Tliii-dly, We must consider
his manner of answer. It is threefold : sometime by
giving that particular blessing we ask, as 1 Sam. i.
27, ' For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath
given me my petition which I asked of him ; ' some-
time by giving some other thing answerable to the
blessmg, as 2 Cor. xii. 9, ' My grace is sufiicient for
thee ; ' and sometimes by giving patience and strength
to bear the evils which we would have removed, as
Heb. V. 7.

The godly practice hereto needful is threefold :
fii'st. To stir up our hearts to lay hold on God's pro-
mises by faith, as Ps. xliii. v. And herein we must
shew godly judgment in labouring to trust perfectly
for spiritual blessings smiply needful to salvation :
as 2 Tim. i. 12, 'I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed,' &c. But for spuitual bless-
ings less necessaiy, as also for all temporal blessings,
to submit our wills to God's will. Secondly, We
must hold on in the way of obedience : Ps. xxx\Ti.
34, ' Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he
shall exalt thee to inherit the land.' Thirdly, Con-
tinue in prayer. Col. iv. 2 ; ' Keep not silence, give
the Lord no rest,' Isa. Ixii. 6, 7.

Far he wUl speak jKcice to his iKople and to his
saints. i

The reason or ground whereby the church doth I
encourage herself to the former godly practice, drawn

Ver. 8.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

129

from God's gracious dealing with liis people in giving
comfortable answer to their prayers, for peace in
Scripture doth oftentimes note out all manner of
welfare, as Exod. xviii. 7 ; Ps. cxxii. 6, and
XXXV. 27.

In this reason we have two things to note : first,
The honourable title whereby God's people here be
styled, namely, that they are his saints ; secondly,
The special favour which God ^vill shew unto them
in answer to their prayers ; he will speak peace unto
them.

For the first, They are his saints, even gracious
saints, such as he doth prosecute with special grace
and favour, as we speak, the Lord's favourites : Ps.
XXX. 4, ' Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his ; '
Ps. xxxi. 23, ' love the Lord, ye his saints, for
the Lord preserveth the faithful ; ' Ps. xxxvii. 28,
' He forsaketh not his saints.'

The reason and ground of this happy and honour-
able estate is in God alone : 1 Cor. iv. 7, ' For who
maketh thee to differ from another? And what
hast thou that thou didst not receive?' First, In
God the Father electing and choosing them to be
holy : Eph. i. 4, ' According as he hath chosen us in
him, before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and -without blame before liim in
love.' Secondly, In God the Son redeeming them
from sin, washing and cleansing them with the
washing of water by the word, that he might present
them to himself without spot, or -nTiukle, or any
such thing, but that they might be holy and without
blemish, Eph. v. 25-27. Tliirdly, In the work of
the Holy Ghost appljing the merit and power of
Christ's death unto them, for the abolishing of cor-
ruption and the rene^^ing of the graces of his holy
image : 1 Pet. i. 22, ' Ye have purified yourselves in
obeying the truth through the Spirit.' Fourthly,
In a work of all three persons vouchsafing unto
them an effectual calling.: 1 Cor. i. 2, ' Called to be
saints.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For Instruction, first. It lets us plainly see that
God hath his saints in this world, such as from
election, through redemption and sanctification, are
holy and pure in his sight: Num. xxiii. 21, 'He
hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob.' It is not as

papists say, tRat there are none but in heaven, for
here they have their beginning, and now are truly,
though not perfectly holy.

Secondly, Here see how far the profane do deceive
themselves when they lay claim to be God's people :
Ps. xciv. 20, ' Shall the throne of iniquity have
fellowship vnih thee, which frameth mischief by a
law?' 2 Cor. vi. 14, &c., 'What fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness,' &c. ; 1 John i.
6, ' If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.'

For admonition, first. That if we lay claim to be
God's people, we labour after holiness : Heb. xii. 14,
' Follow laeace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord,' and see how far
forth, 'in all manner of conversation,' 1 Pet. i. 15.
For this cause we must exercise ourselves in the
word and prayer, the Lord's ordinances sanctified to
his elect, for the beginning of holiness and increase
thereof in their souls.

Secondly, That we learn to deliglit in the godly :
Ps. xvi. 2, 3, 'My goodness extendeth not unto
thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to
the excellent, in whom is all my delight.' Ps. cxix.
63, ' I am a companion of aU them that fear thee,
and of them that keep thy precepts ; ' as the Lord
doth. Ps. cxlvii. 11, 'The Lord taketh pleasure in
them that fear him, in those that hope in his
mercy.'

For comfort, it makes greatly against the con-
tempt of the woi-ld : 1 Sam. ii. 9, ' He will keep the
feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in
darkness;' Deut. xxxiii. 2, 3; Cant. ii. 14; Ps.
cxlix. 9.

For the second, God will speak peace to his
peojjle ; lie will give a comfortable and gracious
answer to their complaints and prayers : Ps. xxix.
11, 'The Lord will bless his people with peace.'
Ps. xii. 5, ' For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, I will up, saith the Lord, and
set him at liberty.' Ps. 1. 15, 'Call upon me in the
day of trouble : I will deliver thee.' Isa. xxvi. 12,
'Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us.' Chap. xl. 1,
2, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your
God : speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.' Thus
he answered Daniel's prayer, chap. ix. 20, 21, 23.

The reason hereof is twofold : fii'st, His covenant

N 2

ISO

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 8.

of grace, made with liis people in ffhrist, through
whom it becomes the covenant of peace, Isa. liv.
10 : 'For Christ is the Prince of Peace,' Isa. ix. 6 ;
yea, ' our peace,' Eph. ii. \i ; 'In whom we have
peace,' John x\'i. 33.

Secondly, Because his saints be indued with those
graces and virtues which give them title to true
peace : as faith in God, Eom. v. 1 ; and love to
God's law, Ps. cxix. 165 ; and obedience to his com-
mandments, Isa. xlviii. 18.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first, It shews the
sweet fruit and benefit of true piety in the profes-
sion of God's holy religion. It is not, as ivicked
men think, a vain thing to serve God, Job xxi. 1.5 ;
Mai. iii. 14; but undoubtedly there is fruit for the
righteous, Ps, hiii. 11. 'Godliness is great gain,' 1
Tim. vi. 6 ; ' It is profitable unto all things, having
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is
to come,' chap. iv. 8. This ^rill more plainly appear
if we consider the extent of this peace wliich God
promiseth to his people. It is not only, 1. The
peace of God, — that is, God's favour and love, —
which passeth all understanding, Eph. iii. 19, which
Christ giveth to those that be godly, John xiv. 27 ;
but, 2. Peace of conscience, Eom. v. 1, which is a
continual feast, Prov. xv. 15, and gives boldness
with God in praj^er, 1 John iii. 21 ; and, 3. Peace
with the good angels in heaven, Ps. xxxiv. 7, and
ix. 10; Heb. i. 14. 4. Peace with God's church,
Acts iv. 32 ; yea, 5. Peace with all earthly creatures
for their comfortable use and service. Job v. 23 ;
Hosea ii. 18 ; even, 6. "With wicked men, as Joseph
had in Potiphar's house and Pharaoh's court. Gen.
xxxix. 2, &c., and xli. 37, &c. ; and Daniel in the
kings' courts of Babel and Persia, chaps, ii., v., and
vi. ; and, 7. With hurtful creatures, when it makes
for God's glory in the good of his church, as we
may see by the three children in the fire, Dan. iii. ;
by Daniel in the Hons' den, chap. vi. ; by Jonah in
the whale's belly, chap. ii. ; and by Paul among the
barbarians, when he shook off the viper. Acts xx\-iii.
2, &c. And are not all these great blessings and
privileges 1

Secondly, This teacheth magistrates and ministers
how they ought to carrj' themselves in their places.

for they are both in the place of God, sent and set
in by him, as Eom. xiii. 1, 4; 2 Cor. v. 20; and
magistrates bear the name of God, Ps. Ixxxii. 1,6;
John X. 34, 35. Therefore they must be followers
of God, speak peace to the godl)% deal kindly with
those that walk uprightly. Magistrates must look
at God : Job \'iii. 20, ' He forsaketh not the up-
right, nor taketh the wicked by the hand ; either to
shew Idndness, or to jdeld support.' And ministers,
as ambassadors, must dehver the ^\^R of their King
and Master, and as stewards, must give to every one
his due portion, Luke xii. 42, which, if it were done,
would encourage the good and daunt the wicked.
But, alas ! the contrary practice of both mars all in
aU estates. Magistrates stretch out the hand to
scomers and drunkards, Hosea vii. 5, and beat the
good, Ezek. xxxiv. 3, &c. ; and ministers, some by
ill teaching, but more by bad li^^ng, do strengthen
the hands of the wicked, Jer. xxiii. 14, and make
sad the hearts of those whom God hath not made sad.

For admonition, it serves eftectually to all that are
desirous God should speak peace unto them, to be
careful to become tnily his saints and people, for to
them God will speak peace, and to none else indeed ;
as Isa. xlviii. 22, ' There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked.' Now, they that would approve
themselves to be God's peojole and saints, must do
three things.

First, By true repentance, break ofi" the course of
their sins, and turn from every e\il way ; for else
God mil not o^vn them for his peojjle, Ps. 1. 16, 17.
They that live in sin, walk in darkness, and so can-
not have fellowship with him, 1 John i. 6 ; 2 Cor.
\i. 14.

Secondly, By true faith in Christ, rest and rely
upon God's mercy for pardon of sin and siilvation ;
for he that cometh unto God, and hath fellowship
with him, must believe, Heb. xi. 6. Therefore
Christ bidding his disciples to believe on him as
they believe on God, John xiv. 1, doth encourage
them thereto by this, that he is the way, the truth,
and the life, by whom alone they must have access
to the Father, ver. G ; ' In whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of him,'
Eph. iii. 12.

Thirdl}-, AA'alk in new obedience, to testify the
truth of their repentance and faith ; for faith

Ver. 8.]

PIERSON ON rSALM LXXXV.

1:51

worketh l\v love. Gal. v. 6. ' And this is the love
of God, that wc keep his commandments,' 1 John
V. 3.

For comfort, it maketh greatly to God's people
and children in any misery or trouble that doth
befall them ; for God -n-ill speak peace unto them :
peace shall come, Isa. Ivii. 2. Though for a time
they be in heaviness through manifold temptations,
yet belie^"ing in Christ, they rejoice with joy un-
speakable, 1 Peter i. G, 8. 'God will give them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,' &c.,
Isa. Ixi. 3. ' Only they must wait in the way of
obedience,' Ps. xhi. 5, 11. Isa. xl. 31, 'They that
wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.'

But let them not turn again to folhj. A needful
caveat or item for God's people touching theii- be-
ha^■iou^, whereby they wait for peace from God,
they must not turn again to folly. By folly he
meaneth their sins, which fonnerly had brought
misery upon them ; thereto he would not have them
turn again.

In this caveat there are two things to be ob-
served : first, The title given to sin ; secondly. The
beha\-iour required of God's people toward it.

For the first, Sin is here called folly or foolishness
by the Holy Ghost: so also, Prov. xxii. 15, 'Foolish-
ness is bound in the heart of a child,' — that is, cor-
ruption sticks fast to the heart and soul by nature
even in childhood. Ps. xxx-iiii. 5, 'My wounds
stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness,'
— that is, because of my sinfulness. Ps. c\\x. 17,
' Fools because of their transgression, and because of
their iniquities, are afflicted.' Prov. xxvi. 11, 'As
a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool retumeth to
his folly,' — that is, a wicked man retumeth to his
sm.

In reason this- is plain : for, first. In every sin
there is a rejecting of the word of God, which is
di%-ine wisdom, Jer. viii. 9 ; nay, a forsaking God
himself, and cleaving to the devil, which is extreme
madness.

Secondly, Every sin gives a deadly wound to the
soul, being indeed the sting of death, 1 Cor. xv. 56.
See Rom. v. 12, and \"i. 23. Now, who but fools or
madmen will hurt themselves 1 Every man that is
wise, A^-iU be wise for himself, Prov. ix. 1 2.

Thirdly, Every sin must be undone by repentance,

or else the doing of it will destroy the sinner : Ps.
vii. 12, 13, 'If he turn not, he will whet his sword ;
he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath
also prepared for him the instruments of death.'
'The -wicked shall be turned into hell,' Ps. ix. 17.

This shews, first, That the world is full of fools ;
for sin abounds everywhere ; the whole world lieth
in wickedness, 1 John v. 19. Which well con-
sidered may stay our hearts from doubting of
God's providence, because of the general disorders
that be in the world : see Ps. bcxv. 3, 4, ' The earth
and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved : I said
unto the foolish, deal not so foohshly,' &c.

Secondly, As we desire to escape the brand of
folly, so we must be careful to shun the practice of
sin and impiety ; for sin is foUy, and they that
commit it deal foolishly, as 2 Sam. xxiv. 10. The
rather because of the devil's dealing with these fools,
they are in liis hands, and he deals with them, as
many times great men in the world do with naturals,
make a prey of their estate, and sport themselves
with theii- folly ; so the devil makes a prey of their
souls, and sports himself with their sins, which be
their folly. Even as the Phihstines deal with
Samson, Judges xvi. 1 5 ; who turned him to grind
in their prison-house, and brought liim forth as a
laughing-stock to make them merry. Men may be
wise for the world, and yet such fools for the devil,
Luke xii. 20.

The second point here ptirjjosely intended is this :
They that look for peace and welfare from God,
must not turn again to sui. Jer^ xrviii. 9, 10, "When
God speaks concerning a nation to build or jjlant it,
if they do evil, and obey not his voice, then will he
repent of the good he intended for them. Deut.
xsix. 19, 20, When wicked men bless themselves
in their hearts with a persuasion of peace and wel-
fare, and resolve to go on in sin, God will not spare,
but cause all his wrath and jealousy to smoke
against them tiU they be destroyed. His charge
unto liis people, whom he brought out of Egv]it,
that they should not return thither any more,
Deut. xvii. 16, teacheth us that he cannot endure
men's turning back to the servitude of sin, which
was figured by Egj^itian bondage ; and as God
punished the Jews, that would needs return thither,
with sword, famine, and pestilence tUl they were

132

PIERSOK ON PSALM LXXSV.

[Ver. 9.

destroj-ed, Jer. xlii. 10, 16, 17 ; so he will not spare
any that turn back to the service of Satan in the
works of sin.

The reasons hereof are four : fii'st, Sin being
the deadly disease of the soul, as Rom. v. 12, and vi.
23, turning back thereto must needs be a spiritual
relapse, and so more dangerous than corporal, by
how much spiritual death is worse than corporal.
Hereupon Solomon saith, ' He, that being often
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy,' Prov. xxix. 1.

Secondly, Returning unto sin is not only foolish-
ness, but indeed most base and brutish behaviour,
and therefore is resembled by the Holy Ghost to
the dog's returning to the vomit, and the sow
wallowing again in the mire, after she had been
washed, 2 Cor. ii. 21, 22 ; Prov^ xxvi. 11.

Thirdly, Sin provokes the Lord to anger, Jer. v.
16-19 ; and so takes away peace between God and
us, Ps. xxxviii. 3 ; for it makes us wicked, and
there is no peace to the wicked, Isa. xhiii. 22 ; 'It
shall not go well with the wicked,' Eccles. viii. 13.
' A man cannot harden himself against God and
prosper,' Job ix. 4. ' Wliat peace,' saith Jehu,
' whilst the whoredoms of Jezebel remain yet in great
number f 2 liings ix. 22,

Fourthly, As sin brings us into bondage, 2 Tim.
ii. 26, so returning unto it doth renew and
strengthen tliis sjiiritual bondage, under the do-
minion of Satan, as Mat. xii. 43-45, ' When the
unclean spirit is gone out of a man, and retunieth
again, he taketh with him seven other spirits more
^vicked than himself, and they enter in, and dwell
there, and the last state of that man is worse than
the first.' And therefore St Peter speaking of such,
saith, ' Better for them never to have kno^vn the
way of righteousness, than to turn from the holy
commandment given unto them,' 2 Pet. ii. 21.

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instniction, first, Here see the fearful measure
of man's coiTuption, in blindness of mind and hard-
ness of heart, that notwithstanding this divine charge,
upon such weighty grounds, of fearful evils accom-
panying relapse unto sin, yet wicked men do judge
it both pleasing and profitable so to do. In the
committing of it, sin is sweet unto them, Job xx. 12.
Hereby they have their wealth. Acts xix. 15 ; and

hereupon grow desperate in sin, as Jer. xUv. 16, 17.
This they would not do, if they did see or fear the
evil of sin.

Secondly, Tliis lets us see the main and general
cause of war abroad, and of the fear thereof, and of
other evils, at home in our own land. Surely, either
they and we have not turned from our evil ways, or,
upon some outward show thereof, have made revolt
and relapse thereinto again. This we should con-
sider, to stir up our hearts to sound conversion from
our sins, and to constant resolution against relapse
thereinto.

For admonition. Every child of God must )'ield
obedience to this holy charge, and beware of turning
back to sin ; and, to arm their souls against relapse.
Lay to heart the four former grounds or reasons. It
is no small matter to tran.sgress any commandment
of God, Ps. 1. 16, 17. God disavoweth such from
laying claim to covenant with liim, and will cast
them away, as he did Saul, 1 Sam. xv. 23 ; yea, de-
stroy them, Prov. xiii. 1 3. Add also this considera-
tion, that God's favour is better than life, Ps. bdii.
3 ; and shall we lose it for the pleasure of sin 1
Then are we not like Moses, who chose rather to
suffer affliction with God's people, than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season, Heb. xi. 25 ; nor hke
Paul, who had rather die than lose his rejoicing, in
the furtherance of the gospel, by abstaining from a
thing lawful, wliich was outward maintenance for
preaching, 1 Cor. ix. 19. What then could have
draw^l him to disgrace the gospel by returning unto
sin '? If we well consider of these things, we shall
say with Joseph, Gen. xxxix. 9, ' How can we do
this great wickedness, and sin against God I '

Yer 9. Surely his salvation is nifjh them that fear
him ; that (jhry may dwell in oiir land.

In this verse, and the rest to the end of this psalm,
are propounded the special branches of that peace
and welfare which God vouchsafeth to liis people
and saints, not returning unto folly. The first of
these is salvation, here undoubtedly assured to be
nigh to those that fear God, and also amphfied by
the end for which God gives it to his people, viz.,
that glory may dwell amongst them. By salvation,
the blessing prayed for in the seventh verse, is here
meant deliverance and freedom from all those evils

Yer. 9.]

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXV.

133

and miseries that any -waj' lay upon them, which
blessing is here undoubtedly assured to those that
fear God.

So as in the first part of the verse this point is
plain :

God's salvation is undoubtedly nigh to those that
fear him. God will certainly vouchsafe, to such as
truly fear him, both temporal deliverance and pre-
servation from evils, and spiritual and eternal salva-
tion in heaven. Prov. xix. 23, 'The fear of the
Lord tendeth to life : and he that hath it shall abide
satisfied ; he shall not be visited with evil.' Ps.
xxv. 12, 13, 'His soul shall dwell at ease.' Ps.
xxxiii. 18, 19, 'The eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear him, to deliver their soul from death, and
to keep them aUve in famine.' Ps. xxxi. 19, 20,
' How great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid
up for them that fear thee ! Thou shalt hide them in
the secret of thy presence from the pride of man,' &c.

The reason hereof is plain. First, The true fear
of God is a fruit of his Holy Spirit, Isa. xi. 2 ; which
unites us unto Christ, 1 Cor. xi. 17; and entitles us
unto covenant with him, in the nearest bond of mys-
tical union, 1 Cor. xii. 13. 'The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him ; he wiU shew tliem his
covenant,' Ps. xxv. 14. Now they that are truly in
covenant with God, have true title to all the bless-
ings thereof, even to preservation on earth and sal-
vation in heaven ; for there is no want to them that
fear him, Ps. xxxiv. 9.

Secondly, The true fear of God moves a man to
eschew evil. Job i. 1 ; Prov. xiv. 27 ; and to cleave
unto God in holy obedience, Jer. xxxii. 40. Now
to such belongs the salvation of the Lord : Acts xiii.
26, ' Whosoever amongst you feareth God, unto you
is the word of this salvation sent.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction : it shews the miserable condition
of those that want the fear of God ; for salvation
must needs be far from them. For they that want
the fear of God are wicked, Ps. xxx\'i. 1, and salva^
tion is far from them, Ps. cxix. 155. Howsoever it
be true in the world, that they who work wicked-
ness are set up, yet it is not so with God : he puts
a difference between those that fear him, and those
that fear him not, Eccles. -viii. 12, 13, as he did be-

tween the Egyptians and the IsraeUtes, Exod. ^iii.
22, 23.

For admonition, it serves two ways : first. To
search and try whether we be such as truly fear
God, that so we may know God's salvation belongs
unto us. The infallible marks hereof are three :
first, A constant care and endeavour to shun all sin :
Prov. iii. 11, 'Fear the Lord, and depart from e^ol.'
Chap. \'iii. 13, 'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.'
Chap. xiv. 2 7, ' The fear of the Lord is a fountain
of life, to depart from the snares of death.' Tliis is
plain by the contrary. Gen. xx. 12. Wliere the fear
of God is wanting, there is no conscience of sin, Ps.
xxxvi. 1 : secondly, True delight in God's command-
ments, testified by obedience thereto, Ps. cxii. 1 :
thirdly. To be plentiful in aU well-doing according to
our places. Job i. 1, 8 ; Prov. xiv. 2.

Secondly, Every one that wants the fear of God,
and desires his salvation, must labour to get it ; for
though it be a fruit of the Spirit, Isa. xi. 2, yet there
is means to be used for the obtaining of it, which is
required at our hands ; and that is consideration and
prayer. The consideration is twofold : first and
principally. Of God himself ; secondly. Of ourselves.

Our consideration of God respecteth his properties
and his works. His special properties to be con-
sidered for this end are six :

First, His infinite greatness, which doth e\ince
his presence : see Ps. cxlv. 3, 'Great is the Lord,' &c. ;
1 Kings viii. 27 ; Jer. xxiii. 24. Now God's pre-
sence is fearful, Gen. xxviii. 16, 17.

Secondly, His infinite wisdom, whereby he know-
eth all things, even the most hidden thoughts : Ps.
cxlvii. 5, ' His understanding is infinite ; ' and Ps.
cxxxLx. 2,3, 'Thou understandest my thoughts afaroff','
&c. Heb. iv. 1 3, ' All things are naked and opened
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.'

Thirdly, His infinite purity and holiness, which
cannot admit fellowsliip vdih the least sin : 1 John
i, 5, 'God is light, and in liim is no darkness at all;'
and 2 Cor. \-i. 14, ' AMiat communion hath Hght ^vith
darkness 1 '

Fourthly, His power and justice, l)oth which make
him a consuming fire against sin, Heb. xii. 28, 29,
with Mat. X. 28.

Fifthly, His mercy in pardon and forgiveness : Ps.
cxxx. 4, ' There is forgiveness with thee, that thou

134

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 9.

maj-st be feared.' AA'hereon Noah, being moved with
fear, prepared an ark, &c., Heb. xi. 7.

Sixthly, His works of power, and wisdom, and
justice : as Ps. IxxxLx. 7, ' God is greatly to be feared
in the assembly of the saints,' &c. ; Ps. cxxxix. 13,
14, Specially the day of judgment; Eccles. xii. 13,
14, 'Fear God, for God will bring every work into
judgment;' Acts xxiv. 25, 'As he reasoned of right-
eousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix
trembled.'

Our consideration of ourselves is of our own frailty
and vanity, being but dust and ashes. Gen. xvm.
27. ' For all flesh is grass, and all the goodhness there-
of as the flower of the field,' Isa. xl. 6 ; 'And every man
at his best estate is altogether vanity,' Ps. xxxis. 5.

AVith consideration we must join prayer ; for that
sanctifies all God's ordinances, 1 Tim. iv. 5 ; 1 Cor.
iii. 6, and obtaiueth the Spirit, Luke xi. 13, which
worketh God's fear, Isa. xi. 2.

For comfort it makes greatly to those that serve
God truly; for when they are iu any distress or
misery, they must think upon the privilege of this
grace, and that will minister comfort unto them to
know that God's salvation is near unto them.

Thai glory may dwell in onr land. The end for
which God sends his salvation to his people that do
fear him — namely, that glory may dwell in their
land. By glory he meaneth a happy and honour-
able estate both of church and commonwealth, in
freedom from evUs, and fruition of blessings both
spiritual and corjioral. By dwelling in their land
is noted the long contimiance of the same blessings
amongst them.

Here, then, note that God would have the very
land of his people that truly fear him to abide and
continue in a glorious estate. God's salvation doth
therefore come unto them that they may be re-
nowned for glorious estate in abundance of blessings
continued among them : Deut. v. 29, ' Oh that there
were such an heart in my people, that they would
fear me always, that it might go well irith them and
with their children for ever;' Ps. Ixxxi. 13, &c.,
' Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and
Israel had walked in my ways,' &c. The like in Isa.
xlviii. 18, and Ps. Ixxii. 7.

The reasons hereof are two : first, Such as fear God
are his by covenant : Mai. iii. 1 7, ' They shall be

mine, saith the Lord : even his sons and daughtei's ;'
2 Cor. \i. 16, 'Now a natural father desires the
honour and advancement of his natural children ;
much more then will God do it,' Luke xi. 1 3.

Secondly, God taketh pleasure in those that fear
him, Ps. cxlvii. 11. He loveth their prosperity, and
dehghteth to make them glorious and renoivned
above others : as Ps. xxxv. 27, and cxlix. 4, ' He
will beautify the meek with salvation ; ' Ps. xliv. 1-3,
' Because thou hadst a favour unto them ;' Ps. Ixxxi v.
1 1 ,' He is a sun and a shield : he gives grace and glo^}^'

Qiiest. How comes it to pass that God's people,
fearing God, are yet sometimes in gi-eat contempt
and reproach 1 as Ps. xliv. 10, &c. ; 1 Cor. iv. 9, &c.

Ans. This may be either for trial of grace, as in
Job ; or for correction for sins committed by them,
or by the wicked that live among them, as Ps. xhv.
10, 11; or else to give way to the wicked, in spite
to them, to fulfil their sins for speedier judgment, as
1 Thes. ii. IG. For these reasons the outward glory
of God's children may be eclipsed ; but yet even then
are they glorious with God through grace, as Isa.
xlix. 5, and one day shall it be made manifest ; as
is promised, Isa. Ixi. 3.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first, It shews again
the gi-eat benefit of true piety, as is noted before on
ver. 7, God's salvation shall make them glorious
that truly fear God. Take a view of the heads and
branches of their renown, whereof the first and
chiefest is the fniition of the true God himself in
Christ, who is the great glory of those that truly
fear him. He is ' the glory of their strength,' Ps.
Ixxxix. 17;' The glory of his people,' Luke ii. 32.
He is the King of glory : even coming into their
hearts, and dwelUng iu them, and with them, Ps.
xxiv. 7, &c., compared with John xiv. 23; 'Thou,
Lord, art a shield for me : my glory, and the
liiter up of mine head,' Ps. iii. 3.

The second branch of thcu' reno-\\Ti and glory that
truly fear God, is the fruition of God's saving ordin-
ances of tme religion and holy worship, vouchsafed
to those that fear God, as a means to bring them to
grace and glory ; this was the prerogative of the
Jews under the law, Ps. cxhii. 19, 20 ; Rom. iii. 1, 2.
The presence of the ark was to them a great glory,

Ver. 10]

PIERSOS ON PSALM LXXXV.

135

as 1 Sam. iv. 21, 22 ; and so is the gospel unto us,
2 Thes. ii. 13, 14.

Thirdly, Glory doth here ccmprelieiid the good
blessings of God's providence appertaining to out-
ward estate, which, being enjoyed, make men re-
nowned and glorious in this world, as victory, peace,
plenty, and the like : whereof see fully, Deut. xxviii.
1, &c., to 15 ; all which attending those that fear the
Lord, shew plainly the great worth of their piety,
which, well observed, will arm us against the error
and reproach of carnal men, that account it a vain
thing to be godly. Job xxi. ir> ; Mai. iii. 14, and will
make us say and think with Paul, that ' godliness is
profitable to all things,' 1 Tim. vi. G, ' having the
promises of a double life,' 1 Tim. iv. 8.

Secondl}', See here who be the true friends to the
peace and prosperity of any place, as kingdom, town,
or family — namely, such as fear God ; for they bring
glory to the place of their abode. God in Christ is
with them ; to them belong the holy ordinances of
grace and glory, and also all comfortal^le blessings
of God's providence respecting temporal welfare, as
before is shewed. Hence God said to Abraham, the
father of the faithful, ' Thou shalt be a blessing,'
Gen. xii. 2, which also belongs to his godly posterity.
Lot was so to Sodom, Gen. xix. 22 ; Jacob to
Laban, chap. xxx. 27 ; Joseph to Potiphar's house,
chap, xxxix. 2, 3 ; and to the land of Egypt, chap,
xli. 38, &c. Not so the wicked ; they trouble the
state and place where they live : as Achan, Joshua
\-ii. 25 ; and Aliab, 1 Kings xviii. 18. ' They con-
sult shame to their own houses,' Hab. ii. 10 ; as
Eli's wicked sons did biing ruin on their father's
house, 1 Sam. ii. 30, &c., and iii. 13, 14. 'The
sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be ac-
cursed,' Isaiah \xv. 20 ; ' and leave his name for a
curse,' ver. 15.

For admonition two ways : first, To every one
to beware of those things that move God to take
away glory from a land ; and these are especially
three. First, Idolatry, see Ezek. ix. ; there is their
horrible idolatry, and chap. x. 4, the Lord begins to
depart ; .secondly, Impiety and profaneness in the
priests and ministers of God, 1 Sam. ii. 17, com-
pared with chap. iv. 21, 22 ; thirdly, Barrenness in
the people, when they profit not by the word of God,
Mat. xxi. 43.

Secondly, To examine ourselves thoroughly whether
we have the true fear of God before our eyes. The
way of trial is shewed before, in the first admonition
on the first point of this verse.

For comfort : it makes greatly to those that have
the true fear of God in their hearts ; they are surely
entitled to glory. Though they may want it in this
world, as 1 Cor. iv. 9, 13, yet in the world to
come they shall have it, 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; Mat. xix. 28,
29 ; Luke x-\'i. 25.

Ver. 10. Merci/ and truth are met together: right-
eousness and peace have kissed each other.

In this verse, and those that follow to the end of
this ijsidm, the projjhet doth particularly make in-
stance in sundry gracious blessings, which God
vouchsafeth to those that fear him, as beams of that
glory which he will have to dwell amongst them
when he sends them his salvation. These blessings
he still propounds by couples, whereof this verse
containeth two, mercy and truth, righteousness and
peace, which, being here assured, without any special
limitation from God or man alone, I think we may
safely take them in that latitude of sense which
may comprehend mercy and truth, righteousness and
peace, both divine and human ; that is, as they are
vouchsafed from God to men, and also as they are
exercised between man and man : the rather be-
cause, where either way these be wanting, glory doth
not dwell there. Their meeting together and Idss-
ing each other are borrowed terms, serving to ex-
press more significantly the sweet and comfortable
continuance of these gracious blessings amongst that
people whom God ^\'iU make glorious by his salva-
tion.

Now then, understanding the words in this large
sense, we have to note in them these particulars :
fiirst, That with whomsoever true glory makes
abode, unto them both God's mercy and God's
truth are undoubtedly vouchsafed. God's mercy
is his gracious and favourable acceptance of them
for his people, and his kind dealing with, them,
being received into covenant ; and God's truth is
his faitliful perfomiance of those gracious promises,
which he hath made unto them. These do meet
together with all those that God makes glorious in
estate, as Ps. IxxxLx. 1 2, 24, 28, 33, ' I \dll sing

]36

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 10.

of the mercies of the Lord for ever ; with my mouth
■mil I make kno-ivn thy faithfulness to all genera-
tions,' &c.

The reason is plain ; for this mercy and truth
from God to men is the ground of their happiness
and glorious estate ; till God, of mere mercy and kind-
ness, receive them into covenant, and then in faithful-
ness perform his gracious promises unto them, they
lie dead in sin, and in spiritual bondage under Satan,
the prince of darkness, being mthout Christ, without
hope, mthout God in the world, see Eph. iv. 17, 18,
and ii. 1, 12. But when God, out of his rich mercy,
receiveth men into his love and favour, giving them
a holy caUing, whereby they are brought into cove-
nant with him, then are they brought from dark-
ness unto hght, from the power of Satan unto God,
Acts xxvi. 18 ; then they enter into the happy and
honourable estate of sons and daughters unto God,
which is no small glory, 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction : tliis leads us plainly and rightly
to see where trae glory dwells, whether we speak of
kingdom, city, town, family, or person — namely,
where God's mercy and God's truth in the cove-
nant of grace do certainly meet. ' Happy is that
people, that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that
people, whose God is the Lord,' Ps. cxhv. 15 ; for
there mercy and truth from heaven are met, see
Exod. xix. 5, C, with Ps. Ixv. 4; Exod. xxxiii. 16.
Of this mind was Paul, Acts xxvi. 29, when he
wished Agrippa, a Idng, to be Uke him in Chris-
tianity. This also is Christ's judgment, Rev. ii. 9,
with iii. 17. But most plainly, Jer. xxxiv. 8, 9,
with Isa. bdi. 7, Jenisalem hereby is for a name
and praise, &c.

Secondly, Here see the common error of the
world, in judging of glory and renown by out-
ward things, as large dominions, great wealth, pomp
and pleasures ; but unless mth these God's mercy
and tnith do also meet, we may well say of them
all, 'This their glory is their shame,' Phil. iii. 19;
for in shame and confusion will they all end, with-
out saving grace, as we may see in Babel, the glory
of kingdoms, Isa. xiii. 19, &c. ; Jer. H. G, 7 ; and in
Dives, the picture or pattern of worldly wealthy
epicures.

For admonition, it serves effectually both to
people in general, in towns and kingdoms, and to
persons in particular in every family, that if they
desire true glory should dwell among them, they
make sure that God's mercy and truth do meet
together with them, and in them. Now this mercy
and truth is revealed in the word of the gospel,
and indeed in the preaching of the gospel is offered
unto all that hear it. Tit. ii. 11. They therefore
that receive, beheve, and obey the gospel, have
God's mercy and truth to meet among them,
and in them ; and if their faith do work by love.
Gal. V. 6, and their love be shewed by keeping
God's commandments, 1 John v. 3, then they need
not doubt of their glorious estate in God's esteem.
It is true, the world derides this course and counsel,
and think it a vain thing. Mat. iii. 14, 15. 'They
call the proud happy, &c. ; but -wisdom is justified of
her children,' Mat. xi. 19, and they that make trial
shall find the comfort and assurance of it.

For comfort, it makes greatly to the godly, in
whose hearts mercy and truth are met together,
against the contempt and reproach of the world ;
for it is as the householder's kind welcome against
the barking of his dogs. Let us therefore be of
Paul's mind, 1 Cor. iv. 3, ' With me it is a very
small thing, that I should be judged of you, or of
man's judgment.' And we shall feel his comfort ;
Eom. viii. 1 8, ' I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time, are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that shall be revealed in us ; ' and 2 Cor.
iv. 1 7, ' Our light affliction, which is but for a mo-
ment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory ; ' and of David's, 2 Sam. vi.
21, 22, 'It was before the Lord, &c. ; and I mil yet
be more ^•ile than thus, &c.'

Secondly, Here note also, that where a state or
people, or particular person, be truly glorious before
God, there mercy and truth between man and man
must be duly and conscionably practised. They that
are beautified with God's grace and favour, and
other blessings of the covenant, must answer God's
goodness with the exercise of mercy and faithfulness
towards their brethren: 2 Cor. iv. 1, 'As we have
received mercy of the Lord, we faint not,' — mean-
ing, we labour faithfully to bring others to the par-
ticipation of the same mercy. See it notabh' prac-

Ver. 10.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

137

tised by David: Ps. U. 1, 13, 'Have mercy upon
me, God ; and then ^vill I teach transgressors thy
ways,' lie. ; as Ps. ci. 1, 'I ■will sing of mercy and
judgment.' Ps. xxvi. 3, 'Thy loving-kindness is be-
fore me : and I have walked in thy truth.'

The reason hereof is plain : first, God's graces and
blessings towards his chiklren are, in a marvellous
manner, operative in them, causing them to do the
like towards their brethren, see Exod. xxxiv. 29.
AVhen Moses had conversed mth the God of glories
in the mount, he received glory into his counte-
nance, which made his face to shine before the
people ; and so we aE behold the glory of the Lord
in Christ with open face, and are transformed into
the same image from glory to glory, 2 Cor. iii. 18.
His love in Christ constraineth us to love men's
souls, and to seek their conversion, see chap. v. 14,
&c. ; Gal. i. 15-17 ; Ps. xvi. 2, 3.

Secondly, The want of mercy and truth towards
our brethren declares us to be destitute of true
grace, and liable to God's displeasure : Hosea iv.
1, 2, 'God hath a controversy with the inhabitants
of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy,'
&c.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, it shews plainly that men's be-
haviour and carriage towards their brethren wtII
discover and manifest their state and condition be-
fore God. A constant course in the exercise of
mercy and truth toward men, by those that live in
the church and profess the truth, shews plainly that
God in Christ hath extended mercy and tnith to-
wards them ; and so for other graces : ' As we have
received mercy, we faint not,' 2 Cor. iv. 1, — mean-
ing, in faithful dispensation of the truth, to bring
others to the participation of the same mercy : for
' the love of Christ constraineth us,' chap. v. 1 4 ; see
1 John iii. 14. Hence are those exhortations to
love and mercy. Mat. v. 44, 4.5 ; Luke \ti. 3G ; Eph.
v. 1.

For admonition, that we give ourselves to the ex-
ercise of mercy and truth toward our brethren, if
we desire assurance of God's mercy and truth to our
own souls, else we discredit God's works of grace,
whereof we make jirofession, if no fruit thereof ap-
pear towards our brethren. Those in whom the

devil works by suggestion and temptation unto
evil are very forward and bold to draw others unto
evil ; and shall not the power of God's Spirit in
grace be as mighty in the godly to move them to
well-doing^ See how Paul laboured for the glory
of God in the conversion of others, when he had
once tasted of God's mercy and grace in his own,
1 Cor. XV. 10; Acts xx. 24; 2 Cor. xi. 28, 29;
Phil. ii. 17.

For comfort, it makes greatly to those that give
tliemselves to the exercise of mercy and truth to-
wards their brethren ; for they shall find mercy
with God, and the truth of his promises shall be
made good unto them : see James ii. 1 3, ' Mercy
rejoiceth against judgment.'

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. The
second couple of heaveidy blessmgs most assuredly
vouchsafed in Christ's kingdom to all that truly
fear God ; which, as the former, being generally pro-
pounded vnthout any limitation to God or man
alone, I take so largely as to comprehend both
God's righteousness and peace vouchsafed unto
men, and the righteousness and peace which men
are to exercise and prosecute one towards another ;
because indeed, if either of these be wanting, the
glory of God's salvation is not yet come. Now,
their kissing one another is a metaphorical phrase,
taken from lovers and friends meeting togetlier,
who use to greet one another witli a kiss of love,
here serving very fitly to set out the sweet accord
and comfort of grace amongst God's peojjle.

Here then we have to note two things touching
the state of God's people in Christ's kingdom, tndy
fearing God, for their comfortable fruition of right-
eousness and peace : first. That they have these
graces truly vouchsafed unto them from God ;
secondly, Tliat they do most lovingly and sweetly
exercise the same one toAvards another.

For the first. In Chri.st's kingdom God doth most
lovingly bestow on those that tndy fear him both
liis righteousness and his peace. God's righteousness,
bestowed on his people, is not his oa\ti divine essen-
tial righteousness, for that indeed is infinite and
incommunicable ; but it is the righteousness of
Christ, as he is mediator, God and man, which he
fulfilled for his redeemed, and is accepted of God as
theirs that do truly believe. Consider Heb. vii. 2 :

138

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Vkr. 10.

Phil. iii. 9 ; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Jer. xxiii.
6. And God's peace, sweetly accompanying the
same, is peace of conscience, a sweet persuasion of
reconciliation, and so of love and favour with God
in Christ : Rom. v. 1 , ' Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God.' Chap. xiv. 17, 'His king-
dom stands not in meat and diink, but in righteous-
ness and peace.'

The reason hereof is in God alone : first. He
bestows on his church righteousness in Christ, to
make a way for his mercy by the satisfjdng of his
justice ; for all have sinned, and so in themselves
are unable of glory, Eom. iii. 23 : ' The unrighteous
cannot inherit the kingdom of God,' 1 Cor. vi. 9.
Therefore God, intending in mercy to free his elect
from hell, which their sins did deserve, and to bring
them to heaven, which for want of righteousness
they of themselves could never attain unto, doth
bestow upon them Christ's jaerfect righteousness, as
he is mediator, both active and passive, that by his
sufferings they might be freed from hell. Gal. iii. 1 3,
and by his obedience in doing all that the law re-
quired for them might be made righteous, and so
worthy of hfe, Rom. v. 19, viii. 30, and x. 4. Then
with rigliteousness he gives peace of conscience by
the work of his Holy Spirit, that those who fear
him may have confidence and boldness with God in
prayer, 1 John iii. 19, 21, and also may have in
them matter of stay and comfort against the hatred
and contempt and persecution of the world, John
xvi. 33.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction : first. See the bountifulness of
God in Christ Jesus towards those that fear him ;
he multiplies heavenly blessings in great variety and
abundance ; he adds gi-ace to grace, and that by
couples, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace.
Well may we say with the prophet, Ps. xxxiii. 5,
'The earth is full of the loving-kindness of the
Lord.' Ps. Ixxxvi. 15, 'Thou art a God full of
compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plen-
teous in mercy and truth.' Ps. cxxx. 7, ' With the
Lord is mercy, with him is plenteous redemption.'
The riches of his grace and mercy in Christ are
unsearchable, Eph. iii. 8. That which he said to
Moses, Exod. xxxiii. 19, he doth fully accomplish in

Christ : ' I will make all my goodness pass before
thee.' ' It pleased the Father that in him should all
fulness dwell,' Col. i. 19. 'And if he spared not his
own Son, but gave him for us, how shall not he vnih
him give us all things also 1 ' Rom. viii. 32.

QiK'sf. What shall we say to these things ? Rom.
viii. 31.

A lis. Surely we must labour to walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing. Col. i. 10, and in some
measure labour to answer God's bounty, which re-
quires, first. Conversion from sin, Rom. ii. 4 ;
secondly. Love to the word of grace, 1 Pet. ii. 2, 3 ;
thirdly. That we admire God's goodness, Ps. xxxi.
9, and cxvi. 12 ; fourthly. That we praise him for it,
Ps. cxxxvi. throughout, and cxlv. 1, 7, &c. ; Eph. i.
3 ; fifthly. That we order our lives ariglit, Rom. xii.
1. This hath the promise of God's salvation, Ps. 1.
23.

Secondly, See here plain evidence of the miserable
state of all unrighteous persons, that keep a course
in sin. Undoubtedly God's salvation is not come
unto them, for he that is the servant of sin is quit
or freed from righteousness, Rom. vi. 20, and salva-
tion is far from such, Ps. cxix. 155 ; neither can
they have any trae peace, Isa. xlviii. 22.

Tliirdly, Here see both evidence and assurance for
those that fear God and believe in him through
Christ, of their blessed and happy estate of salva-
tion ; for God's righteousness and God's peace do
kiss in their souls. By faith they are made right-
eous in Christ, Rom. iii. 28; Gal. iii. 11, 24; and
when they are justified they have peace with God,
Rom. V. 1 ; for God gives both joy and peace in
believing, Rom. xv. 13. Papists call it a doctrine
of presumption to lay claim to the knowledge and
assurance of salvation by ordinary grace. But wis-
dom is justified of her children, Mat. xi. 19. ' If we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
greater : for this is the ^\•itness of God which he
hath testified of his Son. He that beUeveth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself And this
is the witness, that God hath given to us eternal
life. These things have I written unto you that be-
lieve on the name of the Son of God, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life,' 1 John v. 9-11, 13 ;
add 1 Cor. ii. 12, with Rom. vi. 23, and viii. 16, 17;
and by effects, 1 John iii. 1 4 ; 2 Pet. i. 5, &c.

Ver. 11.]

PIERSON ON rSALM LXXXV.

139

For admonition, this serves effectually to move all
those that desire in their souls the true comfort of
peace with God, to labour to be partakers of God's
righteousness ; for righteousness and peace do kiss
one another. He that is made righteous by faith in
Christ, shall likewise by the same faith have peace
with God through Christ ; ' for he is our peace,' Eph.
ii. H ; he makes peace by the blood of his cross,
Col. i. 20 : therefore at his birth the angels sung,
' Glory to God on high, and in earth peace,' Luke ii.
14. Now Christ's righteousness is made ours by
faith. Gal. ii. 16, ' Knowing that a man is not justi-
fied by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ.'
Now this faith is the work of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iv.
13, in the ministry of the gospel, Rom. x. 17 ; and
sheweth itself to be true by good works, of love to
God and to our brethren. Gal. v. 6.

For comfort, this makes greatly to those that truly
fear God ; professing the gospel, they undoubtedly
be righteous before God, and in him they shall have
peace, John xvi. 33 ; Isa. Ivii. 1, 2.

Secondly, Here note that Christian righteousness
and peace are conscionably exercised between man
and man, of all those that fear God, living in his
church ; see Isa. xi. 6, 7, 9, ' The wolf shall dwell
with the lamb. None shall hurt nor destroy in
all my holy mountain.' See instance. Acts ii. 44,
46 ; and in Paul, Acts i.v. 1, &c., ^ith ver. 26, and
chap. XX. 24 ; Phil. ii. 1 7.

The reason hereof is in the powerful work of God's
Spirit, which gives them a holy calling ; and therein
doth subdue corruption so far, that sin shall not
reign in them, to keep them in the practice of injus-
tice and contention ; and also doth renew the graces
of God's image in the soul, which stands in righteous-
ness and true holiness, and sets them into the king-
dom of Christ, which is righteousness and peace,
Rom. xiv. 17.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction : first. See by the contrary the fear-
ful case of those that give themselves to the practice
of injustice and contention : they are not yet called
of God with a holy calling, but remain in the fearful
case of corrupt nature, see Rom. i. 28, 29, 31.

For admonition, that as we desire the comfort and
assurance of God's salvation, so we conscionably give
ourselves to the practice of these virtues, of righteous-
ness and peace towards our brethren.

For comfort, to those that conscionably follow
peace and righteousness amongst men, it is a com-
fortable assurance that God hath bestowed on them
righteousness and peace with Christ.

Ver. 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth ; and
righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Because the graces and blessings of Christ's king-
dom, mentioned in the former verse, be of great
worth and comfort, and indeed do manifest the pre-
sence of his salvation, therefore doth the prophet
here further insist in two of them, truth and right-
eousness, letting us know whence these two shall
shew themselves — to ^rit, the one from earth, the
other from heaven.

For the first, ' Truth shall spring out of the earth.'
The ti-uth here spoken of must needs be such as
doth accompany God's salvation in Christ, and that
is true and faithful dealing, both in word and truth.
The springing of it out of the earth is the plain and
certain evidence thereof in the lives and actions of
men : earth being here put by a metonymy of the
subject for men that dwell thereon, as if he should
have said, It is so certain that mercy and truth shall
meet, that truth in word and deed, trae and faith-
ful deaUng, shall be plainly and plentifully exercised
among men living here on earth.

Mark, then, that in Christ's kingdom, when God's
salvation comes to men, true and faithful dealing in
word and deed shall be plainly and plentifully
exercised here on earth between man and man, Ps.
XV. 2. Every citizen of Christ's kingdom speaketh
the truth in his heart : Ezek. xviii. 9, They that
look to live with God must deal truly ; Zech. viii. 3,
Jerusalem, wliich is God's tnie church, is a city of
tnith ; 1 Cor. v. 8, The Christian's passover is not
the feast of Easter week, but a Ufe led in sincerity
and truth.

The reason hereof is plain : first, God, who sends
his salvation, is a God of truth, Ps. xxxi. 5 ; Jer. x.
10. He is truth, Ps. Ii. 6, and is a teacher of all
those whom he means to save, Isa. liv. 13 ; John vi.
35. Now this is his lesson, that his people should

140

PIERSON ON rSALM LXXSV.

[Ver. 11.

love the truth, Zech. \'iii. 29, and speak the truth
every man to his neighbour, ver. 16.

Secondl}^, When God sends his salvation to men,
lie bestows upon them his Holy Spii'it, which is the
Spirit of truth, John xiv. 1 7 ; leading men into all
truth, chap. xvi. 13 ; whose frait is in all tmth, Eph.
V. 9.

Tliirdly, When God sends his salvation to men
he gives them his word of truth, both law and
gospel. For the law, see Mai. ii. 6, 'The law of
truth was in liis mouth ' : and the gospel is ' the word
of truth,' Eph. i. 13. This word of truth, being
sown in the ground of our hearts, and watered by
the dew of grace, springs up and grows as good seed
in good giound.

Tliis serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, first. See here how powerful the
work of God is in the hearts of men in the ministry
of the word, blessed by the Spirit ; it changeth their
very nature, which of itself is full of all unrighteous-
ness, and loveth Ipng and untruth, as Eom. i. 29.

Secondly, See hei'e to whom God's salvation is
come, whose state God makes glorious in grace,—
namel}', those that, having the word of tnitli
amongst them, receive therewith that blessing of
the Spirit, that they love truth in their hearts and
jaractise it in their lives, Eph. iv. 21, 2.5. But as
for those that make no conscience of true and up
right deahng among men, undoubtedly they are out
of God's kingdom and state of grace, having the
devil for their god, see John viii. 44 ; Rev. xxi. 8,
and xxii. 15. This doth charge a fearful state uj)on
the pillars of popish religion, who maintain and
practise equivocation and oflScious lies ; see, and
apply to them, 2 Thes. ii. 9, 10 ; 1 Tim. vi. 5 ;
2 Tim. iii. 8 ; Titus i. 14. God's true servants
in the ministry ' can do nothing against the truth,
but for it,' 2 Cor. xiii. 8.

For admonition, to every one that lives in God's
church, that we labour to feel in our hearts the love
of the truth, and to express the springing and grow-
ing of it in our lives by our words and by our deeds,
wherein we conscionably and constantly both speak
the truth and do the truth, else we shall not feel nor
manifest God's salvation to be come unto us. How
can he say the God of truth is lus God, and hath

taught him ; or that the Spirit of truth is given to
him, which leads men into all truth, whose fruit
is in all tnith ; or that the word of truth, as good
seed, was sown in his heart, who makes no con-
science of truth in word and behaviour 1 See the
apostle's pressing of this duty, Eph. iv. 25, upon
ver. 20-24, which shews also the way and means
whereby it must be attained.

For consolation, this makes greatly to all those
that speak the truth, and deal truly with their
brethren in a constant and conscionable course ; for
this shews that God's salvation is come unto them,
that the God of tnith is their God, that the Spirit
of truth is given them, and the word of truth is
sanctified unto them.

j4iuI righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Here he shews whence comes that true righteous-
ness, whereby such as fear God in the church must
be justified and saved, namely, from heaven. This
righteousness is the righteousness of Christ, as
mediator, who as God is from heaven, and is revealed
unto men in the gospel, which is a doctrine from
heaven, as Mat. xxi. 25, with Gal. i. 11, 12. Mark
then.

When God's salvation comes to men here on
earth, he shews unto them the righteousness of
Christ, which is from heaven : Eom. iii. 21, 22, ' The
righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; even
the righteousness of God which is by the faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all tliem that be-
lieve.'

This he doth for the praise of the glory of his
grace, in saving sinners with full satisfaction to his
justice. For the unrighteous (as all are by nature,
Rom. iii. 9, 10) cannot inherit the kingdom of
God ; therefore what the law could not do, be-
cause we could not fulfil it, God provides to be
done for his elect in Christ, Rom. viii. 3, and when
they beUeve, makes them partakers of it, that so he
that rejoiceth might rejoice in the Lord, 1 Cor. i.
30, 31 ; for boasting is taken away by the law of
faith, Rom. iii. 27.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first, It shews unto us
the unspeakable riches of God's wisdom, grace, and

Ver. 12.

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

141

goodness in Christ Jesus to his elect ; of wisdom, in
finding out this way of justification to a sinner,
which no created nature could of itself ever con-
ceive, 1 Cor. ii. 7, 9 ; of grace and goodness, in
bestowing the same freely on his elect, 1 Cor. i. 30 ;
2 Cor. V. 21.

Secondly, This shews us the fearful judgment of
blindness of mind lying on the church of Rome at
this day, who are so far from beholding this right-
eousness which looks down from heaven, that they
deride it, calling it a new no-justice, a fantastical
apprehension of that which is not, a false faith, and
untrue imputation ; Rhem. on Rom. Lii. 22. Nay,
they shew such enmity unto it, that they pronounce
them accursed who by true faith rest and rely upon
it alone for justification before God ; Concil. Trid.,
sess. 6, can. 9-12. Of them is that spiritual
judgment verified, Rom. xi. 8, ' God hath given them
the sjjirit of slumber ; eyes that they should not see,
and ears that they should not hear.' They, hke
Israel, following after the law of righteousness, have
not attained to the law of righteousness. Why?
Because they seek it not by faith, but as it were by
the works of the law, Rom. ix. 31. 'They being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to
stabhsh their O'wn righteousness, have not submitted
themselves to the righteousness of God : for Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to every one
that beheveth,' Rom. x. 3, 4. Well therefore may
we say of them, Hear, ye despisers, and wonder,
and vanish awaj- ; the veil hangs over your eyes,
when the gospel is read unto this day. God hath
sent upon them strong delusions to beUeve Hes, be-
cause they have not received the love of the truth,
2 Thes. ii. 9, 10.

For atlmonition, it serves very effectually to aU
that Uve in the church of Christ, to take notice of
this bounty of God in revealing by the gospel this
righteousness of Christ, that we may endeavour to
walk worthy of the same : first, In labouring to con-
ceive rightly of this righteousness of Christ which
God causeth to look dovni from heaven ; secondly.
In giving all diligence to be made partakers thereof :
both these see in Paul, Pliil. iii. 9-11. Indeed they
are both the gift of God, but yet in the use of means,
the word and prayer, wherein we must wait for the
work of the Spirit, as the poor did at the pool of

Bethesda for the moving of the water, John v.
1-3.

For comfort, it makes gi-eatly to those that know
Christ crucified, and do rest and rely upon his merits
for justification and salvation. Oh, God hath done
great things for them : see Mat. xiii. 16, 'Blessed
are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears, for they
hear.'

Ver. 12. Yea, the Lord shall give that tchich is good ;
and our land shall yield her increase.

Here the prophet proceedeth in expressing further
blessings that accompany God's salvation in the king-
dom of grace. The blessings here mentioned are of
two sorts : first from the Lord, then from the earth.
From the Lord, in these words, ' Yea, the Lord will
give that which is good.' Here he meaneth whatso-
ever gift or blessing is good for his people, whether
it be spiiitual or temporal ; for so largely is the word
here used taken in Scripture, as we shaU see in the
confirmation of the pomt here to be observed, which
is this —

When God sends among men his salvation in
Christ, he will give to such as fear him whatso-
ever is good for them, both for their souls and
bodies. See this confirmed, first in general, Exod.
xxxiii. 19, 'I will make all my goodness jjass be-
fore thee ; ' Ps. xxxiv. 10, ' They that seek the
Lord shall not lack any good thing.' Then particu-
larly, for blessings temporal: Deut. xxviii. 11, 12,
' The Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in
the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle,
and in the fruit of thy ground. The Lord shall
open unto thee his good treasure ; the heaven to give
thee rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless
all the work of thine hand.' Also for blessings
heavenly and spiritual ; Eph. i. 3, ' He blesseth us
mth all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, (or
things) in Christ,' even ^\ith the gift of the holy
Ghost, which is the good thing indeed for the soul.
Ps. cxliii. 10, ' Thy Spirit is good :' and it is God's
gift in the kingdom of grace. Acts ii. 16, and x.
44, 45.

This is it whicli makes the souls of God's people
like a watered garden, Jer. xxxi. 12. Herewith
doth he satiate the souls of the priests ^rith fatness,
and satisfy the people vith goodness, ver. 14; as

142

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 12.

Paul was persuaded of the Eomans that they were
full of goodness, Kom. xv. 14, and of the Corinthians,
that in everj-thing they were enriched by liim, and
came behind in no gift, 1 Cor. i. 5, 7.

The reason hereof is threefold. First, To make
known the riches of his niei'cy and goodness in
Christ — how well he is pleased in liim, that mth
him he will give all manner of blessings, Eom. viii.
32.

Secondly, To draw men unto him, by beholding the
abundance of blessings which accompany the receiy-
iiig of Christ by faith ; for though many times they
want the possession, yet the right of all God's blessings
belong to them that are in Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 21-23.
Thus was Simon Magus drawn to be baptized. Acts
viii. 13; as Esther viii. 1 7, ' The Jews had joy
and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of
the people of the land became Jews.'

Thirdly, To keep those with him that come in
sincerity, and to move them to cleave fast unto the
Lord in faith and love : as John vi. 68, ' To whom
shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life.'
So Paul reasoneth, Eom. viii. 31, 32, 35, ' A\liat
shall we say to these things?' &c. ' Who shall sepa-
rate us from the love of Christ V &c.

Tills serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first, It opens unto us
the true and right way, whereby we may receive
from God that which is good. Few men doubt of
his suflficiency and ability, but how they should
be interested thereunto, and partake thereof, they
know not. Well, mark here, God's good gifts
come with his salvation in Christ ; therefore seek
the Lord in Christ, and thou shalt lack nothing that
is good, Ps. xxxiv. 10; to this agrees Mat. vi.
33, ' First seek the kingdom of God, and his right-
eousness ; and all these things shall be added unto
you.' For godliness hath the promise of both kind
of bles.sings, 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; in the means whereof
we must endeavour, as John iv. 10 ; Ezek. xlvii.
1, compared with Isa. Iv. 1, &c.

Object. Such as take this course are yet in much
want.

^ns. It may be so for outward things ; for the
disciple is not above his master: now the Son of
man hath not whereon to lav his head, Mat. viii. 20 ;

and the promises of temporal blessings are to be
understood ivith the exception of the cross. Yet
know that God's grace is sufficient, as 2 Cor. xii. 9,
compared ynth. 2 Cor. iv. 1 6. And in the blessings
of grace he makes supply to all temporal wants, as
Phil. iv. 11, &c.

Secondly, See here plain evidence of the world's
unbelief : ' Lord, who hath beUeved our report ? '
Isa. liii. I. Are men persuaded that good gifts
from God, both temporal and spiritual, accompany
his salvation in Christ 1 No, surely ; for then they
would labour first to become religious, because that
is the way to get God's favour in Christ, as John
xiv. 6. Solomon saith, Prov. xix. G, ' Every man is
a friend to him that giveth gifts,' — that is, seeks to
be in his favour. But few take this course ; nay,
they rather seek to the god of this world, the
devil ; for so indeed they do that seek to thrive
by ungodly courses, as oppression, Ij'ing, stealing,
and the Uke.

For admonition it serves two ways : first, To
natural men li\'ing in the church, that they take
notice whence good things come, both spiritual and
corporal, and thereupon labour for that estate where-
by they may be interested thereto. Hereto two
things are required — repentance from dead works ;
for sins withhold good things, Jer. v. 25 : and faith
in Christ ; for so is Christ himself ours, and all things
with him.

If any say. They that regard not these thmgs
speed well in the world ; let them consider whether
here they have not their portion, as Ps. x:\-ii. 14,
and Luke xvi. 25, ' Thou in thy life-time receivedst
thy good things.' But for the best blessings, they
have no part in them while they Uve in sin, and
want faith, as John xiv. 17; Acts viii. 21 ; they
have starved souls in pampered and well-clad
bodies.

Secondly, This must stir up the godly, who have
received good things from God, to be careful to
continue in God's goodness, as Eom. xi. 22, which
is by keeping faith and a good conscience, 1 Tim. i.
18, 19; Heb. x. 39.

For comfort, this makes greatl)- to the godly in
worldly wants ; for certainly God ■v^'ill give that
which is good, and though the outward man perish, yet
is the inward man renewed dailv, 2 Cor. iv. 1 6 ; and

Ver. 12.]

riERSON ON rSALM LXXXV.

143

■\ve rejoice in hope of the glory of God, Kom. v. 2 ;
James i. 9, Tlie brother of low degree must rejoice
in his exaltation -n-ith God ; for, being a believer in
Christ Jesus, he is rich in God, though poor in the
world ; as James ii. 5, and Eev. ii. 9, ' I know thy
poverty, but thou art rich.'

jlnd our land shall yield her increase. The second
blessing accompanying God's salvation in the king-
dom of grace, here assured to those that fear God ;
and it is merely temporal, concerning the plentiful
increase of the fraits of the earth where they live
that fear God. Mark, then, in this part of their
acknowledgment, two things ; first. Their title to
the land ; secondly. The blessing whereof they assure
themselves from it.

For the first : God's people call the land of Canaan
where they dwell, their land, their own land : ver. 9,
' That glory may dwell in our land ; ' 2 Chron. ii. Ifi,
The land of Israel.

It was God's gift to them and their progenitors
by covenant, as Gen. xii. 7, and xiii. 15 ; Ps. xliv.
2, 3 ; 2 Chron. xi. 38 ; Judges xi. 24 ; 2 Chron. xx,
6, 7.

And if we look for blessing and comfort in the
place where we hve, as the Israehtes here assure
themselves, we must make sure we have good title
to it from the Lord ; for there is small hope of God's
blessing to accompany the devil's getting, as 1 Kings
xxi. 19; Jer. xxii. 13; Micah ii. 1, 2 ; Hab. ii. 9,
10; Isa. V. 8.

The second thing to be here observed is purposely
intended, namely, when God's salvation in Christ
comes among a people, it brings with it plentiful in-
crease of the fruits of the earth, see Ps. Ixvii. 2, 6, and
Ixxii. 1 6 ; Solomon's kingdom there spoken of was a
tjT)e of Christ's kingdom. See the truth hereof by
God's special blessings accompanjdng those that in
sincerity have received the covenant : as Gen. xiii.
2, 6, 'Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver,
and gold : their substance was so great, that the
land was not able to bear them :' and chap. xxiv. 35,
' The Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he
is become great,' &c. Yea, also, Isaac sowed and re-
ceived an hundredfold. Gen. xx\-i. 12 ; also Jacob
was a blessing to Laban, and himself increased ex-
ceedingly. Gen. XXX. 27, 43.

The reason hereof is this : God's salvation biingeth

to men reconciliation in Christ ; for as he is God's
salvation, Isa. xlix. 6, so in him God reconciles the
world to himself, 2 Cor. v. 19 ; Col. i. 20 ; Eom. v.
10 ; and hence comes a double benefit tending to
plenty.

First, The removal of the curse, which Adam's sin
brought even upon the ground, Gen. iii. 17; for
though want may befall the godly, yet not as a
curse. Gal. iii. 13; it is only (as sickness is, 1 Cor.
xi. 32) a chastisement and correction.

Secondly, Hereby a land is entitled to the special
blessings of God's jirovidence that bring plenty ; as
Deut. xi. 9-12, And no marvel, for if he have given
Christ, how shall he not with him give us all things?
Horn. viii. 32.

This serves for instraction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For uistruction two ways : first. Here we may see
that the earthly blessings of God's providence are
attendants on the heavenly blessings of his grace ;
great plenty doth accompany true piety. AVlien men
first seek God's kingdom and his righteousness, all
outward things needful shall be ministered unto
them. Mat. vi. 3. Godliness hath the promise of
all manner of blessings, both temporal and eternal,
1 Tim. iv. 8 ; this we may see, as before, in Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, so manifested afterward to God's
people by special promise. Lev. xx\i. 3-5, ' If ye
walk in my statutes, I will give you rain in due
season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the
trees of the field shall jdeld their fruit,' &c. And as
he spake with his mouth, so he performed indeed
unto Da\id, a man according to his own heart, whom
God advanced from a shepherd's crook to a sceptre,
Ps. Lxxviii. 70, 71 ; and raised him on high, 2 Sam.
xxiii. 1, and gave him great substance, as 1 Cliron.
xxix. 3, 4. But more apparently to Solomon, while
he continued upright with God, see 1 Chron. xxix.
25 ; and 2 Chron. i. 12, 14, 15. And to Jehoshaphat,
who walked in the ways of David, God gave riches
and honour in abundance. And the right hereof
stUl continueth to all the godly : 'All are yours,' 1
Cor. iii. 21, 22. If at any time it be otherwise ■with
God's people, it is either for correction of sin, as Jer.
V. 25, or for trial of grace, as in Job.

Secondl)^ See here the en-or of manj' worldlings,
who do not once think that the j^early increase of

14t

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 13.

fruit from the earth, and from trees, doth depend
upon the special will and providence of God appoint-
ing the same every year ; but either, like mere natur-
alists, ascribe it to that virtue and power wliich God
gave them by creation, or more profanely attribute
it to the aspects and influences of stars and planets.
It is tiTie, God gave virtue and power in the begin-
ning to the earth, and to fruitful trees to bring forth
fruit according to their land. Gen. i. 11, 12. And
the sun, moon, and stars, by heat and light, do work
upon the earth, and trees that grow thereon ; but
not so as that some of them, by a more favourable as-
pect, should cause plenty, and others, by a malig-
nant aspect, should cause scarcity. No, no ; men's
beha\iour in sin or in obedience, do work more
powerfully for scarcity and plenty than any stars,
as is plain, Deut. xxviii.

For admonition it makes two ways :

First, That they who look for plentiful increase
from the earth and trees in the place where they
live, do break off the course of sin, which brings
scarcity, Ps. cvii. 31 ; Jer. v. 25, and labour to be-
come truly godly, in receiving, believing, and obey-
ing the word of God, which doth give title to the
blessing of plenty, as Lev. xxvi. 2-4 ; 1 Tim.
iv. 8.

Secondly, That we who live in God's church,
where the word of salvation is made known, beware
of being barren in grace, lest the earth and trees that
grow thereon rise up in judgment against us ; for
they, by Christ's coming in the gospel, received by
faith, become more fruitful unto men, Ps. \x\i\. 5, 6.
How then shall we escape if we continue barren of
grace in heart and obedience in life towards God 1
Consider Christ's cursing the barren fig-tree. Mat.
xxi. 19 ; and his command to cut that down which
kept the ground barren, Luke xiii. 6, 7 ; also the
fearful state of those that be barren ground to the
Lord, Heb. vi. 7, 8, add also Mat. xi. 21, 23.

If any ask. How we may be fruitful to God for his
salvation in Christ 1 I answer. By labouring to add
grace unto grace, as 2 Pet. i. 5, 7, 9. And amongst
other fruits of godliness beseeming the gospel, look
to these two : first. The maintenance of God's wor-
ship and service, which hath the promise of plenty,
Prov. iii. 9, 10; Haggai ii. 17-19, compared with
chap. i. 9, 11 ; Mai. iii. 10. Secondly, The charitable

relieving of the poor, Deut. xv. 10, 11 ; Prov. xi.
24, 25 ; Heb. vi. 10 ; 2 Cor. ix. 6, 10.

For comfort this makes greatly to all those that
conscionably receive and obey the word of salvation,
the holy gospel. LTndoubtedly the outward blessings
of God's providence shall be ministered unto them so
far as it is good for them, see Ps. xxiii. 1, 2, 5, 6,
xxxiv. 10, and xxxvii. 3. And when there shall be
any defect or want for temporal things, God will
make supply unto them by the comforts of his favour
in Christ and grace of his Spirit, see James i. 9, and
ii. 5 ; whereupon, -with Paul, they are taught both to
be full and to be' hungry, both to abound and to
suffer need, &c., Phil. iv. 13.

Ver. 13. Eighieousness shall rjo lefore him, and he
shall set her steps in the wai/.

In these words he doth the third time give in-
stance in a special virtue accompan3'ing God's salva-
tion in Christ — namely, justice or righteousness,
which, ver. 10, he said kissed with peace : first. In
Christ, who is the tnie Melchisedec and King of
Salem, Heb. vii. 2 — that is, king of righteousness
and of peace ; then in all those that are his redeemed
and saved, Rom. v. 1. Secondly, Lest men should
mistake in a grace and vii'tue of that necessity and
worth, ver. 11, he shews whence it shews itself —
namely, from heaven ; and so it is not a mere human
civil righteousness, but the righteousness of God in
Christ, as Eom. x. 3, 4 ; Phil. iii. 9 ; with the fruit
thereof, inherent righteousness renewed by the Spirit.
Thirdly, That men might better know the excellency
of God's salvation in Christ, and discern where it
comes ; here he shews that this -virtue shall shew
itself in Christ's kingdom, going before him, and
ever accompanying him where he brings salvation.
' Righteousness shall go before him ' — that is, the
publishing of justice and righteousness shall go before
Christ when he brings salvation. ' He shall set her
steps in the way ' — that is, Christ shall set the steps
of righteousness in the way that he goes -with salva-
tion ; which seems to import both evidence and
settled continuance of the practice of virtue in the
kingdom of Christ, where God's salvation comes.

Here, then, mark these two points : first. By col-
lection from this verse, compared with the foi-nier,
that Christ Jesus, who brings salvation to his church,

Ver. 13.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

145

is Jeliovah^^that is, true and very God ; for lie
before whose face righteousness walketh, is he tliat
bringeth salvation ; that this verse saith, compared
with the 9th ; and he is Jehovah, ver. 12, for to no
other can the affix here used be referred ; and Jer.
xxiii. 6, and xxxiii. 16, in the title there given to
Christ it is most plain, 'The Lord our righteous-
ness ; ' and 1 John v. 20 ; Isa. ix. 6 ; Eom. ix. 5,
' Christ is over all, God blessed for ever.'

And needs he must be so, because he was to
justify, to sanctify, and to save ; else none could be
saved, as 1 Cor. vi. 9 ; Eev. xxi. 27. Kow no
creature could do these things, Eom. viii. 3, 33; there-
fore, Isa. xhii. 1 1 , ' 1 the Lord, and beside me no
Sa\"iour.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction : first. Against the Arians, that
denied Christ to be God. But Jehovah is God.
Now Christ is Jehovah.

Secondly, It shews us the depth of man's misery,
that by no created power could be dehvered.
Acts iv. 12; Isa. Ixiii. 5. The resemblance of a
captive, unransomable but by the bondage of the
king's only son, doth plainly illustrate our natural
misery.

For admonition two ways : first. To the wicked,
that they take heed of such a course of life, whereby
they stand in opposition and enmity against Christ ;
for Christ is God, and so it is a fearful thing to fall
into his hand, Heb. x. 31. 'AVhohath hardened
himself against God, and hath prospered ? ' Job ix.
4. Now it is time that all sin separates, Isa. lix. 2,
and therefore they must break off the course of
ever)' sin ; and in particular, in a more special man-
ner, both repent of for the time past, and for the
time to come beware of, these four sins :

Fust, Ignorance of God in Christ, for in the
know ledge of liim stands eternal Ufe, John xv. 3 ;
and therefore not to know him must needs be dan-
gerous ; not only shameful, 1 Cor. xv. 31, but dam-
nable, 2 Thes. i. 7, 8.

Secondlj", Hardness of heart, to be obstinate in
sin, as Deut. xxix. 19, 20; see Mark iii. 5, 'He
looked round about upon them with anger, being
grieved for the hardness of their hearts.' Such have
not God's Spirit, which takes away the stony heart.

Ezek. xxxvi. 2G, and so are none of his, Eom.
viii. 9.

Thirdl}', Persecuting God's holy religion, or the
professors of it. Acts ix. 4, 5 ; 1 Thes. ii. 15, 16.

Fourthly, Idolatr\% that stirs up jealousy in the
Lord against men, 1 Cor. x. 22. A\Tiat husband
can endure the adultery of his ■n'ife 1 see Prov. vi.
34, 3.5, ' Jealousy is the rage of a man,' &c. What,
then, is the Lord's jealous}', which he professeth is
kindled by idolatry ? Exod. xx. .5.

Secondly, To those that profess the faith, and lay
claim to redemption and salvation by Christ Jesus,
they must endeavour themselves to walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing. Col. i. 10. And for this
end they must first labour to partake of the main
benefits of Christ's incarnation, which are redemp-
tion, adoption, justification, and sanctification in this
life.

Now our redemption is shewed by leaving sin, 1
Pet. i. 18 ; for we are redeemed from our vain con-
versation. And here consider and eschew the
ordinary abuse of the time set apart to celebrate
the memory of our Saviour's nativity ; how un-
worthy it is of the Lord's coming, nay, clean con-
trary, see 1 John iii. 8 ; and 1 Pet. iv. 3. Our
adoption comes hence, Gal. iv. 5. Now such as God
takes to be his sons should live in obedience unto
him, 1 Pet. i. 14, &c. ; 2 Cor. vii. 1, 2. Our justifi-
cation is by faith, which purifies the heart, Acts xv.
9, and brings peace with Gcd, Eom. v. 1. Our
sanctification is by the Spirit, which reneweth the
soul into the graces of God's image. Gal. v. 22.

For comfort : first. Against temptation ; for God's
work is perfect, Deut. xxxii. 4, and in him we are
complete. Col. i. 10, and therefore neither need to
despair tlirough guilt of sin nor want of righteous-
ness.

Secondly, Against persecution. Consider, 2 Tim.
ii. 12, 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with him;'
Acts xviii. 9, 10, ' Be not afraid, but speak, and hold
not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man
shall set on thee to hurt thee.' And do as they did,
Dan. iii. 16, 17, Sa_y,' We are not careful toanswer thee
in this matter. Our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us, and he will deUver us.' Eemeniber, Eom.
viii 18, 'The sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glorj- wliich sliall

146

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

[Ver. 13.

be revealed in us ; ' 2 Cor. iv. 1 7, ' Our light afflic-
tion, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.'

The second tiling here to be considered is pur-
posely intended.

That righteousness doth ever accompany Christ
Jesus where he brings salvation ; it goes before him,
and he sets her steps in the way that he walks, Isa.
ix. 7. He sits upon the throne of David, to order it
and to establish it with judgment and with justice
for ever : Isa. xi. 4, 5, ' With righteousness shall he
judge the poor. Righteousness shall be the girdle
of his loins ; ' Heb. i. 8, ' A sceptre of righteousness
is his sceptre;' Ps. xcvi. 10, 13, 'He shall judge
the world righteously, with righteousness ; ' there-
fore he tells John the Baptist, ' Let it be so now,
for so it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,' Mat.
iii. 15, that is, to do everything required of us by
God.

The reason hereof is twofold : first, Because
Christ is Jehovah, true and very God, and so must
needs be ever attended with righteousness, which
is an essential and inseparable property of the true
God : Ps. cxlv. 1 7, ' The Lord is righteous in all
his ways ; ' Rom. iii. 4, 5, ' Is God unrighteous ?
God forbid.'

Secondly, Christ as mediator, God-man, is called
of God the Father in righteousness, Isa. xlii. 6 ; and
he is faithful unto him that called him, Heb. iii. 2,
being, even in his manhood, filled 'with the gifts and
graces of the Spu-it above measure, Isa. xUi. ; 1 John
iii. 34.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first. That the ordin-
ances of religion, which are instituted by Christ in
his church, and the observance thereof required
both of ministers and people, be all most just and
righteous. When Moses, the sen-ant of the Lord,
had delivered to the Jews laws and ordinances from
the Lord, he commends them all for righteous, and
thereupon presseth the people to conscionable
obedience, saying, ' What nation is there so great
that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all
this law which I set bjfore thee this day ? Only
take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently,
lest thou forget,' &c., Deut. iv. 8, 9. Why, then,

may we not say the same of the ordinances of
Christ 1 who is faithful as Moses in all the house of
God, and herein above Moses, a servant, that he is a
son over his own house, Heb. iii. 2, 3, 6. Now
Christ's ordinances for salvation are the ministry of
the word, the administration of the sacraments, and
prayer, with church discipUne : see Mat. xx\'iii.
18-20, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth. Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost ; ' there he enjoineth the preaching of
the word and baptism. The Lord's supper, or holy
communion, he had instituted a little before his
passion. Mat. xxvi. 26, &c. And the exercise of
public prayers, to sanctify God's ordinances in ob-
taining blessings, and removing judgments, and
praising God, he appointed himself. Mat. x^-iii. 19,
20; John xvi. 23, 24; Mat. vii. 7; and by his
apostles, 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, ' I will that prayers and
supplications, &c., be made for all men.' For dis-
cipUne, see Mat. xviii. 15, &c.

And for the right and reverent use of these he
gave gifts unto men by his Spirit, some to be
prophets, some apostles for the planting of the
church, others to be pastors and teachers for the
going on of that building, the foundation whereof is
Jesus Christ, see Eph. iv. 8, 9, 11, 12 ; 1 Cor. xii.
28. These are Clirist's ordinances, and the ob-
servance hereof, both by ministers and jieople, is
plainly required. For ministers, see 1 Cor. iv.
2. ' Moreover, it is required of the disposers,
or stewards, that a man be found faithful ;' which
faithfulness stands in giWng unto every one
his portion in due season, Luke xii. 42, 43, 46, —
that is, judgments to the mcked, and mercies to the
godly, after instruction : see 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26, and
iv. 1, 2, for instruction; for rebuke, 1 Tim. iv. 20,
with Ps. xi. 6, and Ixxv. 8 ; and for comforting the
godly, see Isa. xl. 1,2; Col. iv. 8 ; 1 Thes. v. 14,
' Warn the unruly, comfort the feeble-minded ;' and
for necessity, 1 Cor. ix. 16. Then for the people,
the necessity of their subjection and obsei-vance is
plain, Luke x. 10, 13, 16, with Prov. xiii. 13,
'^^^lOso desplseth the word shall be destroyed;' and
chap, xxviii. 7, ' He that turneth away his ear from
hearing the law, e\'en his prayer shall be abominable.'
The charge of Christ in all his epistles to the seven

Ver. 13.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXV.

147

churches of Asia, that he that hath an ear to bear
must hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,
Eev. ii. 7, itc, shews the same ; besides the alhire-
ment from benefits thereby, as Isa. Iv. 3, ' Hear, and
your soul shall live ; ' Eom. x. 1 7, ' Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God ; ' it is
the word of his grace, Acts x. 32. And for the
sacraments, the legal commination for neglect or
contempt of circumcision. Gen. xvii. 14, and of the
passover, Exod. xii. 2-t, with Num. ix. 13, shews in
equity the necessity of due partaking of the evangel-
ical sacraments. And for prayer, the neglect there-
of is the brand of the atheist, Ps. xiv. 1,4; and a
sin liable to a grievous curse, Ps. Ixxix. 6, 'Pour
out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not
known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not
called upon thy name.' And he that shall refuse
subjection to the censure of the church, must be cast
out as a heathen, ]Mat. xviii. 1 7 ; the weight of their
censure, following God's word, see ver. 18, 'Verily
I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' 1 Cor. v.
3-5, 'I have judged already, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one unto Satan,
for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may
be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.'

Secondl}', See here also, that the diflference ob-
ser\"ed by Christ Jesus as well about the means of
grace, denying it some and vouchsafing it to others,
at least for a time ; as Mat. x. 5, 6, ' Go not into
the way of the Gentiles ; and into any city of the
Samaritans enter ye not : but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.' And, Acts xvi. G, they
were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the
word in Asia; but, vers. 9, 10, they endeavoured to
go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering, that the
Lord had called them to preach the gospel there ; as
also for the gift of gi'ace itself to some, and the
denial of it to others, amongst whom the means is
sent; as we may see. Mat. xiii. 11, 'It is given to

you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given.' See, I say, that in
both these is di\ine justice ; for they are the ways of
Christ, and therefore just.

For admonition two ways : first, To the wicked,
that they consider their fearful and dangerous state
wherein they stand, being indeed enemies to right-
eousness, both in the afiections of their hearts and
the actions of their lives ; as Paul told Elj-mas, Acts
xiii. 10, ' Thou child of the devil, thou enemy of aU
righteousness.' Now if Chri.st's ways be righteous
ways, which they oppose, then will it be a righteous
tiling with God to judge them, as he threateneth :
1 Cor. vi. 9, 'Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? ' They must
Icnow, that if in this life they do not by true repent-
ance prevent it, hereafter under God's severe judg-
ments they shall, with Pharaoh, when it is too late,
acknowledge the righteousness thereof: Exod. ix.
27, ' I have sinned this time : the Lord is righteous ;
I and my people are wicked.'

Secondly, To the godly, that they give e^ddence
of their approbation of the righteousness of Christ's
ordinances, and thereon so subject themselves thereto,
that they approve themselves wise virgins who have
the oil of grace in the vessels of their hearts. Mat.
xxv. 4, and good and faithful servants, who have
well improved their master's talents, ver. 16, 17,
with 20, 23, moved thereto by the fearful state of
the foolish wgins, ver. 8, 9, and the idle servant,
ver. 24, &c.

For comfort, this makes greatly to all those that
suffer persecution for righteousness' sake; for as God
is righteous in this kind of trial and correction upon
his children, — Ps. cxix. 75, 'I know, O Lord, that
thy judgments are right, and that thou in very
faithfulness hast afflicted me,' — so he will approve
himself righteous in a happy deliverance. ' Seeing it
is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribula-
tion to them that trouble you, and to you that are
troubled, rest with us,' 2 Thes. i. 6, 7.

THE GREAT CHARTER OF THE CHURCH

OR,

AN EXPOSITION OF PSALM LXXXYIL

PSALM LXXXVII. A psalm or song for the sons
of Korah.

Ver. 1. His fonndatwn is in the hoJij mountains,
&c.

In this psalm the Holy Ghost doth plainly set out
smidi-y privileges and prerogatives of God's church,
wherein she hath surpassing advancement above all
other places, states, and conditions of the people in
the world beside.

Whether it were penned after the return of the
people from the captivity of Babylon, for their en-
couragement, being but very few, and for their com-
fort, being under great contempt from enemies round
about them, (as some godly and learned interpreters
do think,) is not set down, and so not certain. Yet
sure it is, this psalm was penned for the comfort
and encouragement of the godly, in such times as
the church is in danger, misery, and calamity, by
the consideration of her founder, which is the Lord
Jehovah, ver. 1 ; of his special affection towards
her, ver. 2 ; of the glorious things which are spoken
of her, ver. 3 ; as great increase and enlargement by
the calling and conversion of foreign nations, ver. 4 ;
great honour by the regeneration or effectual calling
of many in her, and great safety by the Lord's own
establishment of her, ver. 5 ; and great renown by
eurolUng her trae members in his book, ver. 6.
Lastly, Joy and comfort unspeakable, by the cheer-
ful ser-ince of God, and the well-springs or fountains

of saving graces in her, ver. 7. Before this psalm
is this title : 'A psalm or song for the sons of Korah.'
Wluch title shews two things : the use of it in God's
service, and the jsarties by whom it should be
used.

For the use, it is a psalm or song, or a psalm and
song, — that is, a holy hymn, which was both to be
played on their musical instruments and to be sung
with voice together. And here the musical instru-
ments were to lead the voice, as Ps. Ixvii. 1, and
Ixviii. 1. Sometime the voice was to lead the
instruments, as Ps. xlviii. 1, a song or psalm.

Hereon we need not long insist, because this kind
of singing was peculiar to the tabernacle and temple,
and so ended in Christ, as Heb. vii. 11, with 19,
and Col. ii. 17.

Yet thus much it sheweth, that God required joy
and gladness in his service, therefore would he have
instruments of joy used in his service, which David
prepared, 1 Chron. xxiii. 5, and xxv. 1. And he
bids all his people to rejoice in their feasts, Deut.
xvi. 11, 14, which feasts did represent the lives of
Christians. And in evangelical worship he requires
' making melody to the Lord in then- hearts,' Eph.
V. 19.

The reason is great ; for in God's service we have
society with God, which is a just cause of exceeding
joy. Herein God vouchsafeth us evidence of his
special favour, and if we shall take no delight there-

Title.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXTII.

149

in it argues fearful contemiit, which God cannot
endure without revenge : as Deut. xxrv'iii. 47, 48,
' Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God witli
jorfuhiess, and with gladness of heart, for the
abundance of all things ; therefore thou shalt serve
thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against
thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and
in want of all things : and he shall put a yoke of
iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee ; '
whereto add Amos viii. 5, 11.

This should move us to stir up in our hearts, and
to express in our behavioiu's, this spiritual joy in
God's ser^^ce.

To this end we have need of the Spirit to sanctify
us, which vdU make us to rejoice in God's word, as
one that findeth a great spoil, Ps. cxix. 162 ; and
conceiraig it to be the food of our souls, let us
labour to hunger and thirst after it, and then with
Job shall we esteem it above our appointed food,
Job xxiii. 1 2. And when we know God to be our
God, and the fountain of blessings to us, we shall
come before him vnth gladness in prayer, Ps. c. 2 ;
' And our mouth shall praise him with joyful lips,'
Ps. briii. .5.

The second thing to be noted in the dedication is
the parties by whom it is to be used : the sons of
Korah.

These sons of Korah were the posterity of that
rebellious Le\'ite, who, with Dathan and Abiram,
rebelled against Moses and Aaron, Num. xvi., which
Korah was consumed "ndth fire, ver. 35, compared
with 1 7. Howbeit there were of his sons that died
not, chap. xx-(d. 1 1 ; departing, as it seemeth, from
tlieii- father's tent, as all were commanded, chap. xvi.
24, 2.5. And of these is numbered a family of the
Korathit«s, chap. xxvi. .58 ; of whom came Samuel
the prophet, and Heman his nephew, 1 Chron. vi.
33, a great singer, chap. xxv. 4, 5.

Here then we may observe that the sons — that is,
the posterity of wicked and rebeUious Korah — have
an honourable place in God'.s sacred and solemn ser-
■vdce ; for to them sundry of David's psalms are com-
mended, as Ps. xlii., xliv., xlv., xl\'i., &e., which is
no small honour.

No doubt DaWd saw them, being by place and
birth Le^-ites, to be faithful and dihgent in their
place, and thus renowns them to all posterity, that

he composeth special psalms for their ministry in
the solemn service of God.

Use 1. Here see the verifying of God's word for
the comfort of all godly children, that ' the son shall
not bear the miquity of the father,' Ezek. x\'iii.
14, 17, 20, if he see his father's sms and turn from
them.

Ohjcd. 1. But ' the Lord is a jealous God, ^dsiting
the iniquities of the fathers upon the children,'
Exod. XX. 5.

Ans. That is, incpiiring for the sin of the fathers
among the children, and if he find it there, then
pays he them home.

Ohjcd. 2. Achan's sons and daughters are stoned
and burned for then- father's sacrilege, Joshua vii.
24, 25 ; and Dathan's and Abiram's little children
are swallowed up. Num. xvi. 27.

Ans. For aught we know, they might be of years
of discretion, and privy to their fathers' stealth.

When little ones die in the punishment of their
father's sin, God lays not the punishment of the
father's sin upon the children ; but, to make the
father's sin more odious, doth then bring upon the
cliildren the fniit of their own original corniption,
wliich is death detemiined upon all flesh, as appears.
Gen. ii. 17, compared with Rom. v. 12. As a credi-
tor, that hath both the father and the son debtors
unto him, may, upon the father's provocation, lay the
forfeiture upon both, being both in his danger.

Use 2. Secondly, Here is special encouragement
to the children of wicked parents, to become godly
and faithful in their places. In some sense they are
the sons of strangers ; for ' the wicked are estranged
from the womb,' Ps. l\-iii. 3 ; yet if they leave their
father's sins, and become faithful to the Lord, here
is comfort for them, in the honour of Korah's pos-
terity : see Lsa. Ivi. 3, 6, 7, ' Let not the son of the
stranger, that joineth himself to the Lord, say. The
Lord hath utterly separated me from his people.
For the sons of the stranger, that joined themselves
to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of
the Lord, to be his servants, &c. ; even them vrA\ I
bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful
in my house of prayer,' &c. ' For them that honour
me I wiU honour,' saith the Lord, 1 Sam. ii. 30.

Thus much for the title ; the psalm itself fol-
loweth.

150

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 1.

Ver. 1. His foundation is in the holy mountains.

That is, God founded liis holy city and sanc-
tuary among the holy mountains of Judea, even
on mount Moriah, 2 Chron. iii. 1, and mount Zion,
Ps. xlviii. 2. For the relative here used hath
the Lord, named in the next verse, for his antece-
dent, to which it is most fitly and properly referred,
according to our translation, wherewith, among
variety of references by interpreters, I rest best
satisfied.

In the words so understood, two things are con-
tained : first, The author and founder of the church,
shadowed out by the holy city and sanctuary at
Jerusalem ; secondly, The seat thereof

For the first ; the true church, tyjiified by the
holy city and temple at Jerusalem, is a spiritual
building of God's own founding and making. Here
it is called his foundation. And in regard of him
founding it, it is called his tabernacle. Rev. xxi. 3 ;
and the holy city coming do^vn from heaven,
ver. 2 ; Jerusalem from above. Gal. iv. 26. This
is that city, in the glory of it, which the patri-
archs sought, whose buUder and maker is God, Heb.
xi. 10.

This is most plain if we consider, 1 . The foundation,
Christ Jesus. For ' other foundation can no man lay,'
saith St Paul, 1 Cor. iii. 11, and God himself saith
he layeth this : Isa. xxviii. 1 6, ' Thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,
a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure founda-
tion.' 2. The upper building. Christians : 1 Pet. ii.
4, 5, 'To whom coming, as unto a li\'ing stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and
precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a
spiritual house.' 3. The builders, both efiicient and
instrumental, God and his ministers : 1 Cor. iii. 9,
' For we are labourers together with God ; ye are
God's husbandry, ye are God's building.'

The reason is, the praise of the glory of his grace
among his elect and chosen people. For here God
sets his name, Deut. xiv. 24, and vnW be glorified in
his peo^jle, Isa. xlix. 3.

This serves for instruction, concerning the stability
of the church, not only in the whole, as God's build-
ing, against which the gates of hell shall not be able
to prevail, Mat. xvi. 18, but in every ti-ue member
of it, as God's workmanship in Christ Jesus, Eph.

iL 10 ; for it is God that estabUsheth us in Christ,
2 Cor. i. 21. Christ, as a shepherd, will not lose one
sheej). ' My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me. And I give unto them
eternal hfe, and they shall never perish ; neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand,' John
X. 27, 28. ' While I was with them in the world, I
kept them in thy name ; those that thou gavest me
I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of
perdition,' John x\ii. 12. He being their head, and
they being his members, 1 Cor. xii. 27, will he suffer
them to be pulled away 1 Nay, he is the sa\'iour of
liis body, Eph. v. 23.

It serves for admonition likewise : first. For
ministers in regard of their doctrine, whereby they
are workers together with God, 1 Cor. iii. 9, com-
pared with 2 Cor. \\. 1. They must not be ignor-
ant nor negligent, but wise and faithful, in this
gi-eat work of spiritual building. The foundation
being laid, which is Jesus Christ, they must take
heed what they build thereupon ; for every man's
work shall be made manifest, the day shall declare
it of what sort it is, 1 Cor. iii. 10, &c.

Secondly, For God's people. Every one must suffer
liimself to be wrought upon in the ministry of the
word, to be hewn and squared and fitted to lie
upon Christ ; which we then are, when we be
brought to leave sin by true repentance, to live in
Christ by true faith, and to walk in new obedience
in the course of our lives, thereby testifying the
truth of our faith and repentance. Therefore, mth
St Paul, Heb. xiii. 22, ' I beseech you, brethren,
suffer the word of exliortation.'

The second thing to be here observed is. The seat
of God's building, where he lays the foundation of
his holy city and temple, ^ — namely, in the holy
mountains, which may be understood generally of the
land of Canaan, which was a mountainous country,
Deut. xi. 1 1 ; God's inheritance chosen for liis own
people, Ps. xcvii. 1, compared with xlvii. 4 ; called
his holy border, Ps. bcx\'iii. 54 ; that land which
he bordered out for his people. Num. xxxiv. 3, &c. ;
or more particularly of the mountains Zion and
Moriah, whereon God by his .special providence
caused Jerusalem his holy city, and the temple his
holy sanctuary, to be seated and built.

And these mountains are called holy, not for any

Ver. 1.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

151

holiness or sanctity inherent in the soil or ground,
but, first, From God's presence, who chose chief
hills for his seat to dwell in, as Ps. Ixviii. 16, Ixxiv.
2, and cxxxii. 13; Isa. iiii. 18; and Zech. viii. 3,
' Thus saith the Lord ; I am returned unto Zion, and
will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem : and Jerusa-
lem shall be called a city of truth ; and the mountain
of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.' Secondly,
From that holy use and employment whereto he put
these mountains, for hereon was built the holy city,
Dan. ix. IG, and the holy sanctuary or temple, 2
Chron. iii. 1 ; Ps. Ixxviii. G8, 09.

jSIark, then, God builds Jerusalem the holy city,
and the temple his holy sanctuary, on the holy
mountains Zion and Moriali ; the places before
Cjuoted shew it plainly, with Ps. cxxii. 1, &c.

The reason hereof is twofold : first. To let his
people know that their God, with whom they enter
covenant, is a most holy God ; for the very place of
his spiritual abode, and of his holy solemn service,
is a holy place : Ps. xcix. 9, ' Exalt the Lord our
God, and worship at his holy hill ; for the Lord our
God is holy.' Joshua xxiv. 19, 'Ye cannot serve
the Lord, for he is a holy God.'

Secondly, To prefigure and shew forth in plain
type the inseparable propei-ty of God's tme church,
— namely, that it is holy and sanctified. As the
holy temple was built upon the holy hill Moriah, so
is God's church built upon Christ Jesus, — all holy.
Christ Jesus as the foundation and fountain, that
holy thing, Luke i. 35 ; ' The Holy One of God,'
Mark i. 24. Christians, through his redemption and
the sanctification of the Spirit, 'holy ones.' Eph.
V. 25-27, 'Christ loved the church, and gave him-
self for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not
having spot or blemish.' Hence is that of the
apostle, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17, 'Know ye not that ye are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in 3'ou ? If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy : for the temple of God
is holy, which temple ye are.' And 2 Cor. vi. 16,
1 7, ' What agreement hath the temple of God with
idols ? for ye are the temple of the h^^ng God ; as
God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in
them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be

my people. Wherefore come out from among them,
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
the unclean thing ; and I will receive you.' And 1
Pet. ii. 5, 9, ' Ye also, as lively stones, are built up
a spiritual house, a holy priesthood ; a chosen gen-
eration, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a pecuUar
people.'

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, it plainly discovers the fearful
estate of all profane and wicked persons, as idolaters,
swearers, Sabbath-breakers, di-unkards, adulterers,
and the Uke ; for though they have been baptized,
and do come to the Lord's service, yea, to his holy
table, yet certainly they are no true and Uvely mem-
bers of the church, but, like Ham in Noah's ark,
Gen. ix. 18, 25, an accursed person in a godly family ;
like chaff among the corn on the barn-floor, JLat. iii.
12 ; hke tares among the wheat in the field, Mat.
xiii. 38 ; like dross among the good fish in the net,
Mat. xiii. 47-49 ; like Simon Magus, though bap-
tized, yet in the gall of bitterness and bond of
inicjuity. Acts viii. 13, 23. For every true member
of the church must needs have fellowship with Christ
Jesus, the true foundation, being built upon him.
But 'shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship -with
thee ? ' Ps. Lxxxiv. 20. ' What fellowship hath right-
eousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion
hath light with darkness ? and what concord hath
Chiist with Belial 1 or what part hath he that be-
lieveth with an infidel? and what agreement hath
the temple of God with idols?' 2 Cor. \i. 14-16 ;
' If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth,' 1
John i. 6.

For admonition, a most efiectual motive unto
holiness, as well to get it into our hearts, as also to
express the ti-uth of it in our lives. This duty is
commanded, Heb. xii. 14, 'Follow peace with all
men, and hoUness, ■Nnthout which no man shall see
the Lord;' and 2 Cor. \ii. 1, 'Ha\'ing therefore
these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness
in the fear of God.' Now, though the worker of
this holiness be God alone, by his Spirit — for ' who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?' Job xiv.
4 — yet ordinarily he doth it in means ; wherein God

152

PIERSON ON PSAUI LXXXVII.

[Vee. 2.

requiretli that natural men should exercise them-
selves. For want hereof lie complaineth of the Jews,
that therein he would have gathered tliem, as a hen
doth her chicken under her wiiigs, but they would
not, Mat. xxiii. 37. They would not come to him
that they might have life, John v. 40. Therefore
he saith, ' The queen of the south shall rise up in
judgment against this generation, and shall condemn
it ; for she came from the uttermost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a
greater than Solomon is here,' Mat. xii. 42.

God's means for holiness enjoined to man is two-
fold — the word and prayer. The word is the seed,
even the immortal seed of our new birth, wherein
corruption is abolished and grace renewed, 1 Pet. i.
23; John xvii. 17. And prayer obtains the Spirit,
Luke xi. 13, which is the author of holiness in the
hearts of God's children, 1 Pet. i. 22 ; whereupon
David prays to ' be washed thoroughly, to be purged
and washed ; to have a clean heart created, and a
right spu-it renewed in him,' Ps. H. 2, 7, 8.

Yet every kind of exercise in these ordinances
doth not entitle unto holiness, but such as is joined
with refomiation of life, Prov. i. 23 ; with true ear-
nest desire after holiness, Isa. li. 1 ; with conscionable
endeavour of obedience to that we know, Acts v. 32;
in all which we must wait upon the Lord for that we
do desire, and not limit him either for time or mea-
sure, as Col. iv. 2, ' Continue in prayer, and watch
in the same with thanksgi\'ing.' And then, if we
wait patiently, God will hear, as Ps. xl. 1, ' I waited
patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and
heard my cry.'

The careful expressing of holiness in life must be
in all manner of conversation ; ' as he which hath
called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of con-
versation,' 1 Pet. i. 15. 'Seeing then all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye
to be in all holy conversation and godliness ? ' 2 Pet.
iii. 11 — that is, as well in the duties of our ci\-il call-
ings as in the exercises of religion, else we have show
of godliness, but deny the power of it, 2 Tim. iii. 5.

For comfort, this makes greatly to all that be
truly godly living in the church, for they are living
stones, surely built upon Christ Jesus, the tried foun-
dation ; they are pillars in the house of the Lord, and
shdl go no more out, Rev. iii. 13.

Now the truth of our piety and holiness must be
expressed, according to Christ's direction, Luke ^^.
47, 48, to come, and hear, and do ; so shall our build-
ing stand against all assaults, and blasts of tempta-
tions from the world, the flesh, and the de\'il.

Ver. 2. The Liml loiclh the gates of Zimi more than
uU the ihcellinffs of Jacob.

A second e'vidence of the church's happiness, in
being the cliief object of God's special love, ha^•^ng
a greater part and portion therein than any other
state or condition of men in the world beside ;
which indeed was the true ground and cause of
the former benefit, and of aU otlier that followed.

For the better understanding whereof we must
know that there is a double trope in the words :
first, The gates of Zion, part of the building of the
city upon mount Zion, are put for the whole city,
as it was a tj-pe of God's church in Christ, who, as
mediator, here began the settled building and
government of it, as Ps. ii. 6, comjjared vnth Luke i.
32, 33.

Secondly, Jacob is here put for his posterity, the
whole twelve tribes who inhabited all the land of
Canaan ; as if he would have said, The Lord indeed
bears a good aflfection to the whole land of Canaan,
where his people dwell, as Deut. xi. 12, 'A land
which the Lord thy God careth for : the eyes of the
Lord thy God are always upon it ; ' but above all
the places thereof he bears a good affection towards
mount Zion, whereon his holy city is built, which is
the tj-pe and beginning of his tree church in Christ,
visibly represented in a settled choice place.

In the words thus conceived note this point, that
God loves his church above all other states and con-
ditions of men in the world whatsoever : Mai. i. 1-3,
' The word of the Lord to Israel, (that is, the pos-
terity of Jacob, the church in those days.) I have
loved you, saith the Lord, (and that more than others ;)
for was not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the Lord ;
yet I loved Jacob and hated Esau,' which, in the
most nuld and favourable interpretation, taking
hatred for less love, as Gen. xxix. 30, 31, jiroveth
the point in hand, that God loves bis church above
all other states and conditions of men in the world,
John xiii. 1, 'Having loved his own which were in
the worid, he loved them unto the end : ' Eph. v. 25,

Ver. 2.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

153

' Husliands, love your wi\-es, even as Chiist loved his
Cliurch.' Christ Jesus in love to his church makes
himself a pattern to husbands to love their wives.
Kow we know every husband should love his o^ni
wife more than any other woman in the world, and
therefore we need not to doubt but Christ doth so
to his church.

This will yet more plainly appear by these three
things :

First, God's delivery vouchsafed to his church
from evils.

Secondly, His advancement of her to special estate
of happiness.

Thirdly ; the means of both, wliich is Jesus Christ
given unto her.

For the first. The greatness of God's love in his
deUvery of his churcli will plainly appear by that
which is said thereof, both in general and in particular.
In general : ' ilany are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all,' Ps.
xxxiv. 19. ' He visiteth and redeemeth his people,
and dehvereth them out of the hands of all their
enemies,' Luke i. 68, 74. Li particular, God's church
in herself is liable to temporal evils in this world,
and to e\'ils eternal in the world to come ; for they
were by nature the children of vTath, even as others,
Eph. ii' 3.

Now from eternal e^ils God gives to his church
absolute and perfect deliverance. ' There is no con-
demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,' Eom.
viii. 1 ; ' on them the second death hath no power,'
Eev. XX. 6. But it is not so with others that be
out of the church ; to them it will be said, ' Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,' Mat. xxv.
41.

And for deHverance from temporal e^ils in this
world, whether coqwral or spiritual, God's church
hath a great prerogative above others, though not
in absolute freedom from them ; for ' we must, through
many tribulations, enter into the kingdom of God,'
Acts xiv. 22 ; and the church of God is greatly
afflicted when all the earth sitteth still, and is at
rest, Zech. i. 11, 12. Yet in her sufferings the
church of God hath a great measure of deHverance
wliich the world doth ever want — namely, from the
curse of God, which ever accompanieth temporal
e^•ils upon the men of the world, as Zech. v. 3.

For Cluist hath redeemed his church from the curse
of the law. Gal. iii. 13, and the evils that he upon
them are corrections for sin. ' AMien we are judged,
we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be
condemned ^vith the world,' 1 Cor. xi. 32 ; or trials
of grace, as James i. 2, 3, ' My brethren, count it all
joy when ye fall into divers temptations ; knowing
this, that the ti-jdng of your faith worketh patience.'
1 Pet. i. 6, 7, ' Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, ye are in hea^'iness
through manifold temptations : that the trial of your
fiiith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried -svith fire, might be found
unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Clirist.' Job ii. 3, ' The Lord said to Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is
none Uke liim in the earth, a perfect and an upright
man, one that feareth God and escheweth e^•il 1 and
still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou
movest me against him, to destroy him without
cause.'

For the second.

God's advancement of his church to a .special estate
of happiness is twofold : partly in this world, and
principally in the world to come. In this world,
sometime with outward peace and plenty, to the
admiration of the world, as in the days of Solomon,
1 Kings X. 21, &c. And though many times the
church of God hath a small portion in temporal bless-
ings, for their felicity is not in this hfe : — ' If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men
most miserable,' 1 Cor. xv. 19; — yet hath she always
in Christ Jesus true right unto all temporal blessings,
for Christ is Lord of all, Mat. xxAdii. 18 ; and in him
' all tilings are yours, whether Paul, or ApoUos, or
Cepihas, or the world, or hfe, or death, or things pre-
sent, or things to come,' 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. She hath
also a sanctified use of what she enjoys, and sweet con-
tent therein, whether her portion be small or great: 'I
have learned, in whatever state I am, there-vrith to be
content ; I know both how to be abased, and I know
how to abound : everpvhere in all things I am in-
structed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need,' Phil. iv. 11, 12; living
under that special providence whereby she is pre-
served night and day, Isa. xxvii. 3. But in spiritual
blessings is her special advancement above the world.

154

PIERRON ON rSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 2.

' Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ,' Eph. i. 3. ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prej^ared for them that
love him,' 1 Cor. ii. 9. As in effectual calling to
the state of grace, wherein they have spiritual society
with God in Christ, ' Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he
may dwell in thy courts : we shall be satisfied with
the goodness of thy house, even of thj' holy temple,'
Ps. Ixv. 4 ; being married unto him, ' For thy Maker
is thine husband,' Isa. liv. 5. ' And I will betroth
thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee
unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in
loving-ldndness, and in mercies ; I will even betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness : and thou shalt know
the Lord,' Hosea ii. 19, 20; so Ps. xlv., and Canticles.
In justification from the guilt of sin, ' Even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputeth I'ighteousness without works, sajdng.
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and
whose sins are covered ; blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin,' Rom. iv. 7, 8. In
adoi^tion to the honour and state of sons and
daughters : ' Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God,' 1 John iii. 1. In sanctifica-
tion, to the abolishing of corruption in regard of
dominion, and the renewing of the soul in knowledge,
righteousness, and true hoUness, Eph. iv. 21-24.
In which estate they are made kings and priests
unto God, Eev, i. 5, 6 ; ' Strengthened vnih all
might, according to his glorious power,' Col. i. 11 ;
and stabUshed in Christ, and on Christ, so as the
gates of hell shall not prevail again.st them. Mat.
xvi. 18 ; see 2 Cor. i. 2, &c.

In the world to come, God's advancement of his
church is perfect unto all fulness of joy, and
height of honour for evermore.

Then they receive the kingdom prepared for them.
Mat. XXV. 34, and wear the crown of righteousness
laid up for them, 2 Tim. iv. 8. Now they have
on them white robes of perfect holiness, and palms
in their hands, of full conquest over all enemies,
Rev. vii. 9. Now they are in God's presence, where
is fulness of joy, and at his right hand, where are
pleasures for evennore, Ps. xvi. 11. They enjoy that

glory wherewith the afilictions of this present time are
not worthy to be compared, Eom. viii. 1 8 ; the hope
whereof will sustam the soul in the greatest distress,
as 2 Cor. iv. 14, 16, 17, 'Knowing that he which
raised up Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and
shall present us with you. For which cause we
faint not ; but though our outward man perish, yet
the inward man is renewed day by day. For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory.' So as, indeed, we may say of these glorious
joys, as the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon's wis-
dom, 1 Kings X. 7, ' The one half thereof was not
shewed unto me.'

Thirdly, The greatness of God's love to his church
doth appear in the means of both the former ;
which is the gift of Jesus Christ, his only begotten
Son, to become man, and to die for their sins, and
to rise again for their justification, Eom. iv. 25. He
redeemeth his church from the curse of the law, by
becoming himself a curse for them. Gal. iii. 13.
' He delivereth them from the -ivrath to come,' 1
Thes. i. 10. And hereupon, by way of excellence, is
called the ' deliverer and redeemer,' Eom. xi. 26, out
of Isa. lix. 20, where the same word is used which Job
hath, calling Christ his redeemer, chap. xix. 25. It
is he also that doth exalt and advance his church
to salvation and glory ; ' My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give
unto them eternal life,' John x. 27, 28 ; ' For God
hath not appointed us to wrath ; but to obtain sal-
vation by our Lord Jesus Christ,' 1 Thes. v. 9.

The reason hereof is not anything in the church,
existent or foreseen, as a meritorious or mo^dng cause ;
for God loves her freely, Hosea xiv. 4. Her loath-
some state in corruption shews it plainly, when the
first e\-idence thereof is given : ' When I passed by
thee, and saw thee polluted in thy blood, I said
unto thee when thou wast in thy blood. Live. Thy
time was as the time of love,' Ezek. x\-i. 6, 8. Yet
when the church liath being, as it is built upon
Christ Jesus, and is indued ■with the Spirit, and
beautified with the graces thereof, even for all these
doth God's love actually increase towards his church,
to the daily provocation of her love to him again,
with praise and thanks, and more conscionable obedi-
ence for his glory, as Deut. x. 12, &c.

Ver. 2.]

PIKRSON ON PSALM LSXXVII.

155

This serves for instruction, for admonition, and
comfort.

For instruction two ways : first, It shews what a
blessed thing it is to be a true member of God's
church ; for all such have true part and portion in
God's special love, as is before shewed.

Now this is the fountain of all blessings, even of
the blessing of blessings, the gift of the Son of God :
'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believetli in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life,' John
iii. 16. With whom come all other good things: 'He
that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give
us all things l ' Eom. viii. 32. We know that love
is kind or bountiful, 1 Cor. xiii. 4 ; and hence we
count Icings' favourites happy, as being near and
dear to those that are so able to enrich and honour
them in the world, as Esther vd. 6, &c. How
happy then are they that are favourites to the
King of kings, the eternal, omnipotent Lord of all ?
See Ps. cxl^d. 3, &c., ' Put not your trust in
princes,' &c. ' Happy is he that hath the God of
Jacob for his help ; whose hope is in the Lord his
God,' &c. ' Happy is the people that is in such a
case : yea, happy is the people whose God is the
Lord,' Ps. cxliv. 15. 'For who is like unto the
Lord our God, who dweUeth on high ? ' &c. Ps. cxiii.
1.5.

Secondly, It shews one reason of the manifold and
great troubles and afflictions of God's church and
chUdren here on earth, when the wicked world is at
ease and rest, Zech. i. 11, 12; a case that troubled
the prophets of God. ' As for me, my feet were al-
most gone ; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I
was envious at the foolish, when. I saw the prosperity
of the wicked,' Ps. Ixxiii. 2, 3. ' Eighteous art thou,
Lord, when I plead with thee : yet let me talk
with thee of thy judgments : wherefore doth the
way of the bricked prosper ? wherefore are all they
happy that deal very treacherously ? Thou hast
planted them, yea, they have taken root : they grow,
yea, they bring forth fruit : thou art near in their
mouth, and far from their reins,' Jer. xii. 1, 2. And
so may easily make weak Cliristians to stagger, as
Judges vi. 1 3, ' If the Lord be with us, why then is
all this befallen us T It is true, that the sins of

God's church and children lay the foundation of
these evils ; for affliction follows sinners, as Jer. ix.
12, &c, ' Who is the wise man, that may understand
this ? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the
land perisheth and is burnt up hke a wilderness,
that none passetli through ? And the Lord said,
Because they have forsaken my law which I set be-
fore them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein,' &c. Sin brings in death itself, and
all e\-ils that forerun or accompany the same.i 'By
one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned,' Rom. v. 12. Yet God's dear and
fatherly love to his church comes in as a moving
cause of the church's afflictions, that thereby he may
brmg them to repentance, and to escape condemna-
tion ; see Rev. iii. 19, 'As many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten.' ' Whom the Lord loveth he chasten-
eth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,'
Heb. xii. 16. 'For this cause many are weak and
sickly among you, and many sleep. When we are
judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should
not be condemned mth the world,' 1 Cor. xi. 30, 32.
Herein it is with our heavenly Father, as Solomon
saith of earthly parents, Prov. xiii. 24, ' He that
sparetli his rod hateth his son : but he that loveth
him chasteneth him betimes.' Hence Da\'id pro-
nounceth them blessed whom the Lord correcteth,
Ps. xciv. 1 2 ; and acknowledgeth it was good for
him, and that God did it of very faithfulness, Ps.
cxix. 67, 71, 75, 'Before I was afflicted I went
astray : but now have I kept thy word,' &c.

This we are to note, to prevent rash judgment
against ourselves and others under the cross ; whereto
how apt we are against ourselves, see Isa. xhx. 14,
' Zion said. The Lord hath forsaken me, and my
Lord hath forgotten me.' Against others, Isa. liii.
3, 12, 'He is despised and rejected of men; a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief : and we hid
as it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and
we esteemed him not. He was numbered with the
transgressors.'

For admonition two ways : first. To give all
diligence to become true members of the church,
that so we may have part in God's special love,

' N!3r7! pcccatum; St?;, danutum.

156

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Yer. 3.

wherein stands true liappiness. And hereto two
thmgs are required : first, That we know the ti-ue
church ; and secondly, That we be not only in it,
but of it.

For tlie first, Where the tnie church of God is,
what people professing reUgion be God's true church,
is a great question, of large extent, and much dis-
puted between protestants and papists. For our
direction and resolution, briefly let us learn this,
that the true church is Christ's mystical body ; Eph.
i. 22, 23, ' Gave him (that is, Christ) to be the head
over all things to the church, which is his body.'
That spiritual building wliich consists of spiritual
living stones, built upon the foundation, Jesus
Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 5-7 ; Mat. xvi. 18 ; 1 Cor. iii. 9 ;
that is, such professors of the faith of the gospel
as by the work of the Spirit are indued with trae
faith, and adorn their profession -vvith new obedience.
Now then, those that profess religion, and have
communion and fellowship with Christ, through
the work of the Spirit in grace, undoubtedly are
true members of Christ's church; but those that
be e\'idenced to want fellowship vsdth Christ
through faith, are no church of God, nor true
members thereof. Now they of the church of
Rome are cut off from his fellowship by their
idolatry: Col. ii. 18, 19, 'Let no man beguile you
of your reward in a voluntary humility and wor-
shipping of angels, intruding into those things which
he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mmd,
and not holding the head,' &c.

By their opinion of justification by works : 'Christ
is become of none effect unto you, whosoever of
you are justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace,'
Gal. V. 4, by making the pope the head of the
church ; for he is antichrist, and those that so hold are
antichristian. The true church hath not two heads.

The way to become trae members of Christ's
church, for sure title to God's special love, is
humbly and reverently to receive the word of the
covenant, and conscionably to j-ield obedience
thereunto, as Deut. xxxiii. 3 ; Mark xvi. 26.
The right receivdng is by faith, 1 Pet. ii. 7. And
the truth thereof must be testified by obedience ;
' For true faith worketh by love,' Gal. v. 6. ' And
this is the love of God, that we keep his command-
ments,' 1 John V. 3.

Secondly, The wicked of the world must hereby
be admonished to beware of wronging God's chil-
dren ; for God, that loves them above others, will
require and requite it, Ps. x. 14; as Ps. cv. 14, 15,
' He .suflered no man to do them wrong : yea, he
reproved kings for their sakes ; sajdng. Touch not
mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.' ' He
that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye,'
Zech. ii. 8. Therefore it will be good to regard and
follow the counsel of GamaUel, Acts v. 38, ' Refrain
from these men, and let them alone ; lest we be found
fighters against God,' and it he said to us, as it was
unto Paul, chap ix. 4, 5, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me?' &c.

For consolation, it makes greatly to every true
member of God's church in any distress ; for
certainly they have a special part and portion in
God's love, from which no afflictions can separate
them : see Eom. viii. 35, 37-39, ' Who shall sepa-
rate us from the love of Christ 1 shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us,'
&c. ' Having loved his own which were in the
world, he loved them unto the end,' John xiii. 1.
Therefore, even in affliction they may say, ' Eejoice
not against me, mine enemy : when I fall, I shall
arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a
liaht unto me,' Micah vii. 8.

Ver. 3. Glorious things arc spoken of thee, thou city
of God.

A third thing setting out the happiness of the
church, that though her present outward state be
not always comfortable and glorious, yet even then
her future hopes upon di\-ine projihecies and pro-
mises are great and excellent.

In the words note two tilings : first. The descrip-
tion of the place.

Secondly, The declaration of her happiness in the
ground of her hopes.

For the first ; the place here sjioken of is Jerusa-
lem, thus described, ' Thou city of God ; ' so called
because of God's sanctuary here seated on mount
Zion, which place God chose and desired for his
habitation, saying, ' This is my rest for ever : here
will I dwell ; for I have desired it,' Ps. cxxxii. 1 3,

Yer. 3.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXSXVII.

157

14. AVhereupon in the New Testament it is called
' the city of the great King,' Mat. v. 35. Now the
eai'tlily Jerusalem here spoken of must be under-
stood to denote the tnie church of God in all ages,
as being in the prophet's time, when this psalm was
penned, both the chief seat and tnie type thereof,
so as for us the point here contained is this. The
true church of God is God's own city ; hence it is
called ' Jciiisalem from above,' Gal. iv. 2G. The
heavenly Jerasalem, the holy city, the new Jerasa-
lem, the great city, the holy Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 2, 10.

The reason hereof is God's free grace and favour,
choosing his church in Christ to be his o^vn by cove-
nant, even his house, Heb. iii. 6 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1 -5 ;
his temple, so as he will dwell in them, and walk in
them, 2 Cor. vi. 16; and so his city, where the
tabernacle of God is with men. Rev. xxi. 3.

This seiTes for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, to our great comfort, that God
certainly -will defend his church against all enemies ;
for so much will every king do for his chief city,
that is the chamber of his kingdom, and every house-
holder for liis owni habitation ; as IMat. xxiv. 43, ' If
the goodman of tbe house had known in what
watch the thief would have come, he would have
watched, and would not have suflFered his house to
be broken up.' See God's promise and performance
for Jerusalem while it remained the seat of his sanc-
tuary : Isa. xxx:\-ii. 35, ' I will defend this city to
save it, for mine ot^ti sake, and for my servant
David's sake.' Hereupon the people of God say,
' God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble. Therefore wiU we not fear, though the
earth be removed, and though the mountains be
carried into the midst of the sea ; though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake Avith the swelling thereof. There is a river,
the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
God is in the midst of her : she shall not be moved :
God shall help her, and that right early,' Ps. xlvi. 1 ,
&c. ' God is known in her palaces for a refuge,'
Ps. xl\'iii. 3. And for the ti-ue church herself in all
ages : ' Upon this rock will I build my church, and
the gates of hell shaU not prevail against it,' Mat.
xvi. 18. 'No weapon that is fonned against thee
shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise

against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn,' Isa.
liv. 17.

For admonition it serves two ways : first. As we
desu-e true safety and salvation eternal, so to join
ourselves truly to God's church ; ' For upon mount
Zion shall be deliverance,' Obad. xvii. This is as
Noah's ark, into which all must come that look to
be saved from the deluge of damnation, Heb. xi. 7.
Therefore it is said that God ' added to his church
daily such as should be saved,' Acts ii. 47. Now
the way into Christ's church is by true repentance,
and faith in Christ Jesus, as Acts ii. 38, 41, 'Then
Peter said unto them, Rejient, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re-
mission of sms, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized : and the same day there were
added unto them about three thousand souls.'

Secondly, AVhen we do profess the truth of Christ
we must walk worthy of this holy j)lace, by a con-
tinual daily strife and endeavour after sanctification,
testified in new obedience. Hereinto none do enter or
continue that are unholy or profane : ' There shall
in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh
a lie : but they which are wiitten in the Lamb's
book of life,' Rev. xxi. 27. This is God's holy city,
not only in regard of the owner, God himself, but of
all the free denizens, the tnie inhabitants thereof.
God's people ai-e a holy nation, 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; and the
Lord saith, ' Be ye holy, for I am holy,' Lev. xi. 44,
45 ; even holy in abstaining from outward pollu-
tion by unclean creatures. The same duty is en-
joined upon the prohibiting of idolatry and witch-
crafts, chap. XX. 7. So that whether the sin be
small or great we must abstain from it, because we
have a holy God, and live in a holy place, which
is his church : as we say in the confession of our
faith, ' I believe the holy catholic church.' ' Who
shall ascend into the hOl of the Lord? and who
shall stand in his holy place 1 ' He that hath clean
hands, and a pure heart,' &c., Ps. xxiv. 3, 4. Hence
was the use of the paddle in the camp to cover their
excrements, because God walked in the midst of the
camp, Deut. xxiii. 13, 14.

The second thing to be noted here is the declara-
tion of the church's happiness, in the siu'e ground of

158

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 3.

hei- certain hopes of her future blessings, — namely,
God's gracious promises of glorious things to be
done unto her, every one whereof is mentioned in
God's word, as the phrase in the original doth
imply, joining a participle of the singular number
to a noun of the plural, which some render thus :
Glorious tilings is spoken of thee, meaning that
every one of them concerning the church's happiness
is particularly mentioned in God's word.

Mark, then, that God in his word doth plainly
and particularly mention exceeding glorious things
belonging to the church, touching her future happi-
ness. These do concern partly her happy deliver-
ance from evils, for ' God shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities,' Ps. cxxx. 8 ; ' When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee : and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee ;
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not
be burned,' &c., Isa. xliii. 2, &c.

But chiefly her fruition of blessings, even in this
world, under the kingdom of Christ, called the ac-
cepted time and day of salvation, 2 Cor. vi. 2 ; the
time of reformation, Heb. ix. 10. Glorious things
indeed were spoken of these times, as 1 Cor. ii. 9,
' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him : ' 1 Pet.
i. 12, see some particulars, which are for quality
admirable, and for number almost innumerable.
' Now the hght of the moon shall be as the light of
the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,'
Isa. XXX. 26, meaning that there shall be a wonder-
ful increase of knowledge and of the comforts of
grace. ' Now kings shall be her nursing fathers,
and queens her nursing mothers,' &c., Isa. xlix. 23 ;
add hereunto Isa. liv. 1-3, 11-13; Ix. 1, 2; Ixii.
1, 2 ; Ixv. 17, 18; and Lxvi. 11, 12 ; Rev. xxi. and
xxii. And whatsoever shall be wanting to the
church, or to any true member thereof in this world,
shall be superabundantly supplied and recompensed
in the world to come, as Rom. viii. 18 ; 1 Cor. xv.
53, 54; 2 Cor. iv. 14, 16, and v. 1, &c. ; Phil. iii.
20, 21.

The gi'ound and reason of this course of God's
dealing in mentioning glorious things to belong to
his church, is tlu-eefold :

First, To allure and draw natural men to join

themselves unto the church, that their part may be
in the fruition of these glorious things, as Moses
allured Jethro (called also Hobab) to go with them
into the land of Canaan : Num. x. 12, 32, ' Come
thou with, us, and we will do thee good; for the
Lord hath spoken good concernmg Israel. And it
shall be if thou go with us ; yea, it shall be that
what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same
will we do unto thee.'

Secondly, To encourage the true members of the
church unto growth and perseverance in grace and
obedience, for in these glorious things promised we
may see the reward of religion, even the comforts of
grace here and crown of glory hereafter, as Moses
on Pisgah saw all the land of Canaan, Deut. xxxiv.
1, &c. Herew^th the patriarchs were allured to
follow the Lord, and Moses to leave the honour of
Pharaoh's court, Heb. xi. 13, 24-26. This hastened
St Paul to his holy endeavour for perfection in
grace: Phil. iii. 13, 14, 'This one thing I do, for-
getting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark, for the prize of the high calhng of
God in Christ Jesus.'

Thirdly, To comfort the gocUy under afflictions,
which follow the sincere j)rofession of the faith, and
are as sharp and dangerous storms to passengers by
sea. But in these glorious things promised we may
cast anchor safely, and behold the quiet harbour of
rest and safety. ', In the multitude of my thoughts
within me, thy comforts delight my soul,' Ps. xciv.
19. ' Remember thy word unto thy servant, upon
which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my
comfort in mine aflliction : for thy word hath
quickened me,' Ps. cxix. 49, 50 ; see also Rom.
viii. 18, with 2 Cor. iv. 14, 16 ; and 1 Pet. i. 5, 6.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first. That the happi-
ness of God's church and children must not be
measuretV by their outward state in this world,
which many times is not only very mean, but mis-
erable, as the apostle shews, 1 Cor. xv. 19, 'If in this
life only we have hope in Christ Jesus, we are of all
men most miserable.' Their happiness therefore must
be measured by their present title to God's favour
in Christ, through the covenant of grace, whereby

Ver. 4.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

159

they have the Lord for their God, which is true
happiness. Ps. cxliv. 15, 'Happy is that people,
that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people,
whose God is the Lord.' And by their certain title
to future glory, wherein they greatly rejoice, though
for a season they be in heaviness, 1 Pet. i. 6.

Secondly, See here what a profitable and comfort-
able thing it is to be much conversant in Scripture,
which is the great charter of God's church, shelving
all the glorious things whereto she hath right and
interest in Christ Jesus. And indeed they are very
great ; for ' if God spared not his own Son, but de-
livered him up for us all, how shall he not with him
also freely give us aU things V Eom. viii. 32. He is
' made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sancti-
fication, and redemption,' 1 Cor. i. 30. Those gen-
tlemen that fall wards in their minority take great
delight to read or hear of their deeds and evidences,
which shew what lordships, what demesnes and
ro}-alties, do belong unto them. Why should not we
so dehght in God's word l The godly have so done :
Job xxiii. 12, 'I have esteemed the words of his
mouth more than my necessarj' food.' ' Thy words
were found, and I did eat them ; and thy word was
unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart,' Jer.
XV. 1 6. ' How sweet are thy words unto my taste !
yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth,' Ps. cxix.
103. 'I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth
great spoil,' Ps. cxix. 162.

For admonition two ways: first. That liwig in
the church we make sure we have good right and
title to these glorious things that are spoken of her.
It is true, these days of grace under the gospel have
accomplishment of them in good measure, as 2 Cor.
vi. 2, ' Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold,
now is the day of salvation.' But yet our personal
right must be measured by the truth of our faith ;
for these precious promises do belong to them that
have obtained like precious faith, 2 Pet. i. 1, 4 :
'\^ e must therefore prove ourselves whether we be
in the faith, 2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; which Ls best known
by the work of the word, 2 Thes. ii. 13, in the
sanctification of the heart. Acts xv. 9, and reformat
tion of the Ufe, Acts xix. 18, .19.

Secondly, That we walli worthy of the Lord and
of his glorious promises in the profession of our
faith. The way is shewed upon this ground : 2

Cor. vii. 1, 'Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting hoUness in the
fear of God.' And Col. i. 10, &c., ' That ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in eveiy good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God,' &c.

For comfort, this makes greatly to every true
member of the church in any misery. They must
call to remembrance these precious promises of future
glory ; and so though the outward man perish, yet
the inward man will be renewed daily, 2 Cor. iv. 14,
19. Thus have the godly comforted themselves in
all times, ' Rejoice not against me, mine enemy ;
when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness,
the Lord shall be a light unto me,' Mcah vii. 8.
As the suflferings of Christ abound in us, so our con-
solations also abound by Chri.st, 2 Cor. i. 5. ' For if
we suffer, we shall also reign vrith liim,' 2 Tim. ii. 12.
'Our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory,' 2 Cor. iv. 17. Hence it is said
that Christ himself, ' for the joy that was set before
him, endured the cross, despising the shame,' Heb.
xxii. 2. So saith St Peter, ' Rejoice, inasmuch as
ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings ; that, when
his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with
exceeding joy,' 1 Pet. iv. 13.

Ver. 4. I will nwle mention of Eahab and Babylon
to them that himv me : behold Philistia, and Tyre, idth
Ethiopia ; this man was born there.

Here he comes to confirm the trath of that he
had said in the former verse, touching the glorious
things spoken of the church, by particular instance
in the calling and conversion of many foreign
nations, even of such as formerly had been cruel
enemies of God's people.

For the better conceiving whereof we must search
out two things : first. The countries or people here
spoken of; secondly, How their calling or conver-
sion to the church is exjjressed.

The countries here named, by which we must
understand the people inliabiting them, are in a
double rank : first, Rahab and Babylon. By Rahab
we must understand not the harlot Eahab that re-
ceived the spies, Joshua ii., as many of the ancient

160

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 4.

fetliers do, — viz., Jerome, Austin, Theodoret,
Eutlijinius, Cassiodorus, and others : for, first, Her
name in the original is written with a dense aspirate
n> (3mi) l^ut this word is written with a mild
aspirate pj; (2m) ! secondly, The conjoined names
do shew that by Rahab here is meant a nation or
peojjle, rather than one particular person; whereby
we may see how injurious and prejudicial to truth it
is to make the unanimous or general consent of
fiithers the right rule of interi^reting the Scripture,
whereto we should tie ourselves for the understand-
ing of it, as the Council of Trent doth in the fourth
session.

But by Eahab we must here understand Egypt,
as in many other places it is certainly taken : ' Thou
hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain,'
Ps. Ixxxix. 10. 'Art thou it that hath cut Rahab,
and wounded the dragon ] ' Isa. U. 9 ; where Rahab
is Eg3'pt, and the dragon is Pharaoh the king
thereof, as the verse following doth plainly intimate.

Why Egypt is called Rahab is very probable from
some city so called, or rather, as I conceive, from
her conceited strength wherein she did pride herself ;
whereto some think allusion is made, Isa. xxx. 7.

Babylon is the chief city of Assyria, as Gen. x.
10, here put, as Rahab or Egypt also is, for the in-
habitants thereof ; and their calling into the church,
or enfranchising into the city of God, is thus ex-
pressed. God will make mention of them, or cause
them to be remembered, to those that luiow him, —
that is, to his o^vn people of Israel, who, being the
Lord's by covenant, both knew the Lord and were
known of him.

Philistia also, and TjTe, with Ethiopia, are places
often mentioned in Scripture, and, as the fonner,
are here put for the inhabitants thereof Their
calling also to be God's people is thus expressed :
' This man was born there,' — that is, any one of the
forenamed countries was born by spiritual regenera-
tion in God's church among them.

In the words thus understood note these things :

First, The description of God's people the Israel-
ites by this good quality or property, that they know
God ; where this is plainly taken for gi-anted, that
those that be the Lord's people, having true society
and acquaintance with him, do undoubtedly know
the Lord : ' Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we

know thee,' Hosea viii. 2. 'They shall all know
me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,'
Jer. xxxi. 34.

The reason hereof is plain, for whomsoever God ac-
cepteth into society and fellowship -with himself by
covenant, unto them doth he reveal and make known
himself, that thereby they may be enabled to walk
worthy of him, as John x. 14 : 'I am the good shep-
herd ; I know my sheep and am kno^vn of mine. He
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father ; and I
will love him, and will manifest myself unto him,'
John xiv. 21. Thus he dealt with the Jews when
he took them into covenant with himself, Exod. iii.
6, 13-16 ; and so he dealt ivith the Gentiles when
he called them into the fellowship of his Son, as St
Paul's speech to the Galatians plainly sheweth : Gal. J
iv. 8, 9, ' When ye knew not God, ye did sei-vice '
unto them which by nature are no gods. But now,
after ye have known God, or rather are known of
God, how turn ye again,' &c.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, it shews plainly the miserable con-
dition of all ignorant people that know not God : it
is a fearful sign they are not the Lord's by covenant
of grace. They that want the knowledge of God are
like horse and mule, Ps. xxxii. 9 ; worse than the ox
or ass, Isa. i. 3 ; which is not only a state of shame
— ' for some have not the knowledge of God ; I speak
this to your shame,' 1 Cor. xv. 34 — but of woeful
danger, for the Lord hath a controversy with them,
Hosea iv. 1 ; and will come in flaming fire, rendering
vengeance to them, 2 Thes. i. 8.

For admonition it serves effectually two ways :
first. To try our estate touching tliis knowledge of
God, whether we have so much as may entitle us to
his society, that we are his by covenant ; whereunto
is required, not only a right conceiving of God in our
minds, that he is one in essence and three in persons,
most holy, ivisc, eternal, and infinite in power and
essence, creator and governor of all things ; but also
affiance of heart, whereby we acknowledge him, and
rest and rely upon him for all the blessings of the
covenant of grace in Christ, which is indeed a jus-
tifying and saving knowledge : whereof see Isa. liii.
1 1 ; John xvii. 3.

Secondly, In the want hereof to give all diligence

Ver. 4.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

161

to attain unto it, exercising ourselves in his word and
works, and sanctifjdng our endeavour by prayer for
the blessing of God's Spirit to bring us to this sa^^ng
knowledge and acknowledgment of God, by which an
entrance shall be made unto us abundantly into his
kingdom of grace here, and of glory hereafter. This
saving knowledge of God is fruitful, ever joined vnth
other graces, as faith, ^diiue, patience, temperance,
&c., which whoso lacketh is blind, and cannot see
afar off, 2 Pet. i. 5-8.

For comfort, this makes greatly to all those that
thus rightly know the Lord and acknowledge him ;
for, if herein they persevere, undoubtedly the Lord
will one day own them and acknowledge them before
his Father : ' Whosoever shall confess me before
men, liim shall the Son of man also confess before
the angels of God,' Luke xii. 8 ; the greatness of
wliich benefit vn]l appear by the miser}' of the want
of it : which see. Mat. ra. 23 ; ' I never knew you ; '
' Depart from me, ye that work inicjuity,' Mat. \ii.
23, and xx^-. 12.

The second thing to be observed here, is the
favour of God to these heathen people in their con-
version. The Lord will remember them, or make
favourable and lodng mention of them to his people,
or among his people, as some understand the place,
wliich is plainly confinned, Isa. xix. 24, 25, ' In that
day shall Israel be the tliird with Egyjit, and with
Assyiia, even a blessing in the midst of the land :
whom the Lord of hosts shaU bless, saj-ing. Blessed be
Eg)i)t my people, and AssjTia the work of my hands,
and Israel mine inheritance.'

The reason is plain : God's holy and effectual call-
ing brings men into the fellowship) and society of his
Son, 1 Cor. i. 9. And in this estate there is no dif-
ference from outward things, where ' there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Sc}i;hian, bond, nor free, but Christ is all,
and in all,' Col. iii. 1 1 ; ' It pleased the Father, that
in him should aU fulness dwell,' Col. i. 19 ; and
all that are effectually called are complete in liim.
Col. ii. 10 ; whereupon the same apostle saith,
' Art thou called, being a ser\-ant 1 care not for it.
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is
the Lord's freeman : likewise also, he that is called,
beuig free, is Cluist's sen'ant,' 1 Cor. vii. 21,
22.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, see plainly here, that the dignity
and honour of a holy calling, to be a Christian, is
exceeding gi'cat ; their prerogatives above natural
men, that remain uncalled, be much every manner
of way, as Eom. iii. 1 , 2. It is ' the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus,' Phil. iii. 14. 'A chosen gene-
ration, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
people,' 1 Pet. ii. 9. ' Now they are no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and
of the household of God,' Eph. ii. 19. ' Fellow-heirs,
and of the same body, and partakers of his promise
ui Christ,' Eph. iii. 6. Upon occasion of which
spiritual and heavenly dignities undoubtedly it was,
that Paul a prisoner wished of God, that Agrippa a
king, and aU that heard him, were altogether such
as he was — that is, true behevers in Christ — except
his bonds. Acts xxvi. 29.

For admonition, it serves two ways : first. To
natural men, if ever they desire true spiritual happi-
ness, and honour to their souls, they must take
notice of that ordinance of God wherein he voucli-
safeth unto men a holy calling, and of that right
manner of using the same, whereby God's ordinance
may be sanctified unto them. The ordinance is the
■ holy gospel preached; 'that the Gentiles should bo
feUow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of
liis promise in Christ, by the gospel,' Eph. iii. 6.
' God hath from the beginning chosen you to salva-
tion, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief
of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel,
to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Clirist,' 2 The.s. ii. 13, 14. 'I declare unto you the
gospel, which I preached unto you, wliich also ye
have received, and wherein ye stand ; by wliich also
ye are saved,' &c., 1 Cor. xiv. 1, 2. This gospel
preached is the word of faith, Rom. x. 8. The
immortal seed of our new birth in all saving graces,
1 Pet. i. 23, 25. And so 'the power of God unto
salvation, to every one that believetli,' Eom. i. 16.

The right manner, wherein we must wait in the
foresaid ordinance, for the blessed work of the Spirit
in a holy calling, is this : First, By the law to see
our miserable estate by nature, which will stir up
the soul to seek mercy, as Acts ii. 37, ' They were
pricked in their hearts, and said, Men and brethren,

162

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 4.

what shall we do ; ' and to break off the course of
sin, whereon is promised the gift of the Spirit.
Prov. i. 23, ' Turn you at my reproof, behold, I iviU
pour out my Spirit unto you.'

Secondly, To hunger and thirst after the work of
the Spirit, as the dry ground doth after rain, as Ps.
cxhii. 6, ' I stretch forth my hands unto thee : my
soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.'

This hath the promise of the Spirit, Isa. xhii. 3,
' I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and
floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit
upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine off-
spring.' This earnest spiritual desire must be testi-
fied by waiting in the means for the work of the Spirit,
as the impotent persons did at the pool of Bethesda
for the mo-sdng of the waters by the angel, John v.
3, 4. And also by earnest prayer to God, whereto
the Spirit is promised, Luke xi. 13, 'If ye, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him 1 '

Thirdly, To yield obedience to that we Imow, for
to such the Spirit is jiromised. Acts v. 32. We are
his witnesses of these things, and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that
obey him.

Secondly, All godly men professing the faith must
hereby be admonished to walk worthy of their holy
calling, as Eph. i. 4, which if they would do, they
must remember their present state, which is fellow-
ship mth God in Christ, 1 Cor. i. 9 ; and their
future hopes in eternal glory, 2 Thes. ii. 13, 14.
Botli which do call for daily and constant care, and
endeavour to leave sin and to live godly ; as 2 Cor.
vii. 1, 2. 'And every one that hath this hope, puri-
fieth himself, even as he is pure,' 1 John iii. 3.

For comfort, this makes greatly to all godly ones
that are effectually called ; when misery and distress in
the world shall come upon them, they have where-
with to comfort themselves ; for, God by his holy
calling hath brought them into the society of his
Son, as before is shewed, and nothing that befalls
them outwardly can separate them from his love,
but in all the aflBictions of this world they are more
tlian conquerors, Rom. viii. 35, 37, 38; this calling
is of gi'ace. Gal. i. 15; and grace is a sufficient
ground of comfort under tlie greatest buffeting : 2

Cor. xii. 9, ' My grace is suiBcient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly,
therefore, vn\l I rather glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest ujDon me.' •

The third thing to be noted here is, that special
state which declares any man, of any nation, to be a
free denizen of God's city, and a true member of his
church ; namely, to be born there ; yet not by natural
generation, but by spii'itual regeneration, whereof,
Christ speaking, saith ' they must be bom again, or
from above,' John iii. 3 ; ' born of water and of the
holy Ghost,' chap. iii. 5 ; ' not of flesh, nor of blood,
nor of the will of man, but of God,' chap. i. 13.

Mark here, then, that ' to be born again ' declares
any man of any nation to be a free denizen of God's
holy city, and a true member of his church.

This is plain by the former place, John iii. 3, 6, to
all those that understand the nature and force of an . J
exception to a general rule, which is to put the con- -I
trary to the rule. It is, indeed, a true nile in Scrip-
ture that God's church is God's kingdom, into which
man, in the corrupt state of nature, cannot enter as
heir to inherit. 'Flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit in-
corraption,' 1 Cor. xv. 50 ; but yet, if such a one be
born again, he doth certainly enter as heir, and
sliall inherit, as 1 Pet. i. 3, 4, ' Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Chiist, which, accord-
ing to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorrupt-
ible,' &c.

Mark also, that trae faith and regeneration do
accompany each other. ' Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ, is born of God,' 1 John v. 1.
Now, true believers are children. Gal. iii. 26 ; for
'ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus;' and so, free, as Mat. xvii. 26, they ai-e heirs.
Gal. iv. 7, and have great prerogatives, implied, John
i. 12, 13 ; expressed, Eph. ii. 19 ; ' fellow-citizens with
the saints, and of the household of God ;' fellow-heirs,
of the same body, chap. iii. 6.

The reason hereof is plain ; for this change of
state in soul by regeneration, is the proper fruit of
the spirit of adoption, in an effectual applj-ing of the
power and efficacy of Christ's death and resurrection,
both which proceed from the special love of God

Ver. 4.]

PIERSOX ON PSALM LXXXVII.

163

the Father, iu that savmg work which actually
makes them his children, and so heirs of the king-
dom, Eom. \iii. 17, joint-heirs with Christ, and so
free, for the children are free, ]\Iat. x\-ii. 2G. Clu'ist
Jesus the natural Son doth make them free, and so
they are free indeed, John rai. 36 ; for 'where the
Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty,' 2 Cor. iii. 17;
therefore the apostle saith this begetting again is to
a lively hope, to an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled, 1 Pet. i. 3, 4.

This serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two ways : first. That man's Ijeing
in the state of grace may be truly and certainly
known. For regeneration or the new birth may be
certainly known, which is the unfailing foundation
of the state of grace. 1 John v. 1, ' Whosoever
belie veth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.'
And true faith may be kno-ivn, 2 Cor. xiii. 5.
Again, we see natural generation is e\'ident by the
enlivened parts of a true human body : their view
and emplojTnent doth evince natural or corporeal
generation : why then shall not the lively parts of
the new man declare certainly our regeneration,
whereby we are begotten anJ bom of God ; as
knowledge in the mind, holiness in the i^-ill and
affections, and righteousness in Hfe and conversa-
tion? Eph. iv. 21-2-i, compared with Eom. vi. 19.
Whence we may see that the papists do err in
sajing that the state of grace cannot be certainly
known but by extraordinary revelation. We may
well say ' they err, not Icnowing the Scripture, nor
the power of God,' see 1 John v. 13, for faitjh, and
chap. iii. 14, for love, as declaiing this estate.

Secondly, That God's children shall undoubtedly
persevere in the state of grace. They that be en-
dued with true faith and repentance, and other
saving graces, shall never lose the same. True grace
may be lessened or weakened in degree, but not
finally or totally lost. For aU such are regenerate
by the Spirit, and his work abides ; his seed remains
so as they cannot make sin their trade, by sinning
unto death, or with full consent, 1 John iii. 9, and
v. 18.

Object. But some beHeve for a time, Luke rai. 18.

Ans. Their faith is human, acquired and got by
reading, hearing, and other good exercises of reli-

gion, mthout the work of the Spirit ; it is not in-
fused by the Holy Ghost in the foresaid means.
Between which kinds of faith this is the true differ-
ence, that acquired faith ever leaves some corner for
the devil, some sin unreformed, as Acts viii. 13, 19.
23 ; but faith infused purifies the heart from the
dommion of every sin, as Acts xv. 9.

For admonition, this serves effectually to move
every one to give all diligence for this estate ; first,
to get it ; then, to keep it. For the getting of it,
consider Christ's command, Luke xiii. 24, ' Strive to
enter in at the strait gate.' Which strift stands
in two things : first. That we receive -(vith meekness
the word of God — both the law, to discover sin, and
to humble us for the same, and the gospel, to cast
into our hearts the seed of grace ; as James i. 21,
' Receive with meekness the engrafted word,' wherein
God's Spirit doth beget, James i. 18, 'Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth ; ' 1 Pet. i.
23, 25, ' Being bom again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, and this
is the word which by the gospel is preached unto
you.' It is the word of faith, Eom. x. 8, which doth
ever accompany regeneration, 1 John v. 1. Wlrence
John i. 11-13, ' He came unto his own, and his own
received him not. But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name : which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God.' Secondly, That we
pray unto God instantly and earnestly for God's
Spirit, which doth beget unto eternal life, Luke xi.
13.

For the preserving and keejjing of this estate, we
must do three things: first. Keep fuel to the spark
of grace cast into our hearts by regeneration, which
is by endeavouring that the word of God may dwell
richly in us. Col. Lii. IG. Secondly, Blow upon the
spark when the fuel is put to, which is by prayer, as
1 Thes. V. 17. This David did, Ps. h. 10-12, 'Cast
me not away fi'om thy presence, and take not thy
Holy Spirit from me.' Tliirdly, Wrath against sin,
which is as water to quench the Spirit ; and walk in
obedience, which is pleasing unto God, and entitles
us to God's presence and preservation. ' If ye con-
tinue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed,'
John \-iii. 31. ' AMiosoever heareth these sajdngs of

164

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 4.

mine, and doetli tliem, I will Uken him unto a wise
man, wliich built his house upon a rock : and the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the grinds
blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for
it was founded upon a rock,' Mat. \'ii. 24, 25.
' Wierefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation ^vith fear and
trembhng,' Phil. ii. 12. 'Seeing you have purified
your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit,
unto unfeigned love of the brethren,' 1 Pet. i. 22.

For comfort, this makes greatly to the regenerate;
for God hath begun a good work in them, and will
undoubtedly perfect it until the day of Jesus Clirist,
PhU. i. 6. Herein is the riches of God's love and
mercy seen : of his love, 1 John iii. 1 ; of liis mercy,
1 Pet. i. 3-5. Now whom he thus loves, to the
end he loves them, John xiii. 1. His gifts and call-
ing are without repentance, Rom. xi. 29. By re-
generation we are sons, and so heirs, chap, ^■iii. 17.
And who shall lay anj-thing to the charge of God's
elect 1 chap. viii. 31, 33.

The fourth thing here to be noted is, Tlie people
and nations in whom he gives instance, pointing
them out by name, with command of special observ-
ance, that by effectual calUug and regeneration shall
become time members of his church, — namely, the
Egy[jtians, Babylonians, PhiUstines, men of TjTe,
and Ethiopians, under whom he comprehendeth
other Gentiles, yet nameth such as were well known
unto the Jews (then God's only people) formerly
to have shewed themselves then- greatest enemies.
Egypt and Babylon were the places of Israel's bond-
age and captivity. The Philistines Ukewise were
sore oppressors and lords over them. Judges xv. 11,
even forty years together, chap. xui. 1. The men
of TjTe were bitter enemies, delivering up the whole
captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly
covenant, Amos i. 9. Their cruelty see further, Joel
iii. 4, 6, and Ps. boodii. 7. The Ethiopians were
likewise giievous enemies, as their bloody assault
with a huge army did plainly shew, 2 Chron. xiv. 9.
Yet for all this, ' Behold, saith the Lord, these shall
be converted, and become friends to the church, free
denizens of Zion : for all nations shall serve him,'
meaning Cluist, prefigiu-ed by Solomon, Ps. Ixxii. 11.
'The Gentiles shall come to thy light. The abund-

ance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the
forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee,' Isa. Ix.
3, 5. 'That the residue of men might seek after
the Lord, and all the GentOes, upon whom my
name is called, saith the Lord,' Acts xv. 17. In
particular of Egyjit and Babylon, see Isa. xix. 19,
21, 25, 'In that day shall there be an altar to the
Lord in the midst of the land of Eg3^3t. And the
Lord shall be known to Egj^jt, and the Egj^stians
shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacri-
fice and oblation ; yea, they shall vow a vow unto
the Lord, and perform it. And blessed be Egypt
my people, and AssyTia the work of my hands.'
And of TjTe, Ps. xlv. 12, 'The daughter of TjTe
shall be there vnth a gift.' And of Ethiopia,
Ps. Ixviii. 31, 'Princes shall come out of Egji^t ;
Etliiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto
God.'

But why doth he instance in these nations especi-
ally, whenas in them he intends to shew the con-
version of the Gentiles ?

This he doth for three causes : fii'st, To shew the
greatness of his power, who cannot only confound,
but even convert the greatest enemies of his church.
For their confounding, see Exod. xiv. 27, 28, and
Num. xvi. ; and for conversion, see Acts ix. 1, &c.

Secondly, This he doth to manifest even to enemies
his great love unto liis church ; as he saith, Eev.
iii. 9, ' I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,
which say they are Jews, and ai'e not, but do lie ;
behold, I vn]l make them to come and worship
before thy feet, and to know that I have loved
thee.'

Thirdly, For the encouragement of his church
and children unto faith and patience in the times
of opposition by mighty enemies. For the true
God, who is God of the church, can either confound
or convert them at his pleasure ; or if he do neither
of those things, yet he can cause the wrath of his
enemies to turn to his praise, Ps. Ixxvi. 10 ; as is
plain in the rage of Nebuchadnezzai' against his ser-
vants, Dan. iii. 19, 20, 28, 29.

This serves for instniction, witli confutation, ad-
monition, and comfort.

For instruction, in the conversion of these mighty
enemies we may ijlainly see that when God is pleased
to shew mercy m Christ, the gi-acious work of his Holy

Ver. 4.]

riERSON ON rSALM LXXXVII.

165

Spirit is irresistible. Corruption iiideed is strong,
but yet the grace of the Spirit is stronger ; as is
said, 1 John iv. i, ' Greater is he that is in you, than
he that is in the world.' The' de\dl, indeed, is the
strong man armed, that keeps the house of every
natural heart, but yet Clirist by his Spirit is
stronger, and can come in and cast out the strong
man, Luke xi. 21, 22. This is plainly shewed in
tit resemblances : Isa. xi. G, ' The wolf shall dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the kid,' &c., which was truly verified in Saul, that
of a most bloody persecutor was made a zealous
preacher, Acts ix. ; according to that of our Saviour,
John vi. 37, 'All that the Father giveth me shall
come unto me.' Though none can come except the
Father cbaw, John vi. 44 ; yet when God draws
they run. Cant. i. 4. By which it is plain that they
gi'ossly err that hold God's sa\'ing work of grace
may be resisted by man's coiTuption : for who hath
resisted his wiU, that can raise uj> children unto
Abraham of very stones ? Rom. ix. 19; Mat. iii. 9.
Indeed, our Sa\'iour saith to the rebellious Jews,
Mat. xxiii. 37, 'How often would I have gathered
you as an hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, but you would not.' And St Stephen telleth
the rebellious Jews they had ever resisted the Holy
Ghost, Acts ^ii. 51. But they both speak of resist-
ance made to the outward ministry, not to the in-
ward powerful work of the Spirit.

For admonition, it sers-es profitably both to godly
ministers and people, not to desjjair of any man's
conversion, though never so refi-actory or rebellious
to God's ordinance, till they manifest their rejection
of God by committing the unpardonable sin, whereof
St John speaks, 1 John v. 16, for he can make a
Paul of Saul, and cause the Uon and the lamb to
hve together quietly.

This indeed ought to be their behaviour that wish
and wait for the means of grace, according to their
places, in instruction, exhortation, admonition, and
the like, as 2 Tim. ii. 24-26; in public, if they be
ministers, and in private, if they be private Chris-
tians : as Mat. x^-iii. 15, &c., 'If thy brother shall
trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault be-
tween thee and him alone ; if he shall hear thee,
thou hast gained thy brother,' &c. For private
Christians may be means of conversion : James v.

19, 20, 'Bretluen, if any of you do err from the
truth, and one convert him, let him know that he
wliich converteth the sinner from the error of his
way shall save a soul ft-om death, and shall hide
a multitude of sins.' Secondly, They must pray
earnestly to God for the work of his Spirit : 1 John
V. 16, 'If any man see his brother sin a sin which
is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give
liim life for them that sin not unto death.' From
unfeigned desire, as Paul did, Rom. x. 1, 'My
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that
they might be saved ; ' and chap. is. 2, 3, ' I have
great hea\nness and continual sorrow in my heart :
for I could wish that myself were accursed from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to
the flesh.' Consider David's beha\iour for the
natural life of his child : 2 Sam. xii. 16, ' David be-
sought God for the child, and Da-\-id fasted, and
went in and lay all night upon the earth.' And
shall not the spiritual life of the soul be esteemed
much more precious? Thirdly, They must walk
before them in the example of a godly life : as St
Peter exhorteth Chiistian ^vives to do before their
heathen husbands : 1 Pet. iii. 1-3, ' Ye wives, be in
subjection to your husbands, that if any obey not
the word, they also may, -(vithout the word, be won
by the conversation of the wives,' &c. This godly
life hath a gracious promise : Prov. xvi. 7, ' 'NATien a
man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his
enemies to be at peace with him.'

For comfort, this makes greatly to the godly in
the strongest opposition by maUcious enemies, let
them look up to God and consider what he can do,
either for the confusion or conversion of their
enemies. For confusion, see what hath been said
before, and add the consideration of God's deaHng
Avith the two captains, 2 Kings i. 10, 12 ; and for
Gideon against the Midianites, Judges vii. 22 ; and
for Jehoshaphat against the three kings of Moab,
Ammon, and Mount Seii-, 2 Chron. xx. 22, 23.
For conversion of enemies, God can do it either to
temporal outward kindness, as in Laban towards
Jacob, Gen. xxxi. 29 ; in Esau toward Jacob, chap,
xxxiii. 1,4; or to true sincere and unfeigned love,
as in Darius, Dan. vi., and in Saul, that was
afterward called Paul, towards the church, Acts
ix. 26.

166

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 5.

Ver. 5. And of Z ion it shall he said. This and that
man teas born in her, and the Highest himself shall es-
tablish her.

Here the psalmist iH'Oceeds in the confirmation of
that lie had said of the city of God m the thii'd verse,
that glorious things were spoken of her, namely,
that beside the conversion of many unto her, out of
foreign nations, which had fonnerly been her greatest
enemies, ver. 4, she should enjoy mthin herself a
double honour : fii'st, The calling and conversion of
many within her ; secondly. Confirmation and estab-
lishment from the Most High.

For the first, The calling and conversion of many
within her is thus exjjressed : ' Of Zion it shall be
said, This and that man was bom in her.' "Wliere
by birth (as hath been said, ver. 4,) we must under-
stand, not natural birth by corporal generation, but
spiritual biith in regeneration : and the phrase, ' this
and that man,' or ' man and man,' (as it is in the
Hebrew, and the Greeks do so render it,) may note
out every man, meaning that is converted, as the
like words are taken, Esth. i. 8 ; and so Paul saith,
' Jerusalem which is above is the mother of us all,'
Gal. iv. 26. Or in regard that the phrase, ' man and
man,' here used, is opposed to the like phrase in the
former verse, ' this man was born there ; ' it seems
likest that here he denoteth the conversion of more
in Zion than in other particular places.

Mark here then, that it is and shall be Zion's
glory and renown to have man and man born in her ;
that is, many men, of all sorts and conditions, born
of God, called and converted in her to the true faith ;
see Isa. hv. 1 , ' Sing, barren, thou that didst not
bear : break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou
that didst not travail ^vith chUd : for more are the
cliildren of the desolate than the children of the
married wfe, saith the Lord.' Which place is best
expounded by Gal. iv. 27. Sarah, long barren, and
her son, did prefigure Jerusalem from above, the
heavenly Jerusalem, mount Zion, Heb. sdi. 22.
Hagar and Ishraael prefigured the people of the Jews,
that clave to the covenant of works given in mount
Sinai, which gendereth unto bondage, see Gal. iv.
22, 20. This glorious thing foreshewed of God's
city received accompUshment partly in the apostle's
time, when even in Jerusalem more were converted
unto the faith at one or two sennons, than we read

of in any other place ; three thousand. Acts ii. 41 ;
five thousand, Acts iv. 4 ; ' Believers were the more
added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and wo-
men,' Acts V. 14.

But cliiefly it shall be accomplished in the second
calling of the Jews, when all Israel shall be saved,
Eom. si. 26.

The reason is plain : For multitude of converts is
a manifest evidence of God's special favour, in the
blessing of saving grace, which is the greatest re-
nown that can be ; as we may see by Christ's own
rejoicing in it, Heb. ii. 13, 'Behold I and the chil-
dren which God hath given me.'

In ancient time it was counted a great renown to
have many children, as Gen. xxx. 20, ' Leah said,
God hath endued me with a good do^vry ; now mil
my husband dwell ■n'ith me, because I have born
him six sons.' And of Obed-edom that he had
eight sons, because God blessed him, 1 Chron. -Kxvi.
5. How much more then is it an honour to bring
forth children unto God !

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instraction, see here what is the true reno'OTi
of any kingdom, county, city, parish, or family,
namely, to have man and man born of God there ;
that is, many people effectually called and converted
unto God; as Acts xix. 10.

There be many things that will commend men in
the world, as honour, wealth, beauty, power, &c. ;
but none of these, nor all of them, without an holy
calling, will commend men unto God.

For admonition, it serves effectually, both to
ministers and to people, that they give all diligence
in God's means for the attaining of this estate.
Ministers must endeavour both for themselves and
others, and for this end must receive into their o^vn
hearts, and dispense to others, the pure word of God,
which is the immortal seed of this new birth, as it is
called, James i. 18; 1 Pet. i. 23, 25. For their
diligence in faithful dispensation, see 2 Tim. iv. 1 ;
1 Cor. ix. 10, and iv. 2. And because all their en-
deavour without God's blessing is nothing, therefore
they must pray instantly and earnestly for the bless-
ing of the Spirit to sanctify the word, as St Paul
doth, Eph. iii. 14, &c., 'For tliis cause I bow my
knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is

Ver. 5.]

riERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

167

named, that he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glorj^ to be strengthened -svith might
bj' his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled
with all the fulness of God.' And that they may
have better title to audience, they must endeavour
to walk before God uprightly and honestly ; ' For
God heareth not sinners : but if any man be a wor-
shipper of God, and doeth his vnW, him he heareth,'
John ix. 31.

And the people, seeing the benefit is theirs, must
conscionably exercise themselves in the saiiie Chris-
tian duties — \'iz., hearing the word, prajdng unto
God, and a godly living. For the word it is the
seed, therefore receive it both morning and evening.
Consider what Solomon saith, Eccles. xi. 6, ' In the
morning sow thy seed, in the evening -nathhold not
thine hand : for thou knowest not whether shall
prosper, either this or that, or whether they both
shall be aUke good.' And seeing the blessing is in
the hand of God, not in the means, as Eom. ix. 16,
' It is not of him that -willeth, or of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy; ' and John i. 11-13,
' He came unto his own, and his own received him
not : but as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believed on his name ; which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the ■will of
man, but of God ;' therefore must thej^ be instant in
prayer, and careful of godly beha\"iour, that their
prayers may be more available with God, as James v.
16, ' The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much.'

The second thing in this verse, shewing the glo-
rious state of the church foreshewed by Da^'id, is
this, ' The Highest himself shall stablish her;' which is
a great prerogative, for the church of God hath
many and mighty enemies, the denl liimself, and all
his instruments, who are all wicked spirits and all
wicked men ; yet this is sufficient ground of com-
fort, that the tine God, who is Lord of the church,
is above them all, and can restrain or confound them
all when he will, and can establish his church

and children in the state of grace unto all et.er.
nity.

In this prerogative note two things : first. The
title whereby God is styled ; secondly, The work he
undertakes for the good of his church.

The title is. The Highest, or Most High ; where
tlais is plain —

The true God is the highest above all : Ps. xc^ai.
9, ' Thou, Lord, art high above all the earth : thou
art exalted far above all gods;' Gen. xiv. 19, 22,
'Blessed be Abraham of the most high God, pos-
sessor of heaven and earth.'

The reason is plain. The true God is infinite
in power and majesty, and others besides him, in
heaven and earth, are finite and under him : ' Great
is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his gi-eat-
ness is unsearchable,' Ps. cxlv. 3 ; ' Angels, and
authorities, and powers are subject unto him,' 1 Pet.
iii. 22.

This serves for instniction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction, that we choose the Most High for
our God, and labour to know and acknowledge him,
as 1 Cliron. xxviii. 9, ' And thou Solomon, my son,
know thou the God of thy fathers, and serv^e him
with a perfect heart, and \vith a -willing mind ;' and
give him our hearts in love, fear, joy, and confidence ;
as Prov. xxiii. 26, 'So shall we be free from the fear
of e-v-il ; ' as Ps. xci. 1, 2, 9, 10, 1 4, 'He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty,' &c. ' Because he hath
set his love upon me, therefore vidll I deliver him :
I -svill set him on high, because he hath kno^vn my
name.'

For admonition, that we make this sovereignty
in God, above all others, to be the ground of in-
ward fear, and outward obedience to the true God :
see Luke xii. 4, 5, ' Be not afraid of them that kiU
the body, and after that have no more that they
can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall
fear: Fear liim, which, after he hath killed, hath
power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you. Fear
him.' And add 1 Pet. iii. 22, 'Who is gone into
heaven, and is on the right hand of God ; angels
and authorities and powers being made subject unto
him.'

For comfort, it makes greatly to the godly against

168

PIEBSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Vee. 6.

all oppositions from tlie gTeat ones of the -world.
For the Most High is their God, and for them :
whereupon they may say, as Ps. cxviii. 6, 'The
Lord is on my side ; I will not fear : what can man
do unto me ? ' yea, as Ps. iii. 6, ' I will not be afraid
of ten thousands of people, that have set them-
selves against me round about.' Consider what
the prophet Jeremiah saith : chap. xx. 11, 'The
Lord is -vvith me as a mighty temble one : there-
fore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall
not prevail : they shall be gi-eatly ashamed ; for
they shall not prosper : their everlasting confusion
shall never be forgotten.' Also Dan. iii. 16-18,
'Sliadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and
said unto the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answer thee in tliis matter. If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and he mil deliver us out
of thine hand, king,' &c.

The second thing to be noted here is, the gracious
work which God undertakes for his church ; he him-
self will estabh.sh her.

The true God will confirm and establish his
church, and every true member of it, in their good
and comfortable estate, against all opposition by
their mightiest enemies : see Ps. xlvi. 1-4, ' God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the
earth be removed, &c. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God.'

Tills river is the Lord himself, Isa. xxxiii. 21, 22,
' The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad
rivers and streams ; wherein shall go no galley with
oars, neither shall gallant ships pass thereby. For
the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the
Lord is our king ; he will save us.' ' God is in the
midst of her ; she shall not be moved. God shall
help her, and that right early,' Ps. xlvi. 5. ' God
is known in her palaces for a refuge,' Ps. xlviii. 3.

The reason is, for that God's church is his, by
a more near and peculiar title than any other
people in the world — as, namely, by election, 1 Pet.
i. 2 ; redemption, Titus ii. 14; sanctification by
the Spirit, 2 Thes. ii. 13, 14; and by special
covenant of grace, Ps. 1. 5 ; called a covenant of
salt, for the perpetuity of it, 2 Chron. xiii. 5 ;
from which God vriW never turn away; as Jer.

xxxii. 39, 40, 42, ' I mil give them one heart, and
one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the
good of them, and of their cliildren after them. And
I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that
I ■will not turn away from them, to do them good ;
but I mU put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them
to do them good, and I will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and -ivitli my whole
soul.'

This serves for instruction and for admonition.

For instruction, see that the church of God, and
every true member of it, is more blessed and happy
than the state and condition of any other people ;
for the Most High wiU stabhsh them : who then
can weaken or overthrow their comfortable state?
' If God be for us, who can be against us 1 ' Rom.
viii. 31. 'The stej)s of a good man are ordered by
the Lord : and he dehghteth in his way. Though he
fall, he shall not be utterly cast down ; for the Lord
upholdetli him with his hand,' Ps. xxxvii. 23, 24 ;
well therefore may it be said of them, as Ps. cxliv.
15, 'Hapj)y is that people that is in such a case;
yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.'

More particularly, this is a sure ground of per-
severance to every trae cliild of God in the state of
grace, for they are true members of that church which
God liimself wiU stablish.

For admonition, this must stir up every one effec-
tually to labour to be truly born again in God's
church; 'For the devil goes about like a roaring
lion, seeldng whom he may devour,' 1 Pet. v. 8.
And only they that be truly regenerate shall be able
to wtlistand his assaults ; for they only have the Lord
with them, and for them. Now true regeneration
contains a total change both in mind, heart, and Ufe,
and is indeed the work of God, by his Spirit ; yet in
the means, the word, and prayer, wherein we must
exercise ourselves in a holy manner, and beware we
do not quench the Spirit, or cool any good motion
begun thereby.

Ver. 6. TIic Lard shall count, when he writeth itp the
people, that this man was bai'n there. Selah.

Tliis verse setteth out another gi-eat privilege of
Sion, God's true church, in regard of the honour
and happiness of every true member of it ; namely,

Ver. 6.

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXSVIT.

169

tliat -tt-hen God writeth down the names of the people
that belong unto him, he doth count and reckon
tliose for his that be born again in the church.

For the better understanding whereof we must
know that the prophet doth here speak of God after-
the manner of great personages, who use to write
and eni-ol in a book the names of those that they
accept and receive into their houses and families, as
members thereof, to any place of service ; for which
see Gen. xl. 20 ; Pharaoh, on his birthday, making a
feast unto all his servants, lifted up the head of
his chief butler and of his cliief baker among liis
sen'ants, that is, taking a view of all his servants,
according to their names wi-itten in liis book — as
the same phrase is used. Num. xxxi. 49, there
translated, ' taking the sum,' which in Genesis is
rendered, ' lifting up the head ' — he reckoned liis
liutler and cliief baker among his servants. In
like manner the Scripture calleth the church the
house of the U\'ing God, 1 Tim. i. 1 5 ; and for our
better conceiving of his certain and perfect know-
ledge, and remembrance, both of all things that ever
were, are, or shall be in the world, and also of all
those persons that in a special manner belong unto
him as true members of his church on earth, whom
he means to glorify in heaven, doth tell us of certain
books which God hath, even three in number, which
we may not unfitly thus distinguish by name. First,
The book of his eternal prescience, Ps. cxxxix. 16,
' Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being un-
perfect ; and in thy book all my members are
^ratten, which in continuance were fashioned, when
as yet there was none of them.' This is nothing
else but Ins perfect eternal foresight of all things
liefore they were, whereby he loiew them as per-
fectly as if they had been actually written in a
book.

The second is the book of his actual proAadence,
whereby he doth most perfectly take actual know-
ledge of, and remember all things whatsoever, even
every thought, word, and deed of every man. Hereof
see Ps. cxxxix. 1-3, ' Lord, thou hast searched
me, and known me ; thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine up-iising, thou understandeth my thoughts
afar off,' &c. ; and Ps. Ivi. 8, ' Thou tellest my wan-
derings : put thou my tears into thy bottle : are they
not in thy book ? ' And according to this he will

judge the world, Kev. xx. 12, 'I saw the dead, both
small and great, stand before God ; and the books
were opened : and another book was opened, wliich
is the book of life : and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.'

The third is the book of Ufe, which is God's
eternal purpose, for the saving of his elect by Christ,
actually declared by their effectual calling, or re-
generation, by the Holy Ghost, in this Hfe, in which
estate they are reserved and kept for glory.

This book may be said to be twice written in :
first, From all eternity in God's piu'pose, whereof
see Rev. xiii. 8, ' Whose names are not written in the
book of Ufe of the lamb, slain from the foundation
of the world.' Secondly, Actually in God's work of
effectual calling or regeneration, in the time of
natural life, which is termed ' God's calling accord-
ing to purpose,' Rom. viii. 28. And indeed, of this
latter writing in the book of life, by regeneration or
effectual callmg, is this place to be understood. As
if he should have said. That the church hath great
honour, and the true members of it great happiness,
is hereby apparent, that when God writes up the
people actually in the book of life that be his, he
reckons those for his that be regenerate and born
again in his church.

In the words thus understood note two things :
fir.st, God's work of sjiecial mercy to the true mem-
bers of the church. Secondly, The quality and con-
dition of those persons to whom the foresaid work
of mercy is certainly vouchsafed.

For the first, God's sjiecial work of mercy to the
true members of the church is this, he actually
writes their names in the book of Ufe, and then
reckons and accounts them to be his own. This is
plainly shewed in his golden chain, Rom. -vdii. 29, 30,
' A\niom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, tliat he
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also
called ; and whom he called, them he also justified ;
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.'

Upon this effectual calling he bids his disciples
rejoice that their names were written in heaven,
Luke X. 20 ; and upon the good efl'ects and signs of
effectual calling, he'saith of certain teachers that

170

PIEESON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 6.

were zealous of God's glory in the cliurch of
Philippi, that their names were in the book of life,
Phil. iv. iii.

The reason hereof may be two ways considered.
First, Of the fact itself, in God writing men's
names in the book of life ; and that is only God's
good pleasure. ' According as he hath chosen lis in
him, before the beginning of the world, that we
should be holy, and without blame, before him in
love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children, by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will,' Eph. i. 4, 5. 'I
thank thee Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast revealed them unto babes ; even
so. Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight,' Mat.
xi. 25, 26.

Secondly, Of this manner of expressing God's
special favour, in effectual calling ; saying, it is
his writing their names in the book of life. For thus
he speaketh; partly for his oivn sake, to manifest
the stableness of his counsel and purpose for their
salvation ; for in God's divine wisdom and good
pleasure, it is as sure and firm as if their names were
really written in a book ; partly also, for the true
peace and comfort of those that be truly and effect-
ually called, that they may not doubt of their happy
estate, but in and by this strong consolation of
God's writing their names in the book of life, en-
courage their hearts to perseverance against all
oppositions from the world, the flesh, and the devil,
as Eom. viii. 33, 35, 38, 39, ' Wlio shall lay any-
thing to the charge of God's elect 'i ' &c.

This serves for instruction, and for admonition.

For instruction, see here that the state of the true
members of God's church is for God's special
favour and life eternal, most stable and firm ; for
God hath written their names amongst his people
in the book of life, and accounts them for his own.
Now them that be thus his own he loves to the end,
John xiii. 1. The gifts of grace in this calling are
without repentance, Rom. xi. 29. This their estate
hath a sure foundation, he knoweth them to be his,
2 Tim. ii. 19. This is to be marked, to arm our-
selves against the uncomfortable doctrine of papists
and Anuinians, that teach the true saints of God
may fall from grace.

For admonition, to give all dihgence unto the as-

surance of this estate for ourselves, which is St Peter's
counsel, 2 Pet. i. 5-7, 10, 11, where also he shews
the way, by adding grace to grace, and expressing
the truth thereof in obedience : ' Giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue ; and to \irtue knowledge,
&c. And give diligence to make your calhng and
election sure ; for if ye do these things, ye shall
never fall,' &c.

The second point to be noted is, the quality and
condition of those parties whom God writes with his
people in the book of hfe, and so reckons for his own.
They are 'born there' — that is, born again by regener-
ation in the true church : see 1 Pet. i. 3, 4, ' Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Clirist,
which according to his abundant mercy hath be-
gotten us again unto a lively hope by the resun'ec-
tion of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you ;' and James i. 18,
' Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his crea-
tures.'

The reason is plain ; for by effectual calling, which
is actually writing in the book of life, men are
brought into spiritual society and fellowship with
God in Christ, 1 Cor. i. 9, which necessarily requires
regeneration. For the state of man in corrupt
nature is darkness under the power of Satan, which
can have no society with God, as 2 Cor. vi. 14, 16 ;
1 John i. 6. Therefore it is said, they that are
brought to the state of sons by faith are born again,
Johni. 12, 13; 1 John v. 1.

This serves for mstruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instruction two waj-s : first, That man's par-
ticular state in soul, for fruition of God's saving love,
and favour in Christ, maj- be kno\\-n by ordinary
grace, wthout extraordinary revelation. For who-
soever is born again, is in that estate, his name is
actually written in the book of life, as this text im-
plies. Now, the .state of this new birth may be
known by faith, 1 John v. 1, with 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

Secondly, See here the great necessity of the faith-
ful dispensation of the word in the preaching of it
unto man's true happiness ; for without regeneration
there is no salvation, John iii. 3, 5, 'Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the Idnedom of God.'

Ver. 7.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

171

And tlie word preached is the means in which God
works, as before, James i. 18; 1 Pet. i. 23, 25.
Consider, that though God can convert without
preaching, by his absohite power, yet he is pleased
to work by this means. ' For after that in the ms-
dom of God the world by -n-isdom Imew not God, it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believed,' 1 Cor. i. 21 ; as in the eunuch,
Acts viii. 27, &c., and in Cornelius, Acts x. 1, &c.

For admonition, this must stir up every one to
give all tUligence to get into the state of regenera-
tion. It is indeed God's work, but ordinarily by his
Spirit, in the ministry of the word, — both the law,
to break up the fallow-gi-ound, and the gospel, to
cast in the seed of grace, as before, 1 Pet. i. 23, 2-5.
^^ e must therefore exercise ourselves in this word,
and pray for the word of the Spirit, and so to use
these ordinances, that we may have title to the work
and blessing of the Spirit.

In which holy endeavour, breaking off the course
of sin, and hungering and tliirsting after grace, we
must continue, till we find ourselves renewed, and
ourselves born again.

For comfort, to those that find and feel this
blessed work of the new birth ; for blessed are they.
This work shews their names are written in heaven,
and they are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation. Let us look well, therefore,
unto both parts of it, as well in the mortification of
corruption, as in the repair and renewing of God's
image, and then we cannot want the comfort of as-
surance, to have our names written in the book of
life.

Ver. 7. As well Ihe singers as the players on instru-
ments shall he there : all my springs are in thee.

In these words the prophet concludes the psalm
with two most comfortable privileges and preroga-
tives of the church : first. That it is the only place
for true delight and pleasure ; secondly. That it is
the well-head of all heavenly and spiritual bless-
ings.

The first he expresseth in a meton}Tny of the
efficient, naming singers and players on instruments,
which were special agents in the cheerful praising of
God, under Da^•id and Solomon, and in the succeed-
ing times of legal sennce : a.s we may see for David's

time, 1 Chron. ix. 33, and xxv. 1-3, which vocal
music did prefigure the joy of the Holy Ghost under
the gospel, and so sheweth plainly,

That the church of God under the gospel, for the
true members of it, is the only place for tnie
spiritual joy and rejoicing for evermore. So it is
prophesied: Isa. xxxv. 10, 'The ransomed of the
Lord shall return, and come to Zion, with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away.' ' And they shall call thee, The city of the
Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas
thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man
went through thee, I will make thee an eternal
excellency, a joy of many generations. The Lord
shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy
mourning shall be ended,' chap. be. 14, 15, 20.
' For your shame ye shall have double ; and for con-
fusion they shall rejoice in their portion : therefore
in their land they shall possess the double : everlast-
ing joy shall be unto them,' chap. Ixi. 7. See it
assured by Christ himself: John xvi. 20, 22, 'Ye
shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned
into joy, your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no
man taketh from you.' And verified in Christians :
Acts ii. 46, 47, ' They continuing daily with one ac-
cord in the temple, and breaking bread from house
to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart, praising God, and ha^■ing favour
with aU the peoj)le;' chap. v. 41, ' They departed
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.'
As 1 Pet. i. 8, ' Believing, ye rejoice -with joy un-
speakable, and full of glory;' 1 Thes. \. 16, 'Re-
joice evermore.' And ' rejoice in the Lord always ;
again, I say, rejoice,' Phil. iv. 4.

The true ground hereof is from the incomparable
blessings of the covenant, vouchsafed to the true
members of his church.

For, first. In Christ Jesus God himself doth be-
troth them unto him, yea, marry them, and become
their most dear and lo^'ing husband, as Hosea ii.
19, 20; Isa. liv. 5. Now times of espou.sal are
times of rejoicing : ' Let us be glad, and rejoice, and
give honour to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is
come,' Rev. xix. 7 ; ' With gladness and rejoicing
shall they be brought ; they shall enter into the

172

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

[Ver. 7.

king's palace,' Ps. xlv. 15; ' We will be glad and
rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more
than wine,' saith the church to Clmst, Cant. i. 4.

Secondly, He doth fit them for his near spiiitual
society, by giving his own Son to be their Saviour
and Redeemer, washing away their sins in his
blood : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' He is made unto us of God
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp-
tion ; ' Eph. V. 25, 26, ' Clmst gave himself for his
church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, and
make it to himself a glorious church,' &c. Now
the remembrance hereof is matter of exceeding great
joy, Luke ii. 10. Therefore the blessed Virgin
Mary saith, ' My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spiiit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,'
Luke i. 46, 47.

Thirdly, He bestoweth on them his Holy Spuit,
John xiv. 16, 17, for 'whosoever hath not the
Spirit of God is none of Ids,' Rom. iii. 9. Now this
Spirit is the fountain of joy, and thereupon is called
the Comforter, the graces whereof he doth plentifully
bestow upon them, and therein gives them cause of
everlasting joj'.

Fourthly, God sendeth and continueth unto them
his blessed word, the gospel of peace, and the word
of their reconcihation vnth God, and of salvation to
their souls ; whereof the psalmist saith, ' Blessed are
the people that know the joyful sound,' Ps. Ixxxix.
15 ; and the apostle Paul, out of the prophet Isaiah,
' How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things!' Rom. x. 15. Solomon saith, 'Light is a
pleasant thing,' Eccles. xi. 7 ; now the gospel
preached is a spiritual light, that shineth unto those
that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
even to guide their feet in the way of peace, than
which nothing can be more pleasant and joyful ; see
Mat. iv. 16 J Luke i. 77, 79.

Fifthly, God's special provddence is over his
church, not only to preserve them from evil, both
corporal and spiritual, which their enemies would
bring upon them, but also to enrich them with all
needful comforts and blessings, both temporal and
spiritual. ' In that day sing ye unto her, A vine-
yard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it ; I water
it every moment : lest any hurt it, I will keep it
night and day,' Isa. xxvii. 2, 3. This is that

Keeper of Israel who doth neither slumber nor
sleep, who keepcth his church from all evil. ' The
sun shaU not smite her by day, nor the moon by
night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all
evil : he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in from
this time forth, even for evermore,' Ps. cxxi. 3,
&c.

This serves for instruction, and for admonition.

For instruction, it sheweth plainly that natural
men are fearfully blinded by the god of this world,
for they live in the church among the godly, yet
they do not conceive of nor discern their happy
estate ; as St John saith, ' The world knoweth us
not,' 1 John iii. 1. They think the estate of a
Chsistian to be very forlorn and miserable, void of
all content and comfort ; therefore do they debase
them in their esteem, accounting them the filth of
the world, and the offscouring of all things, 1 Cor.
iv. 13. They reproach and revile them with most
base and odious terms: as 2 Kings ix. 11, 'What
did this mad fellow with thee?' Acts xxiv. 5,
' We have found this man a pestilent feUow.' And
Festus saith, ' Paul, thou art beside thyself ; much
learning doth make thee mad,' Acts xxvi. 24. Yea,
Christ's own friends judged so of him, Mark iii. 21 ;
and the Jews said, ' He hath a de\il, and is mad ;
why hear ye him 1 ' John x. 20. ' Now if they do
this to the green tree, what will they do to the
dry?' Luke xxiii. 31. 'But wisdom is justified of
her childi-en,' Mat. xi. 19. As the things that are
magnified in the world are abomination with God,
Luke xvi. 15, — see it m the lukewarmness of the
Laodiceans, Rev. iii. 16, 17, 19; — so the things that
are magnified with the Lord are abominable to the
world : as, to live godly, making conscience of all
sin and of every good duty, and being zealous of
God's glory. "Whereby we may see that the veil of
ignorance hangs over their eyes ; they can no better
discern the happy state of the godly, than a blind
man can judge of colours.

For admonition, this sen'es notably to move every
one to be as careful to become a true member of the
church, as he is desh'ous of true and lasting joy.
The way is shewed, 1 Pet. ii. 4, 6, in so yielding to
God's means of a holy calling that we forsake our
sinful ways, as Isa. Iv. 7, do come to Christ by faith.

Veu. 7.]

PIERSON ON rSALM LXXXVII.

173

and as living stones be builJcd on liim, the tried
corner-stone, to become a spiritual house. Wliich
estate we must testify by the projjerties of the
godly, who be true citizens of Zion, set down parti-
cularly, Ps. XV., and xxiv. 3, 4. And so we shall
find that 'a day in God's courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere,' Ps. Ixxxiv. 10. Better to be a
doorkeeper here than a commander elsewhere, for
here is the trae Comforter, and nowhere else : ' The
world cannot receive him,' John xiv. 17.

Object. This seems to be otherwise by a doulile
affliction that doth follow the church and the true
members of it : one from the world, in persecution, as
Christ foretold, John xvi. 33 ; the other from the
Lord, in teiTor of soul and sorrow for sins, as Job iii.
2-4, 26, * "Wh'erefore hidest thou thy face, and boldest
me for thine enemy % For thou writest bitter things
against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities
of my youth.' And Ps. xxx\Tii. 3, 4, ' There is no
soundness in my flesh because of thine anger;
neither is there any rest in my bones because of my
sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head :
as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.'

Ans. The first affliction from men hindereth not
the fruition of this spiritual joy, as Acts v. 41,
' They went away from the council, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for jiis
name.' ' Ye rejoice in the fiiifli, though for a time
ye be in heaviness through manifold temptations,'
1 Pet. i. 6. Whereupon St James bids them count
it ' exceeding great joy when they fall into sundry
temptations,' James i. 2. And our Saviour Christ
bids the godly ' rejoice and be exceeding glad when
they are persecuted and re%iled for righteousness'
sake,' Mat. v. 10-12. And the second affliction,
from the hand of God, in terror of soul, is but a
temporary bitter prei^arative unto everlasting joy.
The Lord for their true and thorough humiliation
doth \isit upon them the days of Baalim, but after-
ward he will betroth them to himself, as Hosca ii. 13,
1 4, 1 8, 1 9. ' Though they sow in tears, they shall reap
in joy,' &c., Ps. cxx\t. 5, 6. Thus are they chastened
of the Lord, that they might not be condemned ^rith
the world, 1 Cor. xi. 32. Say therefore with the
church, ' I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
because I have sinned against him, until he plead
my cause, and execute judgment for me : he will

bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his
righteousness,' Micah vii. 9.

All mij sprincjs arc in thee. The last prerogative
of the church, that in it be all the well-springs and
fountains of all God's spiritual and heavenly bless-
mgs. Springs, we know, are such places whence
water doth flow out of the earth constantly and
continually, for the refreshing of man and beast ; and
by fit resemblance the Lord would have us to con-
ceive that in his church he doth provide plenty and
store of all spiritual and heavenly blessmgs.

This will more plainly ajipear if we consider what
spii-itual fountains ancl springs of blessings be in the
true church, and nowhere else.

The first and chief well-spring of all blessings is
the true God, who is therefore called the fountain of
living waters, Jer. ii. 23. And according to the
tlu-eefold use of water-springs to the sons of men,
may we well conceive the true God to be the foun-
tain of blessings to his church.

First, Water-sjJrings serve for washing, cleansing,
and purifying. So God in Christ Jesus doth ' open
a fountain to the house of David and to the inhabit-
ants of Jerusalem (which is his true church) for sin
and for uncleauness,' Zee. xiii. 1. 'The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,' 1 John i. 7.

Secondly, Water-springs serve to make fruitful
both herbs and plants that grow thereby. So God
in Christ, by his Spirit, maketh the hearts and souls
of his children fruitful in gi'ace : ' I mil pour water
upon him that is thmsty, and floods upon the dry
ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and
my blessing upon thine offspring : and they shall
spring up as among the grass, as willows by the
watercourses,' Isa. xliv. 3, 4.

Thirdly, Springs of water are very comfortable,
and jdeld great refreshing both to man and beast,
especially in hot countries and time of drought ; see
Gen. xxi. 15, 19; Judges xv. 18, 19; Ps. civ. 10-
12. So God in Christ, by his Spirit, which is the
Comforter, becomes the everlasting fountain of spiri-
tual refreshing to the hearts and souls of all his
children : ' God, my God ; early will I seek thee :
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee
in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. Be-
cause thy loving-kindness is better than hfe, my
lips shall praise thee,' Ps. Ixiii. 1, 3. ' If any man

174

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

Ver. 7.

thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that
believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of Uving water. This
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on
liim should receive,' John vii. 37-39. 'Whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life,' John vi. li.

The second spring of blessings in the church is the
evangelical ministry, even the gospel preached and
sacraments administered, sanctified by prayer for
the blessing of the Spirit. Hereof the Lord saith,
' A fountain shall come forth out of the house of
the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim,'
Joel iii. 18. And to the same end serves the vision
of waters coming from under the door-threshold of
the sanctuary, Ezek. xlvii. 1, &c., both which may be
well expounded by Isa. ii. 3, ' For out of Sion shall go
forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jeru-
salem.' Now this derived well-spring of the evan-
geUcal ministry serveth instrumentally in the churchy

First, For washing and cleansing the soul from the
filth of sin. Therefore hath God ordained baptism
to represent our spiritual washing in Christ's blood
by the Holy Ghost ; whereof also, with the word, it
becomes a gracious instrument, when this free Spirit
pleaseth, John iii. 8, ' The wind bloweth where it
listeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.'
' Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the wash-
ing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,'
Titus iii. 5, ' That he might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the word.'

Secondly, For maldng the heart fruitful in grace.
Therefore is the gospel called the work of his grace,
Acts XX. 32 ; and is said to bring forth fruit, Col. i. 6.

Thirdly, For ministering spiritual joy and refresh-
ing to the soul. Therefore is the whole evangelical
ministry called the ministry of the Spirit, which is
the Comforter, 2 Cor. iii. 8 ; because it worketh
therewith, 1 Cor. iii. 5, and is given therein, Gal.
iii. 2. And we through patience and comfort of the
Scripture have hope, Rom. xv. i. God's words to
Jeremiah were the joy and rejoicing of his heart, Jer.
XV. 16. David rejoiced therein as one that findeth
a great spoil. And the Lord's supper is the seal of

our redemption and salvation in Christ, the tidings
whereof is exceeding great joy, Luke ii. 10.

Now aU these fountains are in the church, and no-
where else. The world is without the true God by
covenant of grace, Eph. ii. 12, and so hath nothing
but dry pits and cisterns that hold no water, as Jer.
ii. 13. And the evangelical ministry is not out of
the church, for when it comes among the heathen it
is God's merciful visitation to take out of them a
people for his name. Acts xv. 14 : see Ps. cxlvii. 19,
20, ' He sheweth his word unto Jacob, liis statutes
and his judgments unto Israel : he hath not dealt so
with any nation, and as for his judgments they have
not kno-nii them.'

The reason hereof is God's own good pleasure, as
of mere grace and favour, choosing them i\i Christ and
accepting them into covenant, so vouchsafing the
participation of these spiritual springs and fountains
of heavenly blessings unto them, that hereby they
may be fitted for society and fellowship with him,
and become such as he may take delight and pleasure
in : see Ezek. x\"i. 8, ' AVhen I passed by thee, and
looked upon thee, behold thy time was the time of
love, and I sjjread my skirt over thee and covered
thy nakedness : yea, I sware unto thee and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and
thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee ^Yith
water,' &c. ; ' If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in
me,' John xiii. 8.

Tliis serves for instruction, admonition, and com-
fort.

For instniction two ways : first, Hence T\'ill plainly
follow that out of the church there is no salvation,
for these springs are the wells of salvation, Isa. xii.
3 ; and the text saith they are all in the church,
which is plain by induction. They that are out of
the church are 'without Christ and without God in
the world,' Eph. ii. 12. And with him only in Christ
is the well of Hfe, Ps. xxxvi. 9. ' He that hath not .
the Son hath not life,' 1 John v. 12. And wanting
Christ, they cannot have the Spirit, John xiv. 1 7; and
so cannot be sanctified nor saved.

Secondly, See here the surpassing excellency and
happiness of the church above all other states of
people in the world. The church is as the garden
of Eden, wherein is a pure river of the water of life,
and the tree of life, Rev. xxii. 1,2; whereas the

Ver. 7.]

PIERSON ON PSALM LXXXVII.

175

rest of tlie world is as a barren wilderness, Jer. xvii.
6, 8. The church is like the heritage of Jacob,
blessed of God ; and the rest of the world like the
mountains of Esau, which God hath cursed, Mai.
i. 2-4. The church is the father's house, where
every servant hath meat enough ; the rest of the
world is like the citizen's fields, where husks with
hogs are the best pro\-ision, Luke xv. IG, 17. The
true church is like the land of Canaan, flowing vdih
milk and honey, that drinketh water of the rain of
heaven, — a land which the Lord himself careth for
— the eyes of the Lord are always upon it ; the rest
of the world is as the land of Eg}i5t, which men
water -vrith their feet, Deut. xi. 10-12.

For admonition, it serves two ways : first, To
natural men, to stir them up to consider seriously
of these privileges of the church, to have all God's
springs in her, that so they may be affected towards
her, as David was, Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2, ' How amiable
are thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts ! My soul
longetli, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord : my heart and my flesh crieth out for the
living God.' Ps. xlii. 1, 2, 'As the hart panteth
after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after
thee, God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the
living God : when shall I come and appear before
God?' Ps. Ixiii. 1, '0 God, thou art my God;
early wiU I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee,
my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty laud,
where no water is.' Ps. cxxii. 1, ' I was glad when
they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
Lord.' Yea, of Samson's mind, Judges xv. 18, 19,
crjing out after these springs, as for the means of
spiritual and eternal life.

Secondl}% To all that profess themselves to be
members of the church, that they labour to give
evidence of their participation of these springs of
God in his church, which they shall do three ways.

First, By the abolishing of corruption in regard
of dominion ; being purged from sin and from un-
cleanness by the blood of Christ ; as the Corinthians
were after their effectual calling, 1 Cor. vi. 11, 'Such
were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Secondly, Bj' becoming fruitful in grace and plen-
tiful in good works, by the blessing of the Spirit

sanctifying the ministry of the word, as St Paul
testifieth of the churches, 1 Cor. i. 5, 7, ' In every-
thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and
in all knowledge: so that ye come behind in no gift;
PhU. i. 11, 'Being filled with the fruits of righteous-
ness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and
praise of God.' Col. i. 6, 10, 'Which (speaking of
the gospel) is come unto you, as it is in all the
world ; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in
you ; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto
all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and in-
creasing in the knowledge of God.' And as the Lord
foreshewed in the \ision of wateis, Ezek. xlvii.l, &c.

Thu-dly, By joyful and cheerful going on in their
holy profession ; as the apostle commandeth, Phil.
iv. 4, ' Rejoice in the Lord alway : and again I say,
Rejoice.' 'For we are the cu'cumcision, which wor-
shi]) God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,'
chap. iii. 3.

For comfort, this makes greatly to the true mem-
bers of the church in the sorest distresses that can
befall them.

First, Doth the sense of corruption and guilt of
transgression make thee ugly in thine own sight?
Go to the cleansing fountain and sjiring of Christ's
blood, and with the hand of faith wash and cleanse
thy sinful soul, and pray the Lord to wash thee
thoroughly, as David did, Ps. li. 2 ; wherewith if
thou join upright endeavour after reformation in
practice, thou mayest rest assured that the blood of
Jesus Chi'ist shall cleanse thee from all thy sins,
1 John i. 7, 9.

Secondly, Doth the barrenness of thine heart in
the want of grace make thee afraid ? Then get thee
to the sanctifying fountain of God's Holy Spirit,
which is the Spirit of grace ; beg of C^od the good
fruits of this Spirit in love, joj^, peace, long-sufiFering,
faith, &c. Remember who made Aaron's rod to
bud. Num. xvii. 5, 8, and who can raise up chUdren
unto Abraham of stones, as Mat. iii. 9 ; to whom all
things are possible, chap. xix. 36, and nothing is- too
hard, Jer. xxxii. 27.

Lastly, Doth heaviness and deadness of heart op-
press thee ? Then get thee to the Comforter, even
to God in Christ by his Hoi}' Spirit, who is the God
of hope, that can fill thee with all joy in believing,
Rom. XV. 13.

THE

SAINT S' SACRIFICE:

A COMMENTARY ON PSALM CXVI.

A GRATULATORY PSALM, FOR DELIVERANCE FROM DEADLY DISTRESS.

BY WILLIAM GOUGE, D.D.

EDINBURGH: JAMES NICHOL.
LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO. DUBLIN: G. HERBERT.

M.DCCC.LXVIII.

[FOR MEMOIR OF DR GOUGE, SEE HIS COMMENTARY ON THE
EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, VOL. I.— Ed.]

TO THE EIGHT HONOURABLE

ROBERT, LORD RICH,

BARON OF LEEZ AND EARL OF WARWICK.

QIK, — The last year, -when the heavy hand of the
'^ righteous Lord lay uijon this land and other
parts of the Cluistian world, manifested by the three
aiTows of his anger, plague, famine, and sword, just
cause was given to inquire after such means as might
cure the wounds that were made by them, and move
the Lord to withhold his hand from shooting abroad
any more of them.

Upon inquuy there v.'as found in God's word (the
treasury wherein all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are liidi) fit remedies for all those maladies.

There we find, Num. xvi. 45, &c., that Moses and
Aaron applied such a plaster for the plague as healed
that disease; and that David (2 Sam. xxi. 1) took
such a course for remo\ing a famine as did the deed ;
and that the Said Moses and Joshua (Exod. xvii. 8,
&c.) in such a manner resisted an iflfesting enemy,
as they became concjuerors.

All these means have been set out in several
treatises. Whether they were well used, and whether
upon the right use of them the foresaid judgments
liave been removed or no, he that knoweth the
grounds and reasons of all things that fall out best
knoweth.

But certain it is that the three mentioned arrows
have either been withheld and put up into the Lord's

' Thesaurus iste in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et
scientiffi absconditi, est Scriptura. — Jerome, Comment, in Mai.
xiii. 1, 2.

cpiiver, or else shot out against the enemies of God'3
church.

Our land is healed of the pestilence:

Fat kine of plenty have devoured the lean kiue of
famine.

The professors of the reformed religion in France
have peace and rest.

Most seasonable succour is afforded to the op-
j)ressed churches in Germany. They that first took
up the sword have perished by the sword.

Tlius ' the Lord hath turned our mourning into
dancing, and put off our sackcloth, and girded us
with gladness : to the end that our glory may sing
praise to him, and not be silent.'

What Christian heart is not affected herewith 1

All that know your honour know how you stand
affected to God's church; You count it your honour
any way to honour her.

Witness your diligent frequenting her assemblies,
and presenting yourself in her courts, your con-
scionable observance of all her ordinances, your
good respect to her ministers, your faithful dis-
charge of that trast which by the divine providence
is committed to you for j^resenting faithful ministers
to her people. Many humble petitions are in this
respect daily put up at the throne of gi'ace on your
behalf. Many sacrifices of praise are offered up to
the divine Majesty for you. Ministers and people
bless you, and bless the Lord for you. So as your

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

aJmiiiistration of this service not only refreslietli
the souls of the saints, but is abundant also by
many thanksgivings unto God. He therefore that
hath said it, will assuredly perform it, ' Them that
honour me, wiU I honour.'

Neither is your entire affection so restrained to
this flourishing part of the church -whereof you are
in special manner a particular member, but it is ex-
tended to her in every place.

Your endeavour hath not been wanting to the
enlargement of her bounds.

You every way sympathise with her.

Her oppressions press heavy upon your soul.

Her deliverances revive your spirit.

In consideration hereof, the same hand that in
the enemies' insultations over the oppressed churches
presented to your honom-, 'The Church's Conquest,'
wherein were set out most sovereign means pre-
scribed by God himself, and to good purpose prac-
tised by those that were therein guided by the

divine Spirit, for obtaining conquest and rest to the
church ; the same hand doth now present to the
same patron, ' The Saint's Sacrifice,' wherein out of
the fore-mentioned treasury of God's word divine
directions are collected for rendering due praises to
him who in due season delivereth his out of despe-
rate distresses.

Accept, my good Lord, this testimony of that
high esteem which he hath of your Lordship, who
in regard of that respect you bear and shew to God
himself, to his ministers and saints, humbly and
heartily suppUcateth the divine Majesty for all need-
ful blessings ever to rest on your honour's person, on
your honourable consort, on your noble off'spring,
on your whole family, and on all your affairs, and
professeth to continue m God's court.

Your Honour's Remembrancer,

WILLIAM GOUGE.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, RIGHT WORSHIPFUL, AND OTHER
MY BELOVED PARISHIONERS,

INHABITANTS OF BLACKFRIARS, LONDON,

SUFFICIENT GRACE HERE, PERFECT GLORY HEREAFTER.

RIGHT HONOURABLE, Right Worshipful, Be-
loved, — How entirely my heart stands towards
you, the Searcher of hearts knoweth ; so also doth
that spirit which is in me, but for manifestation
hereof means must be used.

I am confident that you yourselves wiU bear me
wtness, that for these four and twenty years my out-
ward conversation among you hath given some
e\-idence of the entireness of my affection towards
you.

That others may know what I know you know
hereof — others, I say, both near and far off, even
farther off than in person I am ever like to be, and
tliat not only in this present age, so long as we shall
remain knit together by so near and firm a bond of
relation as pastor and people, but also in future ages,
(if at least my published meditations shall come to
future ages,) I have presented to you in special man-
ner all the treatises that by me have been set out to
the public view of aU ; and that on no by-respect to
myself, at which I never had cause to aim ; but only
on that due respect I owe to you by vii'tue of the
foresaid relation.

Yours I am ; and I desire to shew' myself yours
every way that I can.

Concerning this present treatise, ' The Saint's Sac-
rifice,' I began to draw my meditations thereunto

upon that extraordinary and admirable, if not
miraculous, removal of the plague which happened
in the first year of our now sovereign lord King
Charles. In the beginning, therefore, of this treatise,
sec. 3, you may observe a particular application of
the general doctrine of praising God, to that special
instance of God's singular mercy in so speedy and so
full a dehverance of us from so infectious and far-
spreading sickness.

But the summer being then sjjent, and that vaca-
tion time gone, which is the only time that I can get
free from such encumbrances as afford leisure little
enough, if not too little for my public ministry, in
the years following rumours of the church's desola-
tions tlirough the might and maUce, insolency and "
cruelty of her enemies in Germany, France, and
other places, were brought to our ears, as the doleful
news of the loss of Job's cattle, sen^ants, and chil-
dren, one upon the neck of another. And in the
year 1630 the plague so began again to increase as
another great plague was feared. It hovered over
the city all the summer and autumn of that year :
there died thereof in London and in the parishes ad-
joining, 1317 ; and that year burials increased more
than ordinary, 1783, besides the five that died in
Wliitefriars of the plague, and were reckoned in no
parish.

TO THE INHABITANTS OF BLACKFRIARS.

Cambridge also was much infected ■with the sick-
ness the same year, and sundry other gi'eat and
populous towns in the country.

Corn also then rose to a very high rate, and so
continued till harvest 1631,

These judgments so follofsdng one upon another,
like wave upon wave, turned the course of my medi-
tations from the gratulatory Psalm to such scrip-
tures as afforded fit remedies for removing the fore-
said judgments, and occasioned the treatises of 'God's
Three Aitows.'

But that God who delightetli in mercy, and to
whom judgment is a strange work, hath so removed
all the foresaid judgments, that there is now as just
occasion for publishing ' The Saint's Sacrifice,' as
there was before of setting out 'God's Tliree Arrows.'

"\Aniile the judgnients lay heavy on us and others,
instant and earnest prayer was made for the removal
thereof Now that our prayers are heard, should
we not return what he requires that hath granted
our desires 1 > Jf thou be ungrateful, having what
thou wilt, well mayest thou be what thou wilt not.

To stir up mine own soul and the souls of others
to endeavour with our uttermost power to render to
him who hath been so gracious to us that which is
most due, all possible praise ; and to stir us up to con-

' Si ingratus es in eo quod esse vis, iure cogeris esse quod
Hon vis. — Aug. de lib. Arbitr., lib. iii. cap. 6.

tinue our humble and hearty devotions to the high,
mighty, wise, and merciful Lord for continuing
his favour to his churches, and for establishing per-
jjetual peace and rest to them, this ' Saint's Sacri-
fice ' is here published. Whereunto I was in a
private and a particular respect the rather moved,
by reason of a more than ordinary recovery which
the Lord was jjleased to vouchsafe to his poor and
unworthy servant in August 1630, who hath in re-
gard of the dangerous disease and unexpected re-
covery cause to say, ' The sorrows of death com-
passed me, but it was the Lord's pleasure to deliver
me.'

my parishoners and other people of God, let
us meditate ourselves alone, and confer one mth
another, about the gracious and wondrous works of
the Lord in these our days, and whet one another's
spirits, and incite our souls to praise the Lord, that
it may never repent him of any kindness that he
Lath .shewed, or yet further intendeth to us. Praise
the Lord, ye his saints. Let this sacrifice of
saints be daily offered up by you in particular, to-
gether with

The builder up of your souls,

WILLIAM GOUGE.

Blackfhiars, London, \ith Feb. 1631.

THE SAINT'S SACRIFICE;

OR,

A COMMENTARY ON PSALM CXVI.

Sec. 1. 0/ the author, occasion, and matter of the
Psalm.

THIS psalm is a gratulatory psalm. Therein the
psalmist giveth solemn thanks to God, for a
great deliverance from a deadly danger.

By the kind of danger and deliverance, it may be
supposed that David was the inditer of this psalm :
and that the danger and deUverance whereunto he
hath relation, ai'e those that are recorded to be in
the reign of Saul, who persecuted David even unto
death. Oft did that wratliful king, when David
was before him, cast liis javelin at him to stick him
therewith even to the wall, and many other ways
did attempt to take away his life ; as, by sending
him out against the Philistines, by requiring a
hundred foreskins of the Phihstines in lieu of
dowry, by speaking to his son and servants to kill
him, by sending messengers unto his house, there
to watch him and slay him ; by commanding his
servants to bring him in his bed, when it was told
that he was sick ; by sending messengers again and
again to apprehend him, and following after him
himself to the company of prophets ; bj' raising an
army against liim, and pursuing him to Keilah, and
from thence to Alaon, and so to Engedi, and to Zij)h,
where he heard that David abode.

By reason of these persecutions he might well
say, as is here recorded, ver. 3, ' The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the pains of hell got
hold upon me : I found trouble and sorrow.' And
by reason of the many dehverances which the Lord
gave liim, (for it is expressly recorded that ' God
delivered not David into Saul's hands,' 1 Sam.
xsdii. 14; meaning thereby, that God by his divine
pro\ndeuce delivered David out of Saul's hands,
and preserved him from death, which Saul intended
against him,) by reason hereof David might well
say to God, as ver. 8, ' Thou hast delivered my soul
from death,' &c. So as it is very probable that
Da-\dd upon the foresaid deliverances penned this
psahn ; yea, the agreement of this psalm both in
the general matter, and also in sundiy words and
phrases with the 18th psalm, which is expressly
said to be made by 'David in the day that the
Lord dehvered him from the hand of Saul,' doth
make it more than probal)le, that the same deliver-
ances moved the same author to pen tliis psalm
also.

Object. Jerusalem was not built in Saul's time,i
whereof notwithstanding mention is made in the

' In fine mentio fit urbis Hierosolymie, quK tempore Saulis
nondum condita fuit. — MMcr. Arg. in hunc Ps.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 1.

last verse of this psalm. Yea, the courts of the
Lord's house are said to be in the midst of Jeru-
salem, where neither the ark nor the tabernacle
were in Saul's time. Therefore dehverances from
those dangers were not the occasion of this psalm.

Alls. 1. Frequent mention is made of Jerusalem
before Saul's time, so as it was then built.

2. This psalm might be penned many years after
those deliverances, and yet they give occasion
thereto.

But because the Holy Ghost hath not by name
noted the penman, nor expressed the particular
danger and deliverance, I will omit all jirobable
conjectures, and insist on such general truths as
may and must, without all contradiction or question,
be received.

Those general truths are these : —

1. A prophet immediately inspired and infallibly
assisted by the Holy Ghost was the author of this
psalm. For ' All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God,' 2 Tim. iii. 16. And ' The projihecy came
not in old time by the will of man : but holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost,' 2 Pet. i. 21.

2. The penman of this psalm had lieen in very
great danger, even near to death, ver. 3, 6, 8.

3. In his danger he called upon God for help,
ver. 4.

4. He was delivered out of all his dangers, ver. 6, 7.

5. He acknowledgeth his deliverances to be from
God, ver. 2, 8, IG.

6. He professeth God's grace to be the ground
thereof, ver. 5, 16.

7. For the present he testifieth his true and
hearty affection to God, ver. 1.

8. For afterwards he promiseth to walk worthy
of the Lord, ver. 9, &c.

9. He is careful to perform what he vowed in his
distress, ver. 14, 18.

10. He humbly acknowledgeth his weakness, ver.
10, 11.

11. He is ready to do what he may know to be
acceptable unto God, ver. 12.

12. He faileth not to offer up praise to God, ver.
13, 17, 19.

13. His manner of praising God is most solemn,
ver. 18, 19.

14. He .stirs up others also to praise the Lord,
ver. 19.

Other particular points are here and there in-
serted ; but they are such as may be brought to one
of the forenamed heads.

Sec. 2. Of the resolution of the psalm.
The sum of tliis psalm is, — A gratulation for de-
liverance from deadly danger.
The parts thereof are two ; —
I. A declaration of the author's present affection.
H. A protestation for his after-purpose.
In the former he noteth —

1. How he was affected to God.

2. How God respected him.

His affection to God is exjjressed in the first
clause, / love.

God's respect to him is more largely set out in
the words following to the 7th verse.

For, 1. It is generally propounded in the latter ;

part of the 1st verse, and in the 2d verse, and 1

then particularly exemplified in the four following
verses.

In the general he noteth two points : —

1. How God's kindness to him was manifested, —
namely, by hearing his prayer.

2. What use he made thereof: surely this, to
' continue to call upon God,' ver. 2.

In the particular exemplification he expresseth
these four points : —

1. The danger wherein he was, ver. 3.

2. The means which he used for deliverance,
ver. 4.

3. The cause whereby God was moved to help
him, ver. 5.

4. The deliverance wliich God gave liim, ver. 6.
II. His protestation for his after-purpose hath

respect —

1. To his inward disposition.

2. To his outward conversation.
In regard of his inward disposition, he professeth

a quiet settling of his mind, so as it shall not be
distracted with doubts and fears. Wherein we may
note —

1. His manner of expressing it, with a double
apostrophe, one to his own soul, ver. 7, the other to
God, ver. 8.

Ver. 1.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

2. The ground or reason thereof: and that, 1.
Generally propounded, ver. 7 ; 2. Particularly ex-
pounded, vei'. 8.

In regard of his outward conversation, he pro-
fesseth two points —

One, more general, to ' walk before the Lord,'
ver. 9.

The other, more particular, to 'praise the Lord,'
ver. 12, &c.

Betwixt these he inserteth a digression, which
contaiueth a manifestation of his faith, ver. 10 ; of
his fear, ver. IL

The other more particular duty of praising God is
more largely insisted upon : for it is set down —

1. By way of profession in relation to himself

2. By way of provocation in relation to others.
His profession is, 1. Propounded; 2. Repeated.
In his first proi^ounding of it we must observe —

1. The manner of expressing it.

2. The matter whereof it consisteth.

3. The motives to press it.

That manner is by a rhetorical communication,
ver. 12.

The matter is public praise, ver. 13.

The motives which he useth to press the duty of
praise are especially four —

1. His own voluntary bond, his vow, ver. 14.

2. God's high, account of liim, and of such as he
was, ver. 15.

3. The relation that was betwixt God and him,
ver. 16.

4. The kindness which God had done to liim ;
' Thou hast loosed my bonds.'

The repetition of the duty, and of some of the
motives, is set do-\vn, ver. 17, 18, and amplified by
a description of the place where it should be per-
fomied, ver. 19.

His provocation of others to perform the duty
is in the last words of the psalm : ' Praise ye the
Lord.'

Sec. 3. Of solemn thanks to God for (jreat
deliverances}
The general sum and main scope of this psalm
giveth us this instruction —

' See ' The Whole Armour of God ' for directions about
solemn thanksgiving, treat, iii. sec. 73.

More than ordinary praise is to be given to God
for more than ordinary deliverances.^ The distress
and danger whereof mention is made in this psalm
appeareth to be so deadly and desperate, as the de-
liverance from it must needs be more than ordinary,
even almost, if not altogether, mu'aculous. The pro-
phet therefore contenteth not himself with a sudden
ejaculation of his heart ; nor with a secret fonn of
praise betwixt God and his own soul ; nor with a
more open manner of performing this duty in a
private family, or among a few saints ; but after a
more solemn and public manner he performeth it :
ver. 18, 19, 'Even in the presence of aU the Lord's
people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the
midst of Jerusalem ; ' and not only so, but also he
publisheth as much to all the world, and penneth
this psalm to remain as a record thereof to all pos-
terity. We have not only this, and many other like
patterns of other saints, guided herein by the Spirit
of God, for solemn, public, registered, and other
ways, extraordinary forms and manner of praising
God on like occasions, but also express precepts of
God to that puqiose. The 136th Psalm was penned
for this very end, to be a recorded public form of
praising the Lord for great deliverances ; and there-
fore it was appointed by Jehoshapliat, that good
king of Judah, to be sung after that Jahaziel, stirred
up by the Spirit of the Lord, had assured them, in
the name of the Lord, that they should be delivered
from their enemies, 2 Chron. xx. 21.

This extraordinary manner of praising God on
extraordinary occasions is an especial part of ' walk-
ing worthy of the Lord.' It argueth our mind to-
wards him to be answerable to his mind towards us ;
our readiness to bless him agreeable to his forward-
ness to bless us.^ Such a disposition is wonderfully
well pleasing to liim, making him much to rejoice
in the deliverances which he giveth, and blessings
which he bestoweth, and never to repent any kind-
ness that he doth, whether ordinary or extraordinary.
For the Holy Spirit is given to saints that they should

' Ft hie psalmista, sic publicfe pro bonis sibi coUatis gratias
Deo agit. — Av.g. Confess., lib. i. cap. 20.

" Spiritus sanctus Sanctis datur, ut copulentur Deo in
laudibus glorise ipsius; non quod Deus laude alicujus indigeat,
sed quod laus Dei laudatoribus prosit. — Jerome Comment, lib. i.
in Eph. i.

GOUGK ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 1.

be knit to God in the praises of liis glory ; not that
God needetli the praise of any, but that the praise
of God might profit them that praise him. We are
God's soil ; all manner of good things, positive or
privative, which in any kind he bestoweth on us, are
his seed. Gratefulness is the crop which he ex-
pecteth of his seed ; for by what more sacred sacri-
fice can God be honoured than by thanks 1 As the
husbandman is affected with a plentiful harvest an-
swerable to his much tillage and seed, so the Lord
with corre.spondent gratitude.^

Behold hei-e a good ground for justification of this
day's solemnity. The occasion thereof is apparently
more than ordinary ; for as the judgment was much
more lamentable than the like judgments have been
in former ages, so the deliverance much more ad-
mirable. That i^estilentious sickness wherewith tliis
city, and other parts of this land, were visited in the
first year of King James, A.d. 1603, so exceeded
all former visitations in the like kind, as it was
called the Great Plague. For where in the year of
the Lord 15G2 there died of the plague 20,136, and
25,886 in the j'ear 1593; in the foresaid fii'st year
of King James there died 38,244. But this year-
there died 54,265 in London, and the liber-
ties thereof, and the nine out-parishes that are
in the suburbs. In Westminster then died 2540.
In the five parishes that are round about Loudon,^
within a mile or two, 6196. The total of all are
threescore three thousand and one. If the number
of those who died in other places somewhat more
remote from London were added hereunto, it would
be found to exceed the number of threescore and ten
thousand that in David's time died of the plague.
Indeed, the time wherein those threescore and ten
thousand died was much shorter, which made the
plague the more fearful for that time. But that fear
was thereby the sooner removed, in that within the
space of three days the plague was stayed, and in-
fected no longer. But with us for the space of three
months it increased very hotly ; some weeks * almost
a thousand increased, so as thus week after week it

' Quid est sacratius laudis sacrificium, quam in actione
graliarum ? — Aug. contr. advcnar. Ley, lib. i. cap. 18.
2 1 Caroli, 1625.

' Lambeth, Newington, Stepney, Hackney, Islington.
< July 28, 3583; August 4, 4517.

did more and more affright the hearts of men, tiU it
amounted to the number^ of 5205 in one week. Thus
we see how terrible the judgment was. The man-
ner of temo\'ing it was as admirable. For where it
was increasing nine months, from November to
August, it so decreased as within the space of seven
months it came to nothing. For in the weekly bills
that Were given up the 8th of March 1625, not one
was given up to be dead of the plagiie. And so fast
it decreased as there died one Week 944 less, and
another 1009 less than the week immediately before,
whereas the greatest increase that ever was in one
week was 934. In the time of that raging pestilence
pity and mercy was earnestly craved, and that also
extraordinarily by fasting and prayer, whereunto
the Lord without all question had respect. Should
not now aniswerable thanks be given to God for a
deliverance so free, so full, so speedy, from a distress
so dangerous, so deadly, so fearful as tliis plague was?
^Vho could have expected such a deHverance ? Now
we being above hope, beyond expectation, thus ad-
mirably delivered, shall not more than ordinary
praise be given to him that hath delivered us?
Tliis day ^ is prudently and piously deputed by pub-
lic authority to this veiy purpose. Let us rejoice
and be glad therein. Let our rejoicing and gladness
be spiiitual in giving praises to the Lord. Kouse
up your .sj»irits to a hearty zealous performance of
this duty. This is one end why we have been de-
livered out of the jaws of that devouring beast, the
destroying i^estilence. ' For the grave cannot praise
the Lord, death cannot celebrate liim,' Isa. xxxviii.
18. How many of our bretlu-en and sistere that are
gone down into the i>it, if they Were stUl hving,
would make the churches of God to ring again with
God's praises ! Iliey being taken away, we that re-
main ought with the uttermost of our power to per-
form this duty. ' The living, the living, they shall
praise the Lord,' Isa. xxxviii. 19. Let us answerably
to the occasion do it ; yea, so do it as others, even
our posterity, may by our pattern be directed and in-
cited on any like occasion to do the Uke. ' The father

' August 18, 1625.

- The 29th of January, 1 Caroli, 1625, being the Lord's day,
was by proclamation enjoined to be celebrated with solemn
thanksgiving in London and the places adjacent, and the 19th
of February following in other parts of the kingdom.

Ver. 1.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

to the cliildi-en shall make known thy truth,
Lord.'

This of the main scope of this psalm.

Sec. 4. Of love ; what it is ivlicn good.

Ver. 1. I love.

The first part ^ of this psalm is a declaration of
the prophet'.? affection. Therein is shewed how he
was affected to God, and how God respected him.
The foi-mer is an effect of the latter, the latter a
cause of the former. The effect is premised as a
bounden dut}', ' I love.' The cause (though in order
of time and nature the first) is inferred as a reason
to shew the eciuity of that dut}^ ' because he hath
heard,' &c.

In the former consider we,

1. The prophet's affection.

2. His expression thereof.
The affection is love.

Love is a liking, uniting affection.

L In the general nature of it love is an affection.

2. In relation to the different lands of affections
it is a lildng one.

3. In the essential form of it, it is uniting.

I. Affections are simply in their general nature,
nor viitues, nor vices.- For a virtue cannot be per-
verted and made e^dl. It would then lose the very
nature of vii'tue. Nor can a vice be rectified and
made good. It also would therein lose its nature
and be no \'ice. Affections are as they are well or
ill used. If well used, good ; and so become as
virtues. If ill used, bad ; and so made like vices.
Yet whether well or ill used, they retain the general
nature of affections. Love well ordered is love, and
love ill ordered is love. Therefore is love, in regard
of the different ordering of it, both commanded and
forbidden.^ So other affections. They are there-
fore good servants, but bad masters. If as servants
they be kept within compass, they will be of singular
good use ; but if they rule as masters, they ^vill
prove young masters — like untutored heirs whose
parents are dead, and so have all in their own hands,

' See sec. 2.

- iradrj ovK italv cll aperal, oD^' al KaKlai, Srt oO \eyofjLf$a KaTa
TO. iraB-q, GTTOvbaloi ^ (^aOXot. — Ariat. £thic., \ih. ii. cap. 5.

^ See on ver. 11, sec. 68. See 'A Plaster for the Plague,'
sec. 43.

and soon make ha\'oc of all. They are in the soul
as bellows ; where fire is kindled they soon blow it
UY> to a flame. Or rather they are in themselves as fire,
hot and ^dolent. Fire, if well used, is very useful ;
if ill, very hurtful. ^ So affections ; so among other af-
fections, love. And this is the general nature of love.

2. Affections are liking, disliking.

Lildng are such as have for their object that
which is in truth or in appearance good. ^

Disliking are such as have for their object that
which is indeed evil, or seems so to be. For good
things are liked, but evil disliked. And if things
which are in truth good seem evil, as evil, they are
disliked ; and evil, if they appear good, Uked.

Liking affections are desire, love, joy, &c. Dis-
liking, fear, hatred, anger, grief, &c. Thus we see
in what kind of affections love is ranked.

3. That whereby love is differenced from other
liking afl'ections is a uniting eflicacy. For love
knitteth the heart that loveth to the object loved. '
Instance the love which Jonathan had to Da^dd,
which the Holy Ghost thus setteth out, ' The soul
of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David : for
Jonathan loved him as his own soul,' 1 Sam. xviii. 1.
This apostolical plu-ase, ' knit together in love,' Col.
ii. 2, proveth as much. In this respect love is styled
a bond ; yea, a bond of perfectness, whereby things
are close knit and fast bound. Col. iii. 14.

As other affections, so love becomes good or evil
by the object whei'eon it is placed, and by ordering
it thereon.

Love is evil when it is placed on an evil object, or
not well ordered on a good object ; but good when it
is placed on that which is good indeed, and well
ordered. The world to worldly minds seemeth
good, but in truth it is not good ; therefore ' love not
the world,' 1 John ii. 15. Jehoshaphat is reproved for
' loving them that hated the Lord,' 2 Chron. sdx. 2.
As to dislike and hate good, so to like and love e%dl,
is evil.

1 Igne quid utilius ? si quis tamen urere tecta, &c. — Orid.
Trisl., lib. ii.

^ Passionum velut duces sunt delectatio et dolor. — Ainb.
dc Jacob, lib. i. cap. 2,

^ Quid est amor, nisi qusedam vita duo aliqua copulans, vel
copulare appetens, amantem scilicet, et quod amatur. — Avg.
de Trin., lib. viii. cap. 10.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vee. 1.

Ohject. Christ commandetli to love enemies.
Alls. By distinguishing betwixt their persons and
qualities we may discern a double object.

1. TheLi- person, which is good, that may be
loved.

2. Their e^dl quality, that may and must be
hated.

For well ordering love, being jjlaced on a right
object, a mean must be kept betmxt two extremes
— one of defect, the other of excess.

Love failetli in the defect when it is not according
to the utmost of its abihty extended, answerable to
tlie excellency of the object whereupon it is set. I
say the utmost of its ability, because there are some
objects so transcendently excellent as no love can be
correspondent to them. It is enough in such cases
that love be stretched to its utmost extent. The
law requires no more where it saith, ' Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might ; ' and again, ' Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' Deut vi. 5 ;
Lev. xix. 18.

Love offendeth in the excess^ when it is so placed
on an inferior object, as it is withdrawn (at least in
some degree) from a more excellent object ; as when
father, mother, son, or daughter is loved more than
Christ, Mat. x. 1 7. Eli therefore is justly punished
for honouring (a testimony of love) his sons above
God, 1 Sam. ii. 29, 30.

Sec. 5. Of the pi'ophcfs expresswn of his affection to
God.

2. The expression of the prophet's affection is in
this short abrupt phrase, ' I love,' which is but one
word in the original, and expressed as a full and
entire sentence in itself, thus — ' I love, because the
Lord hath heard,' &c. Most translators so turn it,
as if, by a trajection, or passing of a word from one
sentence to ajiother, this title Lord were to be joined
with the first clause, thus— (^/^^^^''-O ''nnnK HIH^),
' I love the Lord, because he hath heard,' &c. I deny
not but that thus the sense is made somewhat the
more perspicuous, and the words run the more
roundly ; yet are they not altogether so emphatical.
For when a man's heart is inflamed, and his soul

' Non frater, non filius, non amici, non omnis affectue amori
Domini pr»ponatur. — Jerome, lib. iii.; Comment in Mat. xviii.

ra-idshed with a deep apprehension of some great and
extraordinary favour, his affection "will cause inter-
raption in the expression thereof, and make stops in
liis speech ; so as tlus concise and abrupt clause, ' I
love,' declareth a more entire and ardent affection
than a more full and round phrase would do. Great
is the force of true love, so as it cannot be sufficiently
expressed.!

Object. How shall the object of his love be laiown
by this abrupt speech ?

Ans. The express mention of the person loved in
the reason following doth suflBciently demonstrate
the object of bis love ; for who will not infer upon
the reason following the protestation thus, ' I love,
because the Lord hath heard my voice,' that it is the
the Lord who is loved 1

Seeing, therefore, that the words, as they stand in
the original, may have so useful a constraction, I see
no cause of altering them. Many ancient and later
expositors so take it.-

The mention of the prophet's affection sheweth
that,

I. God is to he loved.

The manner of expressing it so concisely and
abruptly declareth that,

IL Ou7' love of God must he most ardent.

The prefixing of this his affection before his
declaration of God's kindness to him, and that
too as a bounden duty arising from thence, teacheth
that,

III. A due consideration of God's kindness to man,
tvffrh an ardent affection in man toivards God.

Sec. 6. Of love due to God.

I. God is to he loved. He knows not God, he
loiows not the nature and end of love, that denieth
the truth of this position. Both law and gospel
require it. ' Thou shalt love the Lord,' Deut.
vi. 5, saith the law. ' This is the first and
great commandment,' Mat. xxii. 38, saith he that
was both the giver of the law, and author of
the gospel. Yea, the heathen^ by that glimmer-
ing light which they had of God, saw the equity
thereof.

' Grandem vim obtiuet vera dilectio. — Jerome ad Celant.
' Sic Augustinus, sic Hieronymus, sic alii veteres et neo-
terici. ' Cic. de Divin.

Ver. 1.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

1. Love is the ground of all the duties that are
acceptably performed to God. In ■which respect the
law, Exod. XX. G, premiseth love liefore keeping the
commandments ; and compriseth all the command-
ments under it, Luke x. 27. And the apostle
expressly saith, that ' Love is the fulfilling of the
law,' Eom. xiii. 10. As love of man is the fulfilling of
the second table, so love of God is the fulfilling of
the first table.^ Had not corruption so infected and
perverted man as it hath, there would need no other
motive to provoke liim to any duty than love.
Where love abounds, there vn\\ be much -willing-
ness, cheerfulness, forwardness, and readiness to do
what can be done to the well-pleasing of him that
is loved. Instance the disposition of -wives, chil-
dren, servants, subjects, friends, and others, whose
heart is possessed and filled -with true love.

2. AH things that make one fit or worthy to be
loved, are in God, as,

(1.) Surpassing excellency, majesty, and glory.
In these and other like respects we love God for
himself. -

(2.) High sovereignty, and supreme authority
over us.

(3.) Ail manner of relations whereby one is knit
to another ; for he is our king, our father, our hus-
band, oiir master, our friend, Ps. xl\'ii. 6, 7 ; Isa.
Ixiii. 16; Jer. xxxi. 32; Mai. i. G; Cant. v. 1.

(4.) Free grace, rich mercy, abundance of all
manner of blessings and good things that may any
way be needful to us.

3. Gratefulness in regard of the many good things
which we have received from him, requii'eth all
love.' By him we are what we are ; and every
good thing that in any kind we have, we have re-
ceived from him. But who can reckon up and set
in order all the good things which from God we
have received ?

^\^lat now may be thought of such as hate God ?
How impious, how perverse a disposition have they !
That there have been such, is evident by that fear-

' Soli Deo honor et gloria; sed horum neutrura acceptavit
Deua, si mellejimoris condita nonfuerint. — Bern, tuper. Cant.
Scrm. 83.

- Deum diligimus propter semetipsum. — A%i<!. Prolce Eptat.
12.

' .See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii. part 2, sec.
63, &c.

ful commination that is denounced against them in
the second commandment, and in sundry other
places. Such a one was Ahab ; such were the
Gentiles that believed not ; such are all that hate
Christ. In this respect they are worthy to be hated
-with a perfect hatred. Such as love God -will so
hate them ; for God himself hates them. Wliere-
upon it is noted that he will rain snares, fire and
brimstone, and a horrible tempest upon them.
What else can they expect from the Lord, that hate
him?

So fai- be our souls from any such diabolical dis-
position of hating God, as that rather we make him
the object of our love ; and for that end oft and
duly weigh how worthy he is of our love; what
a prerogative it is to have such an excellent object
to cast our love upon ; and what benefit redoundeth
to us by lo-ving him. For assuredly no love shall
be lost that is cast upon him. He knows who love
him, he approves them, and will love them again ;
and what may not they exjiect from him that are
loved of him 1 ' God keepeth mercy for them that
love him,' Neh. i. 5 ; and not for them only, but for
thousands of theii- generations after them ; where-
upon the psalmist thus prayeth to God, ' Look thou
upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do
unto those that love thy name,' Ps. cxix. 132. The
many many favours which God here bestoweth upon
them that love liim, and reserveth for them here-
after, cannot by the tongue of men or angels be
expressed. ' All things work together for good to
them that love God,' Kom. viii. 28. ' The crown of
life, the kingdom of heaven, is promised to them
that love God,' James i. 12, and ii. 5. 'Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him,' 1 Cor. ii. 9.
Who now would not, who should not love God ? '
Impious he is agamst God, injurious against him-
self, who setteth not his heart upon God, and
maketh him the object of his love. Without love
all other affections are as nothing. Fear and hon-

' Absque amore et timor poenam habet, et honor non habet
gratiam. Servus est timor quamdiu ab amore non manumitti-
lur. Et qui de amore non venit honor, non honor sed
adulatio est. Amor per se sufficit, per se placet, et propter se,
&o.— .Bern, super. Cant. Scrm. 83.

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 1.

oiir are due to God, Mai. i. 6. But fear without
love liatli torment. Honour without love hath no
grace, is not acceptable. Such fear is ser\dtude,
such honour is flattery. But love is sufficient of
itself ; through itself, and for itself it pleaseth, and
is accepted. To shew how far our heart should be
extended hereunto, note the next doctrine.

Sec. 7. Of the ardency of our love of God.

II. Our love of God must he most ardent, such as
may fill our heart with a holy admiration, and even
ravish it again ; as this prophet was so ravished
therewith, as in mention thereof he was at a stand
and stop. I love, saith he, a phrase of an entire
and earnest lover. The law that setteth these large
limits thereto (with all thine heart, ■n-ith all thy soul,
and vnih all thy might) requireth as much.

So excellent an object he is, so worthy of all love,
so many, so great his kindnesses to us, as it is not
possible for us sufficiently, or answerably to love
him. Therefore in the highest degree that can be
must he be loved. They that aim at the sun, which
they cannot possibly hit, will put to all their strength,
draw as far, and shoot as high as possibly they can.

Such therefore as see just cause to love God, and
are persuaded so to do, let them never satisfy them-
selves in what they do in this kind. But when they
have testified as much as they can, know that they
have come much short of that love which is meet
for such an object ; and therefore still prick on their
souls to go further and further. And on this ground
take we heed that we suffer not our love so to be
set on any other object whatsoever, as that thereby
our love should be any whit drawn from God.
Note the doom which Cluist in this case hath
given : ' He that loveth father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me,' Mat.
X. 37. Whether our love be an ascending love, up
to father or mother, or a descending love, down to
son or daughter, it may not be greater than our love
of Christ. Nay, our love of all others, in comparison
of our love of Christ, must be hatred. Therefore he
saith, ' If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
bretliren, and sisters, yea, and liis own life also, he
cannot be my disciple,' Luke xiv. 26. Kathcr than

not love Christ, (if the case so stand that they must
be hated, or Christ not loved,) they must be hated.^

And when we love them, our love of them, in
comparison of our love of Christ, must be hatred :
as the light of a candle, compared to the light of
the sun, is darkness. Take heed therefore of luke-
warmness in loving Clmst. Such love makes Christ
to spue men out of his mouth, as he threatened
Laodicea, Eev. iii. 16. Take heed of leaving thy
first love, Eev. ii. 4. Let thy love of God daily
increase, as the cedars of Lebanon, till they come to
be the tallest of trees.

For a helji herein note the next point.

Sec. 8. Of considering God's kindness to inflame our
love of him.
III. A due consideration of God's kindness to man
works an ardent affection in man tmvards God. The
large expression of God's care over this prophet in
the verses following doth demonstrate his due con-
sideration thereof This pathetical speech, ' I love,'
importeth his ardent affection. That which is here
in one word thus concisely implied, is in Ps. xviii.
with much variety of words expressed ; and by the
penitent woman that washed the Lord's feet with
her tears, and wiped them with her hair, in many
actions so evidently declared, as thereupon the
Lord gave of her this testimony, ' She loved much,'
Luke vii. 37, &c. He that is perfectly loved claim-
eth and challengeth to himself the whole will of
him that loveth him. Nothing hath a greater com-
mand than love. ^ Besides, God's kindness hath an
operative virtue in it, which much afiecteth those
that seriously fix their mind thereon, as fire heateth
such as stand near thereto. Indeed we have of our-
selves no heat of love in us to God-wards ; yet as
cold iron put into the fire may thereby be made red
hot, so we, by much meditation on the kindness
and providence of God towards us, whereby we are
as it were cast into the fire of God's love, may be
red hot with love, and inflamed in our afiection
toward God, as he hath here said, ' I love ; ' and

1 Si necessitas fuerit, ut amor parentum, ac filiorum, Dei
amori comparetur, et non possit uterque servari, odium in
suoa pietas in Deum. — Jerome Comment., lib. i. in Mat. x.

" Qui perfecte amatur, totam sibi vendicat amautis voluu-
tatcm. Niliil est imperiosius cliaritate. — Jerome ad Cdaiit.

Ver. 1.]

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

again, ' I will love thee dearly, Lord,' Ps. yviii.
I.

The word whereby the psalniist expresseth his
entire affection in the noun signifieth a womb, and
importeth such an affection as cometh from the
innermost part of man, (Dm matrix,) from his
bowels, from the bottom of his heart, as we speak.
It is therefore oft put for such pity and compassion
as movetli the bowels, as we shall after shew (sec.
26) on the fifth verse. Some therefore thus trans-
late that phrase, ' From my innermost bowels vn.\l I
love thee, Lord.'i To give evidence of his entire
and ardent love of God, he oft professeth his won-
derful great love to God's commandments, whereof
he saith with admiration, ' Oh how love I thy law !
I love thy commandments above gold ; yea, above
fine gold. I love them exceedingly,' Ps. cxix. 97,
127, 107 ; therefore he saith to God, ' Consider how
I love thy precepts,' ver. 159.

This entii-e and ardent love of God will give good
demonstration of that notice which we take of God's
merciful dealing ^\dth us, and of the heed which we
give to his tender care over us. If no heat of love
be wrought in our hearts, after that God hath dealt
graciously with us, surely no regard hath been had
thereto. If the heat that is wrought be but little,
though there hath been some regard, yet that some
hath been very shght. Let us hereby make trial of
ourselves. We have all cause to say, as the prophet
here doth, ' The Lord hath heard my supplication.'
For when the plague raged among us, when thou-
sands fell on the one and other side, when sorrows
of death compassed us, then called we upon the
name of the Lord. With fasting we humbled our
souls week after week before the Lord, and oft we
said, ' Lord, we beseech thee, deliver our souls ; '
and the gracious Lord inclined his ear to us ; he de-
livered our soul from death, our eyes from tears,
our feet from faUing. Can we now every one in
truth say, 'I love'? With our tongues we may
utter this word, being put into our mouths ; but if
our hearts were thoroughly sifted, I am afraid that
most of them would be found to be otherwise
affected. It hath been shewed that love luiitteth
one's hearts to the object loved. Are our hearts

' Ex intimis visceribus diligam te Jehovah. — Trem. el Jun.
in Ps. xviii. 2.

knit to God? our spirits to his Spirit? If they
were, we should more mind the things of God than
we do ; our care to please God, our fear of offending
him, would be more than it is. For these are two
especial properties of a child, that, in relation to his
father, can in truth say, ' I love.' What from these
premises can be infeiTed but that we have not so
duly and deeply considered God's gracious dealing
with us as we should have done ?

Let us therefore for the time to come take notice
of this our over-careless neglect ; that, being humbled
for what is jiast, we may yet by recalling to mind,
and deeply meditating on the great and gracious
deliverance which the Lord hath given us from the
snares and sorrows of death, the remembrance
whereof is yet fresh among us, be so affected there-
with, as, mth such a heart and tongue as the
prophet here did, every one say, ' I love ; ' and give
evidence thereof by breaking through and passing
over all things that may draw our hearts from God.
Love of God easily breaketh aU bonds, i

Hitherto of the prophet's respect to God, God's
respect to him followeth.

Sec. 9. Of God's hearing prayer.

God's respect to the prophet is" generally pro-
pounded in these words : —

1. Because the Lord hath heard my voice and my
supplications.

2. Because he hath inclined liis ear to me, there-
fore will I call upon him as long as I live.

In this general declaration of God's kindness to
him, he sheweth —

1. How it was manifested.

2. 'What use he made thereof.

It was manifested by God's hearing his prayer.
And to shew that this was no small kindness, he
setteth it out with much copys of words and variety
of phrase.

His prayer is ex|)ressed in two words — voice,
supplication.

The former noteth his outward expression.

The latter his inward intention.

' Facile rumpit bncc vincula amor Dei. — Terome ad Uiodor.,
Dc Vila Ercmit.

-See sec. 2. " Qa.,' copia,' or 'copiousness ?' — Ed.

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Ver.

Here, then, is a warrant for vocal and mental
prayer. ^

Vocal is first expressed, because it is best dis-
cerned ; but mental is added, to shew that his voice
came out of his heart.

God's granting liis desire is also expressed in two
phrases, — 1. He heard ; 2. He inclined his ear.

Both of these are metaphorically, by way of re-
semblance, attributed to God after the manner of
man.-

The former declareth the ground of God's granting
his request, He heard his voice.

The latter noteth the manner of doing it, He in-
clined his ear to him. As one willing to do him
good, he purposely bowed his ear, he hearkened to
his petition.

Now to shew that this readiness of God to hear
him was an e-special kindness, and deserved all love
and respect, he infen-eth this e\-idence of God's love
to him as the cause of liis love to God, by a causal
particle, thus, ' I love, because the Lord hath heard
my voice.'

From this text thus unfolded five di.stinct observa-
tions do naturally arise.

I. Man's desii-e is to be uttered to God.
The word voice importeth as much.

II. What is outwardly uttered must be inwardly
intended before God. For this end, unto voice is
added stqiplicatimi.

III. The Lord heareth prayer.
This is expressly set down.

IV. The Lord is ready and forward to hearken to
that wliich his saints pray for. The metaphor of
inclining his ear implieth tluis much.

V. It is a great kindness in God to hear prayer.
This is a main point here intended.^

Sec. 10. Of voice ill prcujcr.

I. Man's desire is to be uttered to God. The
frequent mention of voice, words, call, cry, mouth,
lips, with the like, in relation to prayer, (wliich are

' Of these two kinds of prayer, see ' The Whole Armour of
God,' Treat. 3, sec. 74, 75, on Eph. vi. 18.

- dvOpwirdiradtas.

' See 'The Whole Armour of God,' Treat. 3, sec. 75, on
Eph. vi. IS.

all evidences of uttering man's desire,) is a pregnant
proof of the point.

Though to God, who knoweth the thought of our
heart, it be not necessary to have our desire opened,
yet, for manifesting to ourselves and others the
truth of our desire, and for adding more force to
our inward devotion, an outward expression thereof
is necessary; for, as the beams of the sun wax hotter
by reflection, so the desire of the heart by expression.
Justly, therefore, is his prayer rejected whothinketh
much to cry unto the Lord, and thereby to manifest
the ardency of his desire. ^

They, therefore, that content themselves with in-
ward ejaculations of then- sjsLrit to God, and with
devout thoughts and meditations which are in their
kind commendable, fail in an esjjecial means which
God hath sanctified to make prayers the more
forcible to our own souls, more profitable to others-
that hear them, and more acceptable to God, who
delights to have the outward parts of our body as
well as the inward powers of our soul used in his
worship. Thus shall that which we do be more
public and more solemn, for what is that which the
psalmist saith 1 ' I cried with my mouth, and I re-
joiced with my tongue ; ' but thus much, ' I did
openly and publicly that which I did.' ^ But that
no countenance may hereby be given to such as
'draw nigh to God mth their mouth and honour
him with their lips, when their heart is far from
him,' let the next doctrine be duly observed.

Sec. 11. Of voice and heart together in prayer. ^

II. IJ^hat is outwardly uttered must be inwardly in-
tended before God.' * It is therefore usual vrith the

' MeritJ) non exauditur qui clamare diasimulat.' — Bern, in
/"s. Qui habitat, <ic., Ser. xvi.

' Quid est olamavi ore meo et exultavi sub lingua mea ?
Ipsum public^ prtedicavi.' — Aug. Enar. in Ps. Ixv.

= The word /TlJUnj^, translated supplications, is derived
from ]jn, which siguifieth an inward passion or affection of
the soul, so as J11J")jn/1, supplications, may fitly be applied
to the inward devotions of the soul, and so much the rather,
because this latter, supplications, is added to the former, voice,
as the fountain whence it cometh, and importeth as much
as if it had been thus expressed, >J1jnJl ^Ip, the voice of my
supplications, as it is Ps. xxviii. 2, G ; xxxi. 22 ; Ixxxvi. 6;
cxxx. 2 ; and csl. 6.

■• Laudate totis votis de totis vobis, id est ut non solum

Vm. 2.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

Holy Ghost to join such words together as import
the one and the other, both outward expressions
and inward intention, as ' words and meditation,'
' words of mouth, and meditation of heart,' ' heart
and tongue,' 'lips and soul,' 'lips not feigned,'
'heart and hands,' ' soul and eyes.'

The Lord, whose incommunicable property it is to
' seai-ch the heart,' hath his eye especially ou it, and
accordingly doth accept or reject such things as are
outwardly done by men. He professeth as much of
himself, sapng, ' I the Lord search the heart, I try
the reins, even to give every man according to his
ways,' Jer. xvii. 10. The true afiFection of the heart
maketh prayers to be sincere, and such prayers are
said to be offered uj) by Christians who have respect
to God ; 1 if, therefore, he hear anything uttered
with the mouth which he finds not intended in the
heart, he regards it no more than he did the sacri-
fice of Cain, Gen. iv. 5. God is a spirit, and it is ne-
cessaiy that whosoever desireth to have his cry
come unto God, do cry in spirit as well as in voice ;
for, as God regardeth not the face of man as man
doth, but rather beholdeth the heart, so his ears are
more attentive to the voice of the heart than of the
body.=

A strong motive this is to provoke us to look to
our hearts, whensoever we open our mouths before
the Lord. If in tnith we can say, ' Our heart is
prepared, O Lord, our heart is prepared,' Ps. hdi. 7,
8, then may we with boldness say to our tongue,
' Awake up, our glory ; ' though there may be some
failing in the outward manner of offering up our
spiiitual sacrifice of prayer, yet if the heart be pre-
pared to seek the Lord, he will be ready to bear with
our errors and to pardon our aberrations ; instance
that mercy which he shewed to the men of Israel that
in Hezekiah's time came to Jerusalem to celebrate
the passover. The true intention of their heart was
it that Hezekiah pleaded before the Lord when he
said, ' The good Lord pardon every one that pre-

lingua et vox vestra laudet Deum, sed et conscientia vestra,
&c. — Aug. Enar. in Ps. cxhiii.

' ' 'ZirivSoiiivus Q(C> ie-qaeis ilKiKpiveis.' — Justin Marl, in fine
Expos. Fidei.

' Deus sicut non faciem hominis respicit, tanquam homo,
Bed magis intuetur cor : sic ad cordis potius vocera, qaara cor-
poris, aures ejus, &c. — Bern, in Ps. Qui habit. Sermon xvi.

pareth his heart to seek God the Lord God of his
fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the
purification of the sanctuary.' And the Lord heark-
ened to Hezekiah ; for the heart is that which the
Searcher of hearts doth of all things most delight in ;
and thereupon he Sfiith, ' My son, give me thine
heart,' Prov. xxiii. 26 ; ' But when the heart is far
from God, it is in vain to draw near to him with the
mouth, and to honour him with the lips,' Mat. xv. 8,
9. To offer such an oblation, to burn such incense,
is no better than ' to offer swine's blood to bless an
idol,' Isa. Lx\'i. 3. It doth therefore neai'ly concern
us thoroughly to try our hearts, that the cries which
we make to God who is a spirit, may not be of the
tongue only, but of the heart also, yea, of the heart
especially ; ^ for the cry commended in Scripture is
not of the voice, but of the heart ; if therefore, our
hearts be in any good manner prepared, the thud
doctrine will shew that we may with boldness call
ujion God.

Sec. 12. Of God's hearing pin ?jcr.

III. God heareth itrayer ; for, ' He that planted
the ear, shall not he hear ? He that teacheth man
to understand, shall not he understand ? ' Ps. xciv.
9, 10. ' He understandeth our thought afar off,' Ps.
cxxxix. 3, 4. Much more when it is. uttered, and
made known to him ; for ' there is not a word in our
tongue but the Lord knoweth it altogether.' And
if he understand any thoughts, and know any words,
most of all doth he understand and know the
thoughts and words of prayer, which are directly
intended to him. For, to join the fourth doctrine
wth this, by reason of their near affinity,

IV. God is ready and forward to hearken to that
which his saints p-ay for. He need not be much
solicited and importuned to hear : he listens to hear
what suits of his servants are preferred to liim ;
while they are speaking, he will say, ' Behold, I am
here.'^ Besides, this phrase in my text of God's 'in-
clining his ears,' and others like to it, of 'bowing
and bending them,' (which are evidences of a mind

' ' Clamor in Scripturis non vocis sed cordis est. — Hier.
Comment, in Ps. v.

' Ipsum Dominum qujere, et exaudiet te, et adhuc te
loquente dicet, Ecce, adsum. — Aug. Enar. in Psalm xxiii.
con, 2,

GOUGE ON PSiiiM CXVI.

[Ver. 2.

very ■willing to hear ;) that his ' ears are open and
attend to their prayer,' Ps. xxxiv. 15 ; 2 Chron. vii.
15,) I might here as a real demonstration of this
point produce many hundred instances of God's
hearing his saints' prayers in all ages of the world ;
but not to insist on them, this style, ' thou which
hearest prayer,' n'?3Jl i'Dty, Ps. Ixv. 2, attributed to
God, is very pertinent to the point in hand. The
psalmist had hereupon just cause thus to say unto
God, 'Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the
humble : thou wilt prepare their heart, thou mlt cause
thine ear to hear.' God will not stay tiU they pre-
pare their heart ; but he himself wiU prepare it.
He doth not expect that others should cause him to
hear ; he will cause himself to hear. Yea, yet
further to this purpose he saith, ' It shall come to
pass, that before they call I will answer, and wliiles
they are yet speaking I wiU hear,' Isa. Ixv. 24.
Thus much Da\'id professeth to be verified in his
own case ; for, saith he, ' I said I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin,' Ps. xxxii. 5.

God's omnipresence and omniscience, his presence
in every place, and knowledge of all things, is the
cause that he heareth prayer : but it is God's own
goodness and kindness ; it is the efficacy of his Son's
intercession ; it is the fragrant savour which the
sweet incense of prayer sendeth forth, that maketh
God so forward to hear. In regard of God's good-
ness thus saith the psalmist, ' Hear my voice accord-
ing to thy loving-kindness,' Ps. cxix. 149. Concern-
ing the Son of God, thus he speaketh to liis Father,
' I know that thou hearest me always,' John xi. 42.
And to us he thereupon thus saith, ' ^A^latsoever ye
shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you,'
John xvi. 23. As for the savour of prayer, it is like
that sweet savour that God smelled out of Noah's
offering. Gen. viii. 21. For much incense is offered
with the prayers of all saints. Rev. viii. 3. Good
ground, therefore, had Da^dd to say to God, 'Let
my prayer be set forth before thee as incense ; and
the lifting up of mine hands as an evening sacrifice,'
Ps. cxli. 2.

' Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in
all the earth ! ' Ps. viii. 1. Who is a God like unto
thee, Lord, that is so able, so ready to hear his
servants' suits 1 Many of the gods of the heathen

have no ears at all. Many have ears, and hear not
at all. The creatures that hear can hear no more,
no further, than by the sound of a voice is brought
to their ears. Among them all, none can hear the
inward desires of the heart ; none can teU whether
voice and heart consent or no. They are oft loath
to heai', what they cannot but hear ; they are not
always able to grant what they may be willing to
hear. It is a divine propensity, even thy property,

searcher of all hearts, O Father of mercies, and
God of j)ower, to have thine ears always open and
attentive to the saints' prayers, to hear their voice
and supplications, their outward cries and inward
sighs, and to grant all their desii-es, and that be-
cause thou art full of mercy.^ ' Lord our Lord,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! ' Ps.
viii. 9.

What good and just cause have saints to make
known then- needs to God, in all distresses to call
upon him ! He is not a God that is talking or pur-
suing, or in a journey, or sleepeth, or must be
awaked, 1 Kings xviii. 27, so as in those or any
other like respects he cannot hear; but ever at hand,
ready to hear, able to help.^ "Wliat more forcible
motive can there be to incite us to call ujjon him 1
From this property of God that he is a hearer of
prayer, the psalmist maketh this inference, ' Unto
him shall all flesh come,' Ps. Ixv. 2. From such a
motive as this the servants of the king of Syria per-
suaded their master to seek favour of the king of
Israel : ' We have heard,' say they, ' that the kings
of Israel are merciful kings, let us go to him,' &c.,

1 Kings xxii. 31. We have so heard it, as we may
well believe it, that our God heareth prayers, and
inclineth his ear to supplications. To him, there-
fore, let us go. Christ having given ewlence in
the days of his flesh of his ableness and readiness to
cure all that came unto him, they came themselves,
as many as had plagues, and they brought others
imto him that were taken with diseases. Mat. ui.
10, and iv. 14. AMiat moved them so to do?
Surely faith in Christ's power and will to help.
Whereupon Christ was wont to use these phrases to

^ Plenus irsiserioordia, non amovet deprecationem meam
a se. — Bier. Comment, in Psalm v.

' Inclinat se nobis ut nostra ad eum ascendat oratio. — Amir,
in Oral, de Obit Theodos.

Ver. 2.]

GOUGK ON PSALM CXVI.

tliem, ' As tliou hast believed, so be it unto thee,'
Mat. viii. 13; 'Thy faith hath made thee whole,'
chap. ix. 22 ; ' According to your ftiith be it unto
you,' ver. 29; 'If thou canst believe, all things
are possible to him that believeth,' Mark ix. 23.
Let us therefore believe that God is ready to hear,
as we have heard, and in faith ' go boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need,' Heb. iv. 16.

To make us more highly prize this privilege, note
the first doctrine.

Sec. 13. Of the kindness of hearing pratjer.

V. It is a great kindness in God to hear prayer.
The prophet that was hereby moved to love God,
and praise God, (for saith he by way of gratulatiou,
' I love, because the Lord hath heard my prayer,')
accounted it a gi'eat kindness. As a kindness the
saints have desu-ed it for themselves and others.
As a Idndness it hath been promised of God, and
by him perfomied as a Idndiiess. Aiiswerably the
saints have aclcnowledged it for a kindness, and as
for a kindness praised the Lord. But on the con-
trary, God as a judgment hath threatened not to
hear prayer for themselves or for others, and it
hath been lamented as a heavy judgment.

By hearing prayer God giveth cAidence of the
notice which he taketh of our estate, of the respect
lie beareth to our persons, of the pity he hath of
our miseries, of his purpose to supply our wants,
and of his mind to do us good according to our
needs. '\Miat greater Idudiiess can we expect?
Wlien, therefore, thou obsei-vest that thy prayer is
not rejected, thou mayest be secure, because his
mercy is not removed from thee.^ But when no
respect is borne to persons, where there is no com-
passion of their distresses, no purpose, no mind to
do them good, then shall the ear be tiu'ncd from
them, no regard had to their petitions.

This being such a kindness, as a kindness it
ought to be accepted, and our answerable care it
ought to be, to carry ourselves worthy thereof; and
that is by making our acknowledgment thereof,
as here the psalmist doth, by rendering due praise

' Cum videris non a te amotam deprecationem tuam, securus
esto, quia non est a te amota misericordia ejus. — Aug. Enar. in,
Ps. Ixv.

to him who is ready to hear us for our good, by
opening our ears to his word,^ who is so ready to
open his ears to our prayers : to be ready to do
what he requircth of us, as he is ready to do what
we desire him to do for us. Otherwise we shew
ourselves most unworthy of the forenamed kind-
ness : we provoke him to be angry against our
prayer, to shut his ears, and to turn them away
from us. And so much hath he threatened. ' Be-
cause,' saith he, ' I have called, and ye refused ; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded,
&c. They shall call upon me, but I will not
answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shaU
not find me,' Prov. i. 24, 28. ' For he that turneth
away liis ear from hearing the law, even his prayer
shall be abominable,' Prov. xxviii. 9.^ And that not
without just and great cause. For what comparison is
there betwixt the Creator and creatures, the Lord and
servants 1 ' When we have done all those things that
are commanded us, we are unprofitable servants, we
have done that which was our duty to do,' Luke
xvii. 10. But God is tied to none. What he
granteth to us is of his mere gi-ace. Of the benefit
of this grace that we may partake, let our care be
to endeavour with our uttermost power to do our
duty. For the ears of God are always open to the
prayers of the righteous.*

Thus much of God's hearing prayer.

The use to be made thereof foUoweth.

Sec. 14. Of the encouragement men have from God's

hearing to pray.
Ver. 2. Tlicrefm-e I will call upon him in my days.*

^ Exauditus es ? gratias age quod exauditus es. — Chri/s. Horn.
De Profed. Evany.

- Quamdiu in tenebris erroris sum, non me exaudit. Quum
vero sol justitice venerit in corde meo, tunc me exaudit. —
Jerome, Comment, in Ps. v.

' Semper pise aures Dei justorum precibui patent. — Jerome,
Comment, in Ps. Ixv.

'' Tlie prophet joineth these tn-o together with a copulatiye
particle, thus, X^pX ^DOli '"'d 'n my days I will call. But
because there is in the beginning of the verse this causal
particle, >3, for, or because, the copulative must either be
used in way of emphasis thus, ' Because thou hast inclined
thine ears to me, even in my days 1 will call,' or else be put
for a note of inference, as Tremel. and Juu. Idcirco. And tha
king's translators, 'Therefore will I call.' This phrase, ^Q'^,
in my days, is directly taken ; some take it for continuance o£

R 2

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 2.

These words do note the use which the prophet
made of God's readiness to hear him : which as a
just consequence followed from thence. God having
shewed his readiness to hear him, he would from
thence take heart still to call upon God. This con-
sequence is here amplified by the time, thus, in my
daySji which time, because it is indefinitely set down,
compriseth under it all a man's time, so long as he
liveth : and because the days of trial are by a kind
of property called a man's days, and they are the
most seasonable days for man to pray and God to
hear, this phrase, in my days, may in particular be
applied to the time of trial, the days of his visitation.^
^Vherefore to join the consequence of calling upon
God, and the time thereof, in his days, and that in
both the forenamed acceptions, to join, I say, all
together, the doctrine thence properly arising is this,

God's hearing one's prayer in fonner distresses is
a good encouragement in all future distresses to call
upon liim. Thus Jacob having called on God, as
he was going from his father Isaac to his uncle
Laban, and being graciously heard, took encourage-
ment from thence to call on God again when he
heard that liis brother Esau came out against him
with four hundred men. Yea, in his prayer he thus
pleadeth God's former favour to him : ' With my
staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am be-
come two bauds ; deliver me, I pray thee,' &c. And
again, meeting with the man Jesus Christ, he would
not let him go till he had blessed him, and given
him assurance of safety. And again, when he had
cause to fear the envy of all the nations round about
him for the cruelty of his sous in destroying the
Shechemites, ' at Bethel he built an altar to God,'

time, as the king's translators, who thus turn it, 'as long as I
live.' For the word in my days being indefinitely set down,
may fitly be extended to all his days, even the whole time of
his life. Others, as Tremel. and Jun., expound it of the time
of affliction, thus, in dkhus meis, i. afflictionis mcce ; as Ps.
cxxxvii. 7, the time of Jerusalem's misery is called the day
of Jerusalem. Neither of these cross the other : but both
may stand together, as is manifested by the doctrine gathered
out of these words. Of praying always, see * The Whole
Armour of God,' treat, iii. sec. 113, 137, on Eph. vi. 18.

1 Non in paucis, sed in omnibus diebus vita; meae; nam certis
diebus invooare, non omnibus, fastidientis est, non sperautis,
&c. — Amb. in Oral. De Obit. Theodos.

^ Dies meos possum dicere, dies miserie mese, dies mortali-
tatis meec &c. — Atig. Enar. in hunc Ps.

an evidence of his calUng upon God. And again,
' He set up a pillar, and poured a drink-offering
thereon,' another like evidence of his calling on God.
Thus time after time in his days he called on God.
The like might be exemplified in Joshua, Moses,
David, and other lungs and prophets ; yea, in Christ
himself, who, knowing that his Father heard him
always, always called upon him ; in his apostles, and
other saints. But it is enough to point at them.

God's former hearing of our prayer is an actual
evidence and real demonstration, not only in gene-
ral of God's willingness to hear, and ableness to
help, whereof before, but also of his good-will to us
in particular, for he ever remains the same God,
of the same mind and vvill. ' I am Jehovah,' saith
this God, ' I change not.' Such prayers as were
once acceptable to him, will be ever acceptable to
him. If after he have once opened his ear he shut
it again, the fault is in him that maketh the prayer.
Have ye not read what answer the Lord made to
Joshua, when, ujjon the discomfiture of the host of
Israel before the men of Ai, he ' fell to the earth
upon his face before the ark of the Lord untU even-
tide ' 1 It was this, ' There is an accursed thing in
the midst of thee, Israel : thou canst not stand
before the enemies, until you take the accursed
thing from among you.' But where there is not
some manifest obstacle in the person that prayeth,
or in his prayer, he that hath once been heard may
assure himself that he shall be heard again. God
vvill ever be Uke himself.

Good cause there is that we should on this gi'ound
diligently observe at what times, in what things,
God heareth our prayer. This is a principal prop
to support our faith. It is noted as a point of wis-
dom in the servants of the king of Syi'ia, that they'
' did diligently observe whether an}i;hing would
come from the king of Israel, and did hastily catch
it,' 1 Kings XX. 33. It would cei-tainly be a part of
better wisdom, and a matter of far greater conse-
quence, diligently to observe wherein God's ear hath
been incUned to us, what suits he hath granted unto
us. Om- spirits would be much quickened thereby,
and our faith much strengthened. He that thus
pleaded God's hearing of others' prayers, ' Our
fathers cried unto thee, and were deUvered : they
trusted in thee, and were not confounded,' Ps.

Vek. 3.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

xxii. 5, had his faith questionless much supported
thereby. How much more may we by God's hear-
ing our ovoi prayer ! Such a ground of faith had
Dand when he said, ' The Lord that delivered me
out of the paw of the Hon, and out of the paw of
the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine,' 1 Sam. xvii. 37. We lose the main
benefit and comfort of God's gracious inclination
toward us, if we make not this use thereof.

Quest. How may we know when God heareth our
prayer ?

An-i. ^\Tien we are sure that our prayer for the
matter is according to God's mil, (1 John v. 14,)
agreeable to his word, and withal have the inward
testimony of our conscience bearing us -ontness that
in truth from our heart we have made our prayer,
and God hath thereupon granted what we have
craved, we may, we ought to think and say, that
God hath heard our prayer.' Tliis is not simply in
itself a vainglorious ostentation of the worth of
our prayer, as of a work proceeding from us, but
a grateful acknowledgment of God's gracious ac-
ceptation of his own ordinance. God is the foun-
tain of all blessing. He can cause his blessings to
flow from liim by what means seemeth best to him-
self. Now he in his wisdom hath sanctified prayer
as an ordinary means of recei^-ing bles.sing from
him. Wherefore, when God upon prayer made for
such and such blessings hath granted them, to
think and say God hath heard our prayer, is but
to acknowledge that he hath done the things in
and by the means wliich he liimself hath sanctified,
and to justify his faithfulness in that order and
course wliich himself hath set down. We oft pray,
and God granteth that we pray for, and yet we are
loath to say, God hath heard our prayer. We are
prone to thmk that that which happeneth, though
by prayer it were craved of God, falleth out by
chance ; and that it would have fallen out whether
we had prayed for it or no. This conceit maketh
us backward to praise God for the good things
wliich we have. Fortune and chance- have ob-

' Cum haec omnia gesta apud me cernerem, quomodo non
crederem quod inclinavit aurem suam mihi. — Avg. Enar. in
hunc Ps.

- Of chance, see ' The Extent of God's Providence,' on Mat.
X. 29, sec. 5. Si casibus reguntur homines, nulla providentia
aliquid geritur. — Aug. Enar. in Ps. xxxi. Fortuitum (quje,

tained so gieat esteem among men, as God is there-
by robbed of much glory. No such thieves of
God's glory as they ; they take away the whole
glory of his providence. For if men's affairs be
ordered by chance, nothing is done by pro\'idence.
But if we were thoroughly instructed in the di\ine
pro\ddence, and persuaded of the wise order and
course of the same, in and by such means as in the
word of God are revealed, our opinion of fortune
and chance would vanish as a mist before the
bright sunshine. For that which is casual (which
the vulgar call fortune) is ordered by a certain
secret course, which is providence. Now a diligent
observation of the fruit and effect of our prayers
wUl give us good e\idence of the divine providence,
and make us more thankful for good things bestowed,
and more faithful, fen-ent, and constant in prajang
for the things which we want. And let no man
hence imagine that God may be tu-ed -with suitors
and suits. He is not as man. He taketh great
delight in prayers well-ordered and rightly made.
Such suits, the more frequent they are, the more
welcome they are. Therefore, because thou always
receivest, always crave.^

This of the manifestation of God's kindness in
general.

The particular exemplification thereof followeth.

Sec. 1.5. Of the expression of the pvphct's dkircss,

Ver. 3. The soirons of death compassed me, and the
2)ains of hell got hold upon me : J found trouble and
sorrow.

Here beginneth the exemplification ^ of God's
kindness to liis servant ; the first branch whereof
is a description of the danger wherein he was, and
out of which he was delivered. Now to magnify
the kindness of God the more in dehvering him out
of the same, he settetli it out with much variety of
words and phrase.

1. The first word ''b^H is diversely translated.
Some expound it snares,^ some cords,'' some sorrows.*

vulgo fortuna nominatur) occulto quodam ordine regitur. —
Avff. contr. Acad., lib. i.

' Quia semper accipis, semper invoca. — Amir, in Oral, de
Obit. Tlieoflos.

' Sec. 2. ' Genevens. Eng. Metre. ^ Funi.f, Jerome.

' K. Translat., Trem. aud Jun., Gr. Septuagiut.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXIV.

[Ver. 3.

The reason of this difference is because the word
itself is metaphorical.! jt jg taken from cruel
creditors, who wLU be sure to tie their debtors fast,
as with cords, so as they shall not easily get loose
and free again. The pledge which the debtor
leaveth with his creditor as a pawn, hath this name
in Hebrew ; so also a cord wherewith things are
fast tied ; and the mast of a ship fast fixed, and
tied on every side with cords ; and bands or troops
of men combined together ; and the pain of a woman
in travail, which is very great ; and destruction with
pain and anguish. Thus we see that such a word is
used here as setteth out a most lamentable and in-
extricable case.

2. The next word, of death, JT)D, sheweth that his
case was deadly ; death was before his eyes ; death
was as it were threatened.

3. He is said to be comj>asscd herewith in two
respects : (1.) To shew that these sorrows were
not fax off, but even upon him, as waters that com-
pass a man when he is in the midst of them, or as
enemies that begirt a place. (2.) To shew that they
were not few, but many sorrows, as bees that swann
together.

4. The word translated pams, '•"IIJD, in the original
is put for sacks fast bound together, and fiint stones,
and fierce enemies, and hard straits ; so as this
word also aggi-avateth his misery.

5. The word translated hcU, 71X1^1 is usually
taken in the Old Testament for the grave ; it is
derived from 7'iW, a verb that signifieth to crave,
because the gi-ave is ever craving, and never satis-
fied.

G. The words translated gat hold on me, ^J1K!iJ3,
and I found, XJJQN, are both the same verb ; they
differ only in circumstances of tense, number, and
person. The former sheweth that these miseries
found him, and as a Serjeant they seized on him ;
he did not seek them, he did not wittingly and wil-
fully cast himself into their clutches ; he would
most willingly have escaped them, if he could. The
latter sheweth that indeed he found them ; he felt
the tartness and bitterness, the smart and pain of
them.

^ Debita, vel pignora pro debitis. Item funes et dolores
qui ceu funes constringunt. 7^n Debuit, obstrictus est sere
alieuo.

7. The word translated trouble, mSJ of ~n>{, hath
a near affinity with the former word translated
pain, ")ikO of "I12>, and is used to set out as great
misery as that ; and yet further to aggravate the
same, another word is added thereto, sorrow.

8. The last word, sorrow, "^y of nJl\! importeth
such a kind of calamity as maketh them that lie
under it much to grieve, and also moveth others
that behold it much to pity them. It is oft used
in the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Either of these
two last words, trouble and sorrow, do declare a
very perjalexed and distressed estate ; what then
both of them joined together 1 For the Holy Ghost
doth not multiply words in vain.

Sec. 1 G. Of the great distresses ichermnto saints
are subject.

The forementioned expression of the prophet's
distress affordeth this observation.

Saints may fall into deadly dangers and desperate
distresses. None can deny this proj^het to be a saint.
The express mention of death and grave give just
occasion to say that his danger was deadly.^ The
other words of compassing about, getting hold,
finding, bonds, pains, trouble, sorrow, as they have
been exjjounded, do argue that his distress was des-
perate ; desperate, I say, not in relation to God, as
if there were no hope of help in him, but in relation
to man, being such as is be3^ond his ability to afford
any relief, and so desperate, according to that which
Jehoshaphat said, ' We know not what to do,' — •
namely, in regard of human help ; yet in respect of
his hope in God he addeth, ' Our eyes are upon thee,
our God,' 2 Chron. xx. 12.

Take a view of the dangei-s and distresses wherein
were Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 7, and xxxiv. 30 ; Joseph,
Gen. xxxvii. 18, &c., and xxxix. 19, &c. ; the
Israelites in Egypt, Exod. i. 14, &c., and v. 5,
&c. ; and at the Eed Sea, Exod. xiv. 9 ; in the
time of the judges very often. And wherein were
Moses, Exod. xvii. 4, Num. xvi. 2, &c. ; Job, chap,
ii. 13; David, 1 Sam. xxx. 6; Abijah, 2 Cliron.

' Ingemuit pra; dolore. Hino 71'aw, gemo, deploro.

^ Quicuaque in via linjiis seculi fuerit, quamvis iloyses, et
Aaron, quamvis Hieremias sit et Helias, tamen uecesse est
eum de tentationibus ^Egypti, et solitudinis bibere. — Jerome,
Comment, lib. i. In Hab. 2.

Veu. S.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

"21

xiii. 13 ; Asa, 2 Clirou. xiv. 11 ; Jeliosliapliat, 2
Cliron. XX. 1 2 ; Hezekiah, Isa. xxxvii. 3, and xxxrai.
10; Jouali, chap. i. 15; Jeremiah, chap. xxx\'iii.
G; Daniel and his three companions, Dan. iii. 21,
and ^-i. 16 ; Christ, Luke iv. 29 ; the apostles.
Acts V. 18; Peter, Acts xii. 4, &c. ; Paul, Acts
xxi. 28, &c. ; and many other, whose histories are
recorded in the Holy Sciiptures, and other books ; take
a view of all the dangers and distresses wherein
they were, and it will evidently appear that they
were deadly and desperate.

This God suffers both to give the more clear de-
monstration of liis own divine properties, as his of
prudence, providence, power, pity, truth, &c., and
also to afford means for a more thorough examina-
tion of the graces he bestoweth on us,' as of our faith,
hope, wisdom, patience, courage, constancy, &c. Yea,
he suffereth the day of tribulation to fall on us, that
we should call on liim, for, were it not for aflliction,
we should scarce call on God.-

1. Take heed,' therefore, of over-rash censure.
Judge not such as ai-e compassed with the sorrows of
death, and on whom the pains of heU have got hold
who have found trouble and sorrow ; if they have
professed themselves to be God's servants, judge
them not to be hj^jocrites, to be forsaken by reason
of their distresses. This was the fault of Job's -svife,
to whom Job made this %\dse and just answer, ' Shall
we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall
we not receive exiW Job ii. 9, 10; whereby he
sheweth that the same God who sometimes giveth
to his saints much prosperity, may also in his un-
seai-chable vvisdom lay heavy crosses upon them, and
yet account them saints. The friends also of Job,
though they performed a friendly part in coming to
visit him, yet foully failed in mi.sjudging his inward
disposition and outward conversation, and that upon
no other ground than the great calamity wherein
they saw him lie. On tliis very ground Davdd's
enemies judged him to be forsaken of God. This
censure is both maUcious in itself, and also injurious
and grievous to the party mis-censured. AU that the
devil could do against Job could not so vex his soul

1 See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, i. part 2, sec. 2 ;
Hid., part 4, sec. 11 ; ibid., treat ii. part 5, sec. 12.

» Ad hoc permisi diem tribulationis tibi fieri, quia forte si
non tribulareris, non invocares me.^Auy. Enar. in Ps. xlis.

and perplex his spirit as his wife's and friends' cen-
sure did. Many saints that with their crosses are
much pressed, are with such censures almost op-
pressed.

2. As others may be misjudged, so also may men
mis-censure themselves and their own estate, by
thinking they are cast off and forsaken of God, be-
cause God suffereth them to fall into the snares of
death, into trouble and sorrow. The apostle was
otherwise minded when he said, ' We are troubled
on every side, but not distressed : we are perplexed,
but not in despair : persecuted, but not forsaken :
cast down, but not destroyed,' 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9.
When a man hath the testimony of his conscience
for the sincerity of his heart, he need no more doubt
of God's fatlierly favour to him, tliough he be as
much afflicted as Job was, than Job ilid, who, not-
withstanding all that Satan could do, or liis friends
could say, doubted not of his title and interest to
God's favour, but confidently said, ' Though he slay
me, yet will I tnist in him, and I will maintain mine
own ways before him. He also sliall be my salva-
tion,' Job xiii. 15, 16.

3. There being no such outward affliction but may
befall a saint, we may on tliis ground comfort our-
selves, even in the midst of trials. If this were a
sound ground of comfort, ' There hath no tempta-
tion taken you but such as is common to man,' 1 Cor.
X. 13 — as sound it must needs be, because laid down
by an apostle — surely this must needs be much more
a sound one, ' There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to a child of God.' Faint not,
therefore, under any cross, but remember the conso-
lation ' which speaketh unto you a^ unto children :
My son, despise not thou the chastening of the
Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him,' Heb.
xii. 5.1

4. That when we find trouble and sorrow we may
not faint, it is fit to be prepared beforehand ; and in
the days of our peace and prosperity to meditate on
this condition whereunto all saints are subject, from
which none are exempt. That which befalls any
one may befall every one. There never was nor
shall be any that have had or shall have a protection
in this case, or immunity from this condition. For
our preparation we have an excellent direction, Eph.

' See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, ii. part 5, sec. 20.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vkr. 3.

vi. 10, 11, &c., which was for this end prescribed, as
is e\"ident by this clause, ' That you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and ha\'ing done all, to
stand,' Eph. vi. 13.i

Sec. 17. Of aggravating a distress after delirerancc.

The forementioned - aggravation of the prophet's
distress at this time of gratulation, even when he
was freed from it, further sheweth that —

The uttermost extremity of a calamity is to be ac-
knowledged after we are delivered out of it} Read for
this purpose the beginning of Deborah's song, Judges
V. 6, 7, and Hezekiah's whole song, Ps. xxsrviii. 10,
&c. Da\dd is copious herein in many of his psalms,
and St Paul in many of his epistles.

1. The judgment of a man will be hereby the
better instnicted in the cause of his deliverance to
be from God, and tlie more con\'inced of the equity
of his duty in giving thanks.

2. His heart also vnh be the more enlarged to ad-
mire, and his mouth the wider opened to celebrate
the power, and -vvisdom, and mercy of God in his
deliverance.

The application of this point nearly concerns us
who have so lately * received so gracious, so miracu-
lous a deliverance from so deadly a danger, as the
Uke hath not been heard of in former ages. The
kind of danger, and the fear which possessed us
while we were in the midst thereof, is oft to be me-
ditated on ; yea, and to be recorded also, as here the
psalmist by divine instinct recordeth his, that if it
should in process of time shp out of our memories,
we might have that means to recall it again. And
not only the substance thereof in general, but also
such particular circumstances as may make to the
aggravation thereof.

Many will whine pitifully while the cross lieth on
them, and complain exceedingly of the weight there-
of. They will then set out every circumstance of
aggravation to the uttermost, if not beyond the
uttermost truth ; but when they are freed, at ease,
and at liberty, then lightly think of it, and say there
was more fear than needed. Thus is the deliverance

' See ' The AYhole Armour of God,' treat i. part 4, sec. 6,
&;c. ^ Sec. 15.

5 ' Graphic^ miseras vitsc Buse rationes, postquam ab iis
liberaverateumDeu8,clescribit.'—ilwi^. Con/ess., lib. 1, 2,3,&c.

* Sec. 3.

slighted, God's power, providence, and grace dis-
respected, men's hearts closed, and tongues tied from
giving to God his due praise ; and God provoked
either to inflict heavier judgments, or else to cease
to smite them any more with the stripes of a father,
and to give them over to a rejirobate sense. In a
word, by that means the profit and benefit of a visits
ation is lost.

There be others that after their deliverance will
much sjieak of the danger wherein they were, and
of the very extremity thereof ; but how 1 boastingly,
vaingloriously ; bragging of their o^vn ynt and fore-
cast, or, to use their own base and vulgar phrase, of
their good fortune. Thus is God by anotlier ex-
treme robbed of that honour which is due to him.

To avoid these two extremes the forenamed duty
is rightly and wisely to be performed ; that so that
which is good in the substance may for the manner
be well done. For which end these rules may be of
good use : —

1. Empty thy soul of all self-conceit, and humbly
acknowledge thyself ' not worthy of the least of all
God's mercies,' Gen. xxxii. 10.

2. Well weigh -with thyself, and willingly make
known to others, what little hope of deliverance
thou hadst in the extremity of thy calamity. ' I
said,' saith lie who made a psalm of praise after his re-
covery, ' I said, m the cutting off of my daj^s, I shall go
to the gates of the gi'ave,' &c.. Isa. xxx\Tii. 10, &c.

3. Record the evidences of God's more than ordi-
nary provddence, that thyself and others which hear
may discern where the finger of God hath shewed
itself. He that said, ' Tliis is the Lord's doing ; and
it is marvellous in our eyes,' Ps. cxviii. 23, well ob-
served the work of God.

4. Remember how thou wert affected in the dis-
tress; whether thou didst then call upon God for
deliverance. If thou didst, make kno-wn as much.
Boldly think and say, as the psalmist, ' In my dis-
tress I cried to my God : he heard my voice,' Ps.
xviii. 6. This will be an evidence of the work of
God, that he hath delivered thee.

5. Wiat thou doest, do in way of praise to the
gloryof God,as the psalmistwhere herecordeth agreat
deliverance, and ascribeth it to the Lord, iuserteth
tliis clause, ' Who is worthy to be praised,' Ps. xviii. 3.

6. What thou doest in this khid do before such as

Ver. 4.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

thou supposest have minds and hearts disposed to
take notice of God's works ; as tliis prophet said,
' I will pay my vows unto the Lord in the presence
of his people,' Ps. cxvi. 14 ; before such, a man
dares not boast of anything but of God and his work.
7. In this kind what thou doest, do it as before
the Lord. AMien tliou art alone before him, then
open thy soul in the aggravation of thy distress to
the full. AMien thou ai-t in company let thy heart
be fixed on the Lord. No better means to keep
thee from boasting in thyself Thus did he whose
mouth was so full of God's praises, ' I have set the
Lord,' saith he, ' always before me,' Ps. xvi. 8.

Sec. IS. Of the resoliiiion of the fourth verse.

Ver. 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord ;
Lord, L beseech thee, deliver my soul.

IL Thei second branch of the exempliiication of
God's kindness setteth out the means which the
prophet used to obtain deliverance of the Lord, and
that was in one word prayer, which is here noted in
this fourth verse, where we may observe :

1. A general declaration of that means, 'Then
called I upon the name of the Lord.'

2. A particular expression of the main substance
thereof, 'O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.'

In the general, three distinct points are observable :

1. The time, 'Then.'

2. The action, ' I called.'

3. The object, ' Upon the name of the Lord.'
In the particular, we may discern :

1. The manner of framing his prayer.

2. The matter that is praj^ed for.

The manner pointeth out two graces of special use
to make pra3'er effectual :

1. His faith, 'OLord.'

2. His fervency, ' I beseech thee.'
The matter exjjressetli :

1. The thing desired, ' Deliver.'

2. The subject for which it is desired, ' ]\Iy soul.'

Sec. 19. Of seeking a remedy in misery.
The first pomt to be obser\^ed in the fourth verse
is the general declaration of the means used for de-
liverance. And thereof the first special branch is the
time when that means was used, ' Then called I,' &c.
' See sec. 2.

That particle of time is in the original expressed
by a copulative particle, ' and,' which is thus joined
with the former, ' I found sorrow, 01^2"), and on the
name of the Lord I called.' It is usual with the
Hebrews to point at the time of doing a thing by
joining the thing done with the occasion of doing it.
And if in English we should thus speak, ' I was in
prison and petitioned the king,' any would thence
gather the time when the petition was made, as if
it had been said, ' When I was in prison, then I
petitioned.' Wherefore for perspicuity sake this
particle of time, ' then,' according to the true sense
of the word, is here not unfitly used, and from thence
this instruction may be inferred.

In distress redress is to be sought.''- It is that which
God hath commanded, and to which he hath made
a promise, Ps. 1. 15, which the saints in all ages
have done, Ps. xxii. 5, and found good success there-
in ; yea, which very sense teacheth unreasonable
creatures to do. Job xxxviii. 41.

It is the very end why God hath afforded means
of redi'ess, that they should be sought and used.
To be careless herein is to neglect the divine provi-
dence for our good, whereby men shew themselves
both ungrateful to God and injurious to their o^vn
souls.

Just cause there is on this ground to reprove
those stupid blocks who are never moved in any
judgment to inquire after any means whereby it
may be removed ; but upon conceit that it is an
iue\dtable destiny neglect all means, thinking that
if their hap be to escape, it is well, but if they must
needs perish, it cannot be avoided. ^ Thus, by the
shallo'miess of their conceit, they cross the incom-
prehensibleness of God's wisdom, or rather by their
obstinate blockishness they pervert the revealed
goodness of God. For the vnse God, keeping close
to himself his detennined purpose, hath in goodness
revealed means for such an accomplishment of his
counsel as may best make for our good ; in use of
which means, if we be conscionable, we shall
assuredly find God's will accomplished to the best.
It is not therefore their destiny, but their folly, that
such as neglect means wananted and sanctified by

' Revera pauper et inops, pulsa ad eum qui aperit. — Bern,
super Cant. Serm. 1.

' See ' Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii. part 5, sec. 18, 19.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 4.

God's word do perish, wherein they make them-
selves accessory to their o-\vti destruction. For
howsoever the patrons of destiny do attribute all
things thereto, both good and e\al, yet it is evident,
that God justly reveugeth in e\il men their deserts,
but bestoweth all good things through an unde-
served grace, of his oivn merciful inclmation ; so as of
him grace and help in time of need is to be sought. ^
This therefore will be our wisdom, to take notice
of the distress wherein we are, to Luquu-e after the
best means of help and succour, and to be conscion-
able in using it. Common sense and natural reason
move men to seek after temporal, sensible remedies,
and to learn which of them have a pivbaium est, an
experimental evidence of good done by them. To
such as are minded to beUeve God's word, and to
use that remedy to wliich God himself and his
saints in all ages have given a p)vhatum est, the next
following doctrine will be of good use.

Sec. 20. Of prayer in affliction.

The second - special branch of the general de-
claration of the means is the action used : ' I called,'
saith the prophet. This having relation to the
Lord, as the next words shew, settetli out his pray-
ing to God. And this was that sovereign, that
effectual means which he used ; so as —

Prayer is the best remedy in a calamity. This is
indeed a true caiJiolicum,^ a general remedy for every
malady. Not like the empiric's catholicum, which
sometimes may work, but for the most part fails, but
that which upon assured evidence and constant ex-
perience hath its probatum est ; being that wliich the
most wise, learned, honest, and skilful Physician
that ever was, or can be, hath prescribed, — even he
that teacheth us how to bear what is to be borne,
or how to heal and help what hath been borne.^
Well weigh the testimonies of Scripture ^ pro-

' Fati assertores et bona et mala hominum fato tribuunt.
Deu3 autem in mails hominum merita eorum debita retribu-
tione persequitur, bona vero per indebitam grati.am miseri-
cordi voluntate largitur. — Aug. contr. 2 Epist. Pdag. ad
Bonifuc, lib. i. cap. 6. - See sec. 19.

' Quiutilianua, lib. ii. cip. 13, interpretatur Ka6o\iKa, uni-
versalia, vel pei-petualia.

* Potens est Deus, vel docere tolerandum, vel sanare tole-
ratum. — Attg. Eiiar. in Ps. xlix. ' Sec. 19.

duced for proof of the general doctrine, that redress
is to be sought, and they will be found very perti-
nent to this particular kmd of redress, prayer.
This is the remedy wliich God hath commanded to
be used, and whereto he hath promised liis blessing,
which accordingly hath been used, and an answer-
able blessing observed. Yea, further to shew the
effectual operation hereof, when the Lord hath re-
solved not to cure, he hath forbidden this remedy to
be used ; as if , if it were used, it must needs do the
deed, it could not be in vain.

It is no latent virtue in prayer, as it is a work
performed by man, that maketh it so effectual in
operation ; but the order which it hath pleased the
divine wisdom to estabHsh. God being the foun-
tain of all blessing, the author of all help, that
' father of lights from whom every good gift
Cometh,' James i. 17, who can convey what help
and succour it pleaseth him, — and there is nothing
so difficult which, by the help of God, cannot be
accomplished,! — he who can afford help by what
means it seemeth best to his wisdom, hath sancti-
fied this means of prayer for us, thereby ' to obtain
mercy and to find grace to help in time of need,'
Heb. iv. 1 6. And that because m and thereby God
who is called uj)on is much honoured, and man
stripped of all matter of boasting and self-conceit. ^
For in that men seek help by prayer of God, they
testify an acknowledgment, —

1. Of their need. For need, yea, sense of need
makes men crave.

2. Of their own inipotency. For they who are
able to help themselves, use not to seek help of
others.

3. Of the disability of other creatures to help.
For they who can have succour nearer hand, will
not seek further off for it. By prayer the soul
ascendetli into the highest heavens, to the throne of
the highest majesty, because lower than that it can
have no hope of help.

Finally, if ever men uncover their nakedness, open
their sores, lay forth their -WTetchedness, set their

' Nihil est tam arduum atque difficile, quod non Deo
juvante planissimura atque expeditissimum fi.xt. In ipsum
itaque suspensi, ab eo auxilium deprecemur.-^-4i(^. de Lib.
Arbit., lib. i. cap. 6.

' See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii. sec. 17.

Ver. 4.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

sins ill order, confess tlieii- guiltiness, acknowledge
tlieii' cursedness, cast away all cloaks of vain hopes
in themselves, and in other creatures, it is in prayer.
For proof hereof, set the pattern of the saints'
prayers recorded in Holy Scripture before you.

1. Here take notice of the cause why men in their
needs and distresses lust and have not, desire to
have and cannot obtain : even because, as the apostle
hath set it down, they ask not. Hath God sanctified
a means for attaining help in all our necessities and
extremities, and shall we think that he will sutler
his ordinance to be crossed ? Can we expect help
by any other course than that wliich in his wisdom
he hath prescribed ? ' Let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord.'

2. Be exliorted, as to take notice of your neces-
sity, so to be conscionable in using tliis warrantable
remedy.

(1.) "When thou feelest any sj-mptoms of God's
anger vexing and grie\'ing thy soul, pray, and say,
' Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath,' &c., Ps.
xxx^'iii. L

(2.) When thou observest the power of sin to be-
gin to prevail over thee, and to make thee a vassal,
pray, and say, ' Keep back thy servant from pre-
sumptous sins ; let them not have dominion over me,'
Ps. xix. 1.3.

(3.) "When fears of falling away possess thee, pray
' that thy faith fail not,' Luke xsdi. 32.

(4.) When thou art assaulted with violent temp-
tations, pray against them : pray that ' God's grace
may be sufficient for thee,' 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.

(.5.) When thou wantest wisdom, or any other
grace, ' a.sk it of God.'

(6.) When thou art visited with sickness, or art
ill any like distress, pray as Hezekiah did ; yea, ' Call
for the elders of the church, let them pray over thee,'
James v. 14 ; that at least ' the Lord would streng-
then thee on the bed of languishing, and make thy
bed in thy sickness,' Ps. xli. 3.

(7.) When there is fear of enemies entering into
the land, pray that ' there be no invasion, nor com-
plaining in our streets,' Ps. cxliv. 1 4.

(8.) "\\nien thou hearest of traitors conspiring
against the peace of the land, pray to God to ' turn
their counsel into foolishness,' 2 Sam. xv. 13.

(9.) When thou seest multitudes scattered abroad,

as having no shepherd, pray ' the Lord of the har-
vest that he will send forth labourers into his har-
vest,' Mat. ix. 38.

(10.) When ministers are silent or silenced, pray
that ' they may open their mouth boldly, to make
known the mysteries of the gospel,' Eph. vi. 19.

(11.) When thou canst not profit by the word,
pray that ' the Lord would open tliine eyes and
heart,' Ps. cxix. 18; Acts xvi. 14.

(12.) When thou wantest good success, pray, and
say, ' Prosper, Lord, the work of om* hands ;
prosper thou our handiwork,' Ps. xc. 1 7.

(13.) When thou fearest that thy children have
done amiss, do as Job did, ' oSer the sacrifice of
prayer for them,' Job i. 5.

Let the like be done for husbands, wives, masters,
servants, kindred, friends, neighbours, and all others
in any need or distress. In all' things, at all times
pray : pray for removing evils, pray for obtaining
good thmgs.

Sec. 21. Of calling on God as known by name.

The third special branch of the general declara-
tion of the means is the object to which the fore-
mentioned action of prayer was directed : and that
is thus expressed — ' the name of the Lord.' Of call-
ing on God, I shall not need here to speak j^ all
that was before delivered of prayer concerned prayer
made to God.

The point that remaineth to be insisted upon, is
the manner of setting do-\ra this object, thus, the
name of the Lord.

The name of God is that whereby God is made
lvnown.2 By this phrase, then, he importeth that
he called on God, as God had made himself known ;
with understanding of, and respect to those divine
attributes whereby God as by a name had revealed
himself : whereby is given us to understand that

God must be called upon as one that is knmcn.^ The
many titles attributed to God in saints' prayers,
whereby God is manifested to be the true God, and
distinguished from all false gods, are evident demon-
strations of this truth. Take for instance these :

' See ' The Whole Armour of Got!,' treat, iii. sec. 5, 6.
^ See the ' Guide to go to God,' sec. 20.
' Lege precationem Augustini ad Deum, Soliloquiorum, lib.
i. cap. 1.

2fi

GOUGE ON PSAI.M CXVI.

[Ver. 4.

' God of my father Abraham, and God of my
father Isaac,' Gen. xxxii. 9. ' The Lord, the God
of the spirits of all flesh,' Num. xxvii. IG. '0 Lord
of hosts,' 1 Sam. i. 11. 'Thou art great, O Lord
God : there is none like thee, neither is there any
God beside thee, according to all that we have heard
with our ears,' 2 Sam. ■iii. 22. ' Lord God of
Israel, there is no God like thee,' &c., 1 Kings viii.
13. ' O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between
the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast made
heaven and earth,' 2 Kings xix. 15. 'Thine,
Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory,
and the victory, and the majesty,' &c., 1 Chron.
xxix. 11. '0 Lord God of heaven, the great and
terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy,' &c.,
Neh. i. 5. The books of the Psalms and prophets
abound with such titles as set out the name of God.
And in the New Testament thus his name is set out :
' The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' Eph. iii. 1 4.

God's name, as it is set out in the word, is both a
glorious name, full of majesty ; and also a gracious
name, full of mercy. His majesty worketh fear and
reverence, his mercy faith and confidence.^ By
these graces man's heart is kept within such a com-
pass, as he will, neither presume above that which is
meet, nor despau- more than there is cause. But
where God's name is not rightly known, it cannot
be avoided but that they who come before him must
needs rush upon the rock of presumption, or sink
into the gulf of desperation. Necessary, therefore,
it is that God be known of them that pray to him,
that in truth they may say, ' We have called upon
the name of the Lord.'

Be persuaded hereby all that desire so to offer up
your spiritual sacrifice of supplication to God, as he
may have respect to your persons and prayers, (as he
had respect to Abel and his offering ;) be persuaded
to learn to know the name of God, as in his word it
is made known ; and then, especially when you draw
near unto him, meditate on his name. Assuredly
God will take good notice of them that take due
notice of him, and will open his ears to them by
name who rightly call upon his name.

' Nullum Dei nomen reperietis quod non aut pietatia gra-
tiatn, aut potentiam majestatis sonet. — Bern, super Cant.,
Serm. xv.

Sec. 22. Of saints' familiar access to God.

The particular expression of the substance of the
prophet's prayer is in these words, ' Lord, I be-
seech thee, deliver my soul.' Wherein the first
thing to be considered is the manner of framing his
prayer to God, in the vocative case and second per-
son, as it were face to face speaking unto God : '
Lord ; ' whereby we are taught that

Saints have a holy familiarity icith God.^ They need
not send in their petitions to him by some of his
servants, they may even by name present their
prayers to himself ; yea, they ought so to do. To
omit many hundred of examples that might be
alleged out of the approved prayers of the servants
of God, guided therein by the Spirit of God, and re-
corded by the Holy Ghost, (for this was their con-
stant custom, to direct their prayers even to God
himself by name,) that pattern which our Lord pre-
scribeth in his perfect platform of prayer is a suffi-
cient jjroof of the point ; for he that knew what
familiarity vnih God his children might warrantably
use, teacheth them thus to pray to God, — ' Our
Father.'

God's indulgences towards us is the only ground
of this prerogative. His desire is to do us good on
all occasions, and in all our needs to help us.

Wherefore, that we may not be kept from him,
and miss of that good which he intendeth to us, he
affordeth us this admii-able familiarity and comfort-
able hberty to come ourselves into liis presence, and
even into his bosom to pour forth our whole hearts.
A prerogative tliis is whereby we are advanced
above death, and above all things subject to corrup-
tion. ^

Now I beseech you that ye receive not this grace
of God in vain. It is a high honour, a great favour,
proper to favourites. That which on our parts is
hereupon expected, is, that we freely use this prero-
gative, and ' draw near with a true heart, in full
assurance of faith.' If God were not minded to re-
ceive our petitions, and to grant our requests, he
would never afford us so free and friendly access

1 Profecto cum deo confabulamur, quoties vacamus depre-
catioui. — Chrys. dc Orand. Dtum, lib. i.

' Necesse est ut qui cum Deo familiaritatem habeat, superior
evadat et morte, et omnibus quse conuptioni sunt obnoxia. —
Chrys., loc. cxtat.

Ver. 4 ]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

into his chamber of presence. We do not, as Esther
did by going into king Ahasuerus his inner court,
put our lives in hazard by presenting our persons
and prayers before the face of God, but we do that
which much pleaseth him, and which will bring
much peace to our own hearts. For as thereby we
gain much assurance of God's fatherly favour to us,
so we may be sure to have all our lawful and meet
desires granted unto us. Ask, therefore, what thou
wantest : ' Ask of God himself, who upbraideth
not ; ask in faith, nothing doubting, and it shall be
given thee.' True faith will draw us unto God.
The centurion, the more his faith increased, the more
boldly and famiharly he approached to the Lord.^
Compare Luke ^-ii. 3, &:c., with Mat. vdii.- 5, &c.,
and well weigh their manner of setting down the
histoiy of the centurion's coming to Christ, and it
will appear that the centurion, in desire of his ser-
vant's recovery, first sent the elders of the Jews to
entreat Christ to come to his sick servant. But so
soon as they were gone, better thinking of his own
unworthiness and of the power of Christ, he sent
friends to stay his coming, and only by his word in
absence to cure his servant. Yet further meditating
on Christ's goodness, to shew that it was not in
pride that he sent others rather than went himself,
he takes boldness and went himself to Christ.

Sec. 23. Offen-ency in prayer.

The second branch of the prophet's manner of
expressing his prayer is in this phrase, ' I beseech
thee,' which importeth a kind of earnestness.- For
the tilings which we fain would have we use to
entreat for, as St Paul, who earnestly desired that
the Galatians should return to him, thus expresseth
his desire : 'I beseech you be as I am,' Gal. iv. 12.
Hence learn, that

Prayers made to God must he fervent. A pro-
perty this is appertaining to prayer much pressed
in Scripture, and that under these and suchlike
metaphors: ' crjnng,' Exod. xiv. 15; 'striving,'
Eom. X7S-. 30 ; ' wrestling with God,' Gen. xxxii. 24 ;
' renting the heart,' Joel ii. 13;' pouring out the

1 Centuiio, quo magis credidit, eo magis accessit ad Do-
minum. — Avrj. de Cunsens. Evan., lib. ii. cap. 20.

' T\m de hao voce vide infra, ver. 16, interpretatur rogo
et deprecor. — Jerome in hunc. loc.

soul,' 1 Sam. i. 15; 'panting after, thirsting for,'
Ps. xlii. 1, 2. Yea, it is expressly requu'ed ('be
fervent in spirit,') and added as a jiroviso to effectual
prayer, James v. 16.

Fervour in prayer is as fire put to powder, which
makes it ascend high.^ Yea, prayer, if it be made
ivith intension, will be as armour of i^roof against
all that can annoy a Christian. Fervency makes
prayer so much the more prevalent, in that it mani-
festeth a high esteem of the thing for which we
pray, tiiith of our desire, and faith in obtaining.
Who will be earnest for that which he little re-
gards 1 '\Miere the desire is feigned, how can the
heart be thoroughly affected or inflamed ? If there
be distrust, doubt and fear of prevailing, will not the
spirit be heavy and the desire cold 1 But God is
well pleased when he discerneth that men highly
prize, heartily seek, and confidently expect his
favour. True fervency, then, arising from all these,
must needs be acceptable to God, and fervent
prayers effectual, for they pierce heaven, whence they
cannot return empty without blessing.

Let us now rouse up our spirits when we call upon
God ; let us entreat him, beseech him, importune
him, not take any nay. Do as the widow did in the
Gospel, Luke xviii. 2, S:c., with the hard-hearted
judge, give him no rest.^ We have to deal ^vith a
father, with a tender-hearted father, who delights to
hear his children beseech him, so as we may rest
upon it that our beseechings shall not be in vain.

Sec. 24. Of delivering a man's soul.
The matter^ of the prophet's prayer is in these
words, ' Deliver my soul.' The thing desired, ' de-
liver,' importeth that he was in distress, which he
acknowledged in the former verse, and that to be
freed out of that di.stress he called upon God. The
subject for which deliverance is desired, his soul, is
synecdochically put for his whole person, body and
soul ; a synecdoche frequent in Scripture, so clear
as translators do oft turn this very word, person.
In this and other like places, soul is put for a man's
whole person very emphatically: 1. To shew the

' Magna arnia sunt oralio si cum intentione fuerit. — Chrys.
in cap. 11 ad Ihb., Horn. 27

'' See 'Tlie Wliole Armour of God,' treat, iii. sees. 141,
142, 143. 'See Sec. 18.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 4.

grievousness of the distress, it pierced to their very
souls ; 2. To shew the danger thereof, it brought
their very souls, their life into danger ; thus it ap-
peareth that that which the prophet desired was to
be freed from such a distress as endangered his life.

This kind of praj^er, namely, for deliverance from
evil, is called deprecation.

The evil from which he prayed to be delivered was
such an one as touched his person ; it was temporal,
corporal. The description of it iu the former verse
sheweth as much.

It was also deadly ; it brought his life into danger.

Three observable points may be gathered from this
matter of the prophet's prayer.

I. Deprecation may and must be used.i Hereof
see ' The Whole Aimour of God,' treat, iii. sec. 32,
&c., and the ' Guide to go to God,' on the 5th petition
of the Lord's prayer, sec. 156.

II. Deprecation may and must be iised against
temporal evils, even such as touch our persons, our
bodies as well as our souls. Let the places whereto
reference is made in the former point be advisedly
marked, and we shall find this branch also handled ;
yet further for this particular, see the ' Guide to go
to God,' on the 4th petition, sees. 81, 83, 89, 93, 99,
100.

III. In danger of death deliverance may be sought
of God.

Sec. 25. Of praying for deliverance in danger of death.
That it is lawful when our life is in hazard to
seek help of God is evident, as by the frequent
practice of them who well knew what was lawful
for them to. do, so by God's gracious hearing of their
prayers, and delivering them from death. Here we
have David's pattern.^ Take for further instances
in this case the examples of Moses at the Eed Sea,
Exod. xiv. 15 ; Jonah in the whale's belly, chap,
ii. 1 ; Hezekiah when he had received from God a
message of death, Isa. xxx\'iii. 1, 2; and the church
for Peter when he was bound in prison. Acts xii. 5.
Yea, the apostle oft requireth this duty to be per-

' Lege Augustini precationem in afflictiune, qua multa de-
precatur mala. — Medit., cap. 38.

' David perpetuis precationibiis plurimoa dolores pressuros
eiira removit. Ita et Job ad Deiira preoibus utebatur. —
Chrys. de Pror. Dei. lib., iii.

formed for him in his dangerous distresses ; among
other places especially note these, Eom. xv. 30 ; 2
Cor. i. 11 ; Heb. xiii. 19.

God is the Lord of life and death, Deut. xxxii.
39 ; 1 Sam. ii. 6, they are at his command to
come, to go, to tarry. ' Unto God the Lord belong
the issues from death,' Ps. bcviii. 20, that is, de-
liverances from death and deadly danger. ' Hezekiah
was sick unto death,' Isa. xxx\Tii. 1, yet the Lord
pi-eserved him from death. So hath the Lord oft
delivered his servants from such dangers as their
enemies supposed they could never have been de-
livered from.

' Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you
an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the li\Ting
God,' Heb. iii. 12. Oppose not seeming impossibil-
ities to God's omnipotency. Say not in diffidence,
as the Israelites did, Can God do this or that ? Ps.
]xx\dii. 19, 20. Note the vengeance that followed
the incredulous prince, 2 Kings vii. 1 7.

Seeing there is so good a ground of faith in the
most desperate distress that in this world we can fall
into, learn we to exercise our faith ; and when we
know not what to do, then with faithful Jehoshaphat,
2 Chron. xx. 12, to fix them upon the Lord. It is
one main end why God hath set in man's eyes a
fifth muscle, whereas other creatures have but four,
one to turn downwards, another to hold forwards, a
third to turn the eye to the right hand, a fourth
to the left hand ; but no unreasonable creature can
turn the eye upward ; only man, that hath reason
to comdnce him that there is a God above, hath also
a fifth muscle in his eye to roll it up to God, and in
all extremities to expect help from him.^ Let us
therefore on all occasions turn our eyes up to God,
and call on him for help, and rest on him to be
heard, so far forth as in his wisdom he seeth it to
be fit for his own glory and our good. For true
faith so trusteth to God's power as it subjecteth
itself to God's vrA\, like the leper that said to Christ,
' If thou ■\vilt thou canst make me clean,' Mark i.
40. Or rather, like those three faithful and vahant
servants of the Lord that said to the angry king,
that threatened to cast them into a hot fiery furnace

^ Quintum musculum si attraiias, oculus sursum vertitur,
lit ejus auxilio coeliim intueremur. — Columb. dereAnatom.,\ih.
V. can. 9.

Ver. 5.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

if they would not worship liis idol, ' Nebuchad-
nezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this
matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the burning fieiy furnace, and he
will deliver us out of thine hand, king. But if not,
be it known to thee, O king, that we mil not serve thy
gods,' Dan. iii. 17, 18. With this proviso of a con-
tented submission of our desires to God's good pleasure
we may in the most mortal sickness that can seize
upon us, in prison, in captivity, when our enemies
have us the most sure that they can imagine or de-
sire in any other extremity, call upon God to de-
liver us ; yea, and to deliver others also in the
like cases, yea, though they lie at point of death.
So also in times of public judgments, when the
heavens threaten to destroy all the fruits of the
land, when the plague most rageth, when the
enemies have entered into our land, we may pray
to God for deliverance.! No judgment can so far
proceed as to exceed God's power in suppressing it,
whereof this plague giveth good evidence ; and this
phrase, ' Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul,'
manifesteth the afl'ection of one earnestly craving
the removal of the evU wherein he was. For, as we
have heard before, he was in very great danger.

Sec. 26. Of God's attributes of goodness.

Ver. 5. Gracious is the Lard, and righteous ; yea, our
God is merciful.

III. The thii'd^ branch of the exemiilification of
God's kindness declareth the cause whereby God
was moved to deliver him ; and that is here attri-
buted to God himself, only to him. He therefore
taketh occasion to describe God, and that by three
of his properties :

1. Gracious.

2. Righteous.

3. Merciful.

All these are further amplified by a particular ap-
plication of them to that Ckid in whom he trusted,
and on whom he called, who is here set out,

1. By his title of excellency, Jehovah the Lord.

2. By the relation that saints have to liim, oiu- God.

1 Quod dicit, hoc est, deprecor, Domine, libera animam
meam, non est eiiim vocautis, sed deprecantis a£fectus. In
ingenti enim periculo conatitutus est. — Jerome in hunc loc.

' See sec. 2.

The first attribute, gracious, (T13rT,) hath especial
respect to that goodness which is in God himself.
The root (pn) whence it cometh signifieth to do a
thing gratis, freely, of one's own mind and goodwill.
This is that word which is used to set out the free
grace and mere goodwill of God, thus, (]nj< "Iti'i^
PlU '/13m,) ' I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious,' Exod. xxxiii. 19. There is also an adverb
(□jn) derived thence, which signifieth gratis, freely,
as where Laban thus speaketh to Jacob, Shouldst
thou serve me for nought 1 Thus is this word op-
posed to merit. And hereby the prophet acknow-'
ledged that the deliverance which God gave was
for the Lord's own sake, upon no desert of him that
was delivered.

The second attribute, righteous or just, (pn2{),
hath particular relation to the promise of God.

God's righteousness largely taken is the integrity
or equity of all his counsels, words, and actions.

This is generally manifested by his equal ordering
of all thmgs. For ' the Lord is righteous in all his
ways,' Ps. cxlv. 1 7. ' All his ways are judgment.
A God of truth, without iniquity, just and right is
he,' Deut. xxxii. 4.

Particularly is God's righteousness manifested in
giving reward and taking revenge. Thus it is said
to be 'a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble the saints ; and to
them that are troubled, rest,' 2 Thes. i. 6, 7. This
is that righteousness whereabout the Lord maketh
this challenge, ' Is not my way equal ? ' Ezek. x\m.
2.5. In regard hereof, the day of rendering to every
one according to his works is styled, ' The day of
the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,'
Eom. ii. 5.

But the occasion of mentioning God's righteous-
ness here in this place being to shew ground of his
calling on God, and of God's delivering him, it must
needs have respect to God's word and promise,
and to God's truth in performing what he hath
promised.'

For truth is an especial branch of rigliteousness.
Thus the righteousness and faithfulness of God are
put for one and the same thing ; as where the psal-

' Justitia Dei coiiTenienter Veritas nominatur. Et sic dici-
tur in nobis Veritas justitise. — Aquin., Sum. 1, par. q. 21,
art. 2. Ps. cxliii. 1.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXYI.

[Ver. 5.

mist saith, ' I have not hid tli}- righteousness,' &c.,
by way of exj)lanation he addeth, ' I have declared
thy faithfuhiess,' Ps. xl. 10. In like respect the
apostle joinetli these tvro attributes together, as sig-
nifjang one and the same thing, thus, ' He is faith-
ful and just to forgive us,' 1 John i. 9. So as this
sheweth that it was God's own word and promise,
whereby he had bound himself, that moved him to
afford succour. Yet so as his grace is the ground
thereof, and his mei-cy accomplisheth it. Therefore
mercy is twice expressed ; righteousness once. Right-
eousness in the midst, enclosed with a double fence
of mercy. 1

The third attribute, merciful, (DmO), hath ap-
parent reference to misery ; for misery is the pro-
per object of mercy. And in this respect this word
is oft translated compassion : as where Moses, speak-
ing of the great miseiy whereinto Israel should be
brought, saith, ' The Lord will have compassion
upon thee,' Deut. xxx. 3, ("IDmi). And when
Hazael had much oppressed Israel, it is said, ' The
Lord had compassion on them,' 2 Kings xiii. 23,
(DOm^l). The notation of the word importeth as
much ; for the same word in Hebrew (Dm) sig-
nifieth bowels and mercy : for mercy ariseth from
the moving of the bowels at the sight of misery.
Hence it is that the LXX ti-anslate mercies, bowels.
As where the wise man saith, ' The mercies of the
wicked are cruel,' Prov. xii. 10, (\'2m), they, the
bowels, (ra BTXdy^m). And in the jS^ew Testament,
' to have compassion ' is usually set out by a word
that signifieth ' to have the bowels moved ' (aT>.a.y-
yjiS,Bii6ai) ; and ' the bowels of mercies' (a-Xdy^va
iXiovc, Luke i. 7, 8), is a phrase oft used.

Object. These phrases import passion, whereunto
the divine essence is not subject.

J. IIS. Nor mercy, nor any other like property is
attributed to God properly, as a passion, but tropi-
cally, to demonstrate that the effects of such affec-
tions do come from God.^ Men that have bowels
of compassion in them, and are truly affected with

' Bis misericordiam posuit, semel justitiam in medio; jus-
titia est gemino septo inclusa misericordise. — Amb. in Orat. de
out. Theodos.

'^ Misericordia est Deo maxime attribuenda : tamen secim-
dum effectual, non secundum passionis affectum, &c. — Aquin.,
Sum. 1, par. q. 21, art. 3.

the miseries of others, will be ready to afford them
what help they can. So, because the Lord is ready
to succour such as are in miserj-, he is said to be
merciful, full of comisassion, and to have bowels of
mercies.

The first title. Lord, sets out the excellency of
God.i Fit mention is here made thereof, to shew
the blessed concurrence of greatness and goodness in
God. Though he be Jehovah the Lord, yet is he
gracious, and righteous, and merciful.

The second title, our God, manifesteth a peculiar
relation bet'wixt liim and the faithful that believe in
him and depend on him, as this prophet did. And
to them in an especial manner the Lord is gracious,
which moved him thus to change the person ; for
where in the third person he had said before, the
Lord is gracious, here, in the first person, our God :
yet so as he appropriateth not this pri\ilege to him-
self, but acknowledgeth it to be common to such as
himself by the plural number, o>ir.

This description of God is not by any particle of
connexion tied to the words going before or follow-
ing after, but fitly it may be referred to both : to
the former, as she'^ving the ground of his calling
upon God, because he is gracious, &c. ; to the latter,
as shewing the ground of God's delivering him, even
God's ovra grace, i^-c.

Many comfortable instructions do flow from this
description of God, as —

I. God's goodness ariseth from himself. He is
gracious.

II. God is faithful in his promises. He is righteous.

III. God is moved '(vith man's miseries. He is
merciful.

IV. The great Lord is a good God. Jehovah the
great Lord is gracious, &c.

V. The Lord is in special manner a God to the
faithful. They may say to him and of him, Our God.

VI. God's goodness in peculiar appertaineth to his
peculiar people. They that can say. Our God, may
especially say. He is gracious, &c.

VII. Knowledge and faith in God's goodness en-
courageth saints to call upon God ; for, after the
prophet had testified that he called on God, he thus
describeth God to shew what made him bold so to do.

' Of this title Lord, see ' The Church's Conquest,' on Exod.
xvii, 15, sec. 72.

Ver. 5.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

VIII. God's goodness is the cause of the deliver-
ances which he giveth to his people ; for so soon as
he had set out the goodness of God, he addeth, The
Lord preserveth, to shew that that was the cause of
this.

Sec. 27. Of God's graciotisness.^

I. GocTs goodness ariseth from himself. The
attribute gracious importeth as much, and as much
is expressly avouched in Scripture. AMiat else doth
this speech of God import, ' I ^vill be gracious to
whom I will be gi-acious 1 ' (Exod. xxxiii. 19.) And
this, ' I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans-
gressions for mine o^^•^l sake i ' (Isa. xliii. 25.) And
this, ' For mine own sake, for mine own sake vnll I
do it ' ? (Isa. xlviii. 11.) And this, ' I was found of
them that sought me not'? (Isa. Lsy. 1.) And
many the like.

^Mience should God's goodness arise if not from
himself? What is in the creature to move God to
be good and kind unto it ? ' The creature hath no-
thing but what from God it hath received,' 1 Cor.
iv. 7 ; what it hatii can ' profit God nothing,' Job
xxii. 2, 3 ; the most excellent is ' less than the least
of God's mercies,' Gen. xxxii. 10 ; when it bath
done aO, it is an ' unprofitable servant,' Luke x^ii.
10 ; it hath done nothing but duty, whereunto it was
bound.

Object. Clirist our Mediator is worthy to appear
before God for us. He hath merited grace and
favour. For his sake God doth the good which he
doth to us.

Ans. 1. If we consider — 1. AMio Christ is, even
the only begotten Son of God, very God. 2. Who
gave Christ to be a Mediator for us, even God him-
self : ' God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son,' &c., John iii. 16. 3. AMiat
moveth God to accept that which his Son hath done,
what moveth him to accept thereof for us — namely,
bis grace : for, ' By liis grace God makcth us accepted
in his Beloved : in whom we have redemption, ac-
cording to the riches of grace,' (Eph. i. 6, 7.) If we
consider these three points, we shall find that God's
grace and Christ's worth are not incompatible, such
things as cannot agree together, but rather such as

' See the ' Guide to go to God,' sec. 204. Deua ex se sumit
materiam, et velut quoddam aeminarium miserendi. — Bern, in
Natal. Dom., Serm. v.

do commend each other ; yea, thus justice is mercy,
and mercy is justice.^

Admirable comfort doth hence arise to us poor
unworthy wretches ; unworthy as ^^Tetches, more
unworthy as mortal creatures, dust and ashes ; most
of aU, unworthy as sinful creatures. Nothing in us
can work in us any boldness to approach into God's
presence, to expect any favour, any blessing from
liim ; but matter enough there is in us to make us
fly from his presence, as Adam did when he heard
his voice in thij garden ; and to make us expect
wrath and vengeance. Now then there being in us
no matter of worth, no matter of hope, wherein
lieth our comfort,' what ground of confidence have
we ] Surely this, and none but this, ' The Lord is
gracious ; ' for his own sake he doth good. But how
may that appear 1 even by the objects of his good-
ness, who have no worth at all in themselves. For
if he doth good to such as are unworthy thereof, he
doth it not for their sakes, but for his own sake.
Herein then lieth our comfort and confidence, that
we approach to a gracious God, who to shew that
what good he doth he doth for his own sake, doth
it to such as are unworthy. Thus, when Adam by
his transgression had spoiled himself of all that ex-
cellency which might make him accejjtable to God,
and had made him liable to the just vengeance of
God, God came to him, not as a judge to condemn
him, but as a physician to cure him. At the first
word he raised him. For first he calls to him, and
by his own name he calls to him, saying, 'Adam,
where art thouT^ Thereby he intimates his mind
to him. WTierefore we, though we know ourselves
to be, as indeed we are, most unworthy of the least
grace, yet we are bold to call, and hope for grace,
because we call upon and hope in a gi'acious God.

Be now well instracted in this divine property,
and let thy confidence be placed thereon. Learn
when thou comest before God to go out of thyself,
and utterly to renounce all confidence in thyself.

1 Liquet justitiam esse miaericordiam, et misericordam esse
justitiam. — Amhr. in Oral, de Obit. Theod.

^ Deus ad Adamum venit sicut medicus ad segrotum. A
prima voce ipsum statim erexit : et jacentem, et timentem,
et trementem confidere fecit, prior eum vooans ipse : quinimo
non tantum prior vocans, sed etiam ex suo ipsum nomine ap-
pellans, et dicens, Adam ubi es, &c. — Chrys. ad Pop., Horn. 7.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver.

Plead with assurance of faith, plead this gracious-
ness of God before him. It is of force to keep him
that is well instructed therein, and placeth his con-
fidence thereon, from despair. It aflbrds more en-
couragement of drawing near to God than our
unworthiness can give discouragement. Oft medi-
tate thereon, and that seriously, especially, when
thou art about to make any supplication to God, and
thou shalt find such a ^^^tue therein, as thy cold
heart will be so warmed, thy dull spirit so quick-
ened, thy doubting mind so resolved, thy fearful
conscience so encouraged, thy weak and wavering
faith so settled, and thy perplexed soul so quieted
thereby, as with much comfort thou mayest call upon
God, and with much confidence expect a gracious
answer from a gracious God. For he overcomes
that trusteth to the grace of Christ, and presumeth
not on his own power, i

This also is of special force to enlarge our hearts,
and to open our mouths in the praises of God for
the good things we receive from him. The more
unworthy we are of favour, the more bound we are
for favour. The more free a kindness is, the more
worthy of praise it is. The donor that for his own
sake doth a kindness, gains thereby all the glory
thereof to hunself.

Sec. 28. Of God's righteousness as he is faithful.'^
II. God is faithful in his pivmises. In this re-
spect is he said to be righteous, and to be ' a God of
truth, just and right,' Deut. xxxii. 4.^ The truth
and faithfulness of God is as frequently set out in
Scripture as any other of liis properties ; and that
not only aflinnatively, that he is 'true,' Eev. vi. 10,
and ' faithful,' Deut. \ii. 9 ; but also negatively, that
' God is not a man, that he should lie ; neither the
son of man, that he should repent : hath he said,
and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good ? ' Num. xxiii. 19. ' The strength
of Israel ■ndU not lie,' 1 Sam. xv. 29.

God's honour is much engaged in his truth ; the
faith of liis saints doth whoUy rest thereupon. It is
that which maketh his promises, threatenings, and

' Hie vincit qui gratiam Dei sperat, non qui de sua virtute
pr»3umit, — A nihr. in Orat. de Obit, Theudos-
= See Sec, 26.
' See ' Wliole Armour of God,' treat, ii. part 6, sec. 27.

whole word to be the more regarded. A main dif-
ference Ueth therein, not only bet^vixt him that
' when he speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own mind,
being a liar and the father of it,' John viii. 44 ; but
also betmxt vain unconstant man and the God of
truth.

Sufier not any word to slip out of thy mouth, nor
give entertainment to any thought that may any
way impeach God's righteousness. If any such
thought come into thy mind, say with the prophet,
' Righteous art thou, Lord, when I plead with
thee,' Jer. xii. 1. And remember the apostle's
exprobration, ' O man, who art thou that repUest
against God ? ' Eom. ix. 20. ' Let God be true, but
every man a liar,' chap. ui. 4. ' Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but God's words shall not pass
away,' Mark xiii. 31.

Among other sins, ' take heed of an evil heart of
unbelief,' Heb. iii. 12. 'This maketh the righteous
Lord a bar,' 1 John v. 10. Infidehty,' as it is of
all sins the most dangerous and damageable to
man, so the most dishonourable to God, in that it
is directly opposite to one of his most excellent
properties, liis truth and faitlifulness, or righteous-
ness.

For supporting thy faith, well mark whereon
it may safely rest ; even upon God's righteousness,
as well as upon his mercy. On this ground did
the apostle in faith expect the crown of righteous-
ness, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8, because the Lord from whom
he exi^ected it is a righteous judge ; and the
psalmist is bold to appeal to the righteousness of
God, Ps. XXXV. 24. For we may be well assured
that what God's goodness, grace, and mercy moved
him to promise, his truth, his faithfulness, and
righteousness ^viU move him to perform.

Object. Why doth he then ajjpeal from God's
righteousness, and say, ' Enter not into judgment
with thy servant ' ? Ps. cxliii. 2.

Ans. 1. In regard of liis own ^-ileness and un-
worthiness. Thus he desireth not to be dealt with
according to his own desert. ' If God contend with
man, he cannot answer him one of a thousand,' Job
ix. 3. ' If he mark iniquity, who shall stand ? ' Ps.
cxxx. 3.

2. God's righteousness ■vrith one eye looketh on

^ See 'Tlie AVliole Armour of God,' treat, ii. part 6, sec. 34.

Ver. 5.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

his law, and beholdeth all siiis as transgressions
thereof, whereby all stand accursed, and so can
no man be justified in his sight, Ps. cxliii. 2.
But vath another eye it looketh on God's promise,
on his covenant, on Christ the Mediator of his
covenant, whose blood cleanseth from all sin,
John i. 7. Thus it maketh us with strong con-
fidence to expect till we come to possess what is
promised. In this respect the psalmist, where his
plea is the multitude of God's tender mercies, pro-
fesseth and promiseth to 'sing aloud of his righteous-
noss,' Ps. li. 1, 14.

Make use of this righteousness of God, by trust-
ing to it, and by pleading it before God, and
sharpening thy prayers in due meditation thereon ;
as he that said, ' Lord, in thy faithfulness answer
me, and in thy righteousness,' Ps. cxhii. 1. In like
manner say thou, I put no confidence in myself, but
I desire thy tmth and righteousness, that it may be
merciful to me.^

Sec. 29. Of God's mercifulness.
III. God is moved with man's miseries. This
is that which this attribute, merciful,- applied to
God, doth most principally set out. And this is
the reason why ' bowels of mercy,' Luke i. 78, are
metaphorically applied to God, intimating that
his bowels are moved, and do yearn again at the
miseries of his saints ; as God himself said of
Ephraim, (whom he styles his dear son, and
pleasant child,) ' My bowels are moved for him,'
Jer. xxxi. 20. Whereupon, when the Lord seemed
to shew no mercy, thus saitli the prophet to him,
' 'WTiere is the sounding of thy bowels, and of thy
mercies towards me?' Isa. Ixui. 15. To Uke eifect
it is said that God's soul was grieved for the
misery of Israel, Judges x. 16. And the tenderest
compassions that are in any are applied to God, as
of father and mother. For ' like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear
him,' Ps. ciii. 13. 'As one whom his mother
comforteth, so ■will I (saith the Lord) comfort you,'
Isa. lx\d. 13. Yea, to shew that in these com-
parisons there is no comparison, God's compassions

' Non confido mihi, sed ego veritatem et justitiam tuam
peto, ut ipsa mei misereatur. — Jerome, Comment, in Ps, cxlii.
= Sec. 26.

are said so to exceed theirs, as in comparison theirs
is none at all : as where the church thus saith,
' Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham
be ignorant of us, and Israel know us not : thou
art our Father, our Redeemer,' Isa. Ixiii. 16. And
God liimseLf thus, ' Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have comjiassion on the
son of her womb 1 yea, they may forget, yet will
not I forget thee,' Isa. xUx. 15. And the psalmist
thus, ' Wlien my father and my mother forsake me,
then the Lord will take me up,' Ps. xxvii. 10.
Well therefore may he be styled the Father of mer-
cies, whose property it is always to have pity.
How great this mercy of God is I know not. That
it is very great, I well know.^

This tenderness over his children the Lord is
pleased to shew, to encourage them m their misery
to call to him for mercy, and to rest upon him
for help and succour.

Oh let this manifestation of the Lord's merciful
disposition towards us provoke us in all time of need
to seek help of him ; and the greater our misery is,
the more confidently expect succour from him.
For he that hath bowels of mercy, the greater the
misery is wherein he seeth any to lie, the more is he
moved to afford help.- David, therefore, out of the
depths cried unto the Lord, Ps. cxxx. 1 ; Jonah
also ' prayed unto the Lord his God out of the
fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of my afflic-
tion unto the Lord,' Jonah ii. 1, 2. Thus one depth
crieth to another ; a depth of misery to a depth of
mercy — and many are the mercies of the Lord,
because many are the miseries of the righteous, out
of all wliich he will deliver them.^

Learn here of beggars how to procure succour
and reUef. Lay open thy sores, make known thy
need, discover all thy misery, make not thy case
better than it is. Beggars by experience find that
the more miserable they appear to be, the more
they are pitied, the more succoured ; and yet the
mercies of the most merciful men are but as drops

1 Bene dicitur Pater misericordiarum, cujus proprium eat
semper misereri. — Bern, in Natal. Dom., Serm. v. Quanta sit
misericordia Dei, nescio : quod grandis sit, novi. — Chrys. in
Ps. I., Horn. 2. ^ See Sec. 19.

' Misericordia; Domini multa;, quia midtse tribulationes
justorum, et de omnibus his liberabit eos Dominus. — Bern.,
he. eitat.

GOXJGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 5.

in comparison of the oceans of God's mercies ; and
among men there are many, Uke the priest and
Levite in the parable, Luke x. 30-32, that can pass
by a naked, wounded man, left half dead, and not
pity him nor succour him. But God, like the merci-
ful Samaritan, hath always compassion on such as with
sense of their misery are forced to cry out and crave
help. Eead how Job, chap. vi. and vLi. ; David, Ps.
xxxviii. 3, &c. ; Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 10, &c., and
other like saints poured out their complaints before
the Lord, and ivitlial observe what mercy was shewed
them of the Lord, and you may have in them both
good patterns how to behave yourselves in like cases,
and good encouragement so to do. Tliis is it wliich
God expecteth of us, and whereunto he desireth to
bring us, that seeing our own emptiness and insuffi-
ciency, and the impotency and disability of others to
help us, -^ve should in all humility fly to his mercy.i

Sec. 30. Of God's greatness and goodness agreeing
in one.

TV. The great Lwd is a good God. He that is
Jehovah, the Eternal, that hath his being of himself,
and is all-sufficient in himself, even he is gracious
and righteous and merciful. His greatness is no
way any hindrance to his goodness, but rather a
help thereto. Where this incomprehensible name
of his is, for emphasis' sake, twice together jjro-
claimed, and another word added thereto that
sheweth him to be a mighty God, there the titles
of his mercy, grace, patience, and goodness are also
proclaimed ; thus, ' The Lord, the Lord, the strong
God, merciful and gracious,' &c., Exod. xxxiv. 6,
(Dim ba mn'' mrr'' ;) again, where Moses thus
setteth out God's excellency, ' The Lord your God
is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God,
mighty and terrible, which regardeth not persons,
nor taketh reward,' he addeth in demonstration of
his goodness, ' He doth execute the judgment of the
fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger in
giving him food and raiment,' Deut. x. 17, 18'; and
in that perfect pattern of prayer where the Lord is
set out in his high and glorious palace in heaven,

1 Hoc erat certe quod quiKrebat Deus, hoc erat ad quod
nos perducere satagebat : ut videntes defectum nostrum, et
quod non est nobis auxilium aliud, ad ejus misericordiam,
tola humilitate curramus. — Bern, in Quadrarj., Ser. v.

there is he styled ' our Father,' Mat. vi. 9 ; and in
most of the solemn prayers of the saints recorded in
Scrijiture, ther'e are express titles of both these divine
properties, God's greatness and goodness, whereby
they shewed that, notwithstanding that knowledge
which they had of God's excellent majesty, they
believed him to be a gracious and mercLfal Father,
tendermg them as impotent succourless babes, and
thereupon, though in regard of that tlirone of glory
whereon he sitteth, they are affrighted, as Isaiah was,
Isa. vi. 5 ; yet knowing that throne of glory to be
also a throne of grace, a mercy-seat, they are em-
boldened to approach thereunto that they may
' obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need,' Heb. iv. 16.

Both these are revealed to be in God, to mani-
fest the absolute perfection of his excellency; for,
there is an excellency in both, and by the concur-
rence of both is excellency perfected. Greatness
without goodness might give suspicion of tyranny.
Goodness without greatness might import impo-
tency. But a mixture of goodness with greatness
demonstrates a willing abUity, and an able wilhng-
ness ; from whence what may not be hoped for and
expected ?

Who now may be compared unto God, or sup-
posed to be like unto the Lord? Among men
greatness makes them scornful ; insomuch as it is
said of majesty and love, that they agree not well
together, nor abide in the same seat.^ But God's
goodness is as his greatness — both incomprehensible,
both infinite.

On this gi'ound whensoever we are affrighted,
and made to tremble tlu-ough the apprehension of
God's glorious majesty, perfect purity, and fiery
jealou.sy, we may through due consideration of
his grace and mercy, comfort ourselves, and say,
as Manoah's wife once did, ' The Lord would not
have shewed us such things,' Judges xiii. 23, he
would not have made himself known to be a graci-
ous Lord, righteous and merciful, if with the bright-
ness of his glory he had meant to dazzle and con-
found us. A thorough understanding of tliis point,
and a serious meditation thereon, is very requisite
for such as are so base, so foul, and so unworthy

' Non bene conveniunt, nee in una sede morantur
Majestaset Amor, — Ovid. Mctamorph., lib. ii.

Ver. 5.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

as we are, the Lord being so glorious, so pure, so
excellent every way as he is.

If they that sit on thrones in eartli, who are
decked with majesty, and have authority over
others, would heroin shew themselves children of
their heavenly Father, and be gracious and merci-
ful as he is, their subjects, and such as are under
them, would be more encouraged to make known
their grievances, and they themselves be in more
honour, and gain more assurance to their own souls
of God's favour and mercy towards them. This
part of imitation is so much the rather to be ob-
served, because the Lord himself doth on this very
ground press it. For ha\Tng shewed what the
great God doth, it is thereupon thus inferred, ' Love
ye therefore the stranger,' Deut. x. 17-19.

Sec. 31. Of the particular relation heticld Gud
and saints.

V. The Lord is in special maimer a God to the faith-
ful. A faithful one was this psalmist, who in re-
lation to liimself, and such as himself was, saith of
the Lord, our God ; ^ which is so much the more
observable, because ia the former part of the verse
he spake of the Lord in the tliiid person, but here
he speaketh of him in the first, our God. "NMiere
God saith, ' All the earth is mine,' Exod. xix. 5 ;
Deut. X. 14, 15 ; of the faitliful that keep his
covenant he addeth, ' Ye shall be a particular treasure
unto me above all people.' To hke effect St Paul
saith that God is the Saviour of all, specially of
those that believe, 1 Tim. iv. 10. These are they
of whom the Lord saith, ' I wiU be their God, and
they shall be my people,' Jer. xxxi. 33 ; and to
whom Christ saith, ' I go to my God and your God,'
Jolm XX. 1 7 ; and whom St Peter styleth ' a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a pe-
culiar people,' 1 Pet. ii. 9.

The Lord is indeed a most supreme and absolute
sovereign over all. He is the creator, preserver,
and governor of aU : ' In him we live, move, and
have our being,' Acts x\'ii. 28. ' Of him, and
through him, and to liim are all things,' Rom. xi.
36. So as in this general extent he is the God of
all. But yet in a peculiar respect, as he bears

' Of this correlative ' our,' aa relation passeth betwixt God
and man, see the ' Guide to go to God,' sec. 11, 12, &c.

an especial affection to the faithful, and takes an
especial care of them, preser^dng the world princi-
pally for their sakes, and ordering all things to
their good, they, they alone may style him ' our
God.'

The ground hereof is thus expressed by the
apostle, ' Ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's,' 1 Cor.
iii. 23. In the cliiefest and princlpallest respect
that can be, the Lord is ' the God of Jesus Christ,'
Eph. i. 17. But Christ and the faithful are one,
Jolm xvii. 21 ; 1 Cor. xii. 12; one mystical body,
and his God is their God, John xx. 17.

Take notice of your prerogative, you saints and
faithful ones ! Take notice thereof as of a matter of
admiration, consolation, gratulation, direction.

1 . It is a matter that can never be sufficiently ad-
mu'ed, that the great Lord of all should by a special
bond of relation tie himself unto us, to become our
God. In man there is no difference, Eom. iii. 22,
23, ' For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God ; ' who then maketh us to differ ?
1 Cor. iv. 7. As on this ground it was said to the
Jews, ' The Lord set his love on you because the
Lord loved you,' Deut. vii. 7, 8 ; so of the Gentiles,
' God, who is rich in mercy, for his gi'eat love where-
with he loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us,' &c., Eph. ii. 4, 5. They know
not God, whose hearts are not ravished herewith.

2. AVhat sounder and greater ground of comfort
can the creature have, than that the Lord of all
should in special be his God 1 May he not on this
gi-ouud expect all needful and sufficient protection
and p^o^'ision 1 Need he fear any enemies ] Need-
eth he the favour of any friends 1 If a mortal man
might say to his wife perplexed for want of children,
' Am not I better to thee than ten sons 1 ' 1 Sam. i.
8 ; how much more truly and comfortably may the
Lord say to such as are in any manner of perplexity
or extremity, to such as are destitute of any outward
comforts or helps, ' Am not I better to you than all
these 1 ' What can be more desired than the Lord
to be our God ] Wherein may we more solace our-
selves 1 wherein may we more confidently place our
rest t On this ground the psalmist as a tj-jie, Christ
himself as the truth, said, ' The Lord is the portion
of nunc inheritance and of my cup : thou maintainest
my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant

GOUGE ON PSALM C'XVI.

[Ver.

places ; yea, I have a goodlj' heritage,' Ps. xvi.
5, 6.

3. We ought (as it followeth in the said psahii) to
'hless the Lord,' Ps. xvi. 7, for tliis his special
favour to us. Oft doth the psahiiist make this his
ground of praising God, and saith, ' I will praise
thee, God, my God,' Ps. xliii. 4, lix. 17, Ixviii. 19,
20, xcix. 5, civ. 33, and cxviii. 28. It is the best
acknowledgment that we can give of our answerable
respect to our God, and the best recomijense we can
give to our God, to praise him.

4. Many and weighty are other duties, for the
performance whereof this special relation betwixt
God and us giveth good directions, and which saints
of old have thereupon perfonned, as in Scripture
they are recorded.

(1.) To love God, Ps. xviii. 1, 20. Herein God
manifesteth his special love to us ; and doth not
such love of the Creator require love from the crea-
ture to him 1

(2.) To delight in tlie place where he manifesteth
his presence, Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, 3. His special respect
to us in being our God shewetli his delight in us ;
should not we, then, delight in beholding his pre-
sence ?

(3.) To wait for liim, Ps. Ixix. 3. Surely our
God will come, and will not tarry beyond that season
wherein he knoweth it to be most fit to come unto
us.

(4.) Confidently to tnist on him, Ps. xxxi. 14, and
xci. 2. He that is God can effect what we expect ;
he that is our God vdW do it so far as it may be for
our good.

(5.) To take due notice of his works, Ps. cv. 5-7.
For our God worketh all for our good, and for
strengthening our faith he would have us to remem-
ber them.

(6.) To exalt him, Ps. xcLx. 9, civ. 1, and cxv. 3,
and to set forth his glory with the uttermost of our
power. It is the glory of our God.

(7.) To fall down before him, Ps. xcv. 6, 7, and
to worship him. Whom shall we adore, if we adore
not our God t

(8.) To hearken unto his voice, Ps. 1. 7, and to
delight in doing his will, Ps. xl. 8. Thus shaO we
shew ourselves to be planted in the courts of our
God, Ps. xcii. 13.

(9.) To be jealous against his enemies, Ps. Ixxxiii.
13. For how can we suffer our God to be despised,
or any way dishonoured, and not be moved thereat f

(10.) To walk worthy of our God, Jer. xxxii. 38,
39 ; Ezek. xxxri. 27 ; which is done when we carry
ourselves as becometh his people. For oft where
promise is made that God will be theii- God, Zech.
xiii. 9, this is inferred thereupon, they shall be his
people, 2 Cor. vi. 16.

These and other like duties, which, by virtue of
this prerogative, are in God's word required of us,
will give evidence that the Lord is indeed our God,
and that we in this our God are blessed : for,
' Blessed are they whose God is the Lord,' Ps.
xxxiii. 12, and cxliv. 15.

Sec. 32. Of God's goodness to his people especially.

VI. God's goodness in peculiar appertaineth to
Ms peculiar people. They whose God the Lord is,
they have mo.st cause to say, ' Our God is merciful.' '
Of such saith the Holy Ghost, ' Thou art an holy
people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath
chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself
above all the nations that are upon the earth,' Deut.
xiv. 2 ; ' He hath not dealt so with any nation,' Ps.
cxlvii. 20. True it is that the Lord ' maketh his
sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and unjust,' Mat. v. 45 ; but
properly to have the Lord to be gracious and merci-
ful is their prerogative whose God he is : for none
but they can make title to Christ, in and by whom
only God's fatherly grace and mercy is conveyed to
children of men.

Fret not, people of God, fret not at anything
that they who are not God's people do enjoy.
They are but as husks given to swine, with which
the prodigal would fain have fiUed his belly when
he was out of his father's house, in comparison of
that bread whereof his father's liired servants had
enough. Advisedly, therefore, meditate on the
excellency and benefit of that gi-ace and mercy that
is treasured up for God's people, that therewith
3fou may be satisfied, and therein rest contented.

And ye who have yet no assurance that the Lord

' Consolamini, dicit dominus vester. Quibus, putas ? Plane
populo suo. Ipse enim salvum faciet, con quoscunque, aed
populum Buum, &c. — Bern, in Nat. Dom., Serin, v.

Ver. 5.]

GOUGE ON rSALU CXVI.

is your God, inquire after the means whereby you
may be made partakers of this pri\-ilege, to have
tlie Lord for your God, and be conscionable and
diligent in the use of those means which God hath
sanctified for effecting this blessed communion. To
this purpose note what the haw saith ; ' ^^^len a
stranger shall sojourn ivith thee, and will keep the
passover to the Lord, let all his males be circum-
cised, and then let him come near and keep it, and
he shall be as one that is born in the land,' Exod.
xii. 48. Subject yourselves, therefore, to the holy
ordinances and discipline of the Lord, and he wiU
be your God, and j-e shall be his people. I would
to God tliat we, beloved, had always a mind to be
in the number of this people which then- o^vii Lord
God doth comfort and take such special care of.^

Sec. 33. Of the encouragement which God's goodness
giveth to call upon him.
VII. Knowledge and faith in God's goodness
encourageih saints to call upon God. Tliis en-
couraged the prophet here to call upon God, as this
inference of the description of God's goodness upon
his prajdng to God sheweth. God himself on this
gi'ound inciteth them so to do. For where he saith,
' I am the Lord thy God,' he addeth, ' Open thy
mouth ^vide,' — that is, earnestly, confidently, call
upon me, — 'and I will fill it,' Ps. Ixxxi. 10, and
IxxxLx. 26 ; I will satisfy thy desire to the full.
Answerably saints on this ground have been bold so
to do, and that with aU manner of prayer — as
petition for good things, deprecation for removing
e\-il tilings, and for preservation against e^il men,
and imprecation also against them. They have
been bold also, on this confidence that the Lord was
their God, to appeal to Ixim for trial of their integ-
rity.

This relation for the gi-acious and merciful Lord
to be our God, what grace, mercy, favour, protec-
tion, acceptation, blessing, doth it not promise ?
AMiat will he, what can he deny us, that vouch-
safeth to be our God ? And if such be his mind to
us, may not we boldly and confidently call upon
him ?

^ Utinam nos dilectissimi in eo populo inveniri semper
optemua, quern oonsolatur Dominus Deus buu8. — Bern., loc.
citat.

Be instructed hereby how to approach to the
throne of gi-ace, namely, with knowledge of, and
faith in that special favour which God beareth to
thee, that thou mayest in some assurance thereof
say unto him, our God. A particular persuasion
of that particular relation which is betwixt God and
us, is then especially requisite when we pray unto
him. This mil make us in our greatest extremity
to say. Being pressed with the weight of miseries, I
have hope in no other but in the mercy of God.^

Sec. 34. Of God's goodness moving him to
deliver his people.

VIII. God's goodness is the muse of the deliver-
ances which he giveth to his people. The prophet,
to shew his acknowledgment hereof, setteth out a
description of the goodness of God immediately
before the mention of that deliverance which God
gave. This hath ever been acknowledged by such
as were well instructed about the mind and ways of
God. 'Thou in thy mercy,' said Moses to God,
'hast led forth the people,' &c., Exod. xv. 13. 'In
his love and in his mercy,' saitli Isaiah, ' he redeemed
them,' chap. Ixiii. 9. This phrase, ' Ye shall be re-
deemed mthout money,' importeth as much, Isa.
hi. 3. Where the psalmist maketh exjDress mention
of sundry deliverances which God gave to his people,
at the particular expression of eveiy of them he
thus closeth, ' For his mercy endureth for ever,' Fs.
cxxxvi. 11, &c. And hereupon the redeemed of the
Lord are enjoined to say, ' The Lord is good : for
his mercy endureth for ever,' Ps. cvii. 1, 2.

It was before shewed^ that his goodness moved God
to choose a pecuhar people to himself : that goodness
ever remaining the same, without alteration, it
moveth him to provide for them, and to deliver
them according to their needs.

Hereby we learn, when we seek dehverance of
God, what to plead, and wherewith to strengthen
our faith. Not anything in ourselves, nor in any
other creature, but to say, as the Holy Ghost teach-
eth us, ' Lord, redeem us for thy mercies' sake,' Ps.
xliv. 26. Let the reasons therefore which in prayer
thou dost press to move God withal, be taken from

' See the 'Guide to go to God,' sec. 12. Pressus pondere
malorum, in DuUio alio nisi in Dei miserieordia spem habeo.
—Jerome, lib. xvii. Comment, in Isa. Ixiii.

= Sec. 31, 32.

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Veh. 6.

God himself, and from those properties which set
out his goodness.' On these meditate when thou
wouldst have thy heart enlarged with earnestness to
call on God. And when thou observest his wrath
withheld, so as thou dost not perish, know and
acknowledge that it is not through any merit of
thine, but his own mercy.

Sec. 3.5. Of the Lord's 2}resen'!ug the simple.

Ver. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple : I urns brought
low, and he hclpied me.

TV. The fourth branch^ of the exemplification of
God's kindness expresseth the deliverance which God
gave him. This is set down,

1. In a general (xata disii) consideration of God's
dealingwith others : 'The Lord preserveth thesimple.'

2. In a particular {xa6' uTrokm) application thereof
to himself: ' I was brought low, and he helped me.'

In the general there is distinctly noted,

1. The author, or deliverer, the Lord.

2. The action, or kind of deliverance, preser\'eth.

3. The object, or persons delivered, the simple.

1. The Deliverer is described by that magnificent
name Jehovah, a name proper to God alone. ^

II. The kind of deliverance is expressed under
this word preserveth, ~)i2]i?, which most properly
signifieth to prevent, or keep away that which is
like to fall upon one, and that before it hath
happened : in which sense the Lord thus fore-
warneth the Israehtes, ' Preserve yourselves from
the accursed thing,' Joshua vi. 18, "nQt^. A noun
coming from this verb signifieth a ' watchtower,' Isa.
xxi. 8, Tl"lQti?D, a place to descry a danger for pre-
venting it. Yet the application of that which is
intended by this word in the other part of this
verse, importeth a pulling out of that danger where-
into he was fallen. Here therefore occasion is offered
to inquire after the several kinds of preserving or
delivering from evil. This is done,

L By preventing them, Mat. ii. 13.

2. By putting them off to other times, 2 Chron.
xxxii. 26.

' See the ' Guide to go to God,' see. 204. Non tuo merito,
sed mea miserioordia furorem meum distuli, ne penitus inte-
rires. — Jerome, Comment., lib. xiii., in Isa. xlviii.

' See sec. 2.

" See tlie 'Church's Conquest' on Exod. xvii. 15, sec. 72.

3. By enabling men to bear them, 1 Cor. x. 13 ;
2 Cor. iv. 8, &c.

4. By affording means of ease. Gen. xxxix. 21.

5. By doing the more good for the evil which men
suffer, 2 Sam. xvi. 12 ; Job xlii. 10.

6. By turning the evil itself into good. Gen. 1. 20.

7. By taking away the evil wliich lieth on them,
Judges ii. 18.

8. By taking them away from the evil, Isa. Ivii. 1.
III. The word by which the persons delivered are

described (simple, D''XnS) is derived from a verb
(nns) that signifieth to persuade, and in the passive
to be persuaded. And because by persuasions men
are oft deceived and seduced to evil, in the active it
oft signifieth to beguile, and in the passive to be
beguiled ; as where the Lord said, ' Who shall per-
suade (1 Kings xxii. 20, riDB' ''fi) or entice ' AhuhV
an e^^l lying spirit answered, ' I will persuade.' To
his rum he persuaded him ; thereby, therefore, he
enticed, he deceived him. To like purjiose saith the
law, ' Take heed that your heart be not deceived,'
Deut. xi. 16, n/13'', (word for word persuaded.)
Answerably the word here used, simple, is oft
put for such as are witless, easily persuaded,^ enticed,
deceived. So doth the wise man deciijher him,
' The simple believeth every word,' Prov. xv. 16.
Thus he is ojjposed to a prudent, wary man. For in
the latter part of the verse it foUoweth, ' But the
prudent man looketh well to Ills going.' And a
httle after, ' The simple inherit folly : but the pru-
dent are crowned ^vith luiowledge,' Prov. xv. 18.
Thus the word simple setteth out an e\al man. But
it is also used in a better sense, and signifieth such
a one as wiU be persuaded to yield to admonition
or correction, and is opposed to a scorner ; for,
' Smite a scorner and the simple will beware,' Prov.
xix. 25. Yea, it is also put for such as are in the
world's account simple — that is, without craft and
guUe — who, being in distress and destitute of human
helps, with a single and simple heart commit their
estate wholly and only to the Lord, and so quietly
and patiently rest on him for succour. That it is
here so to be taken is evident by the prophet's par-
ticular application of this general care of God over

' Targum., ^^J3^, decipiet ; Tremel. and Jun., pelliciet.
njllH) Tel ''JIB, persuadibilis. Cui quidvis facile persua-

Ver. 6.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

them whom he styloth simple to his own particular
case.

Out of these words, ' The Lord preserveth the
simple,' so opened, arise these three instructions :

I. God is a deliverer from distress.

II. God can any way deliver. He can either
keep safe from danger, as the word, ~\D^, most pro-
perly implieth ; or pull out of danger, when men are
fallen into it, as the latter part of this verse im-
porteth.

III. God taketh most care of them that, being
otherwise least cared for, wholly depend on him.
Such are the simple here meant.

I. Of the first of these, see the ' Guide to go to
God,' on the 6th Petition, sec. 188.

Sec. 36. Of God's manifold pi-escrmUon.

II. God can any way deliver. Before the e\'il come
he can prevent it, and preserve his saints from it ;
and when it is come, he can many ways save and
deliver, as by the particular instances produced in
the former section is e\'ident. The two parts of the
last petition of the Lord's Prayer give good proof
hereof. In the former part we are to pray for pre-
vention from e\'il (lead us not into temptation) ; in
the latter for redemption out of evil (Isut deliver us
from evil).

Tliey who have any understanding of the divine
properties of God, as of bis omniscience, (whereby
he knoweth all things beforehand,) omnipresence,
(whereby he fiUeth aU places,) omnipotency, (where-
by he is able to do what he will,) and unsearchable
wisdom, (whereby he can order all things to the
best,) cannot make question of this, that the Lord
can preserve as he please.

As in our judgments we give consent to the tnith
hereof, so let us answerably call on God, and depend
on him for succour as occasion is given. By reason
of the manifold necessities whereunto we are sub-
ject, it is requisite that God be by us solicited in
frequent supplications, that so his manifold deliver-
ances maj^ appear.! Wherefore, when we have cause
to fear any ey\\ before it be fallen out, pray to have it
prevented and kept off; when it is fallen out, pray

' Ex oocaaione frequentium necessitatura, crebria necesse est
precationibus Deum ab homine frequentari, &c. — Bern, dc
Diltijend. Deo.

to have it removed or mitigated, or to have suflScient
strength to bear it, and a good issue out of it. ' We
know that all things work together for good to them
that love God,' Eom. viii. 28 ; safely, therefore,
may we rest upon God, to be so presei-ved by him
as shall best make to our good. Only that we may
with the more assured confidence rest on him, let us
weigh what kind of persons he thus preserveth, even
the simj)le.

Sec. 37. Of the simple ones ichoin, the Lord preserveth.

III. God taketh most care of tJiem that, being other-
2cisc least cared for, tclwlly depend on him.^ These
ai'e in a good sense simple ones ; simple in the
world's account, and simple in their own eyes.
Such as he that said, ' I am a worm, and no man ;
a reproach of men, and despised of the people,' Ps.
xxii. 6. And again, ' I am poor and needy, yet the
Lord thinketh on me,' Ps. xl. 17. These are those
' poor ones of a contrite spirit on whom the Lord
looketh,' Isa. bcvi. 2. Of such fatherless is God a
father : and of such widows a judge. Eead Ps.
brviii. 5, and cxlvi. 7, 8, 9. Yea, read observantly
the histories of the Go.spel, and well weigh who they
were to whom Christ in the days of his flesh afforded
succour, and ye shall find them to be such simple
ones as we have shewed to be here intended.

By such objects the free grace and merciful mind
of the Lord is best manifested. Their case being
most miserable, in regard of human helps, the greater
doth God's mercy appear to be. And there being
in them notliing to procure favour or succour from
God, for in their own and others' eyes they are
nothing, what God doth for them evidently ap-
peareth to be freely done.

1. Behold here how of aU others they who seem
to have least cause to trust on God have most cause
to trust on him. Simple persons, silly wretches, des-
picable fools in the world's account, who have not
subtle brains, or crafty wits to search after indirect
means, have, notwithstanding, enough to support
them, in that they are such as the Lord preserveth.
Now, who knoweth not that ' it is better to tnist in

^ Inops clamat, et exaudit Dominus. Quomodo clatnabo
inops ? Ut etsi babes aliquid, non inde prajaumas de viribus
tuis, ut intelligas te mdigentem, &c.— ^ iig. Enar. in Ps. xxxiii.
Cone. 2.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 6.

the Lord than to put confidence in man ; it is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes,'
Ps. cxviii. 8, 9.

2. As thou puttest not thy confidence in other
men, so take heed of f)lacing it on thyself. ' Lean
not unto thine own understanding,' Prov. iii. 5.
Self-confidence makes self-conceited : whence ariseth
pride and arrogancy, that makes men odious to God
and man. True grace makes men modest and
humble. Hereby have all the saints in all ages
been approved and accepted of God.i

3. Be therefore confident ye simple ones. If any
shall upbraidingly say to you, ' Flee as a bird to
your mountain,' confidently reply, ' In the Lord j)ut
we our trust,' Ps. xi. 1. If you lie among them
that are set on fire, ' even the sons of men, whose
teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a
shai'p sword,' Ps. Ivii. 4, hold out this shield
against them all. This is that ' sliield wherewith
ye may quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,'
Eph. vi. 16. God keepeth such as are little or simple,
or such as in a himible affection confess themselves
to be such. Good and blessed, therefore, is that
humility or simphcity which deUvereth those that
are in danger, and raiseth up those that fall.^ They
may be secure. For safe are they whom the Loi'd
keepeth.

4. This is also a good ground of plea before God,
that we are simple, destitute of all help, but in God.
Plead it therefore you that are such. Say unto
God, ' I am poor and needy, but the Lord preserv-
eth the simple,' Ps. xl. 17. The inference which
the prophet himself doth here in this verse make
thereupon importeth as much.

5. Such evidences of goodness as these are, are
also for our imitation. We must be 'merciful, as
our Father is merciful,' Luke vi. 36 ; and in shew-
ing mercy have respect .rather to the object of our
mercy, to the person that stands in need of our
mercy, than to ourselves. So as if we see a simple
one, one succourless, not able to help himself, and

' Quo inagis virtutibus locupletamur eo magis humiliemur.
Hiuo enim omnes sancti probati fueruut et Deo accepti.—
Chrys. in Gen. xi., Horn. 31.

' Deus cuetodit parvulos ; aut certe eos qui Be parvulos
humili confitentur affectu. Bona igitur humilitas, qus liberat
pcriclitantes, jacentes erigit.— 4j?i6. de Obit. Theod.

destitute of all other helji, then to perform the part
of the pitiful Samaritan, though otherwise he be a
sti'anger to us. From this very ground is this duty
pressed in the law. For where it thus setteth out
God's goodness, ' The Lord your God regardeth not
persons, he doth execute the judgment of the father-
less and the widow, and loveth the stranger, in
gi^ing him food and raiment,' Deut. x. 18, 19, it
maketh this inference, ' love ye therefore the stran-
ger.' Tills kind of mercy is most divine; and herein
especially do mortal men shew themselves like to
their heavenly Father, when they succour the suc-
courless, and that readily and freely. ' If ye love
them wliich love you, or do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners
also do even the same,' Luke vi. 32, 33. They
were ' the poor, the fatherless, and him that had
none to help,' Job xxix. 12, through succouring of
whom Job received much comfort in his great dis-
tress.

6. "What now may we think of such as are hard-
hearted, and that against the simple? that take
advantage from their imijotency to scorn them, to
wrong them, to oppress them? A heavy woe is
denounced against them. They axe put into the
catalogue of cursed ones. This was a principal
cause of the Jews' captivity, and of the destruction
of Ammon, Moab, Edoni, Tyrus, and other nations.
Cruelty to the .simple is as diabolical, as mercy to
them is di\'ine. Mliat then can be expected of
such cruel ones, but to be at length in Dives his
case ?

Sec. 38. Of God's saving such as are h-mght low.

XI. The particulai- appUcation of God's general
pity to others, the application, I say, thereof to the
prophet liimself, followeth in these words :

'I was brought low, and he helped me.' The
word translated brought low, T!)b~\ & n"?"!, properly
signifieth to be drawn dry. The metaphor is taken
from ponds, or brooks, or rivers that are clean
exhausted and dried up, where water utterly
faileth. Thus doth Isaiah use this word, 'The
brooks shall be emptied and dried up,' Isa. xix.
6, "'^N'' Uim "bbl. Being appUed to man, it
setteth out such an one as is spent, utterly wasted,
or, as we use to speak, clean gone ; who hath no

Vkr. 6.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

ability to help liimsclf, no means of help, no hope of
help from others.

The other word whereby the succour which God
afforded is exjjressed, and translated helped, J^^iyin^
ah ^ti'\ signifieth such help as freeth out of danger.
It is usually translated to save. Wliere the pro-
phet saith, ' Israel shall be saved mth an ever-
lasting salvaition,' Isa. xlv. 17, he usetli this word.
From this word the proper name of him, who ' is
able to save to the uttermost,' Hcb. vii. 25, even
Jesus, i?1ty', is derived.

The cojiulative particle, and, that knitteth the
prophet's distress, and God's release together, inti-
mateth the time when God saved him ; even when
he was at the lowest. ' I was brought low and he
helped me.'

Four points are here offered to our considera-
tii)u.

1. The case wherein the prophet was. I was
brought low.

2. The kind of help. He saved me.

3. The time when God afforded that help. When
he was brought low.

4. The inference of God's particular dealing with
him, upon God's general dealing with others. ' The
Lord preserveth the simjile,' that is the general ; ' I
was brought low and he saved me,' this is the par-
ticular.

These four considerations afford four useful obser-
vations.

I. No extremity exceeds God's abUity. He can
raise him that is brought low, — that is, as an ex-
hausted jjond, — that hath no more strength in him-
self than a dried pit hath water.

II. God's succour is salvation. He saveth, and
setteth free from danger, those whom he undertakes
to help.

III. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Then
is it the fittest time for God to help, when man is in
the greatest distress.

lY. Due obser^-ation of God's mercy to others
maketh men in like cases to acluiowledge God's
mercy to themselves. He that obser\'ed how God
used to presence the simple, could say when he
himself was brought low, 'The Lord saved me.'
The particular ajiplication to himself of God's
general pity to others occasioneth this doctrine.

Sec. 39. Of the extremities wherein God helpeth.

I. No extremity exceeds God's ahiUty^ He can
deliver even from instant deaths To believe as
much is an evidence of a strong faith. In sees. 15
and 16 many deadly dangers and desperate dis-
tresses of the saints are produced ; observe the issue
which God gave to them all, and you shall find by
real evidences that God was able to help and save
in them all. For so indeed he did. The vision of
the dry bones that came together, and were covered
with sinews, flesh, and skin, and lived, was shewed
to Ezekiel, to assure the church of God's ability to
help in any extremity. For where the house of
Israel said, ' Our bones are dried, and our hope is
lost ; we axe cut off for our pai-ts,' the Lord made
this answer, ' I mil open your graves, and cause you
to come up out of your graves,' Ezek. xxxvii. 11, &c.

To settle the faith of the prophet Jeremiah
herein, the Lord thus puts him in mind of his
almighty power, ' Behold, I am the Lord, the God
of all flesh ; is there anything too hard for me 1 '
Jer. xxxii. 27. ' That which with men is impossi-
ble, is not so with God ; for with God aU things are
possible,' Mark x. 27. Though he have set bounds
to his creatures beyond which they cannot go, yet
can none set bounds to him : ' Our God is in the
heavens : he doth whatsoever he ■wdll,' Ps. cxv. 3.
Read more hereof in Hannah's song, 1 Sam. ii. 1,
&c., and in Ps. cxiii.

Of suncby duties and comforts arising from a due
consideration of the foresaid power of God, see
'The Guide to go to God,' sees. 213, 214; and of
other instructions arising from the help which God
affords in man's extremity, see the next section but
one to this.

Sec. 40. Of God's perfect preservatimi.
II. God's sticconr is salvation. It freeth out of all
danger. Thus much intended Moses, when, the
Israelites despairing of all help, he thus said to
them, 'Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salva-
tion of the Lord,' Exod. xiv. 13. Such was that
salvation, as they had no cause to fear those their
enemies any more. The like may be exempHfied in

1 Hoc est robur virtutis et fidei, credere et scire quod Deua
Ji morte preesente liberare potest. — Cypr. Epist., lib. iv. ep. 6.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 6.

other deli\'erances wliicli God luidertook to give,
especially in tlie cures which Christ did in the days
of his flesh. Wlien his pleasure was to heal any, he
made them whole, Mat. xv. 28 ; and for evidence
thereof, he commanded lepers to shew themselves to
the priests, whose office it was to judge whether a
leprosy were perfectly cured or no, Luke xvii. 14.
Others, Mat. ix. 6 ; John v. 8, that had been very
weak and impotent, he willed to carry their beds,
that thereby it might be seen that they were per-
fectly cured. The dead he caused to rise up, Mark
V. 41 ; Luke vii. 14; John xi. 43. Demoniacs he
charged to preach the gospel, Mark v. 19, 20.
But the greatest and best evidence that can be
given hereof is the eternal salvation which is given
to saints, whereunto the apostle having relation,
saith, 'He is able to save to the uttermost,' Heb.
vii. 25.1

God will have his works to be manifested to be
divine : to be so perfect in their kind as nothing
need be added thereto, nor help sought of any other
but of him ; that so by evident demonstrations men
may be forced to say, ' This is the finger of God.'

1. Assuredly they that know and believe this
truth, that the Lord saveth them whom he under-
taketh to help, cannot but be much encouraged in
their distresses to seek help of him. In such cases
as are to men incurable, we use to do much for
some present ease ; and yet fail oftentimes in that
which we seek for, and expect at mens' hands, as
that ' woman which had suff'ered many things of
many physicians, and had spent all that she had,
and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.'
If we could believe as she did, assuredly we should
do as she did, and have as good success as she had.

2. Let us beware of Asa's fault, who ' in his dis-
ease sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians,'
2 Chron. xvi. 12. How much better had it been to
have sought not to the physicians, but to the Lord."
Wliich I would not have so taken as if physicians
were not at all in any case to be sought unto ; but
to -shew that it is much better to neglect all means

' its rb iraiiTe\h, iJ est perfects. Ita videlicet ut nihil ad
earn salutem possit amplius desiderari. — £cza in annol. major,
ill hunc loc.

° Vaj iis qui tempore tribulationis atque angustias iion conS-
dunt in Domino, sed in jEgyptiorum, id ef5t secularium homi-
num, auxilio. — Jerome Comment, lib. x. in Isa. xxxi.

than to neglect the Lord, who giveth a blessing to
all the means that are at any time of any use.
WaiTantable means may lawfully, must conscionably
be used, but used as the hand of God's providence,
whereby he doth whatsoever good thing is done by
them. Woe is denounced against them that trust
to means without the Lord, Isa. xxx. 1, &c., and
xxxi. 1, &c. Wliether, therefore, means be used,
or not used, let not the Lord be neglected. He
saveth.

Sec. 41. Of God^s taking occasion to help at a pinch.
III. Man's extremity is God's oppoiiunity.'^ Then,
even then especially, is God ready to help, when
men are at the lowest. To pass over those in-
stances wliich are mentioned before,^ there are
two proverbs used in Scripture which give good
proof to tliis point. The one is this : ' In the mount
will the Lord be seen,' Gen. xxii. 14. mrT" IH^
nNT.^ Knowledge of the just occasion of this pro-
verb will give light to the true interpretation thereof.
The occasion, thei-efore, was this : God gave an ex-
press charge to Abraham to take his only, his be-
loved son, even him of whom it was said, ' In Isaac
shall thy seed be called,' and to offer him for a
burnt-offering on a mountain which the Lord should
shew him. Abraham, in obedience to the Lord's
charge, went on wliither the Lord appointed him,
with a full resolution to do what he was commanded
to do. Three days was he in journeying to the
place ; and at length came to the top of a mount,
where he built an altar, laid the wood in order,
bound Isaac, laid liim thereon, took a knife, and
stretched out his hand to sla}^ his son. Thus in
his intent he had .slain and sacrificed his son.'' In all
this time did not God shew any mind or means to
save Isaac ; but even then, when there was scarce a
step betwixt him and death, the Lord shewed him-
self, and declared his pleasure for preserving Isaac.
Now because it was on a mount where Isaac was
thus near unto death, and that on the mount, and
not before, God shewed himself for the preservation

1 Sec. 38. 2 Sec. 39.

3 Hoc apud Hebrmos esivit in proverbium, nt si quando in
angustia coiistitiiti sunt, et Domini optant auxilio sublevari,
dicaiit, In monte Dominua videbit — Jerome Qucest. in Gen.

* Quantum ad voluntatem attinet, cruentaverat dextram
Patriaicha, &c. — Chrys. in Gen. xxii, Horn. 47.

Ver. 6.]

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

of Isaac, thence arose this proverb : ' In the mount
will the Lord be seen.' And to be an evidence to all
future ages of God's ■wisdom in affording his help at
the last cast, the Holy Ghost prefixeth this clause :
' As it is said to this day.'

The other proverb is this : ' The children are
come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring
forth,' 2 Kings xix. 3. By this proverb, Jerusalem,
being so besieged by the king of Assyria, as there
was, in regard of human helps, little hope of deliver-
ance, is compared to a woman great with child, in
pain of travail. The inhaVntants of the city are re-
sembled to the children in the mother's womb ; the
extremity of distress wherein they were, to the diffi-
culty and danger of travail. Such then was their
case, as the case of a woman, which, ha\'ing a weak
child not able to help itself, is spent with pain and
travail, and hath no mid-ivife, nor any other means
of help. Were they not now brought even to utter-
most extremit}' ] In tliis extremity, when they were
so low brought, the ' Lord helped them,' 2 Kings
xix. 3-5.

The help that in such extremities is afforded
manifestly appeareth to be from God. Wlien the
Egyptians observed the succour wliich was afforded
to the Israelites in the midst of the Eed Sea, they
said, ' The Lord fighteth for them,' Exod. xiv. 25.
Thus is God the more honoured liy reserving him-
self to such extremities.

In extremities succour is much more welcome,
much better accepted, more highly prized, and man's
heart more affected and inflamed therewith. When
the Israelites were safely led through the depths,
then they sang the Lord praises, Ps. cvi. 9, 12.

Is there not now great and just reason that God
should take this opportunity to help 1

1. Wait, therefore, to the very uttermost of an
extremity. This being the most seasonable time for
God to help, most meet it is that we .should taiTy
the Lord's leisure, and wait for his season. This the
prophet noteth to be a property of true faith, ' He
that believeth maketh not haste,' Isa. xxviii. 16.
He seeketh not to prevent the time appointed of the
Lord. If the Lord tarry, the behever ^\ill wait, Hab.
ii. 3. He well knoweth that there is an appointed
time which cannot be prevented, which shall not be
overshpt. For the Lord will take his opportunity.

2. When thou supposest that the uttermost of an
extremity is come, then put fire to the powder of thy
prayer ; then stir uj) thy soul to all fervency ; then
be instant and importunate ; then give the Lord no
rest ; then especially plead these and such like pro-
mises : ' I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,'
Heb. xiii. 5 ; ' He that shall come will come, and
will not tarry,' Heb. x. 37 ; ' God is faithful, who
^all not suffer you to be tempted above that you are
able ; but wiU T\dth the temptation also make a way
to escape,' 1 Cor. x. 13; ' When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt ;
neither shall the flame kindle ujwn thee,' Isa. xliii.
2. Be so far from fainting by reason of the extre-
mity of distress, as rather with stronger confidence
exfject deliverance. This being God's opportunity,
put him in mind of thine extremity, and thus plead
it, ' Arise, O Lord, have mercy : for the time to have
mercy, yea, the set time, is come,' Ps. cii. 13; 'O
Lord, hear ; Lord, forgive ; Lord, hearken and
do; defer not, for thine own sake,' Dan. Lx. 19,
Only let the truth of confidence be manifested by
repentance. 1 He that repenteth may be confident
when the time to save is come.

Sec. 42. Of apphjing to ourselves God's dealing wilh
others.

IV. Due observation ^ of God's merey to others
maketh men in like cases to achtoivledge God's mercy
to them. This was it that moved the prophet
to say, that when he was brought low, the Lord
saved him, because he had duly observed how the
Lord preserved the siinple. Well note the forms of
praise that are recorded in Scripture, and you shall
find it usual with the saints to relate God's accus-
tomed dealing with others to be such as it was
with them. To omit the many psalms of David
that are pertinent to this pm-pose, the two hymns of
Hannah, 1 Sam. ii. 1, &c., and the Virgin Mary,
Luke i. 46, &c., give good j)roof hereof

Men ordinarily behold God's deaUng with others
with a single eye, whereby they are so convinced of
the verity and equity of that which they see, as they

' Confidat qui agit pocnitentiam, quum Tenit tempua sal-
vandi. — Jerome Comment, in Psalm ci. ' Sec. 58.

GOUGE OX PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 7.

cannot but acknowledge the like (when the like
falleth out) iu their own case.

Behold here what good we may gain to ourselves
by taking notice of the divine proijerties as they are
exercised on others. Few or none can so well dis-
cern the evidences of God's providence and mercy,
or of his justice, jealousy, and displeasure, in them-
selves as in others. Objects brought too near to
the eye cannot be distinctly and clearly discprned.
Self-love dims men's sight in tlieir own case. When
others partake of any good thing we can soon say,
how good is God unto them. When judgments
are executed on others we are ready to ascribe it to
the justice of the Lord. Well, seeing we are so
forward to discern God's dealing in other men's
cases, let us make good use of this our disposition,
and do so still, that hereby we may be brought to
the mind of this holy man ; and finding the Lord to
deal with others as he doth with us, acknowledge as
much ; and that, as in works of judgment to be hum-
bled the more, so in works of mercy to be provoked
to more hearty thankfulness, as we shall be in truth,
and on just ground we can say, ' The Lord that
sheweth mercy to them that are in misery, was
very merciful to me when I was in inisery.'

)Sec. 43. Of the c:q)osltion and resolution of the
seventh verse,

Ver. 7. Eduni unto thy rest, mij soul, for the
Lord hath dealt hountifulhj with thee.

Here beginneth the second part of thi.s psalm, ^
which setteth out the prophet's protestation for his
after purpose. This hath respect :

L To his inward disposition.

2. To his outward conversation.

For his inward disposition he professeth a quiet
settling of his soul.

Eest, niJlD, whereby his inward disposition is
here expressed, is opposed to travail and labour,
Exod. xxiii. 12 ; Gen. ^iii. 9, or to trouble and
sorrow, Ruth i. 9 ; Deut. xxviii. 65, and that
both outward. Lam. v. 5, and inward, Isa. xxviii.
12.

Here it is taken in the latter respect, as opposed
to inward trouble and anguish, as is e\-ident by the
relation it hath to his soul. It importeth an assur-
1 See sec. 2.

ance of God's favour to him, and tranquillitjf of mind
and peace of conscience thence arising.

This rest he calleth his soul's, because it was a
rest wherein his soul had solaced herself before ;
which the Lord having given, he sweetly and quietly
enjoyed as his oato.

But it seemeth that his bitter affliction had be-
reaved him of it, and therefore as to a right lost and
recovered again, he saith, ' Return,' ^^liy. For this
is the very word which the angel useth to Hagar
when she fled from her mistress, ' Return,' Gen. xvi.
9. As Hagar through her mistress' rough dealing
with her fled from her, so the soul of this prophet
by reason of affliction fell from her former quiet
confidence in God. As the angel therefore biddeth
Hagar ' return to her mistress,' so the understand-
ing of this prophet biddeth his soul ' return to her
rest.'

Very elegant and emphatical is this manner of
the prophet's directing his speech to his soul as to
another person, thus, ' my soul.' Hereby his un-
derstanding well enlightened and resolved of God's
favour to him, stirreth up his will, conscience, heart,
and afiections to be quieted, and no longer perplexed
and troubled with doubts and fears about God's
wrath, but to rest assured of his love and favour.

" To shew what good gi-ound there was for his soul
to repose itself quietly in the Lord, he addeth, 'For
the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.' The
fii'st particle being a causal particle, for, ^D, sheweth
that tills is added as a reason of that wMch went
before. The reason is taken from the manifesta-
tion of God's favour to him, and it may thus be
framed :

He with whom the Lord dealeth bountifully may
well rest on the Lord.

But the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee,
my soul.

Therefore thou, my soul, maj'est well rest on the
Lord.

One Hebrew word is expressed by this circumlo-
cution, hath dealt bountifully (7!3J, God's repaying).
The word properly signifieth to repay ; it hath in
that signification, relation to something done before,
and that good or evil ; and in both these senses it
is attributed to God and men. God is said to ' re-
pay, or reward the righteous according to their

Vek. 7.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

righteousness,' Ps. x^•iii. 20 ; and to the wicked to
' repaj- or render a recompense,' Jer. li. 6. In tliese
respects he is called ' a God of recompenses,' Jer.
li. SG. (m7DJ ba.) Men, Ukewise, are said to 're-
pay or render for good,' Ps. cx^a. 12, and ' for evil,'
Ps. cxxx^-ii. 8. But the word is also simply used
T\'ithout relation to anything before, especially being
attributed to God, and that in the better sense, for
conferring or bestowing some good. Thus doth
the Psalmist pray to God to be ' recompensed,' Ps.
cxix. 1 7, that is, graciously dealt with by him ; and
acknowledgeth that he hath so dealt with him,
Ps. cxlii. 7. In this simple signification do Hebrew
expositors,! Greek translators,- and other interpre-
ters and exjiositors ' take the word in this place.
Thus some of our EngUsh translators turn the word
here, ' hath been beneficial,' others, ' hath dealt
graciously.' And because the kindness which God
sheweth is not scanty or niggardly, but such as be-
seemeth his majestv to give, others thus translate
it ' hath dealt bountifully.'

To infer any matter of merit on man's part, be-
cause a word that sometimes signifieth to repay is
attributed to God in relation to man, is too sandy a
foundation for such a lofty Babel.

To take occa.sion from hence to set out the bounty
of the Lord would be too impertinent. The word
doth indefinitely set do^Ti the grace, favour, mercy, or
goodness of the Lord, without any particular or dis-
tinct respect to extraordinary liberality and bourl^-.

The principal point heie to be noted is, the altera-
tion of the prophet's disposition. 'Wliere before he
was restless, now he retumeth to rest.

In expressing hereof three points are observable :

L The matter.

2. The manner.

3. The motive.

In the matter are further to be noted :

1. The action, return.

2. The object, rest.

3. The agent, soul.

The manner is b)" an apostrophe to his soul, my
soul.

The motive is taken from the manifestation of

1 ' Targum,' n31i3 70J retribuit bonum.
* LXX, lvepyeTri<re, benefecit.
• ' Sic Jerome, Aug. aliiqiie.

God's favour to him ; for, the Lord hath dealt
bountifully with thee.

A further exemplification hereof is in the next
verse :

1. The action, return, iniiilicth a former restless-
ness, and sheweth that,

The souls of saints are oft unsettled.

2. The object, rest, together with the appropria-
tion thereof to his soul, thy, demonstrateth that.

Saints have a rest.

3. The agent, soul, to ^vhich the forenamed action
and object have relation, giveth e^ddence that,

The rest proper to saints is spmtual. Such a rest
as their soul, a spiiitual substance, may enter into.

4. The motive, taken from the manifestation of
God's favour, whereof he liad now some assm-ance,
declareth that.

Sense of God's favour is the ground of saints' rest.

5. The manner of expressmg all these by speak-
ing to his soul, and provoking it to cuter into rest,
teacheth that.

Men must stir up themselves to that which they
see to be good for them.

Sec. 44. Of Ike unseUJcdncss wliercunto sainti are
subject.

I. The souls of saints are oft unsettled, much dis-
turbed, and restless.''- What can we else judge of
him who made this exjwstulation with his soul,
' Whj' art thou cast down, my soul ? and why
art thou disquieted within me?' Ps. xlii. 11, and
professed that his ' soul refused comfort,' Ps. Ixxvii.
2. Or of him that said, ' When I lie down I say,
Wien shall I arise, and the night be gone ? and I
am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of
the day,' Job vii. 4.

Tliis thus falleth out by reason of the violence of
temptations and troubles whereunto they are sub-
ject on the one side, and by reason of the weakness
of their flesli and disability to resist those tempta-
tions on the other side.- So long as breath remains

' Mortem frequenter m hoc seculi istius lubrieo sustinebat,
inquietus fluctibiis peocatorum. — Amb. in Oral, de Obit.
Theod.

^ Sancti cum mente smt epirituales, adbuc tamen isto coi--
ruptibili corpore quod aggravat animam recte iutelliguntur
esse carnales, &c. — Auff. cent. Jvl. Pelag. lib. vi. c. 11.

GOUGE ON PSALM OXVI.

[Ver. 7.

in us flesh remains in us ; and ' the flesh is weak
when the sjoirit is ready,' Mat. xxvi. 41. Yea,
when the spirit is willing patiently to yield and
quietly to submit itself to God, the flesh sweUeth,
rebelleth, and raiseth tumults. So as saints being
in their mind spiritual, are notwithstanding carnal
in their corrupt flesh, which is a burden to their
soul. An apostle in this case saith of himself,
' When I would do good, evil is present with me.
And I see another law in my members warring
against the law of my mind,' &c., Eom. vii. 21, 23.
Now calamities and afflictions being grievous, Heb.
xii. 11, namely, to the flesh, they make it to stir
and struggle, to murmur and mutmy ; yea, the
violent heat of them causeth a mist to arise before
the light of understanding, and to obscure aiid
darken it exceedingly, so as that light which should
in this tempest direct a man cannot clearly shew
itself. It falleth out with a man in this case as
with a glass of sweet and clear water that hath
much dregs in the bottom. Stir the glass much
and the water wUl be much troubled, nor sweetness
will be so smelt as before, nor clearness seen tUl it
may be settled again. Herein lieth a main differ-
ence betwixt Christ's pure and man's polluted
nature. He, indeed, took to himself our true
nature, even the nature of our infirmities, and the
infirmities of our nature, but free from sin ; no dregs
of corruption were in his nature. Though he
therefore seemed to be shaken all to pieces, yet no
rebellious, no disordered passion was thereby stirred
up in him. These phrases, 'Now is my soul
troubled,' John xii. 27; 'My soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death,' Mat. xxvi. 38 ; 'If it
be possible let this cup pass from me,' chap. xxvi.
39 ; ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?' chap, xxvii. 46, manifested a very dolorous
agony in his soul, but no seditious mutiny. Such
passion in our soul would stir up much sedition,
yea, after we are truly regenerate. For we are but
in part regenerate.

1. This infinnity of our nature is not wisely ob-
served of them, who, from the perplexities and
agonies of saints especially, if thereby they be forced
to manifest any disquietncss of soul, take occasion
to insult over them, and to trample the more upon
them. David was much troubled with such, and

oft complaineth of them. In that respect he saith
of them, ' They talk to the giief of those whom
thou hast wounded,' Ps. Ixix. 26, Thus Job's
friends, though they came a long journey to com-
fort him, yet proved ' miserable comforters,' Job
xvi. 2. Too many such miserable comforters there
are, who, when a man hath need of some comfort-
able cordials, give liim (as Christ's, Mat. xxvii. 34,
48, and David's, Ps. Ixix. 21, enemies did) gall for
meat, and vinegar to drink. The heathen accounted
this a most inhuman part.i How ill then doth it
beseem them who profess themselves to be Chris-
tians.

2. Let such as through God's mercy have peace
and comfort in their souls and consciences so bear
with those that are unsettled and perplexed, as they
may the better, by speaking ' a word in season,'
Isa. 1. 4, quiet and settle their souls. It is an ex-
press charge given to such as are ' strong to bear
with the infirmities of the weak,' Rom. xv. 1, and
to such as are ' spiritual to restore a brother over-
taken, with the spirit of meekness,' Gal. vi. 1, and
that for this reason, ' lest they also be tempted.'
What any one is subject unto, every one is subject
unto. Thus shall we shew ourselves to be as a true
brother, even ' born for adversity,' Prov. xvii. 1 7.

3. From this whereunto saints are subject to be
sometimes unsettled, all have need to give dihgence
to make their calling and election sure, and to be
well instructed how to have 'the heart established
with grace,' Heb. xiii. 9, that therewith the soul may
be fast fixed, as the oak is said to be, whose roots
spread as far and grow as deep into the earth as the
boughs thereof grow wide and high mto the air, ^
whence it cometh to pass that no storm can overturn
an oak — it will sooner be rent and split clean through
than overthrown. So they who are ' well-rooted and
built up in Christ and established in the faith,' Col.
ii. 7, and 'rooted and grounded in love,' Eph. iii.
17, will sooner have their bodies and souls rent
asunder than be overturned in their faith on Christ.
Instance the true martjrs of the church.

To enforce this point further, note the next
note.

' Ui'gere jacentem est iuhumanum. — Cic. pro C. Rah. Post.
^ Quantum vertice ad auras .^Etherias, tautum radice in
Tartara tendit, &c. — Virg. Ocorg. 1. 2.

Ver. 7.]

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

Sec. -IS. Of the rest of saints.

II. Sahits have a rest. Yea, even in this vrovld
they have a rest. How else could the prophet here
say to his soul, ' Enter into thy rest 1 ' Why else
should he blame his soul for being restless, Ps. xlii.
11, xliii. 5. That peace which as proper to the
saints is expressly mentioned in Scripture proveth as
much, John xvi. 33 ; Rom. v. 1, xiv. 17.

To embolden, encourage, and hearten them in the
sea of this world, that by the storms of affliction they
should not be overwhelmed and drowned before
tliey come to the ' rest which remaineth for them,'
Heb. iv. 9, and which the Lord Jesus shall give them
' when he shall be revealed from heaven,' 2 Thes. i.
7, here they have a rest, wherein, that we be not
deceived, mark the third point.

Sec. 46. Of tlie spiritual rest of saints.

m. The rest proper to saints is spiritual. ^ It is
such a rest as may stand with tribulation in this
world. It is 'a peace which they have in Christ,'
John xvi. 33, 'a peace with God,' Eom. v. 1, 'a
peace of God that jiasseth all understanding,' that
keepeth men's 'hearts and minds,' Phd. iv. 7, 'a
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost,' opposed to ' meat
and di'ink,' Eom. xiv. 1 7, a peace of conscience ;
for a good and quiet conscience is the bed of the
soul, in wliich it sweetly and quietly resteth.^

This is the best, truest, and surest rest ; a rest
that sustaineth a man's infirmity ; a rest that not
only cpiieteth the soul when the body is disquieted,
but also moderateth and mitigateth the disquietness
of the body.^ Tliis maketh us 'glory in tribula-
tions,' Eom. V. 3. What made ' Peter to sleep
quietly between soldiers bound mth chains?' Acts
xii. 6. What made ' Paul and Silas,' ha\'ing been
sorely scourged, cast into prison, and their feet
made fast in the stocks, at midnight to sing ? chap.
x\'i. 23-25 : surely this spiritual rest wherein their
souls were reposed ; this peace of God. This being
the best rest, God pro\'ideth it for his best beloved.

1. Take evidence hereby of the true estate of

1 Sec. 4.3.

' Bona et tranqnilla conscientia est lectus animoe. In hoc
requiem capit anima. — Bern. Serm. parv. 1.

' See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, ii. part 5.
BBC. 724.

saints, and be instructed in tlie manner of God's
dealmg with them. Tiaie it is that he putteth them
to many trials ; ' The Lord scourgeth every son that
he receiveth. All axe partakers of chastisement,'
Heb. xii. G, 8. ' All that wiU live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution,' 2 Tun. iii. 12. Yet,
as true it is that the Lord aflbrdeth sufficient sup-
portance, yea, and comfort also in all their troubles,
that we may learn that God's captived servants are
not forsaken of him.^ ' God is faithful who wiU
not suffer his to be tempted above that they are
able to bear,' 1 Cor. x. 13. As Christ said of the
Sabbath, I may say of the afflictions of saints, ' afflic-
tions are for the saints and not the saints for afflic-
tions,' Mark ii. 27 ; therefore, God correcteth us for
our profit, and from thence issueth ' the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised
thereby,' Heb. xii. 10, 11. The assistance, comfort,
peace, and joy which God giveth even in troubles and
afflictions, niiuistereth just cause for us all to say,
' We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ;
we ai'e perplexed, but not in desj^air : persecuted, but
not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed,' 2 Cor.
iv. 8, 9. This is the benefit of spu-itual rest, tliat
temporal troubles do not disturb the same. If any
be disquieted and unsettled, as we heard before some
might be, it is their own weakness. They have a
rest to return unto, ordained, revealed by God,
whereunto, when they recal their spirit, they wiU
return ; as here the prophet doth. If thus there
be peace and rest to saints in times of trials and
troubles, inward peace, spiritual rest in outward
trials and temporal troubles, who can doubt of their
rest in halcyon, in quiet and peaceable times, when
there is nothing to disturb the same 1 The world is
altogether ignorant of tliis peace. If they had a
true and due understanding thereof, their mouths
would not be so opened as they are against saints by
reason of their troubles.

2. Take notice hereby of the difference betwixt
the condition of believers and unbelievers, servants
of the Lord and slaves of the devil. They have
their rest — a rest that may stand with external un-
quietness. Though in body and in outward estate
they may seem to have no rest ; though in that re-

' Discamus captives Dei servoa non deseri a Domino euo

Aug. Epist. 122, ad Victorian.

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

[Vee. 7.

spect they may be tliouglit, as Christ, to be in a worse
case than foxes, that ' have holes, and birds of the air
that have nests,' Mat. \'iii. 20, because they have not
where to rest theii- head ; yet have they a rest for
their soul, a' rest that refresheth and solaceth both
soul and body. But it is other^visc with the wicked.
' The mcked are like the troubled sea, when it can-
not rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There
is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked,' Isa. Ivii.
20, 21. Though they have health of body, and all
outward prosperity ; though by reason thereof they
say (as the rich fool did, Luke xii. 19) to their soul,
' Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry ;' yet
cannot this be but only to the teeth outward. They
seem to have rest, and to enjoy quiet ; but that is
no rest where the soul is restless,^ that is no peace
of mind where the mind is troubled vpith stings of a
guilty conscience. Their conscience is like to the
fore-mentioned troubled sea. If they feel it not, it
is because they are intoxicated and made senseless,
as the drunkard that ' lieth down in the midst of the
sea or upon the top of a mast,' and feeleth nothing,
Prov. xxiii. 34, 35. Their ' conscience is seared
with an hot iron,' 1 Tim. iv. 2. "When it is roused
it will be as ' a roaring lion and a ranging bear, or
a bear robbed of her whelps,' Prov. xxviii. 15, and
chap. x\ii. 12.

3. Envy not (O ye saints) the rest whereof the
men of tliis world so much boast; return to your
own rest ; rest satisfied therewith. In your greatest
troubles meditate thereon, solace yourselves therein.
The mariner, in hope of coming to a calm haven,
patiently endureth all manner of storms while he is
on sea. Should not saints much more quietly liear
all manner of troubles, not only in expectation of
that 'rest which remaineth to the people of God,'
Heb. iv. 9, but also in regard of that inward
spiritual rest which they have in the midst of their
greatest afflictions 1

Sec. 47. Of GocTs favour, the rest of saints.
IV. Sense (f God's favour is the ground of saints' rest."

^ Videntur habere tranquillitatem, videntur quiete frui; sed
non est quies ubi animus inquietus est ; non est tranquillitas
mentis ubi animus exagitatur obnoxia; stimulo conscientire. —
Amb. Comment, in Ps. cxviii., Serm, xvii. ver, 5,
Sec. 43.

After the jirophet had expostulated with his soul
about her unquietness, he gave this advice, ' Hope
in God,' Ps. xlii. 11, as the only means of settling
his soul. Faith is it that persuadeth the soul of
God's favour. Hence is it that ' being justified by
faith we have peace with God,' Eom. v. 1. Yea,
because this peace relieth on God's favour, it is
called ' the pep-ce of God,' PhU. iv. 7. - When David
was in one of the most desperate distresses that ever
befell him, it is said that ' he encouraged hunself in
the Lord his God,' 1 Sam. xxx. 6. The assurance
that he had of God's favour, and confidence that the
Lord was his God, supported him and moved him to
rest thereon. Many are the metaphors which to
this end are applied to God, as ' Kock, fortress, de-
liverer, strength, buckler, horn of salvation, high
tower,' Ps. xviii. 2 ; ' refuge,' Ps. xlvi. 1 ; ' portion
of inheritance, maintainer of lot,' Ps. x\4. 5 ; ' hid-
ing-place,' Ps. cxix. 114; ' strong habitation, where-
uuto we may continually resort,' Ps. Ixsi. 3.

1. Nothing can satisfy the souls of saints but
God's favour. They find all other things to be
'vanity and vexation of spuit,' Eccles. i. and ii.
\Yhereas therefore others say, ' Who will shew us
any good,' samts say, ' Lord, Uft thou, up the light of
thy countenance upon us,' Ps. iv. 6.

2. God's favour is that proper place whither a
soul well enlightened and rectified (as the souls of
the saints are) aspireth. Now nothing resteth till
it comes to its proper place. Instance light things
that fly upward, and heavy things that fall down-
ward.

3. The uttermost end whereunto the saints refer
all their endeavours is to be accepted of God. All
things which ad\isedly they do, are but as means
for attaining to that end. Now till men attain to
that main end at which they aim, they cannot think
of a spu-itual rest. A traveller hath no settled rest
till he come to his journey's end : nor a mariner, nor
a soldier, nor any other that professeth a weighty
end to himself.

1. Let this only true rest be well observed: let
us be well instructed therein, and that the rather
because all of all sorts desire rest ; but most, yea,
and all that are not thoroughly instructed in this
true rest, are deceived thereabout. He that is
destitute of the needful things of this world, sup-

Ver. 7.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

poseth that if lie had bread to eat and raiment to
put on, he should say to his soul, be at rest. He
that is ill pain conceives that if he had ease he
should rest, and desire no more. So he that is
sick, if he had recovery ; he that is m prison, if he
had liberty ; ho that is in any distress, if he had
release. Yet when their desire is accomplished,
they are as restless as before. After one thing is
obtained, another is desired. Greater contentment
is supposed to be in the things of this world by
them that want them, than can be found to be by
them that enjoy them. Hence is it that wealth to
the covetous, honour to the ambitious, pleasure to
the voluptuous man, and all things here below to
such as desire them, are as water to him that hath
a dropsy, the more is drunk the more is desired.^
' The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ears
filled with hearing.' No human knowledge satis-
fieth the philosopher ; no inventions, no indid-
gencies, the superstitious person. All things out
of God are as ice, snow, dew, and other like
meteors; they waste in using, they soon melt or
dry away. In consideration hereof saitli the
prophet ; Isa. Iv. 2, ' '\\Tierefore do ye spend
money for that which is not bread ? and your
labour for that which satisfieth not?' 'Wilt thou
set thine eyes upon that which is not 1 ' Prov. xxiii.
5. As all natm-al men are unsatisfied in all their
desires and endeavours, so among others, they who
most set their thoughts and hearts on mischief
Fitly doth the prophet, Isa. hdi. 20, resemble such
to ' the troubled sea when it cannot rest.' Yea, in
the greatest calm it beats against the shore, and
raiseth waves which cast up mire and dirt.^

2. Seeing out of God there is no rest, let the
Lord and his favour be to thee as the ark was to
the dove. "Wliile she was out of the ark ' she found
no rest for the sole of her foot,' Gen. viii. 9. Give
no sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eye-
lids till thou hast found out tliis rest for thy soul,
assurance of God's favour. To be restless tiU we

' Quo plus sunt potic, plus sitiuutur aqua;. — Ovid fast.
lib. i. Ecdes. i. 8.

" Impios comparat mari quod nunquam potest quiescere :
sed etiam in summa tranquillitate, fractis ad littora advolvi-
tur fluctibus : finisque eius lutum e.?t, et conculcatio. —
Jerome, Comment., lib. xyi., in Isa. Ivii.

find this rest, will be a means to find it. ' The
Lord fiUeth the hungry -with good things,' Luke
i. 53. 'He giveth to him that is athir.st of the
fountam of life freely,' Rev. xxi. 6.

3. For gaining such assurance of God's favour
as may make thee rest securely therein, observe
these rules. 1

(1.) Acquaint thyself with God's promises, wliich
are the only true sure ground of faith and confi-
dence. For God's promises are declarations of God's
favour towards man ; what God promiseth, man may
safely rest upon. It was God's promise whereof
Da^id thus saith, ' Upon it thou hast caused me to
hope,' Ps. cxix. 49.

(2.) Meditate seriously and frequently on God's
properties, as on his grace, mercy, truth, power, &c.^
Tliis meditation, added to faith in God's promises,
will be as oil put into a lamji, which mil continue
the life and light of it. The forementioned descrip-
tion of God, ver. 5. sec. 26, by his divine properties,
sheweth that the faith of this prophet in God's favour
was nourished thereby.

(3.) Observe God's former deahng mtli thee, and
call to mind such evidences of his favour as he hath
shewed to thee in former times. This ^^all give thee
e\'idence of his present good-i^all towards thee ; for
whom he once loveth he ever loveth : he lovetli his
with an everlasting love, John xiii. 1 ; Jer. xxxi. 3.
"\Mien Zion said, ' The Lord hath forsaken me, and
my Lord hath forgotten me,' this answer was re-
plied, 'Can a woman forget her suckiug child ? &c.
Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee,' &c.,
saith the Lord, Isa. xlix. 14, &c.

(4.) \\Taen thy afi'ections are much prone to heavi-
ness, and thy heart much misgiveth thee (as we
speak) by reason of doubts and fears, let thy judg-
ment, grounded on God's word and promises, sup-
port thee. A right understanding of God's promises
are of force to keej) a heavy spirit from sinking. A
man's judgment well-informed, wiU con\ance his af-
fections of folly when they make doubt of God's
favour, and so bring them to j-ield to that which it
concciveth to be truth.

Having some e\ddences of God's favour towards

^ .See 'The Whole Armour of God,' treat, ii., part 6, see.
71,72.

- .See Ibid., sec. 25, &c.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 7.

tliee, repose thyself therein. Say to God as the
psahnist doth, ' Thou art my hidiiig-place,' Ps. cxix.
114, 'iriD nJlX. The beasts of the wilderness, that
have their dens and hiding-places, use on aU occa-
sions to have recourse thereunto. In their dens
they sleep securely ; to their dens they carry their
prey, and there eat it : when they are wounded, or
any way hurt, they make to their dens ; there they
lick themselves whole, if at least they can ; but if
their hurt be mortal, so as they must needs die, they
vvUl die in their dens. Thus ought we to make the
Lord our den, our liiding-place, and in all conditions,
on all occasions, to repose ourselves in liim and his
favour. If we have cause of jo)', to rejoice in the
Lord ; if of sorrow, to mourn and shed our tears in
his bosom : while we live, to hve in him ; when we
die, to die in him, even within the arms of his
favour. Thus shalt thou be sure to be safe in all
estates ; for safe is he whom the Lord doth keep.
Oh cleave to him, therefore, who hath made you !
Stand with liim, and ye shall stand safe. Rest in
him, and ye shall be Lu quiet rest.i

Sec. 48. Of comfffrting and quickening one's self.

V. Men must stir up (henudves to that whidi they see
to he good for them.- As the prophet doth here stir
up his soul to return unto her rest, so in other places
to ' hope in God,' Ps. xlii. 5 ; ' to wait upon God,'
Ps. bni. 5 ; ' to remember all liis benefits,' Ps. ciii. 2 ;
yea, and 'to praise the Lord,' Ps. cxl-vi. 1. To the
proof of this point tend all such exliortations as in
Scripture are made in the first person, as such as
these, ' Let us labom* to enter into that rest,' Heb. iv.
11;' Let us go boldly to the throne of grace,' ver.
1 G ; ' Let us go on to perfection,' chap. Ad. 1 ; ' Let
us draw near with a true heart,' &c., chap. x. 22.
By these, men of God stirred up themselves as well
as others.

For even they who are in place, and liave any
calling to stir up others, ' are men of like passions
with others,' Acts xiv. 15, and are not only subject,
but prone also to wax dull, cold, backward to holy
duties, even to such as tend to their spiritual com-
fort. We have shewed that the best may be

' Inha^rete illi qui fecit vos; state cum eo, et stabitis;
requiescite in eo, et quioti eritis. — Auij. Confess. 1. 4, c. 12.
« Sec. 43.

much disquieted and restless;^ and therefore have
need to ' stir up the gift of God that is in them,'
2 Tim. i. 6.

Quest. How can this be ?

Atis. 1. By putting difiFerence betwixt the under-
standing and affections. The understanding is in
man as a mistress, the affections are as handmaidens.
The mistress may see that to be very meet to be
done which the handmaidens are loath to do, and
thereupon quicken them.

2. By distiuguishmg bet^vixt the spuit and flesh. m
The spirit is oft -ivilling when the flesh is weak, Mat. I
xxvi. 41. Yea, when the inward man dehghteth in ■
the law of God, the outward man warreth against it,
Eom. \iL 22, 23. Now all these being in man, when
the understanding inciteth the aflectious, and the
spirit driveth away the lieaAiness of the flesh, man
is said to stu' up himself.

Learn here how beneficial a man may be to him-
self, how he may instruct, du'ect, encourage, and
comfort himself, namely, by well using that light of
understanding which God giveth him, and by ai:>ply-
ing that wherein he is well informed to liiniself.
On this ground, when we are tempted to a sin, when
we find passion, pride, lust, or any other corruption
beginning to ai'ise in us, let us make our case to be
another's case, and by our understanding reason
with oilr souls as if they were other person's, and
what we would in such cases say to others, let us
say to our own souls, as the psalmist, '"Why ai-t
thou disquieted, my soul ? ' Ps. xlii. 5. And here,
'Eeturn unto thy rest, my soul.'- Many that
much doubt, and even despair themselves, can pro-
duce sound grounds to move others to be confident
in God, which, if tliey would press upon their o^vn
souls, they might be much quickened thereby.
They can tell others that, when God seems to hide
himself, it is but a cloud that keepeth away the
brightness of God's favour, which shall be driven
away, and therefore they ought to hope and wait.
They can tell others that temptations to sin must
be resisted, and that by resisting of them they will
be vanquished. They can set a catalogue of pro-

1 Sec. 44.

° Spera in Domino, respondet conturbanti se animse sua\ et
quasi rationem reddenti perturbationis sua; propter mala
quibus abundet hie mundus. — Auj. Enar. in P'. 41.

Ver. 8.]

GOUGE ON FSALM CXVI.

mises before others in their conflicts, and be plenti-
ful and powerful in persuading others to bounden
duties, and dissuading them from disgraceful \ices.
If thus they woidd deal vrith themselves, what good
might they do to themselves 1 Thus should they
never want (no, not when they are most retired,
most private, even by themselves alone) an instrac-
tor, a du-ector, a counseller, a comforter. And no
counseller, no comforter, can be more powerful with
a man's soul than himself.

Sec. 49. Of the exposition aiid resolution of the
eighth verse.

Ver. 8. For tJwu luist delivered my soul from death,
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

The forementioned kindness of God is here par-
ticularly exemphfied by the dehverance which God
gave him from his distress.

How his soul may be said to be delivered hath
been before shewed on ver. 4, sec. 24.

Death is here put for such a desperate distress as
threatened death. ^ In the case wherein he was,
(to use the apostle's phrase,) ' he despaired even of
life : he had the sentence of death in himself, and
thus God who raiseth the dead dehvered liim from
a great death,' 2 Cor. i. 8, 9. The words, therefore,
are not literally to be taken of a miraculous raising
from death, but his distress is thus by this word,
death,- set out to aggravate his danger, and to
amplify God's dehverance. Hereof see more on ver.
3, sec. 15.

The tears of liis eyes are here mentioned to shew
how he was affected with that afihction. Tears are
outward eflects and signs of inward anguish. When
Jerusalem was carried captive into a strange land,
' She wept sore in the night, her tears were on her
cheeks,' Lam. i. 2. Yea, Christ (who with the
nature of our infirmities assumed the infirmities of
our nature, 'yet without sin,' Heb. iv. 15) had in
his bitter agony tears forced from his eyes.

God's deUvering of this prophet's ' eyes from
tears ' implieth a removal of that distress whereof
these tears were a sign, with which his soul was so
troubled as his eyes gushed out with tears, so as the
effect or sign is here put for the cause.^

' Metonymia effecti.

' Metonymia effecti vel adjunct!.

^ In abstracto.

Falling of his feet doth yet further aggravate tho
distress. The word translated falling, (^m,) signi-
fieth such a violent forcing of one as he cannot
stand, as where it is said, ' In forcing thou hast
forced me to fall,' Ps. cxviii. 13, (^jn''m nm.)
Now feet are the supporters of a body, when they
fall, down falls all the body. Hereby is declared
that the \'iolence of lus affliction was such, as like a
boisterous stoi-m, it was enough in his best strength
to overthrow him, and it also so wasted his strength
and weakened him as he could not stand, but was
ready again and again to fall ; it foUed him exceed-
ingly. By removing that aflBiction God delivered
his feet from falhng. But this is spoken in an
allegory. For, by his feet are meant his spirit ; by
falling, the fainting thereof So as his very soul
was preserved from being overwhelmed.

Some distinguish the three particulars thus : ' He
hath dehvered my soul from death,' by gi'ving me a
good conscience ; ' mine eyes from tears,' by gd-\dng
a cjuiet and a good conscience ; ' my feet from shd-
ing,' by gi\'ing a secure conscience.^

This is the exemplification of the motive men-
tioned in the latter clause of the former verse.

Herein note —

1. The manner of exjiressing it.

2. The matter whereof it consistetli.

The manner is by ^ a direct turning of his speech
to God, thus : ' Thou hast,' &c.

The matter cousisteth in a particular enumeration
of the dehverances which God gave him. So as here
is exj^ressed :

1. The author of his deliverances. Thou.

2. The kinds thereof And these are three :

1. His soul from death.

2. His eyes from tears.

3. His feet from falhng.

For the manner. In the former verse he spake
of the Lord in the third person, thus : ' The Lord
hath dealt bountifully with thee ; ' but here to the
Lord in the second person, ' thou hast delivered,'
which implieth a famiUarity. The apprehension of

' Eripuit animam meam de morte, oculos meos li lachry-
mis, pedes meos b. lapsu. De morte, dando bonam conscien-
tiam, a lachrymis, dando tranquillam et bonam : Si lapsu,
dando securam — Bern. Serm, part i,

- \WoaTpoipT].

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vek. 8.

God's bouuty bad quickened bis si^irit, and made
him in a reverent manner the more bold ; so as,

1. By a due consideration of God's favour to us
we are made more famihar ■with God.

This prophet's thus speaking to God, ' Thou hast
dehvered,' shevreth that,

2. Dehverances are to be ascribed to God.

The first kind of dehverance, 'my soul from death,'
giveth evidence that,

3. God can deliver from the power of death.
The second Idnd of deliverance, ' mine eyes from

tears,' impHeth two points, one intended, the other
expressed.

4. Saints may be much affected with afflictions.

5. God can remove all matter of mourning.

The third kind of deliverance, ' my feet from fall-
ing,' importeth also two points, \'iz.,

6. Great distresses may foil saints.

7. God estabUsheth such as are ready to fall.
The fit applying of dehverances to the distinct

distresses, as soul or Hfe from death; eyes from tears;
feet from falling, demonstrateth that,

8. God's remedy is answerable to man's necessity.

Sec. 50. Of the means to become familiar irith God.

I. By a due consideration of God's favour to its tee are
made more familiar with God} Thus Moses having
duly observed how God knew him by name, that is,
took especial notice of him, is emboldened to desire
■ further to know God, and to see his glory, Exod.
xxxiii. 12, 13, 18. And David, well weighing that
gracious message which by Nathan God sent to him,
concerning the establishing of his throne, maketh
this inference : ' Therefore hath thy servant found
in his heart,' that is, been bold, ' to pray this prayer
unto thee,' 2 Sam. vii. 27. So Isaiah, chap. vi. 2 ;
so Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 3 ; so Daniel, chap. vii. 19 ;
X. 19; so many others.

Manifestation of God's favour worketh faith ; the
more that the evidences thereof are pondered, the
more strength gathereth faith. Meditation on God's
good-will to us, is to faith as a seasonable supply of
oil to a lamp, which continuetli to j)reserve the hght
thereof. Now ' by faith we have bolchiess and ac-
cess with confidence,' Eph. iii. 12 ; and the stronger
faith the more boldness.

' See. 40.

let not any evidence of God's Idndness pass by
without due notice taken thereof Do in this case
with God as the servants of the king of Syria did
with the king of Israel, diligently observe whether
anything came from him, 1 Kings x. 33, that may
demonstrate his good mil to thee. Thus mayest
thou gain assurance that thou art in the number of
God's friends, 2 Chron. xx. 7 ; Isa. xii. 8 ; Cant. v.

I. This was it which made Abraham to be ac-
counted the friend of God, because he beUeved,
James ii. 23. God's kindness to men sheweth that
they are his favourites. As wise favourites there-
fore are in a reverent manner familiar with their
sovereign, so may such as know the Lord's mind be J
with him, and have free entrance into his presence, *
and assurance of gracious acceptance. A great
privilege.

Sec. 51. Of ascribing deliverances to God.
II. Deliverances are to he ascribed to God.''- This
hath constantly been observed by such as have been
guided by the Spirit of God, as by. Gen. xiv. 20,
Melchizedech; cha2>. xxxii. 10, Jacob; Exod. xv. 1, 20,
Moses, Miriam; Judges v. 1, Deborah, Barak; 1 Sam.
xii. 11, Samuel; 2 Sam. xxii. 1, David; 2 Chron. xv.

II, Asa; 2 Chron. xx. 26, Jehoshaphat; Isa. xxxviii.
9, Hezekiah; Esther ix. 19, the Jews in ca^Jtivity ;
Acts iv. 24, the apostles ; and many others in all
ages ; yea, and Rev. xv. 3, the blessed si^irits in
heaven also.

All deliverances are wrought by God. "VMiatso-
ever the instrumental means be, he is the principal
efficient and author. As he is the creator of all
things, so the governor, the disposer, and orderer
of all. And aU creatures in the world are his ser-
vants, his instruments, used by him according to
his ■will. If, therefore, by any right victory be
ascribed, not to the munition, but to the general ;
recovery of health, not to the potion, but to the
physician ; good workmansliip, not to the materials
or tools, but to the artificer ; by much more right,
■victory, recovery, all deliverances, aU blessings are
to be ascribed to God, who enableth generals, physi-
cians, and all others to do what they do, and giveth
all efficacy to the means that are in any way effectual.
It is therefore most just and equal that that which is

1 Sec. id.

Ver. 8.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

done by God be ascribed to him. His right it is,
and shall he not have his right ? Will subjects deal
so unjustly vritix their king, soldiers with their
general, servants with their master ?

Fie on them therefore that either take no notice
at all of such deliverances as they have, or else im-
pute them to any other than to God ; whether it be
to themselves, to other men, to any secondary causes,
to fortune, or to anji^hing else. Three sorts of men
do especially offend herein : idolaters, Dan. v. 22,
23, that ascribeth God's due to idols ; flatterers,
Acts xxiv. 2, that attribute it to men ; ambitious
persons, Isa. x. 8, &c. ; Acts xii. 2.3, that take it to
themselves. Two gi-eat e^-ils are thus committed.
The Creator is robbed of his due. To creatures is
given more than their due. He, the only true God,
is esteemed as no God. They that are not gods
are accounted as gods. ' my soul, come not thou
into their secret : unto their assembly, mine honour,
be not thou united,' Gen. xlix. 6.

Be rather of the communion of saints, whose un-
derstanding being rightly informed in the extent of
the di^•ine providence, whereby every good thing that
is -OTought, is wrought, they are so in their hearts
affected therewith as they cannot conceal the same,
but make their tongues their glorj' in acknowledg-
ing and making knoAvn what God hath done to their
souls. This, though it be most due to God, yet he
accepts it as a kindness, as an honour done to him.
And in testimony of his gracious acceptance of this
grateful remembrance, he will afterward on other
occasions be ready to deliver. For he never re-
penteth any goodness shewed to such as duly ac-
knowledge the same. If we thankfully commemor-
ate his blessings we shall excite him to confer greater
blessings upon us.^ Behold, then, a ready way to
give glory to God, and to gain good to ourselves.

Sec. 52. 0/ God's delivering from death.

in. God can deliver from the poicer of death.- He
can deliver ; —

1. In such cases as threaten death ; wherein men
have cause to fear death ; as the Israelites had when
Pliaraoh with a mighty host pursued them, and

' Si Dei beneficia commemoremus, ad majorem ilium bene-
Tolentiam excitabimua. Chri/s. Horn, ii-, in 2 Cor. i.

2 Sec. 49.

they had no way to fly but through the sea, Exod.
xiv. 2, &c., and again when they were besieged by
the S}Tians, 2 Kings vi. 24, &c.

2. "Wlieu death hath begun to lay hold and to
seize upon them, as a lion and a bear did upon the
lambs which David kept, 1 Sam. xvii. 34. Thus it
seemeth that death had seized on Paul, 2 Cor. i. 8,
and on Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx. 1, who notwithstand-
ing were both delivered.

3. When there is no possibility of avoiding death
by any ordinary means. Thus was Jonah delivered
out of the sea, Jonah i. 1 7 ; and Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego out of the hot fiery furnace, Dan.
iii. 26. God hath promised to be with his in
fire and water, Isa. xliii. 2, in most desperate dis-
tresses.

4. 'NATien they are in the very power of death,
and death actually seized upon them, and deprived
them of life. Hereof we have many instances both
in the old, 1 ICings xvii. 22 ; 2 Kings iv. 35, and
xiii. 21 ; and the New Testament, Mat. ix. 25 ;
Luke vii. 15 ; John xi. 44 ; Acts ix. 40, and xx. 10 ;
Mat. xxvii. 52 ; Rom. i. 4. The vision of dry
bones that came together, were knit with sinews,
covered with flesh and skin, and had breath of life
breathed into them, and lived, was a visible demon-
stration hereof, Ezek. xxxvdi. 2, &c. But that e\i-
dence which far surpasseth all, is the general resur-
rection of all at the last day, John v. 28.

Supreme and absolute is the power and sove-
reignty of God over all, even grave and death. Rev.
XX. 13, and 'him that hath the power of death, the
devil,' Heb. ii. 14. They are all liis vassals to hold
or to let go whom he wiU.

1. Admirable is the comfort which hence ariseth
to sueh as, being well instructed in the power of
God, can in assurance of faith rest on him, as David
did, who, when he, 1 Sam. xxx. 6, knew not whither
on earth to flee for succour, encouraged himself in the
Lord his God. For, nothing can befall us ■(vithout
the limits of his power ; no danger can happen, out
of which he is not able to deliver us.

Quest. May saints in confidence expect any de-
liverance that God is able to give ?

Ans. Not simply ; but with a willing subjection
of themselves to his will, as they who said, ' Our
God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 8.

burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from
thine hand, king. But if not, be it known to
thee, king, that we will not serve thy gods,' Dan.
iii. 17. Herein then lieth the comfort which ariseth
from God's power, that our God who is able to de-
liver us, will deliver us, if in his wisdom he see de-
liverance fit for us. For thus we may safely conclude ;

'Wha.t God seeth to be good for us, he will do.

What God will do, he can do.

What God can and will do, shall be done.

Therefore, what God seeth to be good for us,
shall be done.

Just cause is here given unto us of looking to
God, when death presents itself before our eyes ;
and to say unto him, ' We know not what to do ;
but our eyes are upon thee,' 2 Chron. xx. 12. Cast
not therefore thme eyes too much downward. Fix-
ing eyes aright on God worketh faith.

Sec. 53. Of passion in saints.

IV. Saints may he much affected icith afflictions}
They may weep, Ps. vi. G, as this prophet did ; and
' cry, yea, with a loud and bitter cry,' Esther iv. 1,
and ' roar all the day long,' Ps. xxxii. 3, and wail
and howl,' Micah i. 8, and express other symptoms
and signs of much anguish and great grief.

' Is their strength the strength of stones 1 Or is
their flesh of brass?' Job vi. 12. Flesh and blood
remaining in the best while they remain in this
world, maketh them sensible of smart, of pain, of
loss, of disgrace, of other crosses which lie heavy
upon them, and press and pinch them sore.

1 . Away with the senseless and blockish oj^inion of
stoics, who say that no passion beseems a wise
man. The heathen philosophers by that light of
nature which they had, have sufficiently refuted
that paradox.^ To us that have the light of God's
word, which commandeth expression of passion
when there is just occasion, Joel i. 13, and hath
commended it in such as have rightly done it, 2
Chron. xxxiv. 27, yea, and hath expressly recorded
the passion of him that is the Wisdom of God, Mark
iii. 5, and taxed the contrary in obdurate persons,

1 Sec. 49.

* Cic. Tuecul. quest, lib. iv. — Lege Lactant. de vero cultu,
lib. V. cap: 14, and Aug. de Civ. Dei, lib. xvi. cap. 8, 9, and
lib. ix. cap 4, and QiiKst. in Gen. lib. i. 30, contra Stoicorum
6.Tr<iO£to.v,

Isa. xxii. 12, 13, it cannot but seem a more than
heathenish and brutish conceit.

2. Be not too censorious of other's j^assionate
manifestation of their grief: especially when there
is just cause, and a Christian mean is not exceeded.
All that Satan could do against Job did not so
deeply pierce to his soul as liis friends' unfriendly
censure of him.

3. Have compassion of such as (having cause) are
in passion. 'Weep with them that weep,' Kom.
xii. 1-5. Let us shew ourselves to be fellow-members
of one and the same body, by a Christian sympathy,
and fellow-feeling of one another's sorrows, 1 Cor.
xii. 26, 27.

4. As for such as take occasion from the signs and
efi'ects of others' sorrows, to insult over them, let
them well weigh the fearful imiorecations made
again.st them, Ps. box. 10, 21, 22, &c. ; and withal
know that prophetical imprecations are divine de-
nunciations of judgment. It much provokes the
righteous Lord to give them just matter of sorrow,
who laugh at others' sorrows.

Sec. 54. Of God's turning sorrow into solace.
V. God can remove all matter of mourning.^ He
here delivered this prophet's eyes from tears : he
took away all occasion of weeping : in which sense
he is said to ' Wipe away all tears from men's eyes,'
Isa. XXV. 8 ; Eev. vii. 17 ; and to bid them ' Refrain
their voice from weeping, and eyes from tears,' Jer.
xxxi. 16; Luke vii. 13. Pertinent to this purjiose
are these proverbs, 'They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy,' Ps. cxxvi. 5. ' Weeping may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the mornmg,' Ps. xxx.
5. Answerable hereunto have been saints' prayers,
God's promises and performances. For instance of
prayers take these, ' Make me to hear joy and glad-
ness ; that the bones which thou hast broken may
rejoice,' Ps. U. 8. ' Make us glad according to the
years wherein thou hast afflicted us,' Ps. xc. 15.
Of promises these, ' I 'wall turn their mourning into
joy, and wdl comfort them, and make them rejoice
for their sorrow,' Jer. xxxi. 13. ' Their fasts shall
be joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts,' Zech. viii.
19. 'Thou shalt weep no more,' Isa. xxx. 19. Of

' Sec. 49. Eripuit oculos cius a lachrymis. Fugit enim
d'jlnr, et tristitia et gemikis. — Amb. in Orat. de Obit. Tkcoit.

Ver. S.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

performances these, 'Thou hast turned for me my
iiiourning into dancing : thou hast put off my sack-
cloth, and girded me with gkduess,' Ps. xxx. 12.
' When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion,
then was our mouth filled ■vvith laughter, and our
tongue with singing,' Ps. cxx\'i. 1, 2. Were not the
eyes of that woman, which so wept as with her tears
siie washed the feet of Jesus, delivered from tears,
when Christ said to her, 'Thy sins are forgiven'?
Luke ■^•ii. 38, &c. When Hezekiah heard this doom,
' Thou shalt die and not live, he wept with great
weeping,' Isa. xxxrvaii. 1, &c.^ ; but this second mes-
sage from the Lord, ' I have seen thy tears ; behold,
I will add unto thy days fifteen years,' did question-
less wipe away all his tears. Most pregnant for the
point in hand is the end of the commission given to
Christ, thus e3q)ressed, 'The Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings, to comfort aU that mourn, to
give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heanness,' Isa. bd. 1, &c.

That wliich God said to Hezekiah, ' I have seen
thy tears,' Isa. xxx\TLi. 3, giveth the true and just
reason of God's ^emo^•ing all matter of mourning.
For the Lord being full of pity, 'The Father of
mercies, and the God of all comfort,' 2 Cor. i. 3.
His bowels are moved at the sight of his chilch'en's
tears, as it is noted of Christ, ' When he saw Mary
weeping, and the Jews also weeping, he groaned in
the spuit, and was troubled, and wept,' John xi. 33, 35.
A:id again, when he saw a widow weep, ' he had com-
passion on her,' Luke \Ti. 13. Upon that compassion
he took away the occasion of her weeping. When God
came to dehver Israel from the Egyptian bondage,
he renders this reason of his purjjose, ' I have surely
seen the afiliction of my people which are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry by reason of their task-
masters ; for I know their sorrows,' Exod. v. 7.
Yea, further, to demonstrate the notice which the
Lord taketh of his saint's tears, there is in Scripture
mention made of 'a bottle,' Ps. Ivi. 8, wherein they are
put, as a liquor most precious in God's account, and
of a book wherein tliey are registered, as tilings to
be re\-iewed and not forgotten.

Learn hereby to set a mean to mourning, ' Sorrow
not as others which have no hope,' 1 Thess. iv. 13.

' b^a ''^2 lyi <^t fle^'it fist-" magno.

Know that God taketh notice of thy tears ; believe
that God can and wUl wipe them away. Believe
this when sense and smart of affliction makes thee
weep and waU, but especially when with a deep ap-
prehension of thy sins against God, and of his dis-
pleasure against thee, thou doest, as Peter did, ' weep
bitterly,' Mat. xxvi. 75. In these and other Uke
cases, thou mayest and must pray as the psalmist
did, and say, ' Lord give ear unto my cry, hold
not thy peace at my tears,' Ps. xxxix. 12. For
assuredly, he that putteth tears into his bottle and
registereth them ■\vill wipe all tears from thine eyes.
What he hath done to others, thou being Uke to
them, in like cases mayest expect; for God ever
remaineth like himself.

Sec, 55. Of saints' fallings 1)1/ affliction.

VI. Great afflictions mai/ foil saints.''- Though they
be not utterly overthrown thereby, they may be, as
a man in a quagmu'e, out of which he hath much
ado to come, mucli foiled. In such a case was he
who said, ' My feet were almost gone ; my steps had
wcU nigh slijiped,' Ps. \xxm. 2; 'My foot sUppeth,'
Ps. xciv. 18 ; 'I am ready to halt,' Ps. xxxviii. 17 ;
' My flesh and my heart faileth,' Ps. Ixxiii. 2Gj ' My
strength faileth,' Ps. bod. 9 ; ' My spirit was over-
whelmed,' Ps. Ixxvii. 3 ; ' My hfe is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing,' Ps. xxxi. 10.

How it falls out that this thus befalls the saints,
is shewed before, on ver. 7, sec. 44.

The apostle giveth a seasonable exhortation for
preventing or redressing the danger of this infirmity,
which is this, ' Lift up the hands which hang down,
and the feeble knees ; and make straight paths for
your feet : lest that which is lame be turned out of
the way ; but let it rather be healed,' Heb. xii. 12,
13. Hanging hands and feeble knees are the signs
of a fainting spu'it, and here put for that whereof
they are signs.^ To lift up these is to rouse up oiu-
spii-its and to quicken them. The danger which
otherwise may follow upon fainting much enforceth
the exhortation, for these words, ' lest that which is
lame be turned out of the way,' imply that a fainting
may follow a faUing away. A fresh-water soldier
once fainting soon falls to the enemy ; let us there-
fore well look to our standing, and well prepare

' Sec. 49. ' Metonymiii effecti et adjimcti.

5(5

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 8.

ourselves beforehand. The ai^ostle giveth an excel-
lent direction to tliis piupose, Ejih. vi. 10, 11, &c.

For particular directions to keep from fainting,
read ' The Whole Annour of God,' treat, ii. part 5,
sec. 22.

Is the forementioned weakness of saints and
proneness to fall well weighed of them who, by
reason of some gifts bestowed on them, wax insolent
and secure ? Surely this is one use which is to be
made of saints' falls, that no man boast himself of
his own good deeds, when he beholdeth the storms
of such men to be taken heed of, and wrecks to be
bewailed. '^

Sec. 56. Of God's establishing ike weal:.

VII. God establisheth such as are ready to fall? This
he did when he delivered this prophet's feet from
falling. ' He that falleth,' saith the apostle, ' shall
be holden up ; for God is able to make him stand,'
Rom. xiv. 4. Very fitly to the point in hand saith
the psalmist, ' He brought me up out of an horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a
rock, and estabHshed my goings,' Ps. xl. 2. And
again, ' When I said my foot shppeth, thy mercy,
Lord, held me up,' Ps. xciv. 18.

As God's power, so his pity and prudence are more
clearly manifested hereby. \^Tiere the Lord saith,
' My strength is made perfect in weakness,' 2 Cor.
xii. 9, he meaneth that the lower men be brought,
and the more weak and unable to be established
they may seem to be, the more divine is the power
manifested to be whereby they are established ; and
then doth pity and mercy most brightly shew itself
when in falling a man is preserved, so as if then he
had not been preserved he had perished. Thus,
Clirist shewed his pity in saving Peter even when he
began to sink. Mat. xiv. 30, 31. This then must
needs be a principal part of prudence. In these and
other like respects, God is so ready to ujihold him
that is falling and to hold liim that is departing, that he
may seem to mind such alone, and to leave all others.^

1. Despair not now though thy foot be slipping,

' Se nequaquam recte suis factis jactare audeat, cum videat
tantorum virorum et canendas tempestates et flenda naufragia.
—A urj. de Doctr. Chr. 1. 3, o. 23. = Sec. 49.

^ Sic paratus est Deus Buscipere cadentem, et eripere fugien-
tem, ut videri possit relictis omnibus aliis ei soli operam da-
re.— £erre. in Ps. Qui habit., Ser. ii.

or thou sinking in a sea of sorrows. God is as near
at hand in all our troubles as Christ was in that sea
where Peter was. Mat. xiv. 30, 31. As a tender
mother, though she suffer her weak and feeble child
to go alone, yet will she not suffer it to be alone or
out of sight. If it shde or fall she presently eatcheth
it up again. Yea, she will give her servants charge
over it to keep it, and to take it up in case it fall.
Thus deals thy heavenly Father with thee, poor,
weak, feeble brat. ' He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved (namely to thy min) ; he that keepeth
thee will not slumber,' Ps. cxsd. 3. And lest thou
shouldst thmk that by reason of his greatness he
will not take care of thee, ' He giveth his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They
shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy
foot against a stone,' Ps. xci. 11, 12. Despair not,
then. Mercy, grace, and indulgency is promised.
\f[\o can despair that knoweth and beUeveth this ? ^
2. AVlien thou findest thyself sinking, and thinkest
thyself lost, do as Peter did : ' Cry out to God, and
say. Lord, save me,' Mat. xiv. 30. Call to mind liis
promise, ' When thou passest through the waters, I
mil be with thee,' Isa. xliii. 2. Plead his dealing
■with others whose feet he hath delivered from fall-
ing. Persuade thyseK that thy heavenly Father as
far surpasseth eaithly parents in pity and goodness,
as he doth in majesty and greatness. Hereupon
ponder with thyself, and consider if earthly parents
can suffer their children, when they are fallen, to lie
and cry, and not come and take them up. ' Yea,
they may. Yet -nill not I, saith the Lord, forget
thee,' Isa. xlix. 15.^ If now being fallen thou Hest
stUl and criest not for help, dost thou not justly de-
serve to be let alone, even for punishment of thy
stoutness 1 Surely it becometh every soul to eye
God continually, not only as an help at a pinch, but
also as one that taketh the care and charge of us
upon himself.

Sec. 57. Of God's seasonable kindness.
VIII. God's remedy h ansirerable to man's necessity.^

1 Noli desperare. Promissa est iadulgentia tibi. — Au(/.
Enar. in Ps. ci.

^ Expedit omni animx Deum semper attendere, tauquam
proprium non modo adjutorem, sed etiam inspectorem. — Bern.
toe. cHat. ^ Sec. 49.

Ver 9.]

GOUGK ON PSALM CXVI.

That ■whidi was a cloud in the day to shelter his
people from the scorching heat of the sun, was a
pillai- of fire to give them light in the night, ' that
they might go by day and by night,' Exod. xiii. 21.
AMieu they had no bread he ' rained do-mi manna
from heaven,' chap. xvi. 4. When they had no
water he ' opened a rock, and gave them water to
dimk,' chap. xvii. 6. ^^^len they had water enough,
but it was so bitter as they could not drink of it,
he made it sweet, chap. xv. 25. Wlien their ene-
mies infested them, he overthrew those enemies,
chap. xvii. 8. Accordmg to all their needs he
afforded them fit help. Thus, while liis people
were in the ^vdlderness, he gave extraordmary but
■\asible demonstrations of liis more invisible but
ordinaiy providence towards his in all ages. Hereby
is accomplished that of the psalmist, ' The sun shall
not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night,' Ps.
cxxi. 6. AMiich not unfitly may be applied to men's
several estates of prosperity and adversity, i

Eemedies answerable to .men's necessities are
seasonable ; seasonable remedies are profitable ; pro-
fitable remedies are acceptable ; acceptable remedies
are most available to provoke men to all gratitude ;
gratitude makes them diligent in observing what
may most make to the honour of God, and zealous
in promoting the same. Thus the very kind of
remedy which God aftbrdeth, maketh most to man's
good and his Ofl-n glory.

Learn hence wisdom of this wise God ; and that
in two especial jioiuts :

1. Seek of him such things as are seasonable for
thee to receive, as they who in the days of Christ's
flesh came to him for succour — the blind for sight,
the deaf for hearing, the dumb for speech, the lame
for sound limbs, and so others for a remedy tit for
their particular malady. Answerably, Art thou
in danger of death? seek preservation from death
vriih a reservation to God's good pleasui-e. Doth
any anguish so work on thine inward passion as to
force tears from thine eyes? pray to have those tears
wiped away. Dost thou find thy feet shding, thy
spirit fainting, desire God either to keep thee from

^ Reddetur populo fjclicitas pristina quam aliquando habuere
in eremo, prsecedente Domino eos per diem in columna nubis,
et per noctem in columna ignis, ut nee in prosperis, nee in
adversis aliquando turbeutur. — Hier. Comment, in Isa. iv.

falling or to raise thee again, and to revive thy
spirit. Seek not unnecessaiics ; seek not super-
fluities ; seek not to satisfy thy lusts. Well weigh
what an apostle saith in this case, ' Ye ask and re-
ceive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may con-
sume it upon your lusts,' James iv. 3.

2. Let thy kindness be as seasonable as thou
canst. Give bread to him that is hungry, drmk
to him that is athirst. Endeavour to allay the pas-
sion of such as are in passion ; raise up those that
are fallen. Instruct the ignorant ; bring into the
way of truth such as wander. Comfort such as are
troubled in conscience. Herein lieth a main difier-
ence betwixt a skilful physician and a deceitful
empiric. The physician inquii-eth after the kind of
disease, constitution of person, temperature of cli-
mate, season of year, and answerably prescribeth
his remedy. The empiric gives his remedy without
any respect to the forenamed respects. If it do any
good, then it is well ; if it do none, it was all that he
could do : and by that all many more receive hurt
than good by his prescripts. To be an empiric
about the maladies that afiect the soul, and endanger
the eternal salvation thereof, is insufierable. Do,
therefore, good. Do it, as David did, ' according to
the integiity of thine heai-t, by the skUfulness of
thine hands,' Ps. Ixsviii. 72. For which end pray
for wisdom of him that is wisdom itself, that so
thou mayest ' be perfect as he is perfect,' Mat. v.
48.

Hitherto of the prophet's protestation for liis in-
ward disposition.

Sec. 58. Of the meaning and parts of the 9th verse.

Ver. 9. I will ivalk before the Lord in the land of the
living.

The prophet's protestation ^ for his outward con-
versation is here generally propounded.

This plirase, ' I will walk,' is taken diversely.
Some take it for an exjiression of his confidence in
the continuance of God's favour towards him ; that
God, who had freed him out of the jaws of death,
would now continue him ui the land of the living,
there to remain and abide before the Lord. Ancient
English translators inclining to tliis sense, thus in-
teqjret it : ' I shall walk,' in relation to the divine
1 See sec. 2, 43.

GOtTGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 9.

providence whereby he should be preserved yet
longer to live on earth ; so as, according to this ac-
ception, to ' walk before the Lord ' is to live to
advance the glory of God. A pious interpretation
this is. But this phrase of ' walking before the Lord'
is in Scripture most frequently used to set out a duty
on man's part rather than a kindness on God's part ;
for God requireth it of Abraham as a duty, Gen. xvii.
1, and commendeth Da^'id for it, 2 Cliron. vi. 16, as
for a duty perfonned by him. To this acception do
the king's translators incline, and translate it as a
promise made on the prophet's part to God, thus :
' I will walk.' By this manner" of expressing his
purpose vinder a solemn promise he bindeth himself
to perform the duty promised. This word, ' walk,'
importeth a motion, and a proceeding on in that
motion, step by step, from place to place. Meta-
phorically it is taken for a practice of good or evil.
The words joined with it wiU shew what kiad of
practice it importeth : ' To walk in the way of the
mcked,' 1 Kings xv. 26, is to practise evil ; ' To
walk after other gods,' Jer. Adi. 6, is to practise
idolatry ; but ' To walk in the law of the Lord,' Ps.
cxix. 1, is to practise what that law requireth ; ' To
walk in righteousness,' Isa. xxxiii. 15, is to practise
and deal righteously. The verb in the Hebrew is
of the seventh conjugation,^ which implieth a recip-
rocation or reiteration of an action. Some learned
and judicious expositors, to express the emphasis of
the conjugation, thus translate it : ' I mil continually
walk.'2

These words, 'before the Lord,' (miT' "'J37,) —
word for word, ' at the face,' or, ' in the presence
of the Lord,' — do determine the kind of walking
which he intendeth, — namely, such a one as he
would not be afraid or ashamed that the Lord
should see, but such a walking as the Lord should
well lilte and approve. In other places to this kind
of walking these phrases are added, 'with God,'
Gen. V. 24, (D''n'7J<n-n« ;) 'after the Lord,' 2
Kings xxiii. 3, (miT' IHH ;) ' worthy of the' Lord,'
Col. i. 10, (a^ioi; 5-ou Kus/'ou;) all which in effect im-
port one and the same thing. He that ' walks with

1 Hitlipa..].

' "TTTinK. Indesiuenter ambulabo. — Trem. and Jim.
Triplex est significatio HitLpael ; 1, Reciproca; 2. Pasaiva;
3. Frequeutativa.

God,' so carrieth himself as knowing God is by him.
He that ' walks after the Lord,' behaveth himself as
a servant following his master, and is ever at hand
to do what his master requireth. He that ' walks
worthy of the Lord,' so demeaneth himself as be-
cometh a servant of the Lord, so as the Lord may
be honoured by him. He that ' walketh before the
Lord,' doeth all things as in the sight of the Lord,
whom he knoweth to be ' everyn^here present,' Ps.
cxxxix. 7, to ' see in the dark as well as in the
light,' ver. 12, and to be 'a searcher of the heart,'
Jer. xvii. 10 ; and thereby he is moved in all places
open and secret, at all times, day and night, in
deed, in word, in thought, to have such respect to
God as to do notliing but that he which seeth it
may approve it, nor to make show of more than he
intendeth, but to do the good which he doeth sm-
cerely, ' heartily, as to the Lord,' Col. iii. 23 ; Heb.
xi. 5. The apostle, that was guided by the same
Spii-it that he which penned Enoch's history was,
having relation to that liistory, saith, ' Before his
translation he had this testimony, that he j)leased
God.' What Moses styleth ' walking with God,' the
apostle expoundeth ' pleasing God.' The intent
therefore of the psalmist here is to endeavour to
please God.

That this intention of his may not seem to be
put off tiU it be too late, and he in the grave, where
none can walk, where no work can be done, he
addeth the place where he would so walk, ' In the
land of the living.' On earth there be divers
divisions for habitation, and therefore he expresseth
the word in the plural number thus, 'in the
regions,' (iTliJIX^, in reglonihics,) j.m-p\ying that in
what place soever he should be, he would 'walk
before the Lord.'

Tlie living are here opposed to the dead ; so as
' the land of the liA-ing ' is a description of the place
and time where and wliile men live in .this world.
In this sense is this phrase frequently used in the
Old Testament. In another psalm this time of life
is styled 'the light of the h^ing,.' Ps. hi. 13, in
opposition to death, which is thus described, 'A
land of daikness, as darkness itself,' Job x. 22.

Thus this verse setteth out the duty of him that
is delivered from a deadly danger; concerning
which here is expressed, —

Ver. 9.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

1. The matter — 'I will walk.'

2. The manner — ' Before the Lord.'

3. The place and time — 'In the land of the
living.'

This promise of walking, being inferred upon his
former profession of his afieetion towards God, and
resolution to rest on him, sheweth that,—

I. Man's inward affection to God must be mani-
fested by his outward conversation.

The metaphor of walldng, which is a going on
and proceeding forward, and the conjugation where-
in the word is used, which noteth a reiteration,
giveth us to understand that, —

II. Saints must proceed in their approved prac-
tice.

The rule that he prescribetli to himself for his
walking, which is this, ' Before the Lord,' teacheth
that, —

III. Eye must be had to God in every action.
The description of the place, in this phrase, ' The

land of the living,' declareth that, —

IV. This world is a place and time of life.

The end of describing this place and time thus,
which is to set out the proper place and seasonable
time of walking before God, importcth that, —

V. While men live they must endeavour to please
God.

The manner of exiiressing this duty under a
solemn promise thus, ' I will walk,' implieth that, —

VI. Saints must bind themselves to duty.

The inference of this verse, wherein his duty is
declared, upon the former, wherein God's kindness is
manifested, demonstrateth that, —

VII. Manifestation of God's good pleasure to man,
must make man careful to please God.

Sec. 59. Of practising didy.
I. Man's inward affection to God must he nmnifested
h>j his outward conversation. It is usual with the
Holy Ghost to infer upon fear and love of God
(which are the two principal affections whereby our
high esteem of God and due respect to him are
manifested) a walking in his ways, and keeping his
commandments ; thus, ' Blessed is every one that
feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways,' Ps.
cxx^Tii. 1 ; 'Fear God, and keep his commandments,'
Eccles. xii. 1.3; 'Love the Lord, and walk in his

waj's,' Deut. xi. 22, and xix. 9 ; ' This is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments,' 1 John v. 3.
The duty comprised under this metaphor of walking
is oft and much pressed throughout the Scripture,
and that under this very word. It is commanded,
Gen. xvii. 1, Deut. x. 12; commended, Geu..vi. 9,
Lukei. 6; rewarded, Gen. v. 24; and thereupon con-
scionably it hath been, 2 Kings xx. 3, and still must
be, observed : and that in regard of —

1. God's glory.

2. Others' good.

3. Our own good.

1 . By practice it is that the virtues or ' praises of
him that hath called us out of darkness into his mar-
vellous light,' 1 Pet. ii. 9, are shewed forth. Thus
'men may see our good works, and glorify our
Father which is in heaven,' Mat. v. 1 G. Good cause,
therefore, had the Lord to say, ' Herein is my Fa-
ther glorified, that ye bear much fruit,' John xv.
8.

2. By practice it is that such as are called are
stirred up to a holy emulation, Heb. xii. 1, (for they
that walk aright become ensamples, 1 Thes. i. 7,
2 Cor. ix. 2, to others ;) and such as are not called
may either be won, 1 Pet. iii. 1, 2, or have theii-
mouths stopped, ver. 16.

3. By practice it is, that sincerity of heart, in-
tegrity of conscience, soundness of faith, and truth
of all graces are manifested, cherished, and increased.
Yea, and the presence of God's Spirit in us testified. ^
Hereby inward assurance is gained, and outward
evidence is given, of our election before the world,
and of our salvation after the world. Many judg-
ments are by this walking prevented, or removed, or
mitigated, or sanctified, and everlasting perdition
avoided. If motives may be of force to provoke us
to perform a duty, motives are not wanting to pro-
voke us to this duty of walking, as here it is pro-

■\Vliat may now l)e thought of such as having at-
tained to a sufficient measure of knowledge, and are
with that which they know of God, and of his kind
dealing with them, inwardly aff"ected, and are there-
upon moved to profess as much love as the prophet

' Fidem tuam dilectio animet, probet actio. — Bern, super
Cant., Serm. xxx. Testimonium pr^sentiic Spiritus prsebent
opera. — Idem de S. Aiub:, Serm. ii.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 9.

here dotli, but yet fail in performance, in practice 1 ^
They walk not. Their apprehension, affection, pro-
fession are all in vain, except to be as so many evi-
dences against them, to make them the more inex-
cusable, and to aggravate their judgment the more.
I deny not but that knowledge of God and of his
favour towards us, a good liking thereof, and a cheer-
ful acknowledgment and profession of what we
know, are very needful and useful. For walking
without knowledge must needs be preposterous and
erroneous ; without a good aifection, hyijocritical
and vain; and without a free profession, too too timor-
ous. So as these three are necessary, though not
sufficient. Question may be made of the tinith of
them all, where they are not sealed and ratified by
an answerable walking and practice. And adver-
saries of the truth will take the more occasion to
slander the truth. Our adversaries do much urge
against us and our profession that we walk not, that
we practise not, and allege this agamst our profes-
sion, to impeach the integrity of our religion ; which
should make us more conscionable in shemng forth
our good works, for stopjiing of their mouths. Our
doctrine is even in this point, as in others, sound
and orthodox. In schools, in churches, by preach-
ing, by printing, we teach a necessity of walking, of
practising, of doing good works, according to this
rule of the apostle, Tit. iii. 14, 'Let ours learn to
maintain good works for necessary uses, that they
be not unfruitful.' And we acknowledge them to
be so necessary, as without them we cannot be
saved.^

The ground of their cavnlliug against our doctrine
about good works is, because we do not set too high
a price upon them and make them meritoiious, which
is to make them no good works, but i^roud, presump-
tuous, damnable, diabolical works. There be many
forcible reasons for the necessity of good works,
though that vain, frothy, windy, false, arrogant,
impious, blasphemous reason of merit be not pressed.
They are expressly commanded of God ; therefore
necessary. Though they be not the cause of reign-
ing, yet they are the way to the kingdom, out of

' Ne scientiam tibi satiafacere putes, proi^terea adjecit : Qui
ambulant, &o. — Basil, in Psalm cxviL

- Oro ut ad agenda bona operafestinemus. Neque enim aliter
salvari nos possibile est. — Chryi., Horn. 47, in Gm. xxii.

which way we cannot attain to the kingdom ;i there-
fore necessary. Though the faithful are not justi-
fied by them, yet by them is their faith justified,
James ii. 22 ;- therefore necessary. Though the
doing of them do not merit eternal life, yet the not
doing of them meriteth everlasting death. Mat. xxv.
41, 42; therefore necessary. Though by the strict
standard of the law, being found unpeifect, they are
rejected, yet by the gracious mitigation of the gospel,
being found sincere, they are accepted ; therefore
necessary. Though when we shall have done all
those things which are commanded us we are unpro-
fitable servants, Luke xvii. 10, yet by doing accord-
ing to our ability what we are commanded we shew
ourselves gi'ateful children ; therefore are good works
necessary. This last motive is of more moment with
an ingenuous clidd than any merit can be ; for, when
the beUever thoroughly pondereth the free grace and
rich mercy of God in giving him Christ, in accept-
ing him in Clu-ist, in pardoning all his sms, in re-
serving eternal life for him, his heart is so inflamed
mtli a desire of testifying all gratefulness, as he is
ready ^vith his uttermost power to do whatsoever he
may know to be well-pleasing unto God. Now God's
word declaring that ' to do good is a sacrifice well-
pleasing to God,' Heb. xiii. 16, the forenamed desire
doth more enforce him to do good than the merit of
many heavens could. Gratefuhiess more worketh
on an ingenuous spirit than reward can. And that
which in way of gratefulness is wrought is much
more kindly wrought than that which is done for
recompence. Answerably it is also more acceptable
to God, for it manifesteth a better respect towards
him.

2. Ye that have tasted of the bounty of the Lord,
and are well informed in his good-will towards you,
and thereupon have your hearts inflamed \rith the
heavenly fire of love, and are stirred uj) to purpose
and promise to approve yourselves to him, have a
care of your carriage, and ratify the truth of all by
an answerable walking. Sweet is that melody and
happy is that harmony where mind, heart, tongue,
life, and all consent to make a concert. Say, there-

' Via regni, non causa regnandi. — Beim. de Grat. et lib. arbitr.

^ Ut ad meritum satis est de meritis non pra;sumere : sic
carere meritis, satis est ad judicium. — Bern. sup. Cant., Serm.
Ixviii.

Ver. 9.]

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

fore, (and do as ye say,) I will -walk ; and that with
such a mind as is set out in the next doctrine.

Sec. 60. Of persidimj in good courses.

II. Saints must proceed in their approved practice.^
They must not he ' weary in weU-doing,' Gal. vL 9.
' Mark them,' saith the apostle, ' which walk so as
they have us for an example,' Pliil. iii 1 7. "What
kind of walking doth he mean 1 He himself hath
plainly and fully expressed it in the verses before.
It was this, ' To follow on,' ver. 12. 'To reach forth
unto the things which are before,' ver. 13. 'To press
toward the mark,' ver. 14. From this his walking
and proceeding on he maketh this inference, ' Let
us walk by the same rule,' ver. 16, or as some not
imfitly translate it, 'let us proceed;' for the word ^
which the apostle useth properly signifieth to go on
in order. The ■virtue of such as appertain to the
kingdom of heaven is in tliis proceeding set out by
many metaphors : as ' the shining of light more and
more unto perfect day,' Pro v. iv. 18; 'the waters
of the sanctuaiy, which increased from ankle deep to
knee deep, from thence up to the loins, and after to
such depth as could not be passed over,' Ezek.
xlvii. 2, &c. ; an edifice, that from the foundation riseth
liigher and higher tUl it be a complete building, Eph.
ii. 21 ; runners in a race, which run on till they
come to the goal, 1 Cor. ix. 24 ; plants, palm-trees,
and cedars, which all grow till they come to their full
growth, Ps. xcii. 12; com. Mat. iv. 27, and mustard-
seed, which grow to ripeness, ver. 32 ; and a body,
which groweth to the full stature thereof, Eph.
iv. 16.

To leave all the metaphors but that which is in
my text, the way wherein we must walk is a long
way ; while here we live we cannot attain to our
journey's end ; we must therefore walk as long as
we Uve, and stUl go on. As we must not turn back
again — ' If any draw back, my soul,' saith the Lord,
' shall have no pleasure in him,' Heb. x. 38 — so may
we not stand at a sta}'. He that beginneth a build-
ing, and continueth not tUl it be fimished, maketh
himself ridiculous to all that see it, Luke xiv. 30.
He that beginneth the Christian race, and giveth

' Sec. 57.

s cToix^Tv (TToixo!, dicitur ordo in acie, a fronte ad estremum
agmen porrectus. — Thuc, 1. iv.

over before he come, to the end, doth not only lose
the crowii, but treasureth up ivrath unto himself.
Tliis will assuredly fall out if we proceed not daily
in our Cluistian course. For one of these two
tilings will fall out : either to go on, or to fall
back.i

Let all that set foot in the race to heaven hence
learn to take to themselves an invincible resolution
to ' run the race that is set before them,' Heb. xii. 1,
(TS£p/i),ti£k rhv ayava.) He saith not to run 'in the
race,' but to ' ran the race,' wliich phrase impheth
a holding out till it be finished. AH that ran
would wiUiugly obtain. Yea, God would have us
' so ran as we may obtain,' 1 Cor. ix. 24. But this
cannot be without perseverance, and that to the end
of om- life ; for the goal is set at the last period of
hfe. Let our eye be thereupon, more minding what
is to come than what is past. As many as will be
perfect must be thus minded. A foresettled resolu-
tion is of great force to make us hold out ; and that
we may the more fully exj^ress that which is implied
in the very conjugation^ here used, which impheth a
reiteration of the action, let us, year after year,
month after month. Sabbath after Sabbath, yea,
day after da}', call to mind how we have the last
year, the last month, the last week, the last day
walked, and stir up ourselves to walk on. Every
morning when we rise let us, as travellers and pil-
giims in tliis world, tliink upon our journey to the
heavenly Canaan, and make account of walking on
forward towards it. This is it which the prophet
here professeth to do. Kow having taken to our-
selves such a resolution, that we may not preposter-
ously or deceitfully persist to walk, let us take for
a further direction the third observation.

Sec. 61. Of setting God before ns in all tliat we do.

in. Eye must be had to God in every action.^ All
that was before alleged, for walking must be re-
strained to this kind of walking, ' before the Lord.'*
The Scripture doth so restrain it everywhere. The

' Unum necesse est e duobus, aut proficere scilicet, aut
prorsua deficere. — Ber. de 3 Ord. Eccl.

' l7njlN ii Hithpael, Verba in hac coDJugatione signifi-
cant vehementiam aut frequentiam. — Pagn. Instit. Hthr.

' Sec. 58,

* In omnibus quBB agis Deum esse prassentem cognosce. —
Bern. Mcdit. Dcvot. cap. vi.

GOUGE ON rSALM CXTI.

[A^'er. 9.

charge given to Abraham, Gen. x^ai. 1, to walk, was
thus qualified. The walking of Enoch, chap. v. 24 ;
Noah, chap. vi. 9 ; Abraham, chap. xxiv. 40 ; David,
1 Kings viii. 2-5 ; Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx. 3 ; Josiah,
chap, xxiii. 3 ; Zacharias and Ehzabeth, Luke i. 6 ;
recorded and commended by the Holy Ghost, was
thus qualified. Other walking, as after other gods,
Deut. xi. 28 ; in the counsel of the vncked, Ps. i. 1 ;
after the lusts of our own hearts, is a wi'etched, a
cursed walking, Jude 16. It were much better to
sit still than so to walk.

' The eyes of the Lord are in every place, behold-
ing the evil and the good,' Pro v. xv. 3 ; from his
presence we cannot withdraw ourselves, Ps. cxxxix.
7. There is not a word in our tongue but he
knoweth it ; he understandeth our thoughts ; he is
acquainted with all our ways, Ps. cxxxix. 4, 2, 3.
And as thus he is pri\'y to all our thoughts, words,
deeds, and ways, so ' will he bring every work to
judgment, mtli every secret tiling,' Eccl. xii. 14.
What he approves shall be both accepted and re-
warded. Mat. XXV. 21. Is there not now good cause
to walk before the Lord 1 Is there not need of great
watchfuhiess, liv-ing before the eyes of that Judge
which seeth all things 1 ^

1. Woe be to you, atheistical fools, 'in whose
thoughts God is not,' Ps. x. 4 ; who ' say in your
heart, There is no God,' Ps. xiv. 1 ; or being convinced
even ' by the things that are made,' Eom. i. 20, that
there is ' an eternal power and deity,' scorningly
say, 'how doth God know?' Job xxii. 13, 14, 'can
he judge through the dark cloud?' This God is
not far from you. Acts xvii. 27. He is before you
though you see him not ; and he will set you before
himself, when to your terror you shall see him, and
' say to the mountains and rocks, fall upon us and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the
throne,' Rev. vi. 16.

2. Woe also to you, hyjiocrites, who do all that
you do ' to be seen of men,' Mat. vi. 1, xxiii. 25. Ye
fools and bhnd, whether is it better to be approved,
accepted, rewarded of God, or man ? Wliat is man's
applause, man's praise 1 Is it not a wind that passeth
so soon as it cometh ? Is it not as ice that melteth
in the handling ? If it continued, what could it do !

^ Magna custodia tibi necessaria est, quouiam ante oculos
Judicis vivis cuncta cernentis. — i?er. loc. dial.

Even as wind in your body — puff you up, make you
swell : as the people's applause made Herod swell so
big, Acts xii. 22, 23, as the angel of the Lord was
fain to lance him ; and what then issued from him 1
worms, that made liim a terror to all that beheld
them. Repent, therefore, atheists and hypocrites,
of this your mckedness.

3. And ye that have better understanding of God
and of his all-seeing eye, who make more account of
liis approbation and remuneration, wheresoever thou
art, whatsoever thou art about, whether alone or in
company, whether about duties of piety or duties of
civiHty, at your vocation or recreation, at table or in
bed, Ijing down or rising up, — in all places, at all
times, set the Lord before you : and ' walk before
the Lord.' A heathen philosopher advised young
men to set Cato, or Lselius, or some other good men
before them, that so they might carry themselves and
do all things as if he looked upon them.i This was
but an imagination, and yet might it be of some use.
But to see God before us is not a mere unagiuation.
He is indeed always before us. If an imagination of
a mortal man's presence be of any use, what is the
apprehension of the true presence of the immortal
God ! Therefore, no better direction can be given
to keep men in compass. For by this means,

1. AVe shall be restrained from many sins, where-
unto secrecy of place, sohcitation of superiors, or
other temptations might otherTvise allure us.^ This
restrained righteous Joseph, when, by his mistress in
a secret chamber, they two alone together, he was
tempted to folly. Tliis answer, ' How can I do tliis
great wickedness and sin against God?' sheweth
that he set God before him, and thereby was kept
from jdelding to that temptation, Gen. xxxis. 9 ; Ps.
cxix. 168.

2. We shall be moved to keep our hearts upright.
Where Hezekiah professeth that he ' walked before
God,' Isa. xxxviii. 3, he addeth, ' in truth, and with
a perfect (or upright) heart.' Hereby he impUeth,
that his setting of God before him made him more

^ Aliquis vir bonus eligendus est, ac semper ante oculos
ponendus, ut sic tanquam illo spectante vivamus, &o. — Senec,
ep. 11.

" Thales dixit, homines existimare oportere, Deum omnia
cernere, Dei omnia esse plena: fore enim homines castiores. —
Cic, dc leg.

Vek. 9.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

ivatcliful over his heart to keep it upright. No such
means as this to make a man upright ; for he that
walketh before God, knoweth that God is ' a searcher
of the heart.' As the presence of men makes us
careful of our outward actions, so the presence of
God will make us ' keep our hearts above all keep-
ing,' Prov. iv. 23, ^aIyD b^D

3. We shaU be brought into a holy familiarity
with God, so as he •n-ill account us his friends.
Abi-aham was a man that ' walked before God,' Gen.
xxiv. 40 ; and God himself giveth him this style,
' My friend,' Isa. xU. 8. This makes us seek how to
please God ; and answerably God most kindly ac-
cepteth this our mind and endeavour.

4. We shall have mucli confidence in God's pro^d-
denee, protection, and in all manner of di\'ine bless-
ing wrought in us. ^^lien Abraham's servant made
some question of success in that business whereabout
Ills master sent him, Abraliam thus resolveth the
doubt, and settleth the mind of his servant, 'The
Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with
thee, and prosper thy way,' Gen. xxiv. 40. Because
he walked before the Lord he assured himself of
success.

5. We shall, with much assurance of faith, call
upon God in our greatest distresses. Conscience of
walking before God added much power to Hezekiah's
prayer and faith, as is evident by his putting God in
mind thereof, where he saith, ' Lord, remember
now liow I have walked before thee,' 2 Kings xx. 3.

6. We shall be encoui'aged against the slanders
of malicious adversaries, Job xvi. 19 ; Joshua xxii.
22. For though such as have approved themselves
to men may notwithstanding have cause to fear that
God may have something against them, yet they
who have been careful to approve themselves to
God need not care what man can say against them.
WTien David's enemies laid many matters unjustly
to his charge he appeals to God, Ps. xxvi. I, which
he durst not have done if he had not walked before
God.

7. We shall be emboldened against all that man
can do against us. This is rendered as a reason why
Moses feared not the wrath of the king, ' For he
endured, as seeing him who is in\'isible,' Heb. xi.
27. This put life in Jehoshaphat's faintiug spirit.
For where he saith, ' We know not what to do,' he

bewrayeth a languishing spirit, 2 Chron. xx. 12 ;
but where he addeth, ' Our eyes are upon thee,' he
manifesteth a rc\aved spiiit.

8. We shall persevere and. hold out so long as we
Hve. For God before whom we walk ever Uveth,
ever remaineth the same, which men do not. WTiile
good Jehoiada lived, king Joash maintained true
religion ; when Jehoiada died he revolted, 2 Chron.
xxiv. 1 7. Because he walked before a mortal man,
with the death of that man he fell away. But
Hezekiah, who walked before the immortal God,
ever remained faithful.

Sec. 62. Of tlie land of the living liere on earth.

TV. This wmid is a place and time of life.^ Thus
he that expected succour from the Lord in this world
saith, ' I believed to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the Li\dng,' Ps. xxvii. 13 ; and in the
very same sense said to God, ' Thou art my portion
in the land of the living,' Ps. cxhi. 5. And where
it is said to the wicked man, whose memory God
would destroy in this world, ' God shall pluck thee
out of thy dwelling-place ; ' by way of exaggeration
of the same judgment it is added, 'and root thee
out of the land of the li\'ing,' Ps. lii. 5. When
Hezekiah expected nothing but death, he said, 'I
shall see the Lord no more in the land of the Uving,'
Isa. xxxviii. 1 1 ; and to shew what he meant there-
by he addeth, ' I shall behold man no more with the
inhabitants of the world.' Thus also is Christ's
death set out, ' He was cut off out of the laud of the
li\ing,'- Isa. Hii. 8, that bemg dead in earth after that
life which he had there lived he might for ever live
in heaven. In this sense the time wliile we live in
this world is called ' the day,' and ' the light of the
Hving,' John ix. 4 ; Ps. hi. 13.

Fitly is tills world so called in relation to all kind
of Uves, natural, spiritual, eternal.

1. Natural Ufe, which is subject to mortahty, cor-
ruption, and all manner of infirmities, is here only
in this world Uved. After this Ufe, 'corruptible
must put on incorruption, and moital must put on
immortaHty,' 1 Cor. xv. 53. This life was meant

1 Sec. 58.

- Abscissus est de terrS, viventium, ut post vitam quam
visit in terri, mortuus terrse, ccelis viveret in aeternum. — Hier.
Comment., lib. xiv., in Isa. liii.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXTI.

[Ver. 9.

when Hezekiah's departure out of this world was
thus threatened, ' Thou shalt not live,' Isa. xxxviii.
1.

2. Spiritual life, which is the life of grace, is also
lived in this world. For the apostle speaking of it
thus saith, ' The life which I now Uve in the flesh,

1 live by faith,' &c.. Gal. ii. 20.

3. In this world we first ' lay hold on eternal
life,' 1 Tim. vi. 12. They that do not here get a
right unto it shall not hereafter attain to the posses-
sion thereof

How unmeet, how shameful, how odious a thing
is it that dead men should be here on the face of
the earth, which is ' the land of the h\'ing ! ' That
there are such is too true. 'She that Uveth in
pleasure is dead while she liveth,' 1 Tim. v. 6 ;
' Sardis had a name that she lived, but was dead,'
Rev. iii. 1 ; ' The dead bury their dead,' Mat. viii.
22; aU natural men are 'dead in sms,' Eph. ii. 1,

2 Cor. V. 14. Much more they that unto their
natural corruption add profaneness, uncleanness, all
manner of riotousness. These are as dead and pu-
trefied carrions that infest the air round about them.
To prevent noisome savours which might arise from
dead corpses, we use to bury them under the ground.
Though Sarah was a dear wife to Abraham, yet
when she was dead he took order to ' bury her corpse
out of his sight,' Gen. xxiii. 4. Note the care that
was taken to ' bury Gog with liis multitude,' Ezek.
xxxix. 11, &c., because the stinking savour was
so great as ' it caused them that passed by to stop
their noses.' Assuredly if the spiritual sense of our
souls were as quick in spiritual matters as the senses
of our body are in earthly things, we should feel a
more noisome and loathsome savour to arise from
such as in relation to spiritual hfe are dead, than
from such as are dead in relation to natural Hfe.
God, that is most sensible of this spiritual stench,
is oft moved to sweep the land of the living with
the broom of his judgments, and to remove noisome
dead persons, especially when by their multitude
they cause the stench to be too too intolerable': ' I will
sweep Babel with the besom of destruction, saith
the Lord of hosts,' Isa. xiv. 23. Thus the Lord
swept away the stinking carrions of the old world,
Gen. vi. 7 ; and of Sodom and Gomorrah, chap,
xix. 25 ; the rebellious carcases of the Israelites in

the wilderness, Heb. iii. 1 7 ; the foul corpse of the
nations. Lev. X'sdii. 28 ; yea, and the unsavoury
bodies of all Israel, 2 Kings xvii. 6, and Judah,
2 Chron. xxxvi. 16. Of Jerusalem, in another
metaphor, thus saith the Lord, ' I will wipe it as a
man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turnmg it upside
down,' 2 Kings xxi. 13. There is just cause to fear
that the stench of the sins of tliis city and other
places in this land was so rank in the nostrils of
the Almighty as thereby he was provoked to sweep
away so many as he did with the broom of the
pestilence. If it be said that many righteous ones
were swej)t away, who have presented even their
bodies as well as their souls a sacrifice h\'iug, holy,
acceptable, and of a sweet smelling savour unto
God, and many wicked ones left ; I answer, that
God may take away in a common judgment many
righteous ones, the more to aggravate the judgment,
and yet therein shew mercy to those righteous ones
by translatmg them to eternal bhss, and reserve
wicked ones to bring them by that judgment exe-
cuted on others to repentance, or else to make them
the more inexcusable. The day of thorough cleans-
ing the Lord's floor is not till the day of judgment :
' The harvest is the end of the world. Then shall
the Son of man send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom aU things that offend,
and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them
into a furnace of fire,' Mat. xiii. 39, 41, 42. Yet,
lest the stench of sin even in this land of the living
should be too great, as in former ages, so now in
our days hath he swept away many stinking carrions,
and rid the city and other places of such as were
spii-ituaUy dead, which he hath done for terror to
those that remain.

2. As for such as are desii'ous to make use of all
the evidences of God's fatherly favour to them, let
this condition of tliis present world wherein they
Uve, expressed under tliis phrase, ' the land of the
living,' move them to carry themselves as in a land
of the living, and that —

(1.) By nourishing and presendng natural hfe,
both in themselves and others. For this end Christ
hath prescribed to us this petition, ' Give us this
day our daily bread.' To cast thyself, or to take
another, out of the land of the li%'ing, before God
doth manifest his good pleasure for thy departure,

Vek. 9.1

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

is, for aught thou knowest to the contrarj-, to cast
both Luto everlasting death.

(2.) By Uviug a spiritual life. This is the time for
attaining grace, wherein spiritual life consisteth. If
it be not here had, it can never be had.

(3.) By making sure to thjself eternal life, that
thus thou mayest more comfortably and joj-fully
leave this land of the living when the Lord shall
call thee, upon assurance of going to another and to
a better laud of the living.

To enforce these duties, the first collection is of
especial force.

Sec. 63. Of pleasing God in this life.

V. TFkilc men live (hey must endeavour to j'iease
God} This the apostle intendeth under this phrase,
'As we have opportunity let us do good,' Gal. ^^. 10.
The word (xa/si;) translated opportunitj^ signifieth,
m a large acceptation, a seasonableness of circum-
stance, whether of time, place, or any occasion, but
most properly a seasonable time, and so is it there
taken by most translators and expositors, and thus
turned, while we have time,- — that is, whOe here
we live. Thus Hezekiah, speaking of the time past,
the time that he had lived on earth, saith, ' I have
walked,' kc, Isa. xxx\iii. 3. The like is noted of
all whose walkmg before God is commended in
Scripture. Of Enoch it is expres.sly said, that ' be-
fore his translation he had this testimony, that he
had pleased God,' Heb. sd. 5.

"\^Tiere the Lord is, and manifesteth his presence,
there must men ' walk before him,' and endeavour to
please him. ' But the earth is the Lord's footstool,
whereon he standeth,' Mat. v. 35 ; ' He filleth
earth,' Jer. xxiii. 24 ; ' His eyes are in every place,'
Prov. XV. 3. On earth, therefore, even ever}^vhere,
must men ' walk before the Lord.'

The rather must this be done on earth, because
the earth is a place of probation, and the time that
we hve thereon a time of preparation to fit us for
our perpetual abode with God in heaven.' They
that here learn to walk purely before God shall
hereafter ' walk with him in white,' Eev. iiL 4 :

' Sec. 5". ^ Dum tenipus babemus. — Yet. Lai. Bez.

' See " The Plaister for the Plague," on Num. xvi. 48, Sec.
65. Sic in hoc mundo vivere debemug, ut cum corpus cce-
erit a vennibus devorari, anima Isetetur cum Sanctis in coelo.
— Ber. Med'it. Dcvot., cap. 16.

namely, in the bright and pure robes of immortality
and glory for ever. In this respect, we ought so to
live in this world as, when the body shall begin to
be devoured of worms in the grave, the soul may
rejoice with, the saints in heaven.

1. Extremely blind and egregiously foolish are
they who dissolutely pass over their time in the land
of the U^'ing, and lose the blessed opportunity that
therein is aflbrded unto them for assuring them of the
blessed fruition of Gpd in heaven. Some pass over
this precious time ui idleness, as the ' foohsh virgins,'
Mat. xxy. 8, &c., who, when they were passing out
of this land of the living, then thought of wallcing
before the Lord ; but it proved too late. Others
pass it over in riotousness, and, not tliinking that
the Lord would come so soon as he cometh, are
taken as the lewd servant was. Mat. xxiv. 50, 51,
upon whom his master suddenly came and cut liim ofiT.
Though all be uncertain of the time allotted unto
them for remaining in the laud of the li'v'ing, yet
most put off this duty of ' walking ' therein ' before
the Lord ' from one time to another, and are oft cut
out of this land before then- supposed time be come.
The ' rich fool,' in that night wherein he counted
upon many years' abode, was taken away, Luke xii.
19, 20. They who are young imagine that they
may abide in the land of the h\-ing till they come to
ripe years, and then think it will be time enough to
walk before the Lord ; others, that are come to ripe
years, conceive they may continue longer, till they
come to their full strength ; others, tUl they be old,
and that then it will be time enough ; and none
almost so old but he thinks he may hve a year
longer' and so still jjuts off this duty, supposing that
it will be time soon enough when they are going out
of the world : and thus by these vain pretences
they abide as dead men, men dead in sins, in the
' land of the hving,' and so deprive themselves of
that cro^^'n of Ufe, for obtaining whereof a race is set
before them in this ' laud of the living.' So foolish
are many, as they seek a blessed life in the region
of death. But it is not there ; for how can a blessed
life be there, where there is not life ? ^

' Nemo est tam senex, qui se annum non putet posse vivere.
— Cic de Senect.

' Beatam vitam quaeritia in regione mortis : non est illic.
Quomodo enim vita beata, ubi nee vita? — Any. Confess., lib.
iv. cap. 12.

u 2

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 9.

2. It will be our wisdom, wlio tlirougli the divine
providence are yet in the ' land of the living,' — not-
withstanding that many younger than ourselves have
been taken out before us — even ' to-day, while it is
called to-day,' to apply our hearts to wisdom, and to
' walk before the Lord.' ^ Our Lord Christ took
the opportunity that he had in ' the land of the liv-
ing,' and saith, ' I must work the works of him that
sent me while it is day,' John ix. 4. He adds this
weighty reason thereof, ' The night cometh when no
man can work.' On this ground, the mse man
adviseth us all so to do, ' Whatsoever thy hand
findeth to do, do it with thy might : for there is no
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in
the grave, whither thou goest,' Eccles. ix. 10. Let
this, therefore, be thy mind towards God, that
though he cut thee off never so soon, yet he shall
not cut thee off before thou hast walked before him,
in that now, whilst thou art in ' the land of the liv-
ing,' thou walkest before him. But if he preserve
thee long in ' the land of the living,' thou wilt
long 'walk before him.' And in this respect
life is a sweet and a precious thing ; and we may,
with a willing submission of our will to God's, desire
long to abide in ' the land of the living,' Isa. xxx^aii.
11, that we may long 'walk before the Lord.'
This was it that upon the summons of death per-
plexed Hezekiah, that he should ' not see the Lord
in the land of the Uving,' Isa. xxxviii. 11. But,
when his life was prolonged, then in a holy gratu-
lation he thus singeth out to the Lord, ' The hving,
the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day,' Isa.
xxxviii. 19, whereby he teacheth us a lesson that he
ratified by his own example, that it is the duty of
the living, while they are in the ' land of the living,'
to praise the Lord. O blessed land, that affordeth
us opportunity to perform such a duty ! blessed
inhabitants, that take the opportunity of such a land
to perform such a duty !

Sec. 64. Of Uncling ourselves to duty.
VI. Saints must hind themselves to bounden duties.^

' Salutem nrstram instanter oremus, neque praesentis vite
perdamua occasionem. — Chrys. ad Pop., hom. 25. Lege ibid.
horn. 39, hac de re plura.

' There being in the liih verse express mention made of the
prophet's vow, and a solemn promise to God coming near to a
•acred vow, the application of such points as shall there be

I say bounden duties,^ because such a one was that
which here the projihet binds himself unto, to walk
before the Lord ; and because otherwise we may
bring ourselves into needless snares, by overmuch
forwardness in binding ourselves. This manner of
absolute promising such duties hath ever been usual
among saints, Exod. xv. 2 ; Joshua xxiv. 15 ; Ruth
i. 16 ; Ps. ix. 1. Some have gone so far, as to ex-
press their promise in form of a sacred vow, Gen.
xxviii. 10. Others, by a solemn covenant, 2 Cliron.
xxxiv. 31. Holy ardency hath moved others to
add an oath thereto, Chron. xv. 14, Ps. cxix. 106.
Yea, and an execration also, Neh. v. 13.

Quest. Is it in man's power to perform that
bounden duty he oweth to God 1 If not, how can
he absolutely promise to do it 1

Am. 1. That wliich saints in this case promise,
is to do their best and uttermost endeavour. More
we are not bound to promise. More will none that
are wise promise. This is that which the apostle
thus professeth of himself, ' Herein I exercise, or
endeavour myself, to have always a conscience void
of offence toward God and toward men,' Acts xxiv. 1 6.

2. The things which God by virtue of the gospel
requireth of us, he hath promised to work in us.
The sum of his promise is this, ' I mil put my
Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them,' Ezek. xxxvi. 27. Now saints resting in
assurance of faith on God for accomplishing of this,
and other hke promises, are emboldened to promise
that to God which God hath promised to enable
them to do, Jer. xxxi. 33, 34, and xxxii. 39, 40.

3. All the promises of obedience which saints
make to God, they make with reference to the
assistance of God's Spirit, whereof they assure them-
selves. As when they promise any temporal civil
matter, they do it, either expressly or implicitly,
with relation to God's will and leave, as they ought,
James iv. 1 5, so in holy duties to the work of God's
Spirit in them.^

delivered about a vow, will be the same that should here have
been delivered about a sacred and solemn promise. I do there-
fore refer a further prosecution of this point to that place.

1 Sec. 58.

^ Attende qucd nou dixerit, spcravi, aut spero, sed sjyerabo.
Hoc, iuquit, est votum meum, hoc propositum meum, hsec
intentio cordis mei. — Sern. in Ps. Qui habit, ser. 2.

Ver. 9.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

Thus in the absohite promises which saints make,
they arrogate nothing to themselves above their
ability, and yet manifest an unfeigned heart, and
unalterable resolution to God-wards. So as where
they say I will walk, I will hope, I wUl do this and
that, it is as if they had said, tliis is my desire, tliis
is my purpose, this is the intention of my heart.

By the means, as true intention, earnest desire,
prudent jealousy, and holy zeal are manifested, so
is a dull spuit much quickened, and the weak, way-
ward, revolting flesh bridled and curbed, yea, and
bound to her good behaviour.

Sec. G5. Of man's answering God's mcrcij
with duty.

VII. Manifestation of God's good pleasure to man
must make man careful to please God} Where God
saitli, ' I wUl be their God,' Jer. xxiv. 7 ; which is an
e\ddeut manifestation of God's good will to them,
this is thereupon inferred, ' they shall be my people ; '
which, as it noteth a dignity, for it is a prerogative
to be God's people, so also a duty ; for it is added,
' They shall return unto me with their whole heart.'
Yea, in another place where God is brought in to
say to them, ' It is my people,' they are brought in to
answer, ' The Lord is my God,' Zech. xiii. 9. More
plainly, Hezekiah having thus expressed God's good
will to him, ' The Lord was ready to save me,'
maketh this inference, ' Therefore vnll we sing,'
Isa. xxxviii. 20. And the psalmist j^et moi-e di-
rectly to the point in hand, saith to the Lord, ' I
will praise thy name for thy loving-kindness,' Ps.
exxxvaii. 2.

Gratefidness and all equity recpiu'eth that they
who taste of the sweetness of God's Idndness and
goodness should so ' walk before God ' as to seek in
all things to please him.- Kindness requireth
kindness ; goodness, goodness ; especially such kind-
ness and goodness as the Lord sheweth and doeth.
But all the kindness or goodness that we possibly
can shew or do to God is to please him. God's
good pleasure is the gi'ound of all our hope, — the
spring from whence do flow all the good things

1 Sec. 58.

' Tanto amplius timere Deum, et magis solicitus esse de-
buerat, quanto majora ejus munera percepit. — Bern, in Pi.
Qui habit., ser. 1.

which in any kind we have or can expect. Thereby
God manifesteth his mind and respect toward us.
Our care to please him is the best ev-idence that we
can give of oui- good mind and respect to God. We
can really give nothing to liim ; wherefore the more
and greater good things we receive from God, the
more careful we ought to be to please him.

That this general duty may be the better per-
formed, three or four particulars are duly to be ob-
served.

1. Take due notice of God's good will to thee, and
distinctly observe the several evidences that he
giveth thereof. Kindness not observed is as no
kindness. But when thou canst in truth say of
God's goodness, as he did who said, ' That my soul
kuoweth right well,' Ps. cxxxix. 14, then mil thy
judgment be convinced of the equity of the duty
which thou owest to God, which is a forcible means
to bring the will to yield thereunto. For this end
learn to make a catalogue of God's mercies, and to
set them in order. ^

2. Inquire what can be done by thee that may
be pleasing and acceptable to him. Many are the
admonitions of Scripture hereunto, as, ' Understand
what the will of the Lord is,' Eph. v. 17; 'Prove
what is the good, acceptable, and jierfect will of
God,' Rom. xii. 2. This doth the Holy Scripture
expressly and distinctly declare. Well acquaint
thyself with God's word, and thou mayest be well
instructed in God's will.

3. Being thus instructed, stir up thy spiiit and
whole man to do that which thou knowest ought to
be done. ' I exhort you,' saith the apostle, ' by the
Lord Jesus, that as j^ou have received of us how to
walk and to please God,' — thus they were sufficiently
instnicted, — ' so you would abound more and more,'
1 Thes. iv. 1 ; thus he would have them to stir up
themselves to do what they had learned to do.

4. Because 'we are not sufficient to think any-
thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God ; '
' It is God which worketh in us both to will and to
do of his good pleasure,' 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; Phil. ii. 13 ;
to thine own endeavour add faithful prayer for
God's assistance. We have for tliis the pattern of
an apostle, who, when he had declaied a great evi-

1 See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii. part 2, sees.
C3, 64, 69.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 10, 11.

dence of God's kindness to the Hebrews, — ^namely
their redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ, — he
prayeth that God woukl ' work in them that which
is well-pleasing in liis sight,' Heb. xLii. 21.

If by these and other like means we shall indeed
answer God's mercy with doing our duty, and so
' walk worthy of the Lord unto aU pleasing,' Col. i.
10, he will never repent liim of any kindness shewed
to us, but will rather delight in doing more and
more goodness.

Sec. 66. Of the meaning and doctrine of the tenth and
eleventh verses.

Ver. 10. I believed : therefm-e have I spoken. I was
greatly afflicted. Ver. 11. / said in my haste, All men
are liars.

These two verses are a digression from his fore-
mentioned profession, which is prosecuted in the
verses immediately after these, so as they may not
unfitly be included in a parenthesis.

The prophet in penning this psahn was even
ravished with a holy admiration of the great dehver-
ance which he had, and that beyond his expectation ;
hereupon, as men in such cases use to do, he faUetli
into digressions concerning the greatness of his dis-
tress, the weakness of his flesh, yea, and of liis
recovery of himself after that weakness, which is
here noted in the first place ; thus, ' 1 beheved,'
&c.

Some 1 take this of the prophet's too much credu-
lity in the case betwixt Ziba and Mephibosheth, 2
Sam. xvi. 3, 4, or of his too much credulity to
Absalom, Ahithophel, and other flattering courtiers
which were the cause of his flpng from Absalom.
But that sense can be notliing to the prophet's pur-
pose in this place ; besides, the word thus set alone,
' I beUeved,' will not well bear that sense. As the
fii'st word of this psahn - thus set, ' I love,' so this ' I
believed,' hath an especial emjihasis. It sheweth
that the greatness of his afiliction could not quell his
faith. St Paul exjjressly sheweth that the prophet
here means by this phrase, 'I beheved,' 2 Cor. iv.
13, a steadfast confidence in God ; such a confidence
as by the Spirit of God is ^vrought in saints' hearts ;
therefore some for more perspicuity insert this word
' God,' thus, ' 1 believed God.' This faith so quickened
' Lyranua, Aignanup, Rickelius. ° See Sec. 5.

his spirit, and wrought such a holy zeal in his soul,
as he could not contain himself nor conceal his mind,
but was in a manner forced to express himself and
to utter his thoughts, whereupon he maketh this
inference, ' Therefore have I spoken.' Some i turn
it in the future thus, ' I wiU speak,' and in the
Hebrew (^2"IK, loqttar) it is so, simply considered ;
but it is usual in that tongue to exjsress things past
by the future, especially in rendering a reason of
that wliich is past, as in the first verse of this psalm.

Quest, ^^^lat, then, was it that his faith made him
utter and speak ?

Ans. AU that is mentioned in this psalm. His
faith made him call upon God in his deadly distress ;
liis faith made \v3k acknowledge God's gi'ace and
mercy ; his faith made him promise and vow praise
and obedience to God.

This clause, ' I was greatly afflicted,' may have a
fit relation either to that which goetli before, or that
wliich foUoweth.

In the former respect, it is added as an amplifica-
tion of the great measure of his faith, which, not-
withstanding the greatness of his distress, could not
be extinguished. If a discretive conjunction, although,
be prefixed, the emphasis of tliis clause will appear
thus, ' 1 spake although I was greatly afilicted.'

In the latter respect it is premised as an extenua-
tion of his weakness, shewing that tliis was a cause
thereof, namely, his sore affliction. If this casual
particle, because, be prefLsed,^ the force of the reason
will be evident, thus, 'Because I was greatly afilicted,
I said in my haste,' &c.

I take the former relation to be here especially
intended by reason of that note of distinction which
is betwixt this clause and the verse following.

Ver. 11. I said (^fSnH) in my haste.
The word translated haste, (t3 H,) properly signi-
fietli, to fly for fear. It is used to set out the fear-
ful flight and haste of the Assyiians, when they
thought that the Hittites and Philistines were sud-
denly coming upon them, they cast away their
garments in their fearful flight, 2 Kings vii. 15,

' Vatabl. in arinot. ad hunc loc.

^ Silut sive Soph pasuc est pausa perfects sententije, qusa
usurpari solet in fine versuum.

Veu. 11.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

(DT3ni.) Hebre\7 interpreters do aometimes trans-
late it, ' to make liaste,' as in the place quoted, and
sometimes to be affrighted, as where it is said,
' At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away,'
Ps. civ. 7, •nt3n\) they translate it, 'They shall
be terrified.' Whereas, therefore, there seemeth
to be a difference bet^\'ixt interpreters, some trans-
lating this clause thus, 'in my haste ;' others' thus,
' in my fear ; ' both interpretations may well stand
together and be thus composed, ' in my sudden fear,'
or ' in my fearful haste ;' so as unad\'ised, rash, sud-
den fear was the cause of this conceit and censure,
' all men are liars.'

A difference also there is in the intei-pretation of
this clause ; for some expound it as a speech of faith,
opposing men to God, who only is true, as if he had
more largely thus expressed his mind : The Lord is
A^-ithout all question most true, faithful, and constant
in all his promises ; and where men oft make ques-
tion thereof, it is by reason of that vanity and weak-
ness which is in them, for all men are liars. This
ilifference betwixt God and man is most true, ex-
pressly noted by the apostle in these words, 'Let
God be true, and every man a liar,' Eom. iii. 4. But
tliis interpretation in this place cannot well stand
%rith this clause immediately going before, 'I said in
my haste.' For to pronounce all men hars, in oppo-
sition to God's truth, is no rash, passionate speech,
but a true, ad\-ised, apostolical speech.

Others,- therefore, expound it as a speech of in-
credulity, and refer this general particle, all, in
special to such messengers of God as were sent to
him, to comfort him in his afflictions, and to promise
liim deliverance and advancement. Now, though at
first he might believe them, yet when he was in the
extremity of his per[)lexity, so as he doubted of all
recovery, then he made question of the truth of their
words, and in his sudden fear said to tliis purpose :
Certainly, as the common sort of men, so even these
servants and prophets of God are liars ; all men, not
these excepted — all men are liars. Now where he
layeth the blame ou men, therein, not^^ithstanding

' Vatab. Annot. in 2 King vii. 15, sic esponunt 01311^ <l"ni
trepidautes fugerent. Athanas. de Passion. Dom. Gratian.de
Poenit.

' Calvinua Comment, in hunc loc. Sic et Lorinue, aliique
Commentat.

tliis liis great weakness, he testifieth a reverent re-
spect towards God, in that he doth not question the
truth of God's word, but rather imagineth that the
prophets did not well take their errand, but brought
a wrong message ; and in that respect chargeth not
God but men with falsehood, and .saith. All men are
Uars. In the original the words of this clause are
in the singular number, thus : Every man is a liar
(213 D^^<^-/'^) ; but the generality in the singular
number is of as large an extent as in the plural, and
for sense truly and fully thus translated : All men
are liars.

In this digression there is a mixture of faith and
fear.

The parts are two :

1. The evidence of his faith, ver. 10.

2. The instance of his fear, ver. 11.
The former is propounded — amplified.
In the proposition we have to note :

1. The expression of his faith, I believed.

2. The confirmation thereof, ' Therefore have I
spoken.'

The amplification is taken from the extremity of
his distress, ' I was greatly afHicted.'
The latter — namely, his fear— is

1. Implied by this phrase, ' In my sudden
fear.'

2. Exemplified by tliis instance, ' I said, all men
are liars.'

The expression of his faith hath relation to the
time of his trial ; for he saith not of the time pre-
sent wherein* he was freed from his troubles, I
believe, but of that time which before he described
in the second and third verses, whereby he giveth
demonstration that —

I. Faith remains firm in troubles.

The confirmation of the truth of lus faith by his
acknowledging God's mercy, calhng upon God, pro-
mising to walk before God — which is the speaking
here meant — giveth e\'idence that —

II. Faith makes men freely utter their mind.
The amplification of the trath of his faith by the

sore trouble wherein he was, thus set out, ' I was
greatly afflicted,' giveth proof that —

III. No affliction can utterly suppress faith. If
not great affliction, what affliction t

The implication of his hasty, rash passion under

GOUGE ON PSALM CXTI.

[Ver. 11.

this phrase, ' in my haste,' or iu my sudden fear,
givetli instance that —

IV. Saints are subject to sudden passions.

The uttering of his mind in this his passion — for
saith he, ' I said in my haste ' — further sheweth
that—

V. Distempered passion causeth unadvised speech.
The matter of his speech, which is to account such

as brought him promises of his deliverance to be
liars, implieth that —

VI. Extremity of distress causeth saints to account
promises of release to be vain.

The object of his imputation, men, (not God,
though those men were sent of God,) men are liars,
importeth that — ■

VII. Saints in their most disturbed passion bear
a reverent respect to God.

Yet withal his unjust blaming of men (which he
here acknowledgeth to be an effect of his weak flesh
and distempered passion) declareth that —

VIII. Man must not unjustly be blamed.

The extent of that object noted by this note of
generahty, all, intimateth that —

IX. Passion makes men judge all alike.

The connexion of the two parts of this digression,
whereof the former is an evidence of his faith, the
latter an e\idence of his fear, giveth assurance that —

X. Faith and fear may be mixed together.

The first and third of these doctrines are of near
aflBnity. The third compriseth the first in it, as a
greater the less. Upon the proof of the third fol-
lows the proof of the first. I will therefore put off
the first to the third.

Sec. 67. Of that boldness of speech which faith worketh.
II. Faith 7)uiJ:es men freely utter their mind. To
shew that this was not proper to this prophet only,
but is common to other believers also, the apostle
maketh this inference, ' We also believe, and there-
fore speak,' 2 Cor. iv. 13. Well weigh the ardency,
the instancy, the importunity of the prayers of
Abraham, Gen. x\aii. 24, &c., Jacob, chap, xxxii. 26,
&c., Moses, Exod. xxxii. 11, Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii.
11, Daniel, chap. ix. 18, 19, and others, and you
wiU find this verified in them, that they also be-
lieved, and therefore spake. The like may be noted
of the solemn protestations of David, Ps. cxix. 106 ;

•and of the Jews in Asa's, 2 Chron. xv. 14, and
Nehemiah's time, chap. v. 13; and of the congratu-
lations of Da^dd, Ps. Ivii. 7, &c., 136, 148; and of
the people in Ezra's time, Neh. ^^ii. 6.

Faith worketh in man assurance of God's gracious
acceptance, and so ministereth unto his soul a holy
bokbiess, according to that of the apostle, ' We have
boldness and access with confidence by faith,' Eph.
iii. 12.

Faith is the first of the mighty works of God's
Spirit that are wrought in man ; the mother of all
sanctifjdng graces ; that which addeth power and
efficacy to all the rest, and therefore must needs in
itself be powerfully operative. It is so spiritually
hot as it cannot be smothered, much less extin-
guished ; like a hot fiery vapour, the more it is sup-
pressed, the more violent it waxeth.^ Philosophy
teacheth that hot vapours by a repulsion of con-
traries wax violent, whence proceedeth the ■violence
of thunder, of winds, of earthciuakes, and such other
meteors. And theology teacheth, that the fervent
graces of God's Spirit, among which faith is most
principal, wax the more sjimtually violent by oppo-
sition.

1. Trial is hereby made of the truth and measure
of faith. If they that believe speak, what may be
thought of them that speak not ? Will charity (that
' beheveth all things, that hopeth all things,' 1 Cor.
xiii. 7) suffer to believe and hope that faith is in
him, who hath no heart to pray, no boldness to pro-
fess the name of God, no spiiit to praise him 1 He
that is altogether silent, hath assuredly no faith.
He that speaketh faintingly and coldly, hath but a
fainting and cold faith. This is one of those works
whereof we ought every one to say, as we are taught
by an apostle, ' I iviU shew thee my faith by my
works.'

2. Be persuaded now to give this evidence of thy
faith. Speak, man, speak if thou believest, be not
tongue-tied, 'Open thy mouth wide,' Ps. Ixxxi. 10.
God hath promised to fiU it. Speak to God secretly
in thy closet. Speak of him openly before men.
Speak to him and of him in thy family, in assemblies
of saints, at all times, in all places. Speak in the
poor's cause. Speak in matters of charity and

^ Per Antiperistasin. Vide Aristot., Meteor., lib. ii. cap. 8
and 9.

Ver. n.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

justice. lu supplication ' pour out thy soul before
the Lord,' 1 Sam. i. 15 ; 'Set all thy desire before
him,' Ps. xxxviii. 9. In profession of his name be
not ashamed, Ps. cxix. 46 ; note for tliis the apostle's
inference : 'I am not ashamed,' 2 Tim. i. 12, saith
he. Wiy ? 'I know whom I have believed.' If
thou beest ashamed of Christ here, he will be
' ashamed of thee when he cometh in the glory of
liis Father,' Mark viii. 38. In gratulation, ' With a
loud voice glorify God,' Luke x\Ti. 15. Herein the
tongue of that man, Ps. hii. 8, who was a man after
God's own heart, was his glory. Acts xiii. 22. Oh
that magistrates, sulijects, ministers, people, house-
hold-governors, parents, neighbours, all of all sorts,
would do this ! That magistrates who believe
would boldly speak in the cause of God and man !
Speak boldly for maintaining trath and purity of
religion ; speak freely in executing good justice and
righteous judgment ! That subjects would be bold
and free in consenting to the holy covenants and
wholesome ordinances wliich their pious and good
governors make ! That ministers who believe
would ' open their mouth boldly to make kno\vn
the mystery of the gospel,' Eph. vi. 19, and pray
and give thanks zealously, cheerfully ! That people
would testify their faith by manifesting a joint con-
sent, and sajdng. Amen, amen ! That parents and
householders would 'command their chilch'en and
household to keep the way of the Lord ! ' Neh.
^dii. 6 ; Gen. xviii. 19. That neighbours would ad-
monish, exhort, and (as just occasion by sin is
offered) reprove, and every way edify one another !
Had men faith, God's word would be in their heart
as a burnmg fire shut up in their bones : they would
be wearj' with forbearing. Their mouth would be
opened, their heart enlarged, Jer. xx. 9 ; 2 Cor.
\i. 11. Much would God's glory be advanced, much
good would be done to man, if every one of us in
our places could in truth say, ' I believed, therefore
have I spoken.' Yea, doubts arising against that
which is meet to be uttered would be suppressed.
Faith would soon quell them aU. He, therefore,
gave a good advice that said, when inextricable
doubts do trouble thee, let faith be ready to make
resolution and to give satisfaction.^

' SriLv abi iiropla rls kird-q, irp6<pepc rots fTjTOi'P^cou iToifiriv
"Kiaiv TTiv irlariv. — Justin Mart. Expos. Fid.

Sec. 68. Of faith's stability in trials.

I. Faith remains firm in troubles.''-

III. No affliction can idtcrhj s^ippress faith. How
firm in the uttermost trial was theii' faith that said,
' Though he slay me yet vnM I trust in him,' Job
xiii. 15 ; ' Though I walk tlirough the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear none evil,' Ps. xxiii. 4 ;
' We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed :
we are perplexed, yet not in despair,' &c., 2 Coi\
iv. 8, &c. ; ' I am persuaded that neither life,' &c.,
Rom. viii. 38, 39. That these instances may not
be thought to be so extraordinary as they should
not be exemplary, note the apostle's ample exten-
sion thereof : ' We ha\ing the same spu-it of faith ' —
he saith not in the singular number, /, as .sjjeaking
of himself alone, but in the plural, we, as speaking
of many, and that indefinitely, as excluding none —
'we also believe and therefore speak.'- It is noted
of the ancient Christians that many cruel strokes
and much affliction long raging could not overcome
their impregnable faith.

The true faith of all saints is 'rooted in Christ,'
Col. ii. 7, who is able to minister vii'tue and vigour,
and refreshing unto it in the most blustering, blast-
ing, and nipping times that can be : ' If a tree that
is planted by the waters, and spreadeth out her
roots by the river, shall not see when heat cometh,
but her leaf shall be gi'een ; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease from
yielding fruit,' Jer. xvii. 8 ; how much more shall
they flourish who are ' planted in the house of the
Lord,' Ps. xcii. 13, and rooted in Christ, who -will
be in them ' a well of water springing to everlasting
life'] John iv. 14. It is said of hope, the daughter
of faith, that ' it entereth within the veil which is
above,' Heb. ■vi. 19. As hope herein is different
from other anchors, which are cast downward, so
faith from other trees, which grow downwards.
Though they therefore that are planted in the most
fertile soils, and by the best rivers, may wither, yet
will not faith fail, Luke xxii. 32.

Admirable is the benefit of faith. It sheweth
itself in all seasons ; it serves for all turns. It cheers

' Sec. 66.

' Inexpugnabilem fidem superare non potuit sseviens diu
plaga repetita. — Cypr. EpUt., lib. ii. ep. 6.

GOUGK ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 11.

US in prosperity, it rev-ives us in adversity. ^ It ever
keepetli us in a golden mean, so as we be not too
much puffed up mth prosperity, nor too much de-
jected -with adversity. In prosperity, it moveth us
to acknowledge the bounty and magnificence of the
Lord, 1 Chron. xxix. 11, &c.; in adversity, itmaketh
us roll our eyes up to God, 2 Chron. xx. 12, and to
sustain and comfort ourselves in him, 1 Sam. xxx. 6 ;
yea, when the clouds of crosses hide the brightness
of his favour from us, it maketh us wait till those
clouds be driven away, Hosea \i. 1, 2.

Among and above other gifts and graces get faith.
Having gotten it, keep it. In keeping it, nourish it
so as it may increase. AU these are implied under
this metaphor, ' Take the shield of faith,' Eph. vi. 16 :
whereof having published a large treatise, it shall be
sufficient here to have pointed at them. See more
in ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat. 2, part 6, sec.
16, &c.

Sec. 69. Of sudden passion whereunto saints arc
subject.

Ver. 11. / said in my sudden fear, All men are liars.

IV. Saints are subject to sudden passions."- So much
in another place acknowledgeth the psalmist of him-
self : thus, 'I said in my haste, I am cut off,' &c.,
Ps. xxxi. 22. The verj' same word is here and there
used, ''T3n2. It was a sudden and distempered pas-
sion that Moses and Aaron manifested at the water
of Meribah, Num. xx. 10; and _Da\id at Nabal's
churlish answer, 1 Sam. x!a\ 22 ; and Jonah at God's
mercy shewed to Nineveh, Jon. iv. 10 ; and James
and John at the Samaritans' refusing to receive
Christ, Luke Lx. 54 ; and Paul and Barnabas about
receiving John Mark, Acts xv. 39.

The flesh remaineth in such as have the Spirit in
them.^ By -vdrtue of the Spirit's abode in them they
are saints, true saints ; but by reason of the mixture
of the flesh, they are subject to spnptoms, efi'ects,
and infirmities of the flesh, among which sudden pas-
sions may well be reckoned. For passions are like
to lusty, pampered horses, which, if they be not held

' See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat. 2, part 6, sec.
69, 70. " Sec. 66.

3 Saucti cum mente siut spirituales, adbuc tamen isto cor-
ruptibili corpora quod aggravat animam rectfe intelliguntur
esse carnales.— ili'j. cont. Jul. Pdag., lib. vi. cap. 11.

in with the bridle of reason and curb of discretion,
will ran with a career to their o'^vn and rider's
hazard.

May it not now be thought a most unjust censure,
to judge all those to be carnal and unregenerate who
speak in haste, who betray sudden passions of anger,
of grief, of fear, of joy, or of any the Uke ? Saints
having been proved to be subject to sudden j)assion,
to censure them for men unregenerate who on a sud-
den are in passion, what is it but to call good e^-il,
and to make hght darkness and sweet bitter 1 Isa. v.
20. Surely these kind of censures arise from sudden
passions. If these, then, be infalhble signs of an
unregenerate estate, such censures are a demonstra-
tion that the authors of them are not regenerate.
Yea, demonstrations enough may be made against
every one that beareth the name of a saiat, that he
only beareth the name of a saint, but is no saint.
Thus shall all be brought into the labyrinth of de-
spair, out of wliich they cannot know how to wind
themselves. But learn to distinguish betwixt infir-
mity and obstinacy, and notmthstanding the infir-
mities that ui this world thou art subject unto, thou
mayest cheerfully go on in that course which ^^all
bring thee to that condition wherein ' the spirits of
just men made perfect' are, Heb. xii. 23.

Yet take heed of nourishing and cherishing, of
bolstering up and justifying passion ; but rather do
what in thee lieth to suppress and keep them doiiTi.
For though, so long as we abide in the tabernacle of
this body, and are compassed about vnih. frail flesh,
we cannot clean cut ofi" all afilictions and passions,
yet we may moderate and rule them, which, if we
do not, passions will soon wax violent and grow
unto excess, if with prudence and diligence they be
not kept under.^ They are Uke weeds, which grow
apace if they be suffered. They aie like beasts and
birds, that being naturally wild, if they be not
narrowly watched, kept in dark, kept awake, kept
from light and sleep, and taught to obey, will ever
be wild, never tame. Experience of all ages hath
verified this adage, (whereof before,) - ' Passions are
bad masters but good servants.' If they rule over

1 Nos affectus et perturbatoines, quamdiu in tabernaculo
corporis hujus habitamus, et fragili carne circumdamur,
moderari et regere possumus, amputare non possumus. —
Uicr. ad Demetr. de Virr/. sen: ' Sec. 4.

Ver. 11.]

GOUGE ON PSAXM CXVI.

reason they will be as lords of misrule, outrageous
disturbers of all order. It will be in man's little
polity, consisting of body and soul, as it was iu
Israel when there was no king in Israel, ' Every man
did that which was right in his own eyes,' Judges
xxi. 25 ; whence it came to pass that some tribes in
Israel were little better than Sodom. There is more
need of means to weaken than to strengthen pas-
sions, to famish than to cherish them, to curb them
in than to spur them out, and to hold them back
than to give them head. Though they be in such
as are justified and sanctified, j'et may they not by
any means be justified or countenanced as things
lawful. To justify a sudden distempered passion, is
' to call evil good, to put darkness for light, and
bitter for sweet,' Isa. v. 20, against which a woe is
denounced. To countenance them is to make them
violent and irresistible in their rebellion, as Absalom
and Adonijah were, 2 Sam. xv. 10 ; 1 Kings i. 5.
Thus an infirmit)' is turned into obstinacy. As
therefore men are watchful over powder in their
houses to keep fire from it, both because it soon
takes fire, and also being once set on fire it is sud-
denly all on flame, and by that means very -N-iolent
and pernicious ; so on those very grounds we have
need to be as watcliful over passions, and to keep
them from aU occasions that may stir them up ; for
they are soon stiried, and being stirred wax vehe-
ment and ■\'ioleut. Yet I will not deny but that
passions may have their use and commodity if there
be a very watchful heed had over theni.^ But for
instance of their violence, if not weU watched, note
the next collection.

Sec. 70. Of unadvised speech arising from dis-
tempered passion.

V. Distempered passion causeth unadvised speech.^
Instance the speeches recorded in Scripture to come
from the distempered passion of those who were
mentioned in the former section. As fi'om Moses
and Aaron, Num. xx. 10; Da^id, 1 Sam. xxv. 22;
Jonah, chap. iv. 1 ; James and John, Luke ix. 54 ;
and others. Of him that was ' provoked in spirit,'
it is said that ' he spake unad^isedly with his lips,'
Ps. cwi. 33.

' Passiones habent utilitatem suam, si per eas considerantis
pervigU currat intentio. — Chrys., horn. 2, in Heb. i.

' Sec. 66.

'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh,' Mat. xii. 34. For the tongue is a most
ready interpreter of a man's mward temper. The
mouth is the door of the soul. If the fire of passion
be once kindled therein, the flame thereof -ivill soon
break out at the mouth.

The consideration hereof addeth weight to the
admonition given in the former section for watching
over our passions, in that the evil arising from thence
is not only iuward, .such as may be kept close witliin
the bowels and breast of a man, but also outwai-d,
such as will break forth in words especially, to the
offence of others, and to the greater disgi-ace of our
profession and dishonour of God. Words that pro-
ceed out of passion are oft violent, and cause much
miscliief. Many tliink they extenuate the matter
when they say, 'Words are but wind.' Let the
■\iolence of wind in a man's head, stomach, belly,
veins, guts, or other parts of his body, yea, and in
the open air on sea and land, be considered, and it
wiU be found that enough is said of words when
they are said to be wind. St James, chap. iii. 3,
&c., in regard of the ^■iolence of the tongue, resem-
bleth it to other very strong and forcible things^
as to the bit of a bridle, whereby the rider maketh
a lusty horse to turn tliis way and that way, as
he list ; to the hehn of a ship, wherewith a pilot
tumeth a huge vessel on the sea whithersoever he
wiU; to a fire, which kindleth a great matter.^
Yea, it is like a" burning furnace, which is most
^dolent. And the apostle addeth, that ' it setteth on
fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.'
Yea, he maketh it more fierce than the Avild beasts :
' For eveiy kmd of beasts, and of birds, and of ser-
pents, and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been
tamed of mankind : but the tongue can no man
tame ; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.'
What orator could more lively have set out the \io-
lence of so little a member than the apostle hath done ?
No marvel now that where a man hath two eyes, two
ears, two nostrils, two arms, two hands, and many
other members double, he hath but one tongue, one
being enough, if not too much, to rale, and that the
fabric of that one tongue is so ordered by nature, or
rather by the God of nature, as it is — that it should

1 Quotidiana fornax nostra est humana lingua.— j4«jf. Con-
fess., lib. X. cap. 37.

GOUGH ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vee. 11.

be jjlaced in tlie highest part of the body, the head,
as in a castle on a hill, and be there bound with
the roots of it as with strong bars, and kept witliin
the two-leaved gate of the lips, and the portcullis of
the teeth — notwithstanding all which, straight charge
is given to him ' that desireth life, and loveth many
days that he may see good, to keep his tongue,' Ps.
xxxiv. 12, 13 ; for, ' death and Ufe are in the power
of the tongue,' Prov. xviii. 21. And ' whoso keep-
eth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from
troubles,' Prov. xxi. 23 ; and the psalmist, well Imow-
ing that he of himself was not able to rule that un-
ruly evil, thus prayeth to God, ' Set a watch,
Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my
lips,' Ps. cxli. 3. Seeing passion ojjeneth up the
gate, pulleth up the portcullis, and maketh a passage
for this wild beast, and not only so, but stirreth up
the rage of it, and sharpenetli the deadly point of it,
surely this one effect is motive sufficient to make
men do what possibly they can to moderate passion.
For the tongue is as slippery as an eel : it being
placed in moisture, it must needs soon slip.^

Hereby take notice of the corruption of man in
soul and body. As the eyes and ears are win-
dows to let in corruption into the soul, so the
mouth is a door to let it out, whereby it comes to
be tha more infectious, to the damage of others ; for
evil words corrupt good manners in ourselves and
others. Thus the tongue, that is the pen of a ready
writer in one, is a sword in another, not in its own
nature, but by the different use of it ;- for the nature
of this and that man's tongue is the same, but the
use is not the same, which should make us the more
Avatchful over our tongue.

Sec. 71. Of saints questioning God's p-oniises in distress.
VI. Extremity of distress maketh saints account pro-
m,ises of release to be vain.^ Which that worthy saint
did, who said in his heart, ' I shall now perish one
day by the hand of Saul,' 1 Sam. xxvii. 1 ; and
again, speaking to God, ' I am cut off from before
thine eyes,' Ps. xxxi. 22. After that God had promised

1 Lingua non frustra in udo est, nisi quia facile labitur. —
Aug. Enar. in Ps. Ixxxiii.

^ Ilia quidem gladius, calamus, at hicc erat non secundum
propriam naturam, sed secundum utentium electionem. Lin-
guae enim natura et hujus et illiua una erat, operatio auteni
non \ma,.—Chrtis. ad I'ojt., horn. 4. ^ Sec. 60.

to Abraham that he would ' make of him a great
nation,' Gen. xii. 2, and 'make his seed as the
dust of the earth,' chap. xiii. 16, he and his wife
being both old, he thus said, ' Lord God, what wilt
thou give me, seeing I go cliildless ? ' chap. xv. 2.
Did not this speech shew that he accounted God's pro-
mise to be vain ? Yea, and this speech also of Moses,
' I am not able to bear all this people alone, because
it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with
me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand,' Num. xi. 14, 15 ;
and this, ' Shall the flock and the herds be slain for
them to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the
sea be gathered together to suffice them 1 ' ver.
22. Did not Christ's disciples, and others that
believed in him, account the promises of his resur-
rection to be vain? Luke xxiv. 11, 25. Too eA-ident
fruits of the great weakness of those worthy saints
were these ; for not to be steadfast in faith is a great
weakness.^

Afflictions do oft so stii- the coiTupt humour of
the flesh which is in every saint, as it sendetli up
such abundance of vapours of infidelity, as they
cause a gi-eat mist to spread itself before the eyes
of men's understanding, so as they cannot clearly
see the light of God's promises, whereby they are
brought to make question of the truth thereof, even
as children and fools do think there is no light in
the sun when a thick cloud hath overspread the face
of the sky, and hindereth the beams of the sun
from shining on the earth. The best many times,
through the violence of temptations, in the tilings
of God shew themselves as chikken and fools.

Let us aU learn by such patterns of the weakness
of the flesh, even in the best, to suspect ourselves,
and to ' fear lest a promise being left us of entering
into his rest, any of us seem to come short" of it,'
Heb. iv. 1. Before the time of trial come, let us
pray, as Christ did for Peter, ' that our faith fail
not,' Luke xxii. 32 ; and according to the promise
made to Paul, that God's ' grace may be sufficient
for us,' 2 Cor. xii. 9 ; and that the Lord would ' not
suffer us to be tempted above that we ai-e able,'
1 Cor. X. 13. Above all, take we heed of presump-
tuous self-conceit, that we be not like him who, in
too much confidence of his own strength, said to

' Dicitur infirmitas, non esse solidatum in fide, simpliciter
neque perfectum esse.— C7t)-^s., horn. 28, in 2 Cor. xiii.

Ver. 11.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

Christ, ' Tliougli all men should he oflended because
of thee, yet will I never he offended,' Mat. xxvi. 33 ;
and again, ' Though I should die with thee, yet will
I not deny thee,' ver. 35. A worthy profession and
resolution tliis was, if it had not been uttered upon
too great a confidence of his own ability to stand
and withstand all temptations. But it being uttered
on presumption of his own strength, the issue thereof
was most woeful. Nothing more provokes God to
leave men to themselves, and to suffer Satan to pre-
vail against them, than a high conceit of them-
selves. It is most meet that such should know their
own weakness. But nothing can give to man a more
evident demonstration of his frailty and weakness
than his slips and falls when he is brought to the
trial. This will make him say, ' Behold, I am vile,
what shall I answer thee ? ' Job xl. 4 ; '1 abhor
myself, I repent in dust and ashes,' chap. xhi. 6.

Sec. 72. Of saints' reverent esteem of God in their
greatest straits.

VII. Saints in their disturbed passio-n hear a reverent
respect to God.^ So did they who said to God,
' Eighteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with
thee,' &c., Jer. xii. 1 ; ' I ■n'ill lay my hand upon my
mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer ;
yea, twice, but I will proceed no further,' Job xl. 5.
And he who said of God, ' How unsearchable are his
judgments, and liis ways past finding out,' Rom.
xi. 33 ; and thereupon made this inference, ' man,
who art thou that repUest against God t ' chap. ix.
20. Though the apostle were not disturbed in his
passion when he uttered these speeches, yet the
occasion which made him utter them was such as
did amaze many; but his respect to God made
him admire and adore that which others excepted
against.

1. There are certain principles against which men
of understanding will not oppose or dispute ; no,
nor search after the reason of them.- Among and
above all other principles those v,iiich concern the
infiniteness and perfection of God's essence, proper-
ties, word, and works are most infallible and un-
deniable. Saints, therefore, who have a true and

' Sec. 66.

- del ii> rah iTrlcrTTjuovi Kais apxaU iwit^riTeWai t6 6i4 rl, —
Arist. Analyt., lib. i. cap. 1.

right understanding of God dare not impeach God's
tnith, justice, wisdom, power, mercy, or anything
else in God, though the works of God and God's
dealing with them do seem very strange unto them.
Knowledge of God's j^erfection works such reverence
in them towards God as they had rather remam as
in a maze, not knowing what to say, than impute
any blame to God. If they lay any blame it shall
be rather on man than on God.

2. The Spirit never wholly leaveth the saints.
Though the weakness of the flesh be very great, yet
will the S{)irit keep them from falling from their
God. ' The spuit is ready when the flesh is weak,'
Mat. xxvi. 41 ; yea, ' the spirit lusteth against the
flesh,' Gal. v. 17, and restraineth it from fulfilling
the lusts thereof So as when the flesh would rise
against God, the spu-it keepeth it down.

Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus
minded. Let us testify our high esteem of the
Lord, our reverent respect towards him, by not
daring to entertain a thought, or to suffer a word
to slip out of our mouth which may any way be
derogatory to any of his excellencies ; or to think
anything of him otherwise than indeed he is : ^ ' WUt
thou condemn him that is most just 1 Is it fit to say
to a king, Thou art wicked ? or to princes. Ye are
ungodly? How much less to him that accepteth
not the persons of princes, nor regai'deth the rich
more than the poor ? ' Job xxxiv. 1 7, &c. To admire
and adore the unsearchable ways of the Almighty
may well beseem sons of men. But to think a
thought or to utter a word that may lay any blame
upon them is sensual and diabohcal.

To have thine heart well seasoned wth a due re-
spect of God, be well informed in his excellencies,
and oft meditate thereon. Ignorance of God is it
that causeth many base and unmeet thoughts of liim
to enter into our hearts. Want of meditation mak-
eth what we know not to be remembered, or not to
be regarded. Add therefore to the means of infor-
mation which God affordeth, serious and settled
meditation. Thus thy mind being filled vnXh. divine
thoughts, will not suffer impious and blasijliemous
thoughts to harbour there.

' Quisquis Deum cogitat pie caveat quantum potest aliquid
de Deo sentiie quod nou sit. — Axig. de Trin., lib. v. cap. 1.

7fi

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Ver. 11.

Sec. 73. Of blaming men unjustlij.

VIII. Men mvst not unjusihj he Uamed} God
made an express law against it, and said, ' Thou
shalt not bear false mtness against thy neighbour,'
Exod. XX. 16. Many like prohibitions are in the
word, chap, xxiii. 1 ; Prov. xxiv. 28 ; Mat. vii. 1 ;
Titus iii. 2. Though the wrong be done to man,
yet the fact is abominable to God, Prov. vi. 16, 19,
who to restrain men from it, hath enacted severe
laws against such as transgress therein, Deut. xix.
19. Yea, they are accounted unworthy to ' dwell in
God's holy hill,' Ps. xv. 3.

The wi'oug which by unjust accusing and blaming
of men is done, is one of the greatest wrongs that
can be done against man ; because thereby, that
which of all other things is the most precious to man,
his good name, is impeached. In which respect this
sin, though it be a direct 'wrong against man, is
styled blasphemy, Eph. iv. 31 ; Col. iii. 8 ; and they
who speak evil of men unjustly, are said to ' blas-
pheme them,' Titus iii. 2 ; 1 Pet. iv. 4 ; 2 Pet. ii. 10,
which is, according to the notation of the Greek
word, to ' hurt a man's fame,' ^Xaaprifniv, t^v fruirtu
^XuTTnv, faman Icedere ; or otherwise, to ' assault
one with tales,' ^dXXnv tui; ip/i/ji,aic, impetere rumori-
bus ; to gall and vex him with rumours and reports.
Not without cause therefore hath the Holy Ghost
resembled the tongues of such men to ' the tongue
of a serijent,' Ps. cxl. 3, which is very poisonous ; to
' a razor,' Ps. hi. 2, which is very shai-p ; and to ' a
sharp sword,' Ps. Ivii. 4, that pierceth deep ; their
teeth to ' S23ears and arrows,' which are mortal in-
struments ; their throats to an ' open sepulchre,' Ps.
v. 9, that devoureth much ; and their words to ' the
poison of adders,' Ps. cxl. 3, which is a most venom-
ous and pestilent poison.

How watchful now ought we to be over our
tongues, whereby so great wrong may be done to
man ! The tongue stands in a most slippery place ;
words are out of the mouth many times before a
man is aware of them ; the more watchful therefore
we ought to be. With the tongue ' we bless God,'
James iii. 9. Shall we therewith ' blaspheme men,
who are made after the similitude of God 1 Shall
there proceed out of the same mouth blessing and
1 Sec. 66.

cursing? My brethren, these things ought not to
be so.' As we make conscience of dishonouring God
by impious and profane speeches directly uttered
against his di\dne Majesty, so let us take heed of
collateral blasphemy against such as bear his image.
He that said, ' Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain,' said also, ' Thou shalt not
bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Now if
thou blaspheme not the name of God, yet if thou
belie thy brother, ' thou art become a transgressor
of the law.' Let, therefore, that reverent respect
which thou bearest to the name of God work in thee
a due respect to the name of man, that thou do no
wrong thereto.

Sec. 74. Of censuring all alike.
IX. Passion makes men judge all alike.''- True it is
that by reason of that natural corruption which hath
infected all mankind, all are alike. ' There is no
difference : for all have smned, and come short of
the glory of God,' Eom. iii. 22, 23. Thus a pro-
phet, and an apostle also, Ps. xiv. 3 ; Eom. iii. 10,
not in passion, but by immediate instinct of the
Spirit, said, ' There is none righteous, no not one.'
Yea, in this sense the apostle useth the very words
that are here used, ' Every man is a liar,' chap. iii.
4, and yet no man unjustly blamed. But to judge
such as have the Spirit of God in them, and are in
what they speak guided by the Spirit of God, yea,
and bring their message from God, to judge them to
be as natural unregenerate men are, ' liars,' this is a
most unjust imjjutation. Yet thus did passion make
this jirophet judge the prophets of the Lord that
came to him in the name of the Lord, with the word
of the Lord, to be. Both passion and hardness of
heart made Pharaoh, Exod. vii. 11, judge Moses and
Aaron to be like to the sorcerers and magicians of
Egypt. So did Sennacherib, 2 Kings xix. 11, judge
Hezekiah and his people and kingdom to be no bet-
ter than the kings, people, and kingdoms of other
nations. It is oft noted of the Jews — Jer. v. 31 ;
Lam. ii. 14; Zech. xiii. 4 ; Micah iii. 5 — that they
gave no more heed to such faithful prophets as the
Lord sent than to such false prophets as ran of them-
selves, and were not sent; who spake a vision of
their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the
' Sec. 66.

Ver. 11.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

Lord. Yea, many times more credit was given to
such false prophets than to true ones, 1 Kings xxii.
8 ; Jer. x\-iii. 18, xxxvii. 19.

Passion in the soul is as colour in glass. Now by
experience we know that what a man looketh upon
through coloured glass appears to him to be of the
same colour that the glass is of, though it be in truth
of another colour. All objects are presented through
such a glass in one and the same colour. So to a
man in passion all men seem alike- — all Uars, all de-
ceitful, all unjust, all unmerciful, all as one. Hence
these or such like speeches oft come from them, I will
believe no man ; I will trust no man ; no man will
deal faithfully with me ; none can do me any good.

It is on this ground very requisite that men in
passion, or overwhelmed mth affliction, learn to
suspect themselves, and to .suppose that they may be
deceived. We use thus to persuade men that by
sickness are distempered in their taste, and cannot
discern any difference betwixt meats, but loathe all
alike, to believe others that have both good under-
standing of what is wholesome and hurtful, and also
a taste well tempered, and accordingly against their
oyni distempered humour to take and eat that which
those others do offer unto them for their good.
Many that in passion have had a very ill opinion of
their best friends, and been moved to inveigh against
them most bitterly, when the passion hath been over
have been very soi-ry for that wi-ong they did, and
much repented the same. If such would have sus-
pected themselves they might have prevented that
occasion of after-repentance. It is a kind of madness
not to think and know that lies cannot long deceive,
and that it is night while ' the day shineth out.-
Knowledge of truth doth as e\ddently discover a
lie as the sun disjiels darkness.

If such general censures proceeding from men in
passion be blameworthy, (for here the prophet ac-
knowledgeth it so to be,) what are they when they
come from men in cold blood, (as we speak,) when
there is no affliction to vex and grieve them, no
occasion to anger them, no great cause to stir up any
passion in them, except a malevolent humour in

1 That is, ' until.'— Ed.

- Hkc est vere dementia, non cogitare, nee scire quod men-
dacia non diu fallant ; noctemque tamdiu esse, quamdiu illu-
cescat dies. — Ci/pr. Epist., lib. i. ep. 3.

themselves ? Too too frequent are such censures,
and that most commonly when such as by function,
profession, or any other like relation, have depend-
ence on God. Thus if some ministers be observed
to be proud, covetous, licentious, or otherwise
vicious, a general imputation .shall be laid upon all :
All ministers are thus and thus : so, on like grounds,
all professors are hy^jocrites, all frequenters of ser-
mons are busybodies, all that make conscience of
swearing are liars, &c. Thus in other cases. All
tradesmen are cozeners, all citizens are usurers, all
physicians are hard-hearted, all la-\vyers are uncon-
scionable, all officers are bribers, all patrons are
simoniacal, all courtiers are proud, all scholars are
vainglorious, all husbands are slaves, all wives will
be masters, all servants are idle. Yea, it is usual
thus to impeach all of a nation, : as. All Spaniards
are proud, all Italians are Machiavellians, all French-
men are false-hearted, all Dutchmen are drunkards,
all Scotchmen are treacherous, all EngU.shmen are
fantastical. Such general censures cannot be but
unjust censures, and yet too too frequent they are.

Sec. 75. Of the mixture of faith ami fear.

X. Faith and fear inay be mixed together.^ After
Abraham had so behaved as ' his faith was counted to
him for righteousness,' Gen. xv. 6 ; he said, ' They
■\vill slay me for my wife's sake,' Gen. xx. 11, which
argued much fear. Of faitliful Jacob it is said, ' He
was greatly afraid,' Gen. xxxii. 7. He that said,
' I will call upon the Lord and he shall save me,'
Ps. Iv. 5, 16, an undoubted evidence of faith, said
also in the very same psalm, ' Fearfulness and trem-
bling are come upon me, and horror hath over-
whelmed me,' an apparent sign of fear. Oft doth
Clirist upbraid fear even to his belie\ing disciples,
Mat. viii. 26, xiv. 31 ; Luke xxiv. 37. Of Peter
it is noted, after that he was endued vfith an ex-
traordmary measure of faith and other gifts, that
he feared them which were of the circumcision.
Gal. ii. 12.

That which the apostle saith of knowledge, 1 Cor.
xiii. 9, is true of faith, and of all other graces for
the time of this life, ' "We believe in part.' So much
as wanteth in man of the perfection of faith, fear
filleth up : as air filleth up so much of a vessel as
1 Sec. 66.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 12.

wanteth water or other liquor. Fear to the soul of
man is as Amalek to Israel : and faith as Moses,
Exod. xvii. 8, &c. Fear is ready on all-occasions to
invade the soul. If faith wax faint, and let down
her hand, fear prevails. Yea, as the two houses of
David and Saul were together in Israel, 2 Sam. iii.
1, and maintained war one against the other, so do
fear and faith in the same souls. But as faith waxeth
stronger and stronger, fear will wax weaker and
weaker.

Tliis mixture putteth us in mind of suudiy duties,
as, —

1. To bear with the infirmities of saints. Gal. vi. 1.

2. To be watchful over ourselves. Mat. xx\d. 41.

3. To beware of presumption. Mat. xx\-i. 3-5.

4. To take heed of grieving the Spirit, Eph. iv.
30.

5. To pray for increase of faith, Luke x^di. 5.

6. To stir up the gift of God in us, 2 Tim. i. 6.

7. To check ourselves for doubting, Ps. xlii. 5.
Much comfort may hence arise to such as misUke

this fruit of the weakness of the flesh in them, and
thereupon use what means they can and do their
endeavour to cast off this fear. If notwithstanding
their grief for it, and strife against it, they find
themselves still subject thereto, let them not there-
upon question the truth of their faith because of
that fear which appears to be in them. Their case
in this case is no other than hath been evidenced to
be the case of many of God's ancient wortliies. Such
fear coming not from malice, nor from pride, or con-
tempt of any charge given unto them by the Lord,
but from the infirmity of the flesh, God would not
impute it to his people.^

Sec. 76. Of the interp'ciation and resolution of the
twelfth verse.

Ver. 12. JFJtat shall I render unto the Lord for all
his benefits toicards me ?

Here the prophet returneth to his protestation :
which being generally manifested, ver. 9, ' I wiU
walk, &c., is here more parti cidarly exjiressed.

This is set out,- —

' Timorem non de malitia, neque de superbia, vel contemptu
praecepti domlnici, sed de animi infirmitate venientem noluit
Dominus imputare. — Aus. Qiicc/I. sub. Jos., lib. vi cap. ult.

- Sec. 2.

1. By way of profession in relation to himself, ' I
will," &c.

2. By way of provocation in relation to others,
ver. 19, 'praise ye,' &c.

His profession is propounded, repeated.

In his first propounding of it we may note, —

1. The manner, ver. 12.

2. The matter, ver. 13.

3. The motives, ver. 14-16.

The manner of exjiressing his profession is very
elegant by a rhetorical addubitation, (aTooia,) where-
in he reasoneth with liimself about the duty to be
performed.

Of this addubitation and kind of reasoning there
be two parts, —

1. A question, ver. 12.

2. An answer, ver. 13, which declareth the
matter.

As the EngHsh word, render, so the Hebrew 2W
importeth a kind of requital. It is attributed to
God and man, and that in relation to a good thing
done, and signifieth to reward; or to an e^il, and
signifieth to revenge.

Where Da\'id saith of God, 'According to the
cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me,' Ps.
xviii. 20, he useth this word, yiV ; and where he
prayeth to God for vengeance on the wicked, thus,
' Render to them their desert,' Ps. xs:\iii. 4, ^tiTI.
This word is also used where the bretlireu of Joseph
say of him, ' He 'wiU certamly requite us all the evil
which we have done unto him,' Gen. 1. 15 j^ and
where the king of Israel giveth tliis charge for the
Shunammite, ' Restore all that was hers,' 2 Ivings viii.
6, ^^tiTI. Here it is attributed to man in relation to
God, but not as importmg any possibiUty of satisfac-
tion, but only a fora^ardness to do an}^hing that
might be acceptable to God.

The word translated benefits, 7lDJn, is derived of
that verb which, in the 7th verse, is translated dealt
bountifully, 7DJ. These in relation to God he styleth
His, his benefits, to testify his acknowledgment of the
good things which he had received to come from God,
and to be given by him.

He addeth that general particle ALL, to .shew that,
from that jjresent benefit which God had conferred
upon him, his heart was extended unto a considera-

' y^^ yVT\ reddendo reddet.

Ver. 12.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

tion of other favours wLicli the Lord fruui time to
time had done hun.

The word translated towards me, vi', properly sig-
nifieth over or above me : for it cometh from a verb
that signilieth to ascend; and to express the emiihasis
thereof some thus translate it, All thy benefits go over
//(t'.i But the preposition doth oft signify, as our
English translatetli it, towards me ; and it may very
fitly be so taken in this place.

The foiTner part of the verse, set out interroga-
tively by way of question, ' What shall I render to
the Lord?' manifesteth both an earnest desu-e to be
truly and thoroughly informed of whatsoever may be
acceptable and pleasing to the Lord, and also a settled
resolution indeed to perform whatsoever he shall be
informed of concerning that point.

The latter part, ' All his benefits are towards me,'
are added as a reason of his resolution. The first
particle, for, is not in the original. It maketh the
sense somewhat doubtful. Some set it do'wTi as a
preposition, without any stop betmxt the former and
this jiart, making but one entire clause of all, and
setting the interrogative point in the end of all, thus,
' What shall I render unto the Lord for all his bene-
fits towards me?'^ Others make two distinct sen-
tences, and place the interrogative in the end of the
first clause, thus, ' TMiat shall I render to the Lord ?
all liis benefits are towards me.^ The king's trans-
lators set a colon betwixt the two parts, which
doth so distmguish them as two sentences : this dif-
ference is not great. Howsoever the sentences be
pointed, it is e\ddent that the latter is added as a
reason of the former. He was inquisitive what to
render to God, because God had been beneficial to
liim.

Behold here a grateful disposition, which is mani-
fested.

By his inquisition, profession.

In the former there is considerable

L The subject, or matter inquired after, 'What
shall I render?'

2. The object, or person concerning whom the in-
quiry is made, ' The Lord.'

The latter manifesteth the just occasion of the for-
mer, ' his benefits ;' which are set out,

' n7i? Omnia beneficio tua euperant me. — Trem. et Jun.
' Genev. interpr. ^ Trem. et Jun.

1. By an amplification, 'all;'

2. By an appUcation, ' towards me.'

These several branches note out sundry properties
of a grateful mind.

The inquisition, 'What shallli' &c.,sheweth that —

I. Gratefulness makes men inquisitive.

The thing inquired after being indefinitely set
do-\^Ti, ('What?') impheth that — ■

II. A grateful mind is ready to do anything.
The person (the Lord) for whose sake this inquiry

is made declareth that —

III. True gratefuhiess hath especial relation to
the Lord.

The reason hereof being his benefits, 'giveth evi-
dence that —

IV. A right understanding of God's benefits
worketh gratefulness.

The ample mention of God's benefits in this
general particle, ' all,' manifesteth that —

V. Gratefuhiess raiseth the mind from some
favours to all.

The apjalication of these benefits to liimself in
this phrase, ' towards me,' giveth proof that —

VI. Sense of God's kmdness to one's self doth
most enlarge the heart to thankfulness.

The prophet's profession of God's benefits, thus :
All his benefits are towards me, demonstrateth
that —

VII. Gratefuhiess works acknowledgment of kmd-

Sec. 77. Of the property of gratefidHess to male men

inquisitive.
I. Gratefulness makes men inquisitive.'^ All manner
of gratefulness, whether to God or man, hath this
projierty. Wlien David thought on Jonathan's
kindness to him, though Jonathan were dead, yet
he inquireth whether ' any were left of the house of
Saul, that he might shew him kindness for Jona-
than's sake,' 2 Sam. ix. 1. And when he considered
how God had estabUshed peace to his people, first he
incjuireth and consulteth about bringing the ark to
the tabernacle, 1 Chron. xiii. 2, and then ad\dseth
about building a temple for the Lord, chap. xvii. \.
Hjqiocrites had learned this of the upright, and there-
fore they from teeth outward are inquisitive, and say,
' Sec. 76.

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Ver. 12.

'Wherewith shall I come before the Lord? ' &c.,
Micah vi. 6, &c.

In grateful persons there is a good and high
esteem of the kindness that is shewed to them.
With this esteem the heart is aflFected. True affection
of the heart is of a hot temper. It can no more be
suppressed and kept withm the heart than a hot
vapour, which, the more it is suppressed the more
violent it waxeth, tiU it have got vent. Such an
affection, therefore, will shew itself And that it
may manifest itself in the best manner, to the best
content of him to whom they intend their thankful-
ness, they content not themselves with that which
may first rise in their mind, or offer itself to their
thought, but diligently inquire what may give best
content and what may be most acceptable ;^ which
they are the rather moved to do because they can do
or give nothing worthy of God and his kindness to
them.

By this outward evidence may men give evidence
of their inward disposition, and make others see
how they are affected with the kindnesses that are
done to thern. They who care not to know what
may be acceptable to such as do good to them have
assuredly an Ungrateful heart. How can it be
thought that they would do the things that please,
when they care not to know what may please 1
By this may gi'ateful subjects, people, children, ser-
vants, friends, and neighbours be known ; yea, by
this may grateful subjects, people, children, and ser-
vants of the great Lord of heaven and earth be
known, if, at least, their inquiring after that which
' may be acceptable to God come from an ni:iright and
honest heart, and from a full and faithful purjiose to
perform what they shall be rightly infonned in, and
indeed to render what they shall learn to be accept-
able to the Lord.

They who are so minded have an excellent help to
be well informed. That help is God's word, which
distinctly and sufficiently revealeth what is the
' good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.' Let all
such, therefore, as are entirely provoked to inquire
after that which may be pleasing to God by the
Holy Scriptures, ' prove,' Rom. xii. 2, and ' under-
stand,' Eph. V. 17, the same. ' Search the Scriptures,'

' Dabo quidem qiiicquid in me primum est ; Bed nihil dignum
dare potero. — Jerome, Comment, in Micah vi.

saith our Lord Christ, 'for they are they which
testify of me,' John v. 39. They testify of him what
he is. They testify of him what he accepteth, what
he approveth, in what and by what he accounteth
himself honoui'ed, and sufficiently recompensed for
the kindness he sheweth.

Sec. 78. Of a second propertij of (jratefulness to do
anythintj.

II. A grateful mind is ready to do anything} The
prophet doth not here determine any set and par-
ticular things which he would be willing to render,
but without limitation or exception of anything,
saith indefinitely, ' What, what shall I render ? '
When Aliasuerus had heard out of the Chronicles
what a gi-eat good turn Mordecai had done him, in
revealing a dangerous treason plotted against his
life, in true desire of thankful requital he saith,
' What shall be done to the man whom the king de-
Ughteth to honour 1 ' Esth. vi. 6. He prescribeth
not any particular thing, but inquireth wherein he
may make the best requital ; and it appeareth that
he did make that inquiry with a true intent to
do anything ; for though Haman through his ambi-
tion (supposing that the honour should have been
done to himself) advised the king to do more than
was meet to be done to a subject, yet the king com-
manded all to be done to Mordecai. Though David
was not permitted to buUd a temple for the Lord,
yet such was his desii'e to testify his grateful mind
to God, as he prepared what he could, even mth all
his might, for the buUdtng thereof, 1 Cliron. xxix.
2. Zaccheus was so ravished with that favour and
honoiu- that Cluist did him in coming to his house,
as in way of gratefulness he giveth half of his goods
to the poor, Luke xix. 8, and promiseth to restore '
fourfold to all whom he had wronged.

Gratefulness so enamoureth the soul of a man, as
it makes him think that he can never do enough,
and therefore he is ready to do anything that he
may and can do. It will not suffer a man to hold
anythmg too dear for him on whom his thankful
mind is set, — es23ecially when such a mind is set on
God, who every way infinitely surpasseth us ; who
is so absolutely perfect in himself, as he needeth
nothing that we have or can do, nor can receive
' Sec. 7C.

Ver. 12]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

aiij-tliing but that wliich is his own, yet daily ladeth
with all manner of blessings us who are less than
ruy of his mercies, most unworthy of the least.
AVho, then, would not willingly and gladly have what
he might render to the Lord his God ? ^

Behold here the most ready way that possibly can
be prescribed to bring men to endeavour with the
uttermost of their power in all things to please the
Lord. Work in them such an apprehension, a sense
of Cxod's kindness to them, as their hearts may be
stirred up to thankfulness. Then nor hope of re-
ward, nor fear of revenge, can so incite or quicken
them up to any duty, as their own grateful disposi-
tion. An ingenuous and generous mind (as every
grateful mind is) will do much more in thanlcfulness
for a kindness done, than in expectation of a kind-
ness to come. Persuade men, therefore, of the
goodness and kindness that God hath done for
them, as you desire that they should be mlling,
ready, and forward to do any duty to God.

Sec. 79. Of a fhird irroperlij of right thanlsgiving,
to render it to God.

III. True gratefidness hath especial relation to the
Lord.^ A man that is well instructed in the right
form and due manner of thanksgiving -n-iU especially
return all thanks to God, whether it be for such
benefits as come immediately from himself, as all
those extraordinary benefits, whereof any that took
due notice might say, ' This is the finger of God,' or,
' This is the Lord's doing, and it is maiwellous in
our eyes,' — (for such as these, Moses and the men of
Israel, Exod. xv. 1, Miriam, ver. 20, and the women
of Israel gave solemn thanks to God,) — or those
ordinary benefits, to the conferring whereof man
addetli no help, as the shining of the sun, the
coui-ses of the moon, the former and latter rain, the
bounds set to the sea, the sweet .springs and rivers
of water passing through the earth, and many other
such as are reckoned up in Ps. civ., for which praise is
there given to God, or for such benefits as are conferred
upon us by the ministry of man. Thus Melchizedek,
Gen. xiv. 20, blessed God for that victory which

' Quis Bon appetat gaudebundu3 et laitus in quo aliquid
et ipse Domino suo retribiiat ? — Cyp. Episl., lib. ii. cap. 25.

' Sec. 76. Semper habendse gratise, et nemini alteri nisi
soli Beo.—Ckri/s., hum. 2, in 1 Cor. i. |

Abraham had gotten over his enemies; David,
1 Sam. XXV. 32; 1 Chron. xxix. 13, blessed God
for that counsel which wise Abigail gave him ; and
for those bountiful gifts which he, his pi-inces and
people, contributed towards the house of God ; and
the saints, 2 Cor. ix. 13, gave thanks to God for
the liberality of the Christians at Macedonia. So
clear is the point of returning thanks to God for all
manner of benefits, as besides the many simple
forms of giving thanks to God set down through-
out the whole Scripture, but especially in the book
of Psalms, when man cometh in any competition with
God about this matter, he is utterly excluded, as
where the psalmist,i negatively of man, but affirma-
tively of God, saith, 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory.' If ye well ob-
serve the precepts of Scripture for performing this
duty of thanksgiving, ye shall find this object, the
Lord, either plainly exjiressed, or. necessaiily under-
stood. How frequent are these phrases, ' Praise the
Lord; give thanks to God.' Yea, to demonstrate
that God is the proper object of praise, these words,
' Praise ye the Lord,' n^-l'pSl, are so compounded
together, as they make but one word in Hebrew,
which is this Hallelujah.

All manner of benefits do originally come from
God.^ If we receive any mediately by the ministry
of man, or of any other creature, they are therein
the instruments and hands of God, whereby he
reacheth out unto us, and conferreth upon us his
benefits. The benefits which we receive from a
wise king, just magistrates, faithful ministers, con-
scionable lawyers, skUful physicians, honest trades-
men, industrious husbandmen, or which any receive
from good husbands or wives, provident parents,
merciful masters, diligent and tnisty ser\'ants, or
any other persons, are God's benefits. It is there-
fore most due that we inquire what may be rendered
to the Lord for them.

Learn we hereby in all manner of benefits to roll
up our eyes to God, and as we taste of the sweetness
of them, so to lift up a thankful heart to him that
giveth them. It is a swinish part to cat the mast

' Ps. CSV. 1, Totum supernje gratia; tribuamus.— CArys ,
hom. 21 in Gen. 5 ; Ps. cslviii. ; Eph. v. 20.

' See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat. 3, part 2, see.
60, 61.

X 2

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Ver. 12.

tliat foUetli from a tree, and not to lift up an eye to
the tree whence it falleth. It is not enough to
render anj-thing to man, or to any other creature,
for the benefits ^ye have. The prophet's query is,
' "WTiat shall I render to the Lord 1 ' To render
anything to the creature and nothing to the creator,
is to neglect the princijjal donor ; yea, to think more
highly of the servant than of the master, of man
than of God, which is no better then idolatry.
AMien therefore thou hast a thought of rendering,
inquire what thou mayest render to God, what may
be pleasing and acceptable to him ; for which we
had a dii'ection before. ^

Sec. 80. Of the consideration of God's benefits
ivorking gra tefulness.

IV. A right understanding of God's benefits works
gratefulness.^ On this ground, that the psalmist's
soul did right well know God's works, Ps. cxxxix.
14, he make til this inference, ' I will praise thee.'
Wien the Israelites, Ps. c\'i. 12, had such evidence
of God's providence over them, as they believed his
words, then they sang liis praise. To induce men
to be ' thankful unto God, and to bless his name,'
Ps. c. 3, 4, the psalmist adviseth men to take notice
of the kindnesses of God towards them.

Hereby is man convinced of the equity of the
duty; which is an especial means to work upon
the conscience, and provoke him to perform that
which in his judgment he seeth to be most just and
meet that it sliould be iseiformed.

By this take notice of a main reason of man's in-
gratitude. The benefits of the Lord which occasion
matter of thanksgiving are either not at all ob-
served, but passed over without regard ; or else
soon forgotten. ^Yhen the Lord by his prophet
upbraideth to the Israelites their great ingratitude,
he rendereth this reason thereof, ' Israel doth not
know, my people doth not consider,' Isa. i. 3. And
when the psalmist speaketh of their hke ingratitude,
he rendereth this reason, ' They forgat God their
Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt,'
Ps. cvi. 21. Where there is no knowledge of a
benefit, there can be no good esteem thereof. "What
is not esteemed cannot be affected. No man will
inquire what he may render for that which he
' Sec. 77, 78. 2 Sec. 76.

affects not. Again that which is forgotten is as
not known, as not esteemed, as not affected. They
therefore that either take no notice of God's benefits
or soon forget them after they have once known
them, must needs be ungi-ateful. But without all
doubt, remembrance of kindness incites gi-ateful-
ness.i

To prevent this crime of ingratitude, a crime most
odious to God and man —

1. Be diligent in observing God's benefits, Ps.
Ixxxv. 8.

2. Oft and seriously meditate thereon, that they
may not slip out of thy mind and memory, Ps.
Lxx\ai. 11, 12.

3. Speak of them to others, as he that said,
'Come here, all ye that fear God, and I wiU de-
clare what he hath done for my soul,' Ps. bad.

16. i

This is the way to make thee see and say, ' God s I
benefits are toward me,' and thereupon in testimony
of gratefulness heartily to inquire, ' ^^^lat shall I
render to the Lord 1 '

Sec. 81. Of a fourth property of gratitude, by one hind-
iiess to he ]mt in mind of many.

V. Gratefulness raiseth the mind from some favours
to all." This general particle, all, is not so strictly
to be taken as if no favour or benefit were to be
left out, for so many are the benefits wliich God
from time to time doth bestow upon us, as it is not
possible to fasten our mind upon them all, but it is
to be taken of the several kinds of God's benefits,
as general, particular, pubUc, private, temporal,
spu'itual, &c., and of as many several and distinct
branches of these as we can. Thus, when David
was settled in his kingdom, and thereupon took
occasion to praise God, in his psalm of praise — com-
pare 1 Chron. xvi. 8, &c. with Ps. cxv. 1, &c. ; read
Ps. Ixxviii. to the end — he reckoneth up all those
kindnesses which God had done to his people from
the time of their first fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob ; yea, he giveth this express charge, ' Talk ye
of all liis wondrous works,' Ps. cv. 2 ; so Jehosha-

' Non dubium quia excitet ad laudandum beneficiorum
recordatio. — Bci-n. siqxr Cant., serm. 10.
- See aec. 76.

Yer. 12.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

pliat, 2 Chron. xx. il, wlieii he consulted, upon the
promise of \'ictory which God by his propliet had
given him, to praise the Lord, the 13Gth psalm,
which containeth a catalogue of all God's mercies,
was appomted to be sung. That sweet singer of
Israel, who well knew how to order his forms of
praise to God, as affirmatively he promiseth to
' shew forth all God's marvellous works,' Ps. ix. 1,
so he giveth a negative charge to his soul ' not to
forget all,' or any i ' of his benefits,' Ps. ciii. 2.

As more fuel added to fire maketh the flame the
gi'eater, so more benefits brought to a heart set on
fire to praise the Lord, enlargeth it the more, and
inflameth it \nt\i a holy zeal.

This pattern is wortliy our imitation, and affbrdeth
an excellent rale to stir us up heartily, cheerfully,
and zealously to praise the Lord. The rule is this,
to be so acquainted with the several kinds of God's
benefits, as on all occasions they may be presented
to our minds. Without all cj[uestion, the prophet's
mind was upon many and sundry sorts of benefits
when he said, ' all his benefits are towards me.' He
did not confusedly use this general particle, aU, as
many do when they profess to thank God for all
his benefits, and yet, have none at all in their
minds. His spirit was otherwise disposed than
to content itself with such a general, indefinite,
cold, loose, formal form of acknowledging God's
benefits. If we would accustom ourselves to make
diaries of God's blessings on us, and when we are
before God recount them in order, and oft call to
mind how ' from our mother's womb he hath been
our God,' Ps. xxii. 10, how, in every state and de-
gi-ee of our age he hath blessed us, and that with
all manner of blessings, temporal and spiritual,
privative and positive, conferred on ourselves and
those that belong unto us, yea, on the nation, city,
parish, or family where we live, then would not
such a general clause as this, ' aU his benefits are
toward me,' be an idle clause, but the mind which
is large in apprehension, where it is well infonned,
would comprise much matter on it, even so much
as would set the heai't on fire with zeal.2

' A 73, per transpositionem et transmutationem ^ in p fit
tiJltis.

- See in ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii. part 2, sees.
C4, 65, &c., a catalogue of benefits.

Sec. 82. Of particular sense of kindnesiS ivlierehy
the heart is stirred vp to thankfulness.

VI. Sense of God's kindness to one's self doth most
enlarge the heart to thankfulness.'^ Words of particu-
lar relation betwixt God that is praised and the
persons that praise him, used in forms of praise,
give good proof to this point. Such are these : '
Lord, my God,' Ps. xxx. 12; 'My strength, my
defence, the God of my mercy,' Ps. lix. 17; ' My
rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my buckler, the
horn of my salvation, mine high tower,' &c., Ps.
x\Tii. 2. That wliich here is generally implied
under this clause, ' All his benefits towards me,' is
in sundry particulars exemplified throughout the
whole book of Psalms. Take a few instances for
many : ' Thou hast maintained my right, and my
cause,' Ps. ix. 4 ; ' He took me, he drew me out of
many waters, he delivered me, he was my stay,' &c.,
Ps. XAiii. 16, 17. In particular, let the five first
verses of the 103d Psalm be well observed for tliis
purpose.

Men are most sensible of kindnesses done to
themselves, the sweetness whereof their own souls
do taste. Now, according to the taste and sense of
a kindness is the heart quickened and stined up to
thankfulness. Though it be an efiect of natural
self-love, to afiect the heait with such good things
as a man himself is made partaker of, yet is it not
against spuitual love to make an advantage thereof,
and to use that affection of the heart to kindle and
inflame our zeal unto a more fervent manner of
praising God.

Among other mercies take esjoecial notice of such
as in particular concern thyself, as he that said, ' I
will declare what God hath done for my soul.' In
this consideration first mark such as are most projier
and pecuHar to thyself, whereof thou mayest say,
'He hath not dealt so with others,' Ps. lx\i. 16.
So did he who said, ' He chose David his servant,'
&c., Ps. Ixxviii. 70. Then obsen-e what part thou
hast in such as are common ^dth others. And here
consider what relation there is betwixt the^ and
those others, whether they be such as are committed
to thy charge, nearly united to thee, of the same
family, or alliance, or parish, or inccrrporation, or
1 Sec. 76.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 12.

nation, or profession. Near relations will affect our
hearts for benefits bestowed on tbem to whom we
are united, as if they were bestowed on ourselves.
Instance that affection which was wrought in the
heart of Abraham's servant. Gen. xxiv. 17, for the
good success of his master's business, and the praise
wliich he gave to God for the same. If in common
blessings we find ourselves to have a share, we -shall
be the more quickened to give thanks for the same,
as the people that rejoiced at the coronation of
Solomon, 1 Kings i. 40.

Who are they that are now best settled to give
praise to God for this admirable decrease of the
sickness ? Not they who thought it not infectious,
nor they who thought they had such antidotes as
the plague could not seize on their vital parts ; nor
they who thought themselves safe enough in the
country. But they, who conceiving themselves to
be in as great danger as others, perceived a special
care of God over them in preserving them. That
benefit which a man knows himseK to receive from
the light of the sun, influence of the heavens, sweet-
ness of the air, and other like common blessings,
will make him heartily to bless God for them.
Search, therefore, narrowly, wherein God's benefits
have been towards thee in special. Do this daily
and hourly, not only about common benefits, which
the maker of all conferreth on all, but about private
and daily blessings,^ and thou wilt diUgently inquire
what thou mayest render to him.

Sec. 83. Of a fifth property of gratitude to bepiv-
voked thereby to make profession of benefits.

VII. Ch-atcfidness works acknowledgment of kind-
ness.'^ All the acknowledgments which in Scripture
are recorded to be made by any of the samts of
God's benefits and mercies towards them, are de-
monstrations hereof: as of Noah, Gen. viii. 20;
Abraham, chap. xii. 7 ; Melchizedek, chap. xiv. 20 ;
Sarah, chap. xxi. G ; Abraham's servant, chap. xxiv.
27 ; Isaac, chap. xxvi. 22, 25 ; Jacob, chap, xxxii.
1 ; and many others.

Acknowledgment of kindness maketh much to the

' Unum Loo olisecro, singulis diebua et horis supputemus
nobiscum, uon communia tantum beneficia, quto toti nature
omnium opifex contulit, sed et privata ct qudlidiana, &c. —
C/in/s., torn. 20, in Gen, vill., et hom. 72, ad Pop.

' See. 76.

honour of him that hath done the Idndness. But
he that indeed hath a grateful mind desireth to do
all the honour that he can to the author of the
kindness wherewith he is affected. We heai-d be-
fore (sec. 77) how he requireth what he may render.
Will not then that mind wliich maketh him so in-
quisitive to be further instructed m what he may do
more, provoke him to do that which he cannot be
ignorant to be accejitable t As for the Lord, he
requireth thanksgiving in our words, not that he
hath any need thereof, but that he may teach us to
be thankful, and to acknowledge the donor of so
great good tilings as he bestows.^

Can we now imagine that they who conceal all
kindnesses done to them are grateful persons "?
Were the nine lepers, that, being cured of their
leprosy, made no profession thereof, thankful? If
they were, wherein consisted the difference betwixt
them and that one of whom Christ thus saith, ' Were
there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
There are not found that returned to give glory to
God, save tins stranger,' Luke xvii. 17, 18. As
great an evidence of iugratitude it is to keep close,
not to make known, not to acknowledge benefits, as
can be given.

Shew me then thy gratitude by the effect thereof :
'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
sj)eaketh.' Even to men are these benefits to be
acluiowledged. Thus Deborah acknowledged Jael's
kuidness. Judges v. 24 ; David, Abigail's, 1
Sam. XXV. 33; Saul, David's, chap. xxiv. 19; and
many other, other men's. Much more to God must
his benefits be acknowledged, iu regard of the mul-
titude, greatness, freeness, needfulness, profitable-
ness, and continuance of them, together with many
other circumstances whereby they are much ampli-
fied. And so much the rather, because acknowledg-
ment is all that we can render to God ; and it is aU
that God doth expect, which yet he doth most
graciously accept. Make this holy profession there-
fore of the Lord's benefits to God himself and to
men ; make it to God in secret and in public ; make
it at all times, in all places; make it while the

' Domluus in sermoulbus gratlarum actionem exigit, non
quod ea Ipse opus habeat, sed ut nos doceat gratos esse, et
agnoscere tantorum honorum suppeditatorem. — Chri/s., hom.
26 in Oen. viii.

Ver. 13.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

benefits are fresh before thee ; lay up liis benefits in
thy memory, that thou mayest in future times
again and again make it. Acknowledge the bene-
fits which thou hast received, and thou shalt be sure
to receive more. The tenth leper, wliich returned
to give glory to God, received thereby another and
a greater benefit, which was the cleansing of liis
soul from the leprosy of sin, as this phrase import-
eth, 'Thy faith hath saved thee,' Luke xrvii. 19.
He was cleansed of liis bodUy leprosy before he re-
turned. There was then somewhat more intended
by the pronouncing of this after his returning to
glorify God. The other nine that returned were
cleansed in their bodies. This was said to him as
an e\'idence of a greater benefit than that which
they received. For God's sake, therefore, who is
thereby honoured, and for tliine own sake, who
gainest thereby more benefits, acknowledge God's
benefits, and say, ' His benefits are towards me.'

Sec. 84. Of the interpretation and rcsohdion of the
thirteenth verse.

Yer. 13. J «■/// take the cup if salvation, and call
iipon the name of the Lord}

The second part of the prophet's rhetorical
addubitation is here exjjressed, which is an answer
to his former cjuestion ; whereby he sheweth that he
made not the question simply on ignorance, as if he
knew not what to render, but j)urposely to set out
the great desire he had, and the forwardness that was
in him to do, what he saw most meet to be done.

This phrase, ' cup of salvation,' is the most difii-
cult and doubtful phrase of all the psalm. It is
here figuratively used, and in that respect more
subject to various interpretations. According to
tlie divers significations of tliis word cup, (D13,) some
take it one way, some another.-

1. It is taken for a part or portion ; for in a cup

1 Sec. 7(5.

- There was one John Lodwick, a Spaniard by nation, a
monk by profession, who lived ten years together in England,
lodging in a house by Bishopsgate, London, who day after
day went forth in a beggar's attire, and as occasion was
offered, belched forth most imjious blasphemies against the
blessed Trinity, especially against the sacred person of our
blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, whom he ordinarily called
Devil, and against the Holy Scripture, for which he was
convented before authority, and being convicted by witnesses

useth to be such a set portion of Ijeer or wine, or
physical potion, or such like thing, as may be thought
fit for him to whom it is given ; as where the
psalmist saitli, ' My cup runneth over,' Ps. xxiii. 5,
his meaning is, the portion which thou hast given me
is an abundant potion, even like a cup that runneth
over.i On tliis ground, some^ expound this place
thus, ' I will thankfully take that portion which
the Lord allots me, and use it to my salvation,
calling on Ids name and worshipping him,' Isa. li.
17, 22; Mat. XX. 22.

2. A cup is put for affliction. For of okP they
were wont to put poison into cups, and make such
as were adjudged to death, to drink thereof. After
this manner were Socrates, Psammenitus, Phocion,
Theramenes,* and others put to death. Bitter things
also are put into cups for medicines; and because
afllictions are bitter, and as it were given to us by our
wise and heavenly Father to drink, they are set out
by a cup. Some therefore ^ according to that signifi-
cation thus exijound this text, ' I will -nallingly drink
tlie cup of affliction, which the Lord shall be pleased
to give me, yea, though it be death, wliich will as-
suredly turn to my salvation.'

3. The passion of Christ is styled a cup. Mat.
xxvi. 39; whereupon many^ imagine that the pro-
phet hath here relation thereunto. An ancient
father," saith that the Hebrew thus hath it, ' I will
take the cup of Jesus;' which an angel thus inter-
prets, ' thou shalt call his name Je.sus ; for he shall

and by his own confession, was sent over to Spain, there to
be proceeded against, in the year of our Lord 1618. This
blasphemous heretic accounting the things that were written
by the prophets and apostles to be mere dotages, said
that David was one of the worst, and that in penning this
psalm, he shewed himself to be a drunkard and a liar, by
reason of this and the tenth verse. As if by taking the cup
of salvation, he had intended the drinking of a health, as
drunkards use to do. Whereby we see how dangerous it may
be to take that literally, which is meant metaphorically.

' Per calicem ruensura intelligitur, kc.^Ja-omc, Comment, in
/tunc loc. 2 Trevet., Genebrad.

^ SoUicitoque bibas veluti doctissimus olim,
In perturbato quod bibit ore reus. — Ovid, in Ihid.

■■ Herod., lib. iii. ; Cic. Tusc, lib. i. ; Pluta. in vit. Phoc.

' Origen, Hieron, Augustine, Plac, Farm.

^ Lorinus aliique Papist.

' In Hebrseo ita habet, calicem Jesu accipiam, kc— Jerome,
Comment, in hunc. lie.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 13.

save his peoijle.' Indeed, the Hebrew name trans-
slated Jesus, ptyirr, is derived from a root that
signifieth to save, ^\i}i ; but the word here used,
/nielli'"*, is of the feminine gender and plural num-
ber. Yet by that which follows it may be gathered
that by this very Hebrew word, the same thing is
meant as by the name Jesus, namely salvation.
They who apply the cup of salvation to Christ's
passion, take it passively for martyrdom, or suffering
for Christ, and so it Uttle differs from the former
interpretation. They who in these senses exjDound
this text, say, that thereby is rendered the gi'eatest
thing that can be rendered by man, even liis life.

4. In Holy Scripture there is mention made of
drink-olfei'ings, Gen. xxxv. 14; Lev. xxiii. 13;
Num. XV. 5 ; which were a certain quantity of ivine
that used to be poured out before the Lord ; as
the very notation of the word imjiorteth, coming
from a root "^DJ ejfudit, that signifieth to pour out.
As the meat-offerings, so the diink-offerings were
brought to the Lord in way of gratulation and
thanksgiving. Some^ therefore in allusion here-
unto so expound this text, as a promise and vow
of the psalmist, to testify his public gratitude by
such an external and solemn rite as in the law was
prescribed. This he termeth a cup, because that
drink-offering was contained in a cup, and poured out
thereof; and he adds this epithet ' salvation,' because
that rite was an acknowledgment of salvation, pre-
servation and deliverance from the Lord.

5. After theu' solemn gratulatory sacrifices they
were wont to have a feast. Wien David had brought
the ark of God into the tabernacle, they oflfered
burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, which being fin-
ished, 'he dealt to every one of Israel, both man
and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a
good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine,' 1 Chron.
xvi. 3. Hereby is implied that he made so bounti-
ful a feast, as he had to give thereof to all the
people there assembled. In this feast the master
thereof was wont to take a great cup,^ and in lifting
it up to declare the occasion of that fea.st, and then
in testimony of thankfulness to drink thereof to the
guests, that they in order might pledge him. This

' Cajetan. Genebr.

'In mensa laticum lib.-ivit honoi-eni, &c. — Yirij. ^Hn. 1;
Turnch. lib. xii. cap. 13; Athe.., lib. xi. c^p. 11.

was called a cup of salvation, or deliverance, be-
cause they acknowledged by that use thereof that
God had saved and delivered them. Almost in a
like sense the apostle styleth the sacramental cup,
the cup of blessing.'

Here the prophet useth the plural number, thus,
' cup of salvations,' ^ whereby, after the Hebrew
elegancy, he meaneth many deliverances, one after
another ; or some great and extraordinary dehver-
ance which was instead of many, or which comprised
many under it. The word translated tahe (Nli'M a
NttO) j)roperly signifieth to lift up, and in that
respect may the more fitly be apphed to the fore-
mentioned talcing of the festival cup and lifting it
up before the guests. Most of our later expositors ^
of this psahn apply this phrase, ' I ^vill take the cup
of salvation ' to the forenamed gi'atulatory drink-
offering, or to the taking and lifting up of the cup
of blessing in the feast, after the solemn sacrifice.
Both of these import one and the same thing, which
is, that saints of old were wont to testify their
gratefulness for great deliverances mth some out-
ward solemn rite.

The former interpretations of this phrase, ' cup of
salvation,' applied to a portion, or affliction, or mar-
tyi'dom, or the passion of Christ, though simply con-
sidered in themselves they be truths, yet they are
not so pertinent to this text as the two latter, of a
gratulatory drinlc-oftering or a festival cup : for,
without question a solemn thanksgi\dng is here in-
tended, as is aftenvai'd in the 17th verse plainly
expressed.

The other clause that is added, ' and call upon
the name of the Lord,' is the same that was before
used, ver. 4, and expounded. Here again it is re-
peated, partly to shew that in the foremeutioned
gratulatory rite he would worship God.* He would
do it piously and rehgiously ; for prayer is an especial
jjart of God's worship, partly to shew that though
by God's dehvering him he were now safe, and so
had just occasion to praise God, yet would he not
cease to pray unto God for continuance of his favour

^ t6 ■7roTif}ptop ttJs €v\oylas. — 1 Cor. x. 17.
■ /nj71iy-D1D. Calicem salutum. — Vatab. Omnis salutia.
—Trcmcl.

^ Calvin ; Vatab.; Muscul ; Moller ; Moutan ; Aliique.
* Nomeu Dei colam. — Valahl.

Ver. 13.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

and blessing. He wonkl botli praise God and also
pray unto him. Thus is the phrase of ' calling upon
the name of the Lord ' most properly taken.

This very duty of ' calling upon the name of the
Lord ' is again promised, and that as an appurten-
ance to thanksgi^^ng, being added thereto in the
17th verse,! ^vhere I purpose to handle it in the
general acception, as it siguifieth worship done to
God. Here I consider it in the particular and most
proper signification, which is petition.

This verse being added as an answer to this clause,
' What shall I render to the Lord I ' setteth out
man's recompence to God.

It consisteth of two parts :

1. Gratulation.

2. Invocation.

The former is set out by a most solemn rite of
rejoicing.

The latter is expressed by the action, ' I ynW call,'
and by the object, ' upon the name of the Lord.'

The two main parts are jomed together by a
copulative particle, and.

Of the substance of solemn gratulation or thanks-
giving sufficient hath been before deUvered.'^

The inference of this profession upon the foi-mer
inquisition, tliis being an answer thereto, sheweth
that—

I. Gratitude is the best recompence that man can
render to God.

The manner of expressing it by a puUic rite of
rejoicing teaches that —

II. Our inward motion of praising God must be
manifested by some outward action of rejoicing.

Of the substance of invocation, even as it is here
expressed, sufficient hath been delivered on the 4tli
verse.

The connexion of these two points, gi-atulation
and invocation, importeth that —

III. With gratulation invocation must be joined.
The different manner of expressing invocation

from that which was in the 4th verse, — for there
it was set dovvn as a thing performed in liis trouble,
' Then called I,' &c. Here it is noted as a duty
to come, which he promiseth to perform, ' I wiU
call,' &c. ; and that after his dehverance — implieth
that—

' See sec. 112. - See sec. 76, &c., to this section.

IV. Prayer to God is to be continued after the
thing prayed for is granted.

Sec. 8.5. Of praise the hcd thnt man can render
unto God.

I. Gratitude is the best recompence thai man can
render unto God.''- Surely this prophet that made
such inquiry of what he might render unto God, if
he had known a better would have here mentioned
it. Where bulls, goats, and such like sacrifices are
refused, it is said, ' Offer unto God thanksgiving,'
Ps. 1. 13, 14. Praise is one of the sacrifices with
which 'God is well pleased,' Heb. xiii. 15, 16. Ex-
pressly it is said of praising God, that it ' pleaseth
the Lord better than an ox or bullock,' Ps. Ixix.
30, 31, yet were those ordained for solemn sacrifices
under the law ; praise therefore is it which the
psalmist doth especially vow to God, ver. 17.

God standeth in need of nothing that we can do
or bestow. But we stand in need of all that is his.^
Our thanks which we give him adds nothing to him,
but makes him the more to respect us. By it, if it
be rightly jJerformed, God is acknowledged to be
what he is, to give what he gives, and to do what
he doth. More than this the creature cannot do ;
more than this the Creator nor exacteth nor exjiect-
eth, provided that it be not a mere Up-labour, but
come from a heart thoroughly affected ■nith his ex-
cellencies and kindnesses, and be ratified by an an-
swerable carriage towai'ds him.

More than monstrous in this respect must the sin
of ingi'atitude needs be. It being only an acknow-
ledgment of a truth, of such a tnith as is most just
and meet to be acknowledged ; and this acknowledg-
ment being all that the creature can do, and all that
the Creator requireth, yet that wherein the Creator
resteth fully contented, and that which he doth
most graciously accejit and highly esteem, what will
they do or give that will not yield praise and give
thanks to God ? One would think that no man

' Sec. 83. Ante omnia Deo gratias agamus, ciii nihil grati-
us, nihil acceptius est. — Chrys., liom. 2, in 1 Cor. i.

- Deus aliciijus nostri non eget, sed uos omnium qiiaj illiua
sunt indigemus. Siquidem gratiarum actio illi quidem nihil-
omnino addit, nos autem illi magia familiares ponit. — Chrys.,
horn. 2i5, in Mat. viii.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 13.

should be guilty of this crime. But who is not
guilty thereof more or less 1^

For redress of this out-of-measure sinful sin, take
due notice of the many, great, free, and constant
mercies of God ; and when through seiious medita-
tion thereon thou findest thine heart inflamed with
desire to render something to the Lord, and there-
upon art moved to inquire and say, ' What shall I
render unto the Lord ? ' think of this answer made
by the prophet. Vow praise to God. Give praise
to God. Let praise be thy daily and evening sacri-
fice. It being the sweetest incense that by man can
be offered to God, the best in the kind thereof, and
the best also in God's account, let it never be want-
ing. ' In all thmgs, at all times, give thanks unto
God,' Eph. v. 20.

Sec. 8G. Of manifesting inward gratitude hi/ md-
ward gratulation.

II. Man's inward affection of praising God must he
manifested hy some outward action of rejoicing.^ For
this we have precept and practice under the law
and gospel. For the time of the law, Psalm Ixxxi.
giveth an excellent prescript. Answerable thereto
was the practice of * Moses and the men of Israel,'
Exod. XV. 1, &c., who 'sung a song,' of jjraise to
the Lord in testimony of their thankfulness for the
great deliverance which God gave them from the
EgjTDtians through the Eed Sea, and of Miriam and
the women following her ' mth timbrels and with
dances ; ' and of the women of Israel who, with
singing and dancing and instruments of music, came
to meet Saul and David after the overthrow of
Goliath and flight of the Philistines, 1 Sam. x\'iii. 6 ;
yea, and of Da^dd, who, after the settling of the ark
in the tabernacle, had solemn offerings, and gave to
all the people ' a loaf of bread, a good piece of flesh,
and a flagon of wine,' 1 Chron. xvi. 3 ; and of Asa
who, after his gi'eat victory over the Ethiopians,
offered great offerings to the Lord, 2 Chron. xv. 11,
&c. ; and of Jehoshaphat, chap. xx. 28, who, with
his people after their victory over the Moabites,
Ammonites, and Edomites, returned to Jerusalem
' ^\•ith viols, harps, and trumpets.' So the Jews in
Esther's time, and in Ezra his time, and at many

' See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, ii. part 2, sec. 70,
71. 2 Sec. 84.

other times, Esth. ix. 17; Neh. viii. 10.^ As the
Jews were commanded, with every sounding instru-
ment to praise the Lord, so ought we with eyes,
tongue, ears, hands, and all the body.

For the time of the gospel, St James giveth this
advice, ' Is any meiTy ? let him sing psalms,' James
V. 1.3. St Paul, also, where he speakcth of giving
thanks to God, he premiseth this direction, ' Speak-
ing to yourselves in psalms and hjonns and spiritual
songs,' &c., Eph. V. 19, 20. In the primitive times
of .the church Christians were wont to have at that
solemn time of thanksgiving, when the blessed sacra-
ment of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus was
celebrated, certain fea.sts, whereunto St Paul alludeth,
1 Cor. xi. 21, and which St Jude exjjresseth by the
very name which was then given them, translated,
love-feasts, or feasts of charity.^

By outward actions of rejoicing, if at least they
be in their kind warrantable by the word of God,
and for the manner of using them, if they be used
moderately and temi^erately, as, and when they
ought to be used, which are limitations that the
heathen by the Ught of nature saw fit to be ob-
served in matters of dehght — I say, by outward ac-
tions of rejoicing,^

1. God himself is the more glorified ; for we
are commanded ' to glorify God in our body and
in our spirit,' 1 Cor. vi. 20. ' God is indeed a Spirit,
and they which worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth,' John iv. 24. Yet this hindereth
not but that he may and must be also worshipped
in body and in outward actions. He must ever
be worshipped in spu'it, whether with the body or
without the body. Spiritual worship may be with-
out bodily worship, and also stand with bodily
worship ; but bodily worship cannot stand without
.spiritual worship.

2. The spirits of others are stirred \\\) to join
with us in congi-atulation and mutual thanksgiving.
When the people saw and heard Ezra bless the

' Sicut Judiei jubebantiir omnia organ! sono laudare Domi-
num, sic nos onmi corpore laudare properemus; oculis, lingua, au-
ribus, manibus hoc debemus efBcere. — Chrys., horn. 4, in Ps. cl.

* ayairai Jude 12. — Coena nostra de nomine rationem suam
ostendit; vocatur ayairri, id quod dilectio penes Grtccos est. —
Tertul. Apol. adrcrs. Gent, cap., 39.

^ eTTt^i'/tei 6 (Twippo)p fbv dd Kai ort, Kat br?.- Arlst. Ethic., lib.
cap. ult.

Ver. 13.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

Lord, they ' answered, Amen, amen, with lifting
up their hands,' Neh. vm. 6. When Hezekiah made
it known that he meant to celebrate a solemn
passover, 'many of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar,
and Zebulon came thereto,' 2 Chron. xxx. 5, &c.
This is one principal end of external rites of gi-atu-
latiou — mutuall}- to stir up one another's spirit.

3. Our own spirits are much roused and quickened
hereby. Outward gratulatorj- actions, as they mani-
fest an inward gi-ateful affection, so they are means,
as it were hj a reflection, to increase the heat of grati-
tude, and inflame our zealous affection the more.
Now our duhiess and coldness in all pious duties
giveth evidence that all means that can be used for
quickening our spirits, are Uttle enough.

Too austere and severe are they who censure as
unlawful, and condemn all cheerful rites and ac-
tions of gratulation. Their main ground is the e\'il
consequence which foUoweth from thence. But that
followeth not from a la'O'ful use of warrantable rites,
but from an abuse of them, which is indeed unlaw-
ful. If abuse of a thing were sufficient to prohibit
the use of it, the use of the most necessary and
bounden duties which the word commandeth should
be prohibited. It is an especial point of wisdom to
discern whence every e\Tl ariseth, and accordingly
to be so circumspect in avoiding the e\'il as a
warrantable, commendable, needful, useful duty be
not forborne thereby. The wise farmer neglecteth
not to sow his ground because weeds use to grow
among the corn. No wise man will forbid the
drinking of Avine because some by intemperancy are
made drunk. E^-il consequences arising from good
things, give just occasion to be watchful over our-
selves in the doing of those good things, that by
our carelessness they prove not pernicious. So as
it is not a sufficient plea for intemperancy, to say
the thing that we do is lawful. He that hath
warranted a thing to be done hath prescribed rules
for the manner of doing it, by a due observation
whereof good things will be well done.

In general, outward gratulatory actions must be —

1. Such as are approved by God Irimself, as those
were which we noted in the proof of the point. For
how can we think that those things which he ap-
proveth not will please him !

2. Such as may beseem the occasion ; even such

cheerful actions as may revive men's spirits ; such
also were tliose that are before mentioned. As out-
ward rites of humiliation must be such as may
humble the soul ; so of gratulation, such as may
quicken it, Ps. Ixxxi. 1, &c.

3. Such as are not offensive ; nor occasions to any
corruption ; as are drinking healths, especially on
bare knees, and in measure above tliat which sober
men are able to bear ; lasci\dous dancing, revelling
on the Lord's-days, and other the Uke.

Among other external rites of gi-atulation, that
which is here intended (feasting) is a principal one.
Thereof see ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii.
part ii. sec. 73.

Sec. 87. Of joining prayer with praise.

III. JFith gratulation invocation must he joined} As
with our petitions we must join praises ; so, ■with
these, those. Prayer and praise are like two t'svins,
which, though they have each of them their several
and distinct members, j-et by the navel are from
their birth knit together, and so grow together, as
if you force them asunder you kill them both ; one
without the other cannot live.^ They are therefore
in sacred Scripture oft joined together ; sometimes
one, sometimes another set in the former place, thus,
' In every thing by prayer and supplication with
thank-sgiving let your requests be made kno\vn to
God,' Phil. iv. 6 ; ' Pray -svithout ceasing : in every-
thing give thanks,' 1 Thes. v. 17, 18 ; ' Give thanks
unto the Lord : call upon his name,' Ps. cv. 1 ;
' Praise the Lord : call upon his name,' Isa. xii. 4.
Observe the forms of praises and of prayers noted
in Scripture, and you shall find where the principal
occasion hath been gratulation, suppUcation to be
added ; and also where the princijjal occasion hath
been supplication, gratulation to be added.

Such is our estate here in this world, and such is
God's dealing with us, as there never wanteth occa-
sion of both. Never was any saint brought into so
desperate a distress but that through the mist-of his
misery sweet beams of God's mercy have shined up-
on him. Nor ever was there any set in so bright

1 Sec. 84.

- Vide Hippocrat de Nat pueri. Sec. 44, de Gemellorum
partu. Item, lib. i. de Dieta. See, 23, ubi tres reddit rationes
ob quas Gemelli fiunt similes iuter se.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 13.

and clear a sunshine of God's favour but that some
clouds have let fall showers of sorrows ; if not m
outward troubles, yet in regard of inward corrup-
tions, yea, and in the thought or fear of some
eclipses of that sunshine. Thus in greatest occasion
of hearty thanksgiving there is just occasion of
humble petition. And where there is most cause of
humiliation, there is also much cause of exultation.

Herein lieth a main difference betwixt men's
estates here and hereafter. Hereafter in heaven is
nothing but matter of gratulation ; in hell is nothing
but matter of exclamation and ejaculation ; on earth
there is a mixture of both.

As for addmg invocation to gratulation, which is
the particular here exjjressed, thereby our sacrifice
of praise is sanctified. ' As every creature of God
is sanctified by the word and prayer,' 1 Tim. iv. 5,
so the actions that we perform, not pious and reli-
gious duties, and among them not the most principal,
praising of God, excepted. The word shewetli it to
be a warrantable duty. Prayer presented to God in
the name of Christ maketh it an acceptable duty.
And whereas ever3rthing that passeth from us is
not only imperfect through the defect thereof, but
also polluted by that sink of corruption which is in
us ; by faithful prayer the defect is supplied, the
pollution is purged away.

' A^Hiat therefore God hath joined together, let no
man put asunder,' Mat. xLx. 6. Let us for remov-
ing evils, or for conferring any good thing, give all
due thanks, and never forget the one or the other ;
but withal give ourselves to prayer, to continual
supplications, and much piety.^

Sec. 88. Of prmjiwj after God hath heard our
prayer.
IV. Prayer to God is to be continued after the thing
prayed for is granted.^ After that the psalmist, in
testimony of God's hearing him, had said, 'I will
praise thee, for thou hast heard me, and art become
my salvation,' he addeth, ' Save now, I beseech thee,
Lord : Lord, I beseech thee, send now pros-
perity,' Ps. cxviii. 21, 25. Many .such passages

' Gratias Deo agamua propter teutationum resolutionem, et
haruiii nunquam obliviscamur : orationibus vacemus, supplica-
tionibus continuis, pietati multse. — Clirys. ad Pq/)., hom. 17.

= Sec, 84.

there be, as in the Psalms, so in other books of
Scripture. Indefinite exhortations to pray — -'in
every season,' Eph. \-i. 18, (iv ^avW xai^'S; ;) 'always,'
Luke xviii. 1, (Tatron ;) 'without ceasing,' 1 Tlies.
iii. 17, (adiaXihrus -^ — give good evidence to the
truth of the doctrine. For if after God hath heard
us we cease to pray, how can we praj' 'Avithout
ceasing,' ' always,' ' in every season ' ? None can
doubt but that God heard the prayers of his faith-
ful servants in all ages, yet never did any faithful
servant of God thereupon cease calling upon God so
long as he lived. It is the style of a true saint ' to
call upon God,' 1 Cor. i. 2 ; Acts ix. 14 ; 2 Tim. ii.
19. If they should cease to call upon God, they
would shew themselves most imworthy of that dig-
nity.

1. Some things there be, which, though on God's
part they be granted, yet are we not so settled and
satisfied in the grant of them, but that we may
waver and doubt in our faith about them ; as re-
mission of sins, reconciliation with God, justification
in his sight, conquest over our corruptions, sanctify-
ing graces, and such like. Other things there be
whereof we stand in daOy need, as food, sleep,
apparel, and other bodily necessities, means of
spiritual edification, and the assistance of God's
Spirit. And many e\als there be whereinto we
may fall again and again after we are delivered
from them, as sickness, pain, imprisonment, cap-
tivity, &c. Yea, and all manner of sins and tempta-
tions to sins. In these respects, for the settling of
our faith in that which God hath granted, for the
continual supply of such things as we continually
stand in need of, for keeping us from falling again
into such e\'ils as we have been delivered from, it is
needful, it is useful to call upon God again and
again even after he hath heard our prayer.

2. All those general motives that are of force to
incite us to call on God before he hath heard us —
as God's command, God's worship, God's honour,
the necessity, utility, eflBcacy, and dignity of prayer
— are also of force to provoke us to call on him after
he hath heard us, yea, as long as we Hve.^

3. God's hearing our prayers is so far from
making us cease to pray, as, among other motives,

■ See ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii. part 1, sec.
15, 16, &o.

Ver. 14.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

it is a very forcible one to draw us to God again.
For it giveth special e^ddenee of God's readiness to
hear and ableness to help, yea, and of his mind and
goodwill to us in particular whom he hath heard.

How many are of a far other mind than thi.s
prophet was ! If God have once heard them and
delivered them from a distress, they have no care to
call on God again, especially when they find and
feel themselves safe. What ! do they tliink that
there is but one thing wherein God can do them
good 1 Do they imagine themselves so secure as
they cannot again fall into such need of God's help
as they were in before? or can God be, as man,
weaiy of doing good ? Are many supplications and
petitions troublesome to God? Fie of all such
atheistical conceits ! If any that have better under-
standing of God and of theii- own frailty, do not-
withstanding fail in this duty, ha\diig had good
success in their former performing it, they are
either as beasts, which are affected only with that
which is present, or worse than beasts, using God
only for their own turns, and so care not to call on
him but when they sensibly discern an absolute
necessity for their o^vn need and good.

For God's sake, for our own sake, let us in season
and out of season, in distress and out of distress, to
remove and prevent evils, to obtain and retain the
things that are good for us, before and after God
hath heard us, call upon his name. Let us that
have called upon him say, ' We will call upon the
name of the Lord.' Let this pui-pose be in our
hearts ; let this profession be in our mouths ; let
an answerable performance be in our deeds, and that
so long as we shall abide in the land of the li\dng,
where the Lord is called upon, that so we may in-
deed be in the number, and of the number, of those
that call upon the name of the Lord.

Sec. 89. Of the sense and parts of the fourteenth verse.

Ver. li. I icill pay my vmcs unto tlie Lord now in the
presence of all his people.

The first motive which the prophet useth to
quicken liim the more to perform the fore-mentioned
duty of solemn praise is laid downi in this verse.'
It is taken from that bond whereby he had volun-
tarily tied himself, liis vow.

1 Sec. 2.

The argument may be thus iVamed, —

That which by vow I am bound to pay, I will pay.

But by vow I am bound to take the cup of salva-
tion, &c.

Therefore I will take the cup of salvation, &e.

It appeareth by the manner of expressing this
point, that in his distress he had vowed a solemn,
public sacrifice of praise unto the Lord, if the Lord
would be pleased to release Imn. For he saith not,
I vow to pay this and that, but, I will pay what I
have vowed.

The word thus translated, / u-ill 2mij, obti'X, sig-
nifieth to finish and perfect a thing, and is here fitly
used to shew, that a vow, till it be performed, is as
an imperfect thing ; perfonning of it is the perfect-
ing of it, if at least it be rightly made, and rightly
accomplished.

He mentioneth rouv, ■'TTJ, in the plural number
for emphasis' sake ; either because he oft vowed one
and the same thing, or because he vowed many
tilings, or one solemn tiling accompanied ■with many
circumstances about the manner of perfonning it.
Neither of these do so cross the other, but that aU
of them or many of them may stand togetlier.

By a kind of property he applieth them to him-
self, (' my vows,') because he himself was the author
of them ; they were not imposed upon him, but he
voluntarily bound himself thereto ; and thereby he
made them his own proper debt, which he himself
stood bound to pay.

These vows were for performing of divine ser\'ices,
such as appertained only to the true God. AVlierefore,
as they were made, so he promiseth to perform them
to the only true God, the Lord.

The latter clause setteth out the manner of per-
forming the said vows ; wherein —

1. He implieth the time when he would do it —
now. This signifieth the present time, and is op-
posed to all procrastination and delay.

2. He intimatetli the place — in the presence of
people ; in such places where people meet, which
are public assemblies, and those not the least, but
the greatest and solemnest assemblies, where not a
few, but all the people meet. And that it might not
lie thought that he intended any profane assemblies,
he adds this particle of limitation, his, which hath
relation to the Lord ; so as he meaneth all God's

GOUGE ON PSALM C'XVI.

[Ver. 14.

people, who were wont all to meet together at the
tabernacle, where God was most solemnly wor-
shipped.

In this pattern we have tlie disposition of a saint
delivered out of a distress.

His disposition is manifested two ways.

1. While he was in distress.

2. When he was delivered out of it.

The former is implied under the mention of vows.
For from thence we may well infer that in his dis-
tress he made vows.

Here obsen^e —

1 . What was done : vows.

2. To whom 1 To the Lord.

The latter is expressed. In which expression is
noted —

1. The matter or thing to be done: 'I will pay
my vows.'

2. The manner of doing it : and that in three
branches : —

1. The time — without delay, speedily, now.

2. The place — in a most public place : ' In the
presence of all the people.'

3. The persons — saints, whom he stylethhis people.
The thing implied, and taken for granted to be

done, importeth that —

I. Vows may be made.

The object to whom they are directed, the Lord,
declaretli that —

II. Sacred vows must be made to God.

The promise of performing them, I will pay,
sheweth that —

III. Vows made must be paid.

The time here set down being the present, now,
implieth that^ —

IV. The first opportunity to pay a vow must be
taken.

The place where he professeth to perform this
duty is 'in the presence of all people.' It is very
probable that his vows were made in secret betwixt
God and himself. This promise, then, to perform
them openly and publicly, intimateth that —

V. Vows secretly made may be openly performed.
The limitation of the persons with this particle of

relation, his, which hath reference to God, doth us
to wit that —

^ I. Saints are fittest witnesses of sacred duties.

Sec. 90. Of mahing vows to God.
I. Vows may be made.
II. Sacred vows mttst be made to God.
Though these be two distinct points (for vows
are made to others than to Jehovah, the true God.
Idolaters make vows to their idols, Jer. xliv. 2.5,
and men make vows one to another, and that not
only impiously, but piously and justly also, as hus-
band and wife one to another, and subjects to their
governors, servants to their masters, and other to
others) yet the vow which is here mentioned, and
which tlu-oughout the Scripture (for the most part)
is approved, being a sacred vow, which hath direct
respect unto God, I ■vvill not sever these two doc-
trines, but handle them as one. For all that I shall
speak of vows shall be of sacred ' vows to the Lord.'
For proof whereof we have both divine precept
and approved practice : Ps. Ixxvi. 1 1 ; Isa. xbc. 2 1 ;
Gen. xxviii. 20, 21 ; Ps. Ixi. 8.

According to the words of the second doctrine
(under which the first is comprised, as the general
nature ' of a thing under every species and particular
kind thereof) I intend to touch upon these two
points : —

1. The nature of a vow. 2. The directing of it to
God.

1. To a vow properly so called, two things are
especially requisite : 1. Intention ; 2. Obtestation ;
or, to speak more plainly, a deliberate purpose and
an absolute promise. The former first bringeth on
the latter. The latter fast bindeth the former.
A true intention and deUberate purpose must of
necessity go before, because otherwise a promise
will not be made, (for who will promise that Avhich
he intends not,) or if it be made, there is little hope
it will be performed ; or if it should be performed,
yet the very malting of it without an intention and
purjjose is a plain mocking of him who is a ' searcher
of the heart,' Acts. i. 24, and ' understaudeth our
thoughts afar oflT,' Ps. cxxix. 2. This, therefore,
is necessar3% but not sufficient. For a vow bindeth,
as we shall hereafter shew, but every purpose bindeth
not. After St Paul was minded to come to Corinth,
2 Cor. i. 15, &c., he altered his purpose upon just
occasions. Many purposes come into men's minds

' Genus sub specie.

Ver. 14.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

time after time. If they had the force of a binding
vow, who shoukl be loose 1 Nay, witli how mauy
bonds would every saint be bound? Their case
would be inextricable. They would have so many
fetters, and manacles, and chains on them, as tliey
could not tell how to shake them off, how to rid
themselves. Many weak Christians, that take every
purpose for a vow, are exceedingly perplexed, partly
through then- care to perform those purposes, and
partly through their grief at their failings in those
performances, supposing that thej- have broken so
many vows. But to the essence of a vow must be
added an absolute promise. Absolute, I say, in re-
lation to man's faithful endeavour vdih his utter-
most power to perform it, not in relation (or rather
opposition) to God's purpose or providence, to his
will or leave. For so can no man make an absolute
promise. God can cross and liinder hun. St James
doth justly tax such as in this case make absolute,
or rather peremptory, promises, James iv. 13, &c.
This absolute promise I expressed under this word,
obtestation, which is a fit word to express the nature
of a vow. It signifieth a taking of God to witness,
and that in particular for performing his purpose.
This obtestation maketh it indeed a vow.

Object. Many vows recorded in Scripture are con-
ditional : as Jacob's, ' If God wUl be with me,' &c.,
Gen. xxviii. 20; and Hannah's, 'If thou ^vilt indeed,'
&c., 1 Sam. i. 11 ; and others.

Ans. A conditional sentence doth not necessarily
import a doubtful matter, but is oft used as a ground
of an absolute and undeniable conclusion : as whei-e
Ehjah saith, ' If the Lord be God, foUow him,' 1
Kings xviii. 21. Doth he here make any question
of the Lord's being God ] Far be such a thought.
But hereby he brings them the more e\'idently to
see their foUy, and draws them from Baal to follow
the Lord ; as wiU clearly appear if we bring it into
the form of a syllogism, thus : If the Lord be God,
follow him ; but the Lord is God, therefore follow
him. A condition or supposition respecteth the
manner rather than the matter of a vow. When, in
making a vow, a necessary supposition is used, the
vow is never a whit the less absolute, but the more
discreet ; as when I thus vow, If the Lord assist me,
I wiU every morning pray before I go out of doors.
Such a vow was Jacob's.

2. Hannah and Jacob, and others like to them,
might have liy special and divine instinct some as-
surance of that which they expressed in fonn'of sup--
position, and in that respect tlieir vow be aljsolute.
Questionless Hannah had assurance that the Lord
would give her a man-child, which made her in such
particular and express terms vow to ' give him to the
Lord all the days of his life,' and that there should

' no razor come upon his head,' 1 Sam. i. 11.

3. When a vow is made upon a condition, if the
condition hold, and be, as it is supposed, accomplished,
then the vow remameth as absolute as if there were
no condition ; and the maker of the vow is as much
bound in this case to perform it as if it had been
made in the most absolute terms that can be. Yea,
the condition may be such as it Avill more bind a
man to his vow than if there had been no condition ;
as when the condition is a kind of consideration or a
benefit in consideration whereof the vow is made.
Thus, if in a storm on sea a man vow to give so
much to the poor if he be brought in safety to his
country, this providence of God in keeping him safe
and bringing him home, more binds him to that
work of charity than the most absolute vow that he
could have made. Jacob, Gen. xxrv'iii. 20, having
made such a vow, neglected to perform it in due
season. God, therefore, cometh to him, chap. xxxv.
1, and putteth him in mind thereof, that so he
might not overlong lie drenched in that sea of
ungi-ateful oblivion.

Thus, then, it is evident that a vow is an absolute
promise of a deliberate purpose. Such a promise on
such a ground doth as much order and bind the
promise-maker as the command of one in authority
doth order and bind him that is under authority.^

2. Such promises of sacred duties are to be di-
rected unto God, to whom vows are most properly
due. The charge of making vows mentioned in
Scripture directetli us to God only : ' Vow and pay
unto the Lord your God,' Ps. Ixxvi. 11 ; 'They shall
vow a vow unto the Lord,' Isa. xix. 21 ; 'When
thou vowest a vow to God,' Eccles. v. 4. To God
are all the approved vows in Scripture directed. In
this respect are vows entitled God's vows. 'Thy

' Sicut homo, imperando ordinat quodammodo quid sibi ab
aliis fiat ; ita promittendo ordinat quid ipse pro alio facere
debeat.— yAom. Sum., ii. 2, q. 38, art. 1.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 14.

VOWS,' saitli the psalmist to God, ' are upon me,' Ps.
h-i. 12.

AYe heard that a vow ariseth from a true inten-
tion. ^^^lo can dlscem that but he who searcheth
the heart? To whom do we owe such absolute
homage as to bind ourselves in such a sacred and
inviolable band as a vow is, but only to God, espe-
cially in such divine duties as are proper to a vow 1

In regard of this object to whom our vows are to
be directed, it is not necessaiy that they be uttered
with words or manifested by signs.i "Wlien Hannah
vowed her solemn vow unto God, it is said, ' She
spake in her heart,' 1 Sam. i. 13. Indeed, the
earnestness of her affection made her move her lips,
and use such outward motions as Eli discerned her
to be in some passion ; but those were no signs of a
vow. Xo creature could certainly have known
thereby that she vowed a vow. As trae and full a
resolution, yea, and obtestation and promise too,
may proceed from the soul by the very thoughts
thereof, and be as well known to God, and as
strongly bind a man as by words or signs.

Words and signs are of good use to testify to man
such vows as we make to God, that thereby we may
be held somewhat the closer to them ; yea, and to
quicken our own spirits the more, words are of use.
But to the being of a vow they are not necessary.
He that defined a vow to be a testification of a will-
ing promise which ought to be made to God,'- &c.,
came nigh the mark in directing a vow to God,
but fell short in restraining a vow to an outward
testification, if he meant only an outward testifica-
tion.

But to return to the point. God being the proper
object to whom sacred vows are to be directed, what
may be thought of those vows which papists, not
unUke to the idolatrous ' Israelites who vowed vows
to the queen of heaven,' Jer. xliv. 25, vow to her
whom they style the ' queen of heaven,' ' and to
other saints, and that in the same manner as they
vow to God, namely, thus, ' I vow to God, aud to
blessed Mary, and to all the saints, that I will obey

> In te est quod voveas et reddas. — A u;j. Enar. in Ps. Iv.

" Votiim est testificatio quasdam promissionis spuntanese
quEB Deo, &o. — ilarjiM. .S'eH(., lib. iv, distinct. 38.

' B. JIaria Regina; appellationem singulariter meretur. —
Bdhr. df. bon. ojicr., lib. i, cap. 15.

such and such a prelate.' ^ Hereof thej"^ give this
reason, that glorified saints are mediators and inter-
cessors by whom we receive good things from God ;
yea, they are gods by participation. Thus they add
blasphemy to blasphemy; ratifying a bla-sphemous
position by a more bla.sphemous confiniiation.

Concerning the position itself of making vows to
saints.

1. The holy Scrijitures give no intimation of any
such matter ; but where it maketh any mention of
vows it directeth them to God : whereof the papists
are not ignorant ; for they who write of this con-
troversy bring no show of any proof out of God's
word for making sacred vows to creatures.

2. All, both ancient and later divines,' both pro-
testants and papists, that treat of vows, define it to
be a promise whereby he that makes it binds him-
self in a sacred and solemn manner to God.

3. Xone deny but that a sacred vow is a rehgious
act and a part of divine worship, and in that respect
due only to God. To make it to anj^ other is plain
and palpable idolatry ; yet ordinarily then- vows
use to be made to this saint and that saint.

For our parts let us so msely avoid their detest-
able excess in making vows to whom they ought
not, as we fall not into a careless neglect of the duty
by making no vows at all. It is a fool's part so far
to fly from one extreme as to fall into another.-
As occasion is offered, and as we find any need, let
us, among other e\-idences of that respect which we
owe and bear unto God, give this of vo-ndng and
voluntarily binding ourselves to do that wliich we
see meet and behooveful to be done for the honour of
his name, and our well-pleasing of him ; especially
if we have just cause to suspect ourselves, that if we
be left loose and at liberty, we shall (through the
temptations whereunto we are subject, or through
our o-\vn indisposition and backwardness to the duties
which in our judgments we conceive to be most
behooveful) fail to perform them. In such cases to
bind ourselves by a sacred vow to a bounden duty,
as it testifieth a wise jealousy and holy fear that we
have of the proneness of our flesh to start back from

I Voveo Deo et B. Maria; et omnibus Sanctis, S:c. — Bellar.
de cult. Sanct., lib. iii., cap. 9.

' Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contiaria currunt. — IToi: Sat.,
ii., lib. i.

Veu. 14.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVl.

good intentions and motions of the Spirit, so it
manifesteth our true and earnest desire of doing that
which we are persuaded ^^^ll be pleasing and accept-
able to the Lord : yea, so true and earnest a desire,
as we will not have it left to our liberty to do it, or
not to do it : lest anything might fall out to alter
our mind. Zealous martyrs, upon a settled resolu-
tion not to start in show from that profession which
they are about to seal Avith their lilood, being jealous
of their weak flesh, and sensibleness of pain, have
desired to be fast bound to the stake. A sacred
vow is as an iron gin to a tender and good conscience.
By it the will is unmoveably set and fastened upon
that which is good : which questionless is a very
commendable resolution.^ The philosopher- through
that light of natural reason whereunto by diligent
study and experimental observance he had attained,
discerned the equity hereof. He that so bindeth
himself to that which he knoweth to be pleasing and
acceptable unto God, as he vnll not leave a show of
liberty to his unruly flesh to start from it, thereby
fortifieth himself against the temptations of Satan,
and frailties of his weak and wavering flesh. In
which respect, he that hath so tied himself hath no
cause to repent himself thereof f but he hath cause
rather to rejoice that he is so restrained from that,
which through supposed freedom might prove very
dangerous and damageable.

Sect. 91. Of paying vows to God.

III. Vovs made must he paid* This is true of all
manner of laT^'ful vows, even such as are made to
mortal men, much more of such as are made to the
liA-ing God. Where in Scripture a charge is given
for making a vow, there, for the most part, a charge
also for paying it is annexed. ' Vow and pay,' Ps.
bcx\-i. 11. ' Pay that which thou hast vowed,' Eccles.
V. 4. ' They shall vow a vow and perform it,' Isa.
xxix. 21. Yea, there are more strict charges for

1 Per votum immobiliter voluntas firiiiatur in bonum. —
Thorn. Sum., 2, 7, q. 8S, art. 6.

^ri Kara Ti.s apcTa! yivofitva SiKaiws irpaTTerai, iii.ii ^cpalus
Kal iiieraKivyrus Jxw irpdrTri. — Arisl. Eth., lib. ii. cap. 4.

3 Non te vovisse peeniteat, immo gaude jam tibi sic non licere,
quod cum tuo detrimento licuisset. — Aug. Epi$l, 45, ad Ar-
metU. * Sect. 89.

pa)dng than for making vows. So as, when thou
vowest, thou bindest thyself, namely to performance.^
We read not of any penalty threatened for not making
vows. But for not pajing vows it is said, ' The Lord
thy God will surely require it of thee : and it would be
sin in thee,' Deut. xxiii. 21. They who vow and pay
not, are counted such fools as God hath no pleasure in,
Eccles. V. 4, 5. It is therefore better that thou shouldest
not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Frequent are the professions which the psalmist
maketh of paying his vows, in these and such like
protestations : ' I will pay my vows,' Ps. xxii. 25 ;
' Thy vows are upon me, God, I will render praises
unto thee,' Ps. Ixvi. 1 3 ; ' I will sing praise unto
thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my
vows,' Ps. hd. 12, and bri. 8. Among other in-
stances, take notice of the solemn vow he made
for bringing the ark of the Lord into a settled place,
Ps. cxxxii. '2-0 ; and withal take notice of his care
to perform it., 1 Chron. xiii. 2, &c., and xv. 1, &c.,
and xrvii. 1, &c. Hannah having vowed to give
her son unto the Lord when she had weaned him,
she brought him and gave him to the Lord, 1 Sam.
i. 11, 24, &c.

1. Sacred vows have immediate respect to God ;
they are or ought to be made to him, as we shewed
in the former section. But ' God is not mocked,'
Gal. y\. 7. His sovereignty, his dignity, his majesty,
his omnipotency, his integrity, his jealousy, and other
like infinite excellencies in him, are forcible motives
to press performance of promises to him. The ^rise
man, where he is earnest in urging this point, ren-
dereth this reason, ' God is in heaven, and thou art
upon earth,' Eccles. v. 2.

2. Solemn vows consist of many bonds. There is
in them, 1. The bond of a good intention, yea, and
motion of the Holy Ghost : such intentions and mo-
tions must not be suffered to vanish away in vain.^
2. The bond of a single promise, which bindeth the
conscience to performance. 3. The bond of an ob-
testation, and taking God to witness. Now, ' a
threefold cord is not quickly broken,' Eccles. iv. 11.

' Quia iam vovisti, iam te obstrinxisti. — Aug. Epkt. 45 ad
Arment.

' Melius fuerat te nou vovisse et facere, quam vovere et
non facere. — Amb., lib. ad fire/, ih rot. cap. 2.

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vek. 14.

Better were it not to vow wliat thou doest, than not
to do what thou vowest.

1 . WTiat matter of humiUation is here ministered
unto us for breaking this strong cord, for mocking
God by our too much carelessness in keeping our
vows, yea, and impious profaneness in breakmg
them ! Who hath not cause to be much humbled in
this respect ! Some, it may be, wiU say, We never
made any vows, and therefore cannot be guilty of
breaking vows. Let such consider that most sacred
vow which every of us made in baptism. Let them
consider the like sacred vows made and renewed so
oft as we have celebrated the Lord's supper. Let
them consider the solemn vows that we have made in
days of humiliation and fast. Let them also consider
the pubhc vows which, in the assembly of saints,
have week after week been made. And as for others
which are more conscionable in their duty, let us
consider the private vows which in our daily prayers
we make,i especially those which, upon some heinous
sins Ijdng heai-y upon our conscience, in sickness or
any other distress, in earnest desire of some special
blessing, we have vowed. Consider these and other
vows whereby we have fast bound ourselves to the
Lord, and we shall see that the Lord hath cause
enough to account us all sons of Belial,^ refractory
children, that will be kept under no yoke, no, not
under those yokes that we have voluntarily put upon
our own necks. We come in this respect too near
to them who say, ' against the Lord and against his
anointed. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast
away their cords from us,' Ps. ii. 2, 3. Thus do we
justly deserve that God should disannul his promise
and covenant of mercy and grace with us. Let these
things be laid close to our consciences, that the
wounds thereof may humble us, and, being peni-
tently humbled, we may earnestly crave mercy and
pardon for this sin especially. Sins against the third
commandment, as blasphemy, perjury, and breach of
vows, pierce deep into a sensilile conscience. But
though they make deep wounds, yet is there suflBcient
virtue in the blood of Christ to heal them : ' The
blood of Olirist cleanseth from all sin,' 1 John i. 7.
Apply that precious blood to the wounds of thy soul.

' Surrexi, redditisque Deo quotidianis votis, ire cceperamus,
&c. — Aug. de Ord., lib. i. cap. 8.
' 7^y■W^ absque jugo.

Seeing that which is past and done cannot be recalled
and undone, it is not meet that the wounds of thy
conscience should continually be kept open, till all
the Ufe thereof be clean wasted. Therefore, in crav-
ing pardon for this sin, believe that it is pardoned ;
and then be more watchful over thyself, that thou
faU not again and again into that sin.

2. To redress, for the time to come, what hath
been heretofore amiss, let these following rules be
carefully observed : —

L On those vows whereunto, by wtue of thy
Christian profession, thou art bound, being solemnly
made at thy baptism, at recei^'ing the Lord's supper,
and in jjublic prayer, oft and seriously meditate, day
and night, when thou liest down and when thou
risest up, when thou tarriest at home and when
thou goest abroad ; especially when thou undertakest
any duty of piety, and art about in prayer to present
thyself before God ; but most of aU when thou art
present at others' baptism, and hearest the very vow
which thou thyself madest before God. Frequent
meditation on vows is an especial means to keep
them fresh in memory : a fresh remembrance of them
putteth life into the conscience, and maketh it sen-
sible ; a quick and sensible conscience is afraid of
wounds ; fear of wounds makes careful, in avoiding
the things which make wounds, as breach of vows
doth. This, therefore, must needs be a good help
for keeping vows, and performing them.

2. Oft renew thy vows, and so bind thj'self again
and again thereto. A vow renewed is as new made.
Men use to be very tender of their vows when they
are new made, or while they remain fresh ; as they
are of a new suit of apparel, or of^the linen while it
is clean and neat.

This direction of renewing vows is to be appUed
to vows of necessary and bounden duties.* But if
vows made be of such circumstances as are not
necessary, yet very difficult and cannot easily be
performed, and much trouble and entangle the con-
science, then, they being through weakness broken,
the wisest and safest course is earnestly to crave
pardon, as we heard before, for that which is past,
and to take heed of the hke folly in ensnaring our-
selves for tlie time to come. If a thing be pre-

' Si proepropere facta fuerit, magis est corrigenda temeritas
quam persolvenda promissio. — Aug. epist. 45, ad Arment.

Ver. 14.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXV^.

posterously done, rashness is rather to be redressed
than the promise performed.

3. AMien thou art tempted to a sin, bring that
sin to the touchstone of thy vows, and try whether
it be not against them. This trial will be a means
to make thee think of thy vows, and to be more
careful in keeping them, and in resisting temptations
against them. ■\Mien the Kccliabites, Jer. xxxv.
6, &c., were tempted to drink ^vine, they considered
that it was against an ancient vow, and thereupon
' were restrained from domg it. They were not igno-
rant of the damage of breaking vows.

Ohject. If there be such danger in brealcing vows,
it will be a man's safest course not to vow at all.

Ans. This is no good consequence ; for, a good
thing is not therefore to be wholly omitted because
there is danger in an ill perfonning of it, or in a
careless neglect of prosecuting that which is begun.
' He that turneth away his ear from hearing the
law, even his prayer shall be abomination,' Prov.
xxidii. 9. Is it therefore the safest not to pray at
all ! Fie upon such a consequence. The just conse-
quence to be thereupon inferred is this, therefore
turn thine ear to the law, and so pray. Such a
consequence from such a gi'ound doth the apostle
make, for where he had said, ' A^liosoever shall eat
the bread, and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord,'
I Cor. xi. 27, 28; he addeth, as a just consequence
foUo^ving thereupon, ' Let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that bread and diink of that
cup.' He saith not. Let liim forbear to come to the
Lord's table. In like manner the danger and damage
of breaking vows ought not to restrain us from mak-
ing needful and useful vows, but it ought to make
us careful and conscionable in performing them.

4. Concerning voluntary vows, that thou mayest
^vith comfort, confidence, and good conscience per-
form them, be very wary and well advised in mak-
ing them. ' Be not rash with thy mouth, and let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anj'thing before
God,' Eccles. v. 2. In nothing doth rashness sooner
cause repentance than in this. AMierefore, for an
advised making of vows, —

1. Consider what moveth thee to vow ; what is
the ground and occasion thereof As an oath must
not be taken without a just and weighty cause ; so.

nor a vow made. A vow is a matter of much mo-
ment.

2. Take a view of thy condition, whether thou
art in place, and hast power to make the vow which
thou intendest,^ and whether thou art not under
such authority as may keep thee from performing it :
if thou be in such subjection, how canst thou say, I
wll pay my vows ?

3. Examine the matter which thou art about to
vow, and be sure that it be such a thing as thou
mayest lawfull)^ and canst comfortably perform,
otherwise thou briugest thyself into a labjTinth ;
for, the making of a vow bindeth a man to perform-
ance ; performance of an evil vow bindeth a man
to judgment. Thus, he that voweth an e%'il thing is
as he that holdeth a dog by the ears. He knoweth
not whither to turn.

4. Search thy heart and see how that stands
affected ; whether there he in thee a single, simple,
fuU, resolved purpose to perform what thou vowest.
An invincible resolution is an esiiecial means to make
good what is vowed.

5. Make tliy vow with confidence on the assist-
ance of God's Spirit to enable thee to keep it, suspect-
ing thine o^vn weakness. Peter's purpose was ques-
tionless sincere, Mat. xxvi. 33, 35, and Ms resolu-
tion was good, but self-confidence was his fault.
He presumed too much upon his own ability,
which, that he might the better discern, he
was left to himself. Ye cannot accomplish such
matters by your own strength ; j-e wiU fail if ye
presume of yourselves, but if ye rest on him to
whom ye vow, vow in the name of God, and ye
shall assuredly perform it.^

6. In making thy vow, pray for ability to keep it.
Yea, time after time, tiU it be performed, pray for
this grace. So oft as thou makest a solemn prayer
betwixt God and thyself, let one petition be for
keeping thy vow. And if thy vow be of some duty
to be in performing all thy life long, all thy life long
pray for this in particular.

On these grounds go on in doing thy uttermost

' Qua; possunt et debent voveri docet. — Aurj. Enar. in Ps.
Ixxv.

■ Viribus Tcstris non implebitia, deficietis si de vobia prae-
8u rnitis. Si autem de illo cui vovetis, vovete ; securi reddetis.
—Aug. he. citat.

y 2

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVl.

[Ver. 14.

for making good thy vows, and that as thou desirest
to have the covenant of grace in Christ made good
to thee. Perform what thou hast vowed, perform it
to the full. Of all sacrifices that which was brought
for accomplishment of a vow, Lev. xxii. 21, 23,
must be most perfect. Such defective sacrifices as
might be ofi"ered for a free-iviU offering, would not
be accepted for a vow.

Sec. 92. Of speed in paying vows.

IV. The first opportunity to pay a vow must he taken?-
The law saith, ' Thou shalt not slack to pay it,'
Deut. xxiii. 21. 'Defer not to pay it,' Eccles. v. 4,
saith the wise man.

By delay the occasion that moved a man to make
a vow may be forgotten. The occasion that set the
heart on fire to make it being forgotten, zeal will
soon wax cold, as water when fire is taken from the
vessel in which it is, or u-on taken out of the fire.
Nor iron, nor water, nor any other thing naturally
cold, is more inchnable to coldness if the cause of
heating be removed, than man's heart is to wax
heavy and dull when the occasions of quickening
them are either removed, or, which is all one, out of
mind and memory.

This, then, questionless is an especial occasion of
not performing many vows ; that they are not per-
formed in their season, but opportunity is let slip.
Had not God himself prevented Jacob, Gen. xxxv.
1, it is very likely that he would have failed herein ;
for he let sUp his opportunity. We may observe it
in aU men's affairs, that by procrastination then-
resolution waxeth more and more slack. In nothing
is this more verified than in matters of piety,
matters wherein we have to do with God ; and that
both by reason of Satan's subtlety and seduUty, en-
deavouring with might and main to hinder us in all
pious courses, and to weaken all the helps we have
therein, (among which, vows are none of the slight-
est ;) and also by reason of our own backwardness
and dulness thereunto. Satan by time gains great
advantage ; and we by time lose as much, in that
our zeal is prone to slack in the heat of it.

Strike the iron therefore, as it is in the proverb,
strike it while it is hot. It is then fit to be wrought
upon for anything. Take the first opportunity,
' Sec. 89.

which is the fittest season. i If in anji;hing thou
wOt make speed, and manifest forwardness, do it in
performing thy vows. Hast thou made a vow
whilst thou art at sea? pay it so soon as thou
comest to land, if thou canst pay it so soon. Hast
thou vowed in sickness 1 let the payment of it be the
first thing thou doest upon thy recovery. So on
other like occasions. Hast thou by vow bound thy-
self to read the word and pray every morning 1 let
this be the first work thou doest being up. If thou
hast any weighty business to do betimes, rise the
sooner, that thy vow may be first done. Let all
thmgs give place to it ; it, to nothing. A man that
is able and willing to pay a debt, accounts no money
his own till the debt be paid. He will keep m mind
and memory the day of payment, he will watch for
it ; his money (as we say) burnetii in his bags till it
be paid. Account thy vow a debt. No debt can
be more due ; no bond more binding. A man of
his word had as lief forfeit a bond, as fail of his word.
Be thou a man of thy word with God. Pay thy debt,
perform thy vow, and that on the day of pajTuent,
in due time ; even now, if the now be come, defer
not to pay thy vows. Very pertinent to this pur-
pose, and emphatical, is this plirase of the psalmist,
'Thy vows are upon me, God,' Ps. Ivi. 12.
Though he made the vows, yet he styles them God's
vows ; because, being made to God, they were as a
debt due to him, as a bond made by a debtor to a
creditor is not now the debtor's, but the creditor's.
Thus, then, he accounts his vow as a due debt unto
God. Thereupon he adds, ' Thy vows are upon me,'
whereby he shews, that as a faithful debtor, who
hath a mind to discharge his bond, oft tliinks of the
time of pajTiient ; and in that respect his debt lieth
as a burden upon him, neither can he be quiet till it
be paid ; as a porter that hath a burden on him is
not at rest till he be freed from it ; so this psalmist
had the vow which he had made to God as a debt,
as a burden on him, whereby he shews that his mind
and desire was, with the first opj^ortunity to be
eased thereof, which could not be but by perfonning
the same. Such respect let us have to the vows that
we make to God ; such let our care be in performing

1 Libenter voveat, et celeriter reddat, et in hoc quod votum
reddit meliori Bemper conatu proficiat. — Avg. de Fide, ad P.
Diac, cap. 3.

Ver. 14.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

(if the same, and that with all speed, so as we may
tndy use these words, ' Thy vows are upon me,
God'.'

Sec. 93. Of performing vows openly.
V. Vmvs secretly made may he openly performed}
This is to be limited according to the nature of the
vow. Such things may be vowed, as in the per-
formance of them, it is not meet that ' the left hand
know what the right hand doeth,' Mat. vi. 3. The
doctrine, therefore, saith not. Must be, but ' May
be openly performed.' So were most (if not all) of
the approved vows in Scripture : ' I ^^^U praise thee
in the great congregation,' saith the psahuist, ' and
pay my vows before them that fear thee,' Ps. xxii.
2.5 ; .and again, ' I will go into thine house with
burnt-offerings : I will pay thee my vows,' Ps. Ixvi.
13. Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 24, &c., brought her son,
which she vowed to the Lord, unto the tabernacle
at a festival time, when all the people assembled
thither. Jacob, Gen. xxxv. 7, built an altar, a
visible and open memorial of his vow. The Israel-
ites, Num. xxi. 2, 3, gave a name, as a public proof
of the performance of their vow, to the place where
their vow was performed.

1. Hereby God is more glorified. An open testi-
fication of that respect which saints bear to God,
and of that care they have to bind themselves to do
service to him, maketh much to his honour.

2. The church is hereby much edified. Instances
of saints standing to their holy resolutions, and
performing their pious purposes, cheer the strong,
strengthen the weak, and thus is the church built
up.

3. They that make the vows by this open manner
of making them good cannot but be much more
cheered in spirit, when they see their good inten-
tions so much to tend to the advancement of God's
glory and others' good.

They who in testimony of their due respect to
God, and in way of gratitude, are moved to make
vows to the Lord, let them here learn what are the
best kind of vows, and by what vows they may
give most honour to God, and do most good to
themselves and others, even such as may be openly
performed in public assemblies. For a prince, a
> Sec. 89.

nobleman, a magistrate, or any otiier of great
esteem, of high place, of good note and name, to
vow to join himself ^vith assemljlies that use to
worship God together, to vow to maintain truth and
purity of religion in the places where he liveth, is a
worthy vow. For ministers to vow to preach the
word where people are gathered together diligently
and faithfully, a worthy vow. For such as are
taken captives, in danger on the sea, imprisoned,
visited with sickness, or any other way so distressed,
as they are restrained from the public places of
God's worship, to vow, when they are delivered,
openly, publicly to give thanks to God, a worthy
vow. In common judgments, especially of plague,
of famine, of sword, such vows of public gratitude
are to be made, and publicly to be performed. It is
not enough to vow secret duties betwixt God and
ourselves, nor yet private duties in our families, but
by this pattern we have direction and incitation for
more open, common, and public duties, which are
more honourable Idnds of vows. Yet that herein is
a limitation the next doctrine will shew.

Sec. 94. Of performiiuj lidy duties in holy assemblies.
VI. Saints are fittest witnesses of sacred duties.^
That which in this verse is implied under this par-
ticle of restraint, his, ' in the presence of all his
people,' is otherwhere more expressly noted by a
more apparent description, thus : ' I will pay my
vows before them that fear him,' Ps. xxii. 25. None
but true saints do truly fear God.-

1. This property of God's people, that they fear
the Lord, sheweth that they will make the best use
of such sacred, solemn duties performed in their pres-
ence. They will glorify God for this your zeal ;
they will join their spirits with your spirit in this
open performance of duty ; they will become fol-
lowers of you, and learn of you to vow and pay unto
the Lord, and that openl}', publicly.

2. As for others, they are no better than such
hogs and dogs as are not meet to have such precious
pearls and holy things cast before them, lest they
trample them under their feet.*

1 Sec. 89.

2 Confiteor non tantum coram te, Domine, &c. Sed etiam in
auribua credentium, filiorum homiaum, sociorum gaudii mei,
&c. — Aug. Confess., lib. x. cap. 4. ' Mat. vii. 6.

100

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Ver. 15.

Be wise now, ye that are moved to give open and
public testification of your inward and private reso-
lution. Be wise in making choice of your company.
You that have escaped suncby dangers on sea and
land, that have had \actory over enemies, that have
been eased and recovered of any maladies, that have
been preserved from the plague, that have had any
other e\'idence of God's special pro\-idence and favour,
let not play-houses, let not taverns, ale-houses, and
tobacco-houses, let not assemblies of profane persons,
of swearers, of drunkards, of riotous and Hcentious
persons, be the places whither you resort to recount
the deliverances which God hath given you. This
rather beseemeth such as have vowed vows to Bac-
chus, to Ceres, to Priapus, to Venus, yea, and to
de\'ils, than to the great Lord of heaven and earth.
Associate yourselves with the saints, with such as
fear God, mth such as may encourage you in that
which you do well, and instruct and direct you in that
whereof you are ignorant and wherein you do amiss.
Go to that place where that God who hath j^reserved,
delivered, or any way blessed you, dehghteth to be ;
where he most manifesteth his presence, where he
expecteth that your vow should be paid to him.
Let your heart be set upon that place while by force
you are kept from it, as David's was, Ps. Ixxxiv. 1,
&c. So soon as possibly you can, come to it. You
captains, soldiers, merchants, mariners, travellers,
or others that come from the sea, or other dangerous
places; and you women safely delivered in child-
bed, you that have been sick and are recovered, you
that have been cut of the stone, or cured of any
other malady, you that are loosed out of prison, you
that after any restraint have liberty, let this be the
first public place that you come unto. So soon as
you can say, say it in truth, say it and do it, ' I -will
pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of
all his people.' Amen.

Sec. 95. Of the meaning and method of the \5th verse.

Ver. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death
of his saints.

The second reason' to enforce the equity of the
duty before mentioned, ' to praise the Lord,' is here
expressed, being taken from the high account which
God had of his life. This is here indefinitely set

1 Sec. 2.

down in the third person, (xcra Siam,) ■nathout any
express appUcation thereof to himself, yet so as by
the precedent and subsequent matter it may evi-
dently be gathered that he meant himself as well as
others ; for in the verses before and after he useth
the first person, and expressly speaketh of himself,
thus : ' I will pay,' &c. ' I am thy servant,' &c.
To good pui-pose is this tender care of God thus in-
definitely set down, as —

1. To shew that his case was no other than the
case of others. Others, and those saints too, might
be brought even to death as well as he.

2. To declare the impartial respect of God to all ;
to others as well as to him, to him as well as to
others.

3. To intimate the gi'ound of that care God had
of him, even because he was a saint ; and yet not
himself to give that title to himself, lest he might
seem to do it on vainglory.

Thus we see how this change of person from the
first, ver. 14, to the third, ver. 15 ; from the third,
ver. 15, to the first, ver. 16, as it hath an elegancy
in it, so also an esjjecial emphasis.

The persons among whom implicitly he reckons
himself, styled saints, are in the original set out by
a word (□^T'DH) that importeth an esjsecial respect
of God towards them. The root whence that word
issueth signifieth mcro/, (IDFI consecratit, lenefecit.)
Whereupon the Hebrews have given such a name to
a stork,! -nrjiidi kind among fowls is the most merci-
ful ; and that not only the old to their young ones,
as most are, but also the young ones to the old,
which they use to feed and carry when through
age they are not able to help themselves. This title
is attributed to men in a double respect : 1. Pas-
sively, in regard of God's mind and afi'ection to them ;
2. Actively, in regard of their mind and aflFection to
others. God's mercy and kindness is great towards
them ; and then- mercy and kmdness is great towards
their brethren. They are, therefore, by a kind of
excellency and property styled ' men of mercy,' Isa.
Ivii. 1.^ In I'egard of this double acceptation of the

^ n"T'Dn. Ciconia. Avis benefica, et grata. Quantum
temporis Ciconiae suis fsetibus educandis elargiuntur, tantum
et ipsee a puUis suis invicem aluntur. — SoUnus.

Petronius appellat Ciconiam pietatis cultricem.

^ ^D^ ^tyj}^. Homines benignitatis.

Ver. 15.]

GOUGE ON PSAIM CXVI.

101

word, some translate it, ' merciful, tender, or courte-
ous,' Ps. xviii. 25.1 Others with a paraphrase mtli
many words, because they have not one fit word to
express the full sense, thus, ' Those whom God fol-
lowetli with bounty,'- or to whom God extendetli his
bounty. This latter I take to be the most proper to
this place ; for the word being passively taken for
such as are made partakers of God's kindness, it
sheweth the reason of that high account wherein
God hath them, even his own grace and favour.
We have a word in English that in this passive sig-
nification fitly answereth the Hebrew, which is this,
favourite.

By death he meaneth their soul or life which is
subject to death ; for in another place he saith,
' Precious shall be their blood in his sight,' Ps. Ixxii.
14. What here he calleth death, there he calleth
blood. And in Scripture phrase blood is said to be
the life (Gen. ix. 4 ; Lev. xvii. 14) of living crea-
tures. Very fitly is tliis privative, death, mentioned
in setting forth God's care over their life, because by
their death it is manifested, partly by preserving
them from death, and partly by providing for them
in death. A trope not much unhke to this is used
where God saith, ' I will be merciful to their un-
righteousness,' Heb. \iii. 12; that is, to them in
freeing them from their unrighteousness.

The word translated precious, (Ip'",) is in Scripture
attributed to things —

Rare or scarce : ' The word of God was precious,'
1 Sam. iii. 1.^

Sweet : ' A good name is better than precious oint^
ment,' Eccles. \'ii. 1. The preciousness of an oint-
ment is in the savour of it.

Pure or holy : ' Take forth the precious from the
xile.' Jer. xv. 19.

Honourable : ' Kings' daughters among thine hon-
ourable' (word for word, precious) 'women,' Ps. xlv. 9.

Dear or beloved:* ' Ephraim my dear ' (word for
word, precious) ' son,' Jer. xxxi. 20.

Much set by or of great account : ' His name was
much set by' (word for word, precious), 1 Sam.xrviii. 30.

Of great value or worth : Such were the stones

1 Cum benigno benignura te exhibes.

2 Quos ip.'se benignitate prosequitur. — Tremel. et Jm>.
' Hebrew, "Ip'- Targum '>p3 occultum.

* LXX., d7air*7riff.

which the queen of Sheba brought to Solomon, ' pre-
cious stones,' 1 Kings x. 10.

The souls of saints are every way precious to God ;
especially in the three latter respects, as they are
dear, much set by, of great worth, being redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ ; for he deals with
them as men do mth things dear, much set by, of
great value.

Men use to keep precious jewels safe. They
make more esteem of them than of all other things.
They will not be prodigal of them. They will see
good cause why they should part with them, or else
they will not part with them. This is God's mind
towards the souls of his favourites. Saul acknow-
ledgeth that ' his soul was precious in David's eyes,'
1 Sam. xxvi. 21, because he did not take it away
when he had opportunity. Surely then their souls
must needs be precious to God, who doth not only
not take them away when he may, but also preserve
them when they are in great hazard of death. On
the contrary, when St Paul esteemed not his life in
comparison of the gospel, but was I'ather prodigal
thereof, he saith, ' I count not my Ufe precious ' — or
dear — 'to myself.'

This phrase, ' in the sight ' — word for word, in
the eyes. Acts xx. 24, ('J'^^^) — 'of the Lord,' is
used by way of resemblance, to shew that God
taketh notice of our life and death, and is watchful
over the same, as men take notice of the things
which are before them, and by fixing their eyes on
things do manifest a watchfulness ; or otherwise it
may indefinitely be used as a note of application
only ; and so, ' in the sight of the Lord,' imports no
more but ' to the Lord,' as if it had been thus said,
' Precious to the Lord is the death of his favourites.'

In this verse is set out, God's esteem of men.

Moi-e particularly here is noted, — •

1. What these men be — ' His favourites.'

2. Wherein that esteem consisteth — ' Their death
is precious in his sight.'

These two parts give evidence of these two
points, —

I. God hath favourites.
II. God is tender of his favourites' death.

Sec. 9G. Of God's favourites.
I. GnrI hath farovrites. Without all question they

102

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vee. 15.

were his favourites that had these testimonies fol-
lowing : ' The Lord had respect to Abel and to his
offering,' Gen. iv. 4. ' Enoch was translated that
he should not see death ; for before his translation he
had tliis testimony, that he pleased God,' Heb. xi. 5.
' Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,' Gen. vi.
8. ' Abraham was called the friend of God,' James
ii. 23. ' The Lord spake to Moses face to face, as
a man speaketh to his friend,' Exod. xxxiii. 11.
' The Lord said to Joshua, I will be mth thee ; 1
will not fail thee nor forsake thee,' Josh. i. 5.
And to David, 'I have found Da\"id, a man after
mine own heart,' Acts xiii. 22. Solomon was called
Jedidiah, 2 Sam. xii. 25, (iinn^ diledum Deo. Com-
ponitur ex IH' et n^ nomine Dei,) 'because of the
Lord : the Lord loved hun.' ' Daniel, a man greatly
beloved,' Dan. x. 11. 'Zerubbabel, as a signet,'
Haggai ii. 23. 'John, the disciple whom Jesus
loved,' John xxi. 7. The rest of the disciples he
called 'friends,' John xv. 15. And 'Paul, a chosen
vessel,' Acts ix. 15. Yea, to the whole communion
of saints these titles are given : ' A peculiar treasure
above all people,' Exod. xix. 5 ; ' A chosen genera-
tion, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,' 1 Pet. ii.
9 ; ' The apple of God's eye,' Zech. ii. 8 ; ' Dearly,'
or only 'beloved children,' Eph. v. 1, (ayaff/jra
Tsxi/a.-^ 'First-born,' Heb. xii. 23; 'Heirs of God,
joint-heirs ivith Christ,' Rom. viii. 17; 'Begotten
again to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven,' 1
Pet. i. 4. If they that are made partakers of such
prerogatives be not compassed about and followed
with mercies, if they be not favourites, and that in
regard of the favour of the great Lord and King of
heaven and earth, surely there can be no favourites
at all.

These and other like to these being ' chosen in
Christ,' Eph. i. 4, are 'given,' John vi. 39, of the
Father to him, and by him are ' redeemed,' Eph. i.
7, 'reconciled,' chap. ii. IG, 'sanctified, cleansed,
made holy and mthout blemish,' chap. v. 26, 27,
and 'made accepted,' chap. i. 6. The beloved One
of God hath taken these for ' his wife,' 2 Cor. xi. 2 ;
Eev. xxi. 9, and made them ' members of his body,'
Eph. V. 30 ; by virtue of which mystical and real
union, God lovetli them with that love he beareth
unto Christ, John xvii. 23, and so maketh them his

favourites. The very word of this text is primarily
attributed to Christ, Ps. xvi. 10 ; Acts ii. 27, &c.,
and xiii. 35 ; and in and through him to others.

Good and great ground of comfort have saints by
reason of this prerogative that they are the favour-
ites of the great King. What needful thing do
they want that they may not confidently expect from
this their liege ? What hurtful thing need they fear 1
Is not the King who favours them able to supply all
their necessities 1 Is he not able to protect them
from all enrnities ? If he be, what doubt can be
made of the one or of the other 1 Consider what
mortal monarchs do for their favourites. They in-
vent, they consult how to do them honour, Esth. vi.
3, &c. Though it oft fall out that they have un-
worthy favourites, (instance Haman,) yet a king can
deny his favourite nothing. Let a favourite ask
honours, manors, offices, immunities, for himself or
for his friends, he soon obtaineth what he asketh.
' In the light of the king's countenance is life,' Prov.
xvi. 15 ; 'and his favour is as a cloud of the latter
rain, and as the dew upon the grass,' Prov. xix. 12.
He is therefore counted a happy man that may come
to be a king's favourite. Such a one scorneth the
envj', the disdain, the backbiting, and all that the
vulgar can do against him. As-for all his enemies,
he jjuffeth at them. If it be thought a happiness
to be a mortal king's favourite, what is it then to
be a favourite of the King of kings ? Kings on
earth are not always able to do what they will.
Their favourites may desu-e, and they may be will-
ing to grant, more than they can. They have not
always understanding to know what is best for their
favourites. Their favourites may beg, and they
give, that which is pernicious. They do not always
retain the same mind. Their favour may be clean
alienated from their old favourites, and cast upon
new. They do not always live. They may die
before then- favourites, and their favourites then be
the worse dealt withal, even for that favour sake
which by the deceased king was shewed unto them.
Most of these may be exemplified in Ahasuerus and
his favourite Haman. But the Lord our God is
subject to none of these. He is able to do what he
will, and what his favourites can justly ask. He
knoweth what is good, what not good, to be granted
to his favourites. He is always of the same mind.

Ver. 15.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

103

His favour is stable and perjietiial. He ever liveth.
It never did, it never shall, it cannot repent any to
litve been this King's favourite. As Clirist himself,
that high and chief favourite said, so may every one
that is in him accepted for a favourite say, ' The
Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my
cup : thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen
unto me in pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly
heritage,' Ps. xvi. 5, 6. If thou wilt acknowledge
the truth, God is thy dehght, thy rest, thy health,
thy joy, thy happiness, thy refreshing, thy glory ;
and whatsoever thy soul may piously desire, God
will be all that to thee.^

Boldly and safely may we also on this ground en-
courage ourselves against all the en\y, malice, ill-
language, and evi\ entreating of the men of this
world. AMiat if the world account us forsaken,
desolate, so long as God saith to us, ' Hephzibah,
my delight in them V Isa. Ixii. 4.

That we may the more soundly and safely comfort
and encourage ourselves in this great prerogative of
being God's favomites, let us distinctly note what e-\4-
dences of God's favour towards his favourites the
Holy Ghost doth exjjressly set do'mi, and that in one
book, the book of Psalms.

1. ' The Lord sets apart him that is a favourite -
to himself,' Ps. iv. 3.

2. ' Every favourite shall pray unto God in a time
when he may be found,' Ps. xxxii. 6.

.3. ' God's praise is in the congregation of fa-
vourites,' Ps. cxlix. 1. They are incited to ' sing
to the Lord,' and ' to bless him,' Ps. xxx. 4, and
cxlv. 10.

4. ' The Lord will speak peace to his favourites,'
Ps. Ixxxv. 8.

5. ' He preserveth the souls of his favourites,' Ps.
xcvii. 10.

6. ' He exalteth the praise of his favourites,' Ps.
cxlrai. 14.

7. ' Favourites shall shout aloud for joy,' Ps.
cxxxii. 16.

' Si vis verum agnoscere, Deus est delicite tuse, requies tua,
sanitaa tua, gaudium tuuin, fa^licitas tua, refrigerium tuuni,
amsenitas tua, et quicquid sancte possit desiderare anima tua,
totum tibi Deus erit. — Aug. ad Frat. in Ereni., ser. 55.

' In all the places thus following, the word (TDPT) used in
this text is expressed, though translators do diversely turn it.

8. ' This honour have all his favourites,' Ps.
cxlix. 9.

That we be not puffed up with this prerogative,
but rather provoked to ' walk worthy of the Lord,'
Col. i. 10, 'worthy of the vocation wherewith we
are called,' Eph. iv. 1, our care must be —

1. 'To understand liis will,' Eph. v. 17.

2. ' To love him vnth all our soul,' Deut. vi. 5 ;
Ps. xxxi. 23.

3. ' To cleave to him,' Joshua xxiii. 8.

4. ' To give thanks to him,' Ps. xxx. 4.

5. ' To do that which is well-pleasing in his sight,'
Heb. xiii. 21.

6. ' To be followers ' of his ancient favourites,
Heb. vi. 12.

God hath been pleased to choose us in their room,
they being translated ; he bears such a mind to us
as he did to them.^ Is it not then most just and
equal that the same mind should be in us, that was
in them, towards God ; that the faith of Abel, con-
versation of Enoch, uprightness of Noah, obedience
of Abraham, meekness of Moses, courage of Joshua,
devotion of Da\'id, repentance of Solomon, constancy
of Daniel, love of John ; such readiness to follow
Christ as was in the disciples, and other like pro-
perties in other favourites of God, may be in us,
that so it may never repent the Lord that he hath
cast his favour upon us, and made us his favourites ?
God still remains the same ; the same in his essence,
the same in his mind and affection, to such as are so
minded and affected towards him as his ancient
favourites were. Wlierefore though Abel, Enoch,
Noah, Abraham, and other favourites be dead and
gone, yet let their spirit appear to live in us ; that,
while we Hve, God may not want favourites on
earth ; but that we for the present may shew that
we have so set before us the Hfe of our predecessors,
as we become examples and patterns to our suc-
cessors.

Sec. 97. Of God's account of saints' death.
II. God is tender of his favourites' death.^ Their
blood he accounts precious, Ps. borii. 14. If he

^ Si Toluntatem Dei nosse quisquam desideret, fiat amicus
Dei. Non autem quisquam efficitur amicus Dei, nisi purgatis-
simua moribua. — Aug. cont. Manich., lib. ii.

' Sec. 95.

104

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 15.

have a bottle for their tears, what hath he for their
blood? Ps. Ivi. 8. Christ cloth forcibly infer his
Father's care of the life and death of liis favourites,
by arguments from the less ; as first from one of the
meanest of creatures, thus, ' One sparrow shall not
faU on the ground without your Father,' Mat. x.
29-31. Then from the meanest accident that is in-
herent in man, his hairs, which are no essential
parts, but excrements of his body, thus, ' The very
hairs of your head are all numbered. ^ Thence he
maketh this inference to liis favourites, ' Fear ye not
therefore.'

God's high account of his favourites' life, and ten-
derness over their death, is many ways manifested.

1. By promise of long life,^ Ps. Ixli. 16.

2. By preserving them in extraordinary need ;
whereof we have a particular instance in Elijah, 1
Kings xvii., and a more general promise, Ps. xxxiv.
10.

3. By keeping them from such things as may en-
danger their life ; thus the Lord hid Jeremiah and
Baruch, Jer. xxxvi 26, and sent his Son into Egj^jt,
Mat. ii. 13.

4. By pulling them out of the very snares of
death, wherewith they were even caught. This
the psalmist oft acknowledgeth, as Ps. xvi. 3, 8,
xviii. 4, 5, and cxxiv. 7. Thus Jeremiah, chap,
xxxviii. 6, &c. ; Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 4, 5 ; the
Israehtes, Exod. xiv. 9, &c,, and many others have
been delivered.

5. By not suffering them to perish before they
come to their maturity and ripeness. This is set
out in the parable of the seed that grew till the
harvest. Then, ' when the fruit is ripe,' and not
before, the Lord putteth in the sickle, Mark iv.
26, &c.

Ohjec. Many die young. Many are taken away
suddenly, yea, by unjust and violent means, before
their time.

Alls. The Lord kuoweth what measure of grace
is fittest for every one ; answerably he hath deter-
mined it ; and so ordereth their estate as they
come to it. One may be perfect in one measure,
another in another, as the several fingers or toes,

' Ant. Ulmu3 : De duplici uau humanse barbae.
' Of long life, how far promised, see ' Domestical Duties,'
on Eph. Ti. 3, treat. 1, sec. 104, &c.

and other members of the body ; and as several pots
or other measures ; a pint may be full with half
that quantity which filleth a quart. The saint,
therefore, that dieth young, hath attained to that
measure which is appointed to him. And as for
such violent or sudden means which to men may
seem to take away saints before their time, that un-
timeliness and immaturity is only in man's appre-
hension. In God's disposition their tune was come,
and they come to their ripeness.

6. By revenging their death when they are un-
justly taken away. ' God is known by revenging
the blood of his servants which is shed,' Ps. Ixxix.
10. The revenge that followed the blood of Naboth,

1 Kings xxi. 19, &c., and the blood of Zechariah,

2 Chron. xxi v. 21, &c., is memorable.

7. By sending his ' angels to encamp round about
them,' Ps. xxxiv. 7, ' to keep them in all their ways,
and to bear them up in their hands, lest they dash
their foot against a stone,' Ps. xci. 11,12, and to watch
theu' souls when they depart from their bodies, to
' carry them into Abraham's bosom,' Luke xvi. 22.

That which before was noted of God's respect to
the persons themselves, whom he go compasseth with
his favour, as he maketh them his favourites, sheweth
the true and proper cause of this account wherein he
hath their life, and of the care he taketh of their
death. He that much esteemeth such and such per-
sons, cannot but much esteem their life and death.

Great courage against death, and much comfort
in death, doth this work.

1. What need they beforehand be afraid of death,
who have the Lord to take such care about it as he
doth 1 We may safely ■svithout presuming, we ought
securely without wavering, to rest upon this, that
our blood being precious in God's eyes, either it
shall not be spilt, or it is seasonable, and shall be
profitable to us to be spilt. On this ground, ' The
righteous are bold as a lion,' Prov. xxviii. 1. 'Nei-
ther do they fear what man can do unto them,' Heb.
xiii. 6. Martyrs were, without question, well in-
structed herein, and much supported hereby, i When
fear of death hindereth from any duty, or draweth
to any evil, then call to mind this saying, ' Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of Ms favourites.'

' Quis non pretiosam in conspectu Dei et fortiter et con-
stauter mortem excipiat. — Cyp. Epist, lib. iii. ep. 23.

Ver. 16.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

105

For who would not valiantly, without fointing, take
such a death as is precious in God's sight ?

If death may not affright us from good nor en-
force us to evU, shall reproach, shall restraint of
liberty, shall loss of profits or preferments, shall any-
thing less than death be more forcible than death ?
Assuredly their name, estate, liberty, and everji:hing
else is precious to him, to whom their life and death
is precious.

2. Admirable is the comfort which, on the fore-
named ground, God's favourites have, or may have,
in then- death. Natural men account death the most
terrible thing that can befall a man, because they con-
ceive it to be the period of a man's happiness. ^ But
they whose ' death is precious in God's sight' can-
not conceive it to be so tenible, much less such a
period. For then would God keep them from death.
In that their death is precious, ' Blessed ai'e they
that die in the Lord,' Rev. xiv. 23. When they
die, there is good cause they should die. The vnse
God ^yi]l not let go a precious thing without cause.
Yea, he ■will not let it go without advantage. Their
death is advantageable to God, to themselves, to
others.

Tliis may survi\'ing friends apply to the death of
such as are taken away, be they magistrates, minis-
ters, husband, ^vife, pai-eut, child, neighbour, kins-
man, or any other, especially if they have left any
evidence of God's favour towards them. Such are
but gone before us, not clean gone away from us.
Missed they may be ; they may not be lamented as
lost. Occasion is not to be given to Pagans of just
reproof in that we lament those as perished and lost,
whom we avouch to live ^vith God,- and so by the
ex|3ression of our inward affection disannul that fiiith
wliich by word we profess.

3. This high account which God maketh of his
favourites' death, is a forcible motive to stir us up to
give all dihgence to be of the number of these fa-
vourites, that so our tears may be kept in God's
bottle, our complaints in Ids bosom, our cries in his
ears, our bodies -o-ithin the guard, even in the hands
of Ms angels, our souls bound in the bundle of life,

' (/>o;3fpuraToi'8fldi'OTO!, TT^pas yap. — Arisf. Ethic, lib. iii. c. 6.

- Occasio noQ est dauJa Gentibus, ut nos merito reprehend-
ant, quod quos vivere apud Deum diciraus, ut extiuctos ac
perditoa lugeamus, &.C. — t'ypr., ser. 4, de Mortal,

our life and death in the treasure of his jewels, as a
precious tiling. For, ' precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his favourites.' Yea, the soul of
one saint is more precious to him than infinite mul-
titudes of sinners. 1 Let us covet therefore, and with
our utmost power endeavour, to be of this blessed
society of saints, and not consorts of sinners.

Sec. 98. Of the er.posilwn and resolution of part of
the sixteenth verse.

Ver. 16. Lord, truly I am thy servant, lam thy
servant, and the son of thine handmaid.

The thii-d reason ^ whereby the prophet was the
rather induced to render solemn praise to God, is
here laid down ; and it is taken from the constant "
favour of God towards him. God of old had taken
him, even from liis mother's womb, to be his ser-
vant, and stdl continued that grace to him ; there-
fore he would praise him. The argument may be
brought to this brief form — ^

God's ancient servants must praise him ;

But I am God's ancient servant ;

Therefore I must praise him.

I deny not but that this acknowledgment of God's
ancient kindness to himself in particular may be re-
ferred to the argument indefinitely set do\vn in the
former verse, and here added as an application
thereof; for, having indefinitely noted how the
death of God's favourites was precious in his sight,
here he giveth instance thereof in lumself, and saith,
I am God's servant, and my death was precious to
him ; for ' he loosed my bonds.' This reference is
not impertinent. But I take this for another dis-
tinct argument, rather than for an apjilication or
confii'mation of the former.

There is in the original a word ^ premised, wliich
is diversely expounded, because in Scripture it is
diversely used, namely, as a note of attention, or
obsecration, or demonstration, or asseveration, and
translated. Behold, tnily, I beseech thee. But in
all the acceptations thereof it hath an emjihasis ; and

' Preciosior est unius sancti anima, quam infinitie multitu-
dines peccatorum. — Jerome, Com. in Ps. cxiiii.

2 See sec. 2.

^ njS et X2X *st particula incitantis: affectum signi-
fieat et impetum. Est semper in iuitio seutentise, per ApljEe-
resin j^Jj qu^e semper postponitur.

106

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Veb. 16.

here questionless it is used for emphasis' sake, as
every of the other clauses are. For first, here is an
apostrophe to God, ' Lord.' 2. A note of as-
severation, ' truly.' 3. An ingemiuation of the rela-
tion betwixt God and him, ' I am thy servant, I am
thy servant.' 4. A calling to remembrance of his
native condition, ' the son of thine handmaid.'

The former title whereby he sets out himself,
' servant,' doth signify both a condition and a
disposition.! ^ 'servant in condition ' is he that is
under the authority and command of a master. A
' servant in disposition ' is he that is willing to do
anything for the good of another. Thus Christ,
though in condition, he never were under the autho-
rity of any master on earth, yet is said to take on
him ' the form of a servant,' Phil. ii. 7, and he did
offices of a servant to his servants, John xiii. 4, &c.,
his disciples. St Paul, 1 Cor. is. 19, where in
regard of condition he professeth himself to be ' free
from all men,' acknowledgeth himself in disposition
to be ' servant to all men.' The prophet here in-
tendeth both these, that as he is God's servant in
condition, so he is also in disposition.

The doubling of this phrase thus, ' I am thy ser-
vant, I am thy servant,' is not a superfluous tauto-
logy, or an idle repetition of the same thing ; for in
sacred Scripture there is not a tittle in vain.^

Repetitions commonly have respect to the point
repeated, or to the persons that do repeat it, and to
whom it is repeated.

In regard of the point itself, a repeating ' of it im-
plie'.h —

1. The infallible truth of it, Gen. xH. 32.

2. The excellent matter of it, Ps. xxiv. 7-10.

3. The profitable use of it, Ps. cxxxvi. 1 , 2, &c.

4. The absolute necessity of it, John iii. 3, 5 ;
Luke xiii. 3, 5.

In regard of the person that repeateth the point,
it importeth —

1. His assured persuasion, or rather knowledge of
the truth and worth of the point. To shew that
that which he uttared fell not suddenly or rashly

' Of several kinds of servnnts, see ' Domestical Duties,' on
Eph. vi. 5, treat, i. sec. 124. a See sec. 107.

" Repetitio coufirmatio est : ut illud, Abraham, Abraham :
et alibi, Ego sum, Ego sum qui deleo iuiquitates tua?. — Amb.
dc Bono. Mort., cap. 12.

out of his mouth, but that advisedly, upon good and
sure ground, he uttered it ; even so as he dares stand
to it, he repeats it again. Gal. i. 8, 9.

2. His desire that they that hear it or read it
should give the more earnest heed to it, and not let
it slip, Heb. ii. 1.

In regard of the person to whom a point is re-
peated it argueth —

1. Their need. Some through ignorance and dul-
ness to conceive ; others through carelessness and
negligence in attending ; others through weakness
and slipperiness of memory ; some one way, some
another way, have need to have that wliich is
delivered to them pressed and inculcated, Isa.
xxviii. 10.

2. Their good. By repeating one and the same
thing memory is helped, aff'ection is wrought upon,
and matters of moment are better minded, Phil,
iii. 1.

The other title, ' Son of thine handmaid,' Exod.
xxi. 4, sheweth the kind of condition and the
continuance thereof.^ For the kind, it hath refer-
ence to the law, which determined that children
born of a servant should be the master's, even his
servants by virtue of their birth. Hereby the
prophet acknowledgeth that his mother was God's
servant, and that he himself was born in God's
house, in his church, and there trained up all his
days, even from his birth, which noteth the continu-
ance of his condition.

In this text is a declaration of the relation which
was betwixt God and the prophet, wherein is set
out —

1. The matter wherein that relation consisted,
'I am thy servant.'

2. The manner whereby it is expressed. Hereof
are four branches : —

1. An apostrophe, Lord.

2. An asseveration. Truly.

3. An ingemiuation, ' I am thy servant, I am thy
servant.'

4. An intimation of the kind and cause thereof,
' The son of thine handmaiil'

The relation itself, which is here jalainly expressed,
demonstrateth that —

' olKorpl^TjS verna. Et emptus est, et vernaculua est.—
Aug. Enar. in Ps. hunc.

Ver. 16.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

107

I. Saints are God's servants.

The apostrophe, wliich is exiiressly directed to
God, iniplieth a holy familiarity with God, whereof
before on the 4th verse, sec. 22, and on the 8th
verse, sec. 50.

The asseveration is a note of confidence, so as —

II. Saints may confidently profess that rela-
tion which God is pleased shall pass betwixt him
and them.

The ingemination importetli an earnestness in

tliat which he professeth, and giveth instance

that-
Ill. Confidence in the interest which saints have

in God maketh them earnest in pressing it.

The continuance of the mutual relation betwixt

God and him, even from his birth, is added as a

prop to his faith. Therefoi'e —

IV. Faith is much strengthened by constant evi-
dences of God's favour.

The express mention of his mother, which is for
honour sake, sheweth that —

V. It is an honour to children to descend from
pious parents.

Sec. 99. Of saints being God's servants.

I. Saints are God's servants. As this prophet here
so styleth himself, so are the three great patriarchs :
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Exod. xxjdi. 13 ; so
also Moses, Num. xii. 7 ; Job, chap. i. 8 ; all the
true prophets, Jer. vii. 25 ; the apostles, as Paul,
Eom. i. 1 ; Peter, 2 Pet. i. 1 ; Jude, ver. 1 ; yea,
and Christ himself, styled, Isa. xlii. 1.

Sundrj' are the respects wherein saints may truly
and properly be termed God's sen-ants.

1. As all creatures are, Ps. cxix. 91, being made,
sustained, ordered, and governed by the Lord.

2. As many natural men, Jer. xxv. 9, being
deputed by the Lord to special functions and ser-
vices.

3. As many in the church, Mai. i. G ; Isa. xlii.
19, making profession of God to be their Lord.

4. As true, faithful professors, who do indeed
take God for their Lord. In the three former re-
spects (as God's creatures, as deputed to select func-
tions bj' God, as professors of the name of God)
others are servants of God as well as saints, but the
fourth respect, which is the most honourable, profit-

able, and comfortable respect, is proper and peculiar
to saints, and that two ways : —

1. By reason of God's affection to them.

2. By reason of then- disposition to God.

1. God accounts them members of his house, and
answerably affects them as of his household. In re-
gard of such an affection he thus saith of Moses,
'My servant Moses is faithful in all my house,'
Num. xii. 7. Yea, as united unto Christ, and in
him adopted and accepted, he saith to saints as to
Christ, ' Behold my servants, whom I uphold : mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth,' Isa. xlii. 1.

2. They are aflected to the Lord as dutiful,
faithful, grateful servants. A heathen monarch
observed thus much, and thereupon saith, '
Daniel, servant of the living God, whom thou
servest continually,' Dan. \i. 20.

This relation thus taken affordeth matter of gratu-
lation and direction to such as can truly and justly
apply it to themselves.

Gratulation, by reason of the dignity of it.^

Direction, by reason of the duties that are there-
upon expected.

1. It is here as a dignity expressed and made the
ground of gratulation, and that not without cause ;
for though this title, sen'ant, be in itseK a mean
title, yet in relation to God it is a high, an honour-
able title. The greatest nobleman in a kingdom
thinks liimself honoured with this litle — the king's
servant. But what are mortal monarchs to the im-
mortal and incomprehensible King of kings ? Not
only patriarchs, kings, prophets, and apostles, but
Christ the Son of God, thought himself dignified
with this title, servant, in relation to God. It is,
therefore, a noble ser\dce whereof David here saith
to God, ' I am thy servant,' &c., and blessed Mary
to the angel, ' Behold the handmaid of the Lord.'
Moses also and other saints were such servants.
Neither is it any marvel that holy men were dig-
nified with this title, whereas the Father thus
speaketh to his Sou, ' It is a great thing for thee

* Nobilis servitus de qua et David ad Deum loquitur. Ego
seiTus, &c. ; et beato Maria ad angelum, Ecce ancilla Domini.
Hanc servitutem habuit et Moyses, &C. Nee niirum quamvis
sanctos homines tamen Dei servus nobiliter appellari, cum per
Esayam Pater loquatur ad Filium, Magnum tibi est vocari to
puerum meum. — Jerome, Com. in Til. i.

108

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 16.

to be called my servant.' > Sucli i.s the majesty, om-
nipotency, immutability, perpetuity, integrity, clem-
ency, mercy, bounty, and excellency every way, of
this Lord, as it nor ■s\'ill nor can repent any one to
have any relation to him. or dependence upon him ;
which the royal prophet well under.stood when he
said to this Lord, ' A day in thy courts is better
than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness,' Ps. Ixxxiv. 10.

The particular dignities and prerogatives of the
Lord's servants are such as these : —

L They are all free, 1 Cor. vii. 22.

2. All the services wliich the Lord enjoineth are
fair ser\dces, Ps. xix. 7, &c. ; 1 John v. 3.

3. The Lord gives ability to do the work which
he expects and exacts of us, Joel iL 29 ; Phil. iL 13.

4. He accepteth and approveth what he enableth
his servants to do, Mat. xxv. 21 ; Job L 8, 9.

5. He bountifully rewardeth every good thing.
His wages are good and great. Mat. x. 42, xix. 29,
and xjcv. 21.

6. God's servants get favours even for others also.
Job xlii. 8.

7. They are sure of safe protection from all hurt-
ful things, and of sufficient pro\'ision of all needful
good things, Isa. Ixv. 13, 14.

8. The Lord taketh care of liis servants' seed, Ps.
Ixix. 36.

2. This relation directeth us unto such duties as
here follow : —

1. To honour our Lord, Mai. i. 6.

2. To obey him, Mat. \iii. 9 ; Col. iii. 22.

3. To fear him with a holy trembling, Eph. vi. 5.

4. To be faithful to him, Num. xii. 7.

5. To do all that we do on duty, Luke xvii. 10.

6. To be no men-pleasers, Gal. i. 10.

7. To serve him only ; not to serve Mammon, or
any other master, save the Lord, Mat. vi 24.

Sec. 100. Of saints' confidence in God's mind to them,
and theirs to God.
IL Saints may confidently p-ofess thai relation tvhich
God is ])leased shall pass letirixt him and them? Tliis

' It is strange that Dr Gouge sliould have followed Jerome
in such a mis-quotation and mis-application of Isa. xlix. 6.— Ed.
Sec. 9S.

confidence is manifessted sometimes in the acknow-
ledgment of that part of the relation which is on
man's part, and other times that which is on God's
part. In this text that on man's part is professed :
' Truly I am thy servant.' So, where he saith, ' We
are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his
hands,' Ps. xcv. 7. People and sheep are notes of
relation on man's part. So are clay, and work of
God's hands, where the prophet saith, ' We are the
clay, and the work of thy hands,' Isa. bdv. 8. On
God's part he saith, ' Lord, thou art our Father,
and thou our potter.' To like purpose are other like
notes of relation on God's part with confidence pro-
fessed thus, ' Thou are my Father, my God, and the
rock of my salvation,' Ps. Ixxxix. 26 ; ' Thou art my
King, God,' Ps. xliv. 4 ; ' Thou, Lord, art my
glory,' Ps. iii. 3. In these and other like places,
though the note of asseveration, truly, KJi<, is not
expressed, yet the manner of expressing the notes of
relation, on the one and the other part, import much
confidence.

These and such other relations betwixt God and
man give assurance of God's gracious acceptation and
favour. If God meant not to deal with us, as a
father with children, as a husband with his wife, as
a king with subjects, as a master with ser\\ants, as a
shepherd with sheep, as a potter with pots, (for all
these and other hke notes of relation bet^^Txt God
and us are exjjressed in Scripture,) would God have
suffered such relations to be betwixt him and us?
They are not complimental and mere titular phrases,
but expressions of true, real unions and communions.

Take notice here of the ground of true holy bold-
ness and confidence. Wisely and diligently observe
how God off"ers himself unto thee, what bond of rela-
tion he suffereth to pass betwixt him and thee. As
saints in former times have done, do thou in thy
time. Plead them before God. Confidently plead
them, to sharpen thy prayer, to strengthen thy faith.
Say to God, Thou art, O Lord, truly thou art my
God, my king, my father, my master, my maker,
my shepherd, &c. And, on the other side, I am of
thy people and of thy flock, thy child, thy servant,
the work of thy hands. Behold thy people, which
have of old been called thy people. ^ These sure

' Respicias populum tuum, qui quondam txms est appeUatua
populus. — Jeromt Comment, lib. xvii. in Isa. Ixiv.

Ver. 16.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

109

grounds of faith will enlarge thine lieait and open
th)' mouth, and emhoKlen thee both to pray to God,
f nd to expect from God wliat thou prajest for.

That thou mayest do this viitli the more steadfast-
ness of taith, search thine heart, examine thy dispo-
sition ; try how thou standest affected towards God.
If thou have the mind of a child, a sers'ant, a crea-
ture, a sheep, towards God, thou mayest rest upon
it : God hath an answerable mind to thee. Yea,
because God hath the mind of a father and master to
thee, thou hast an answerable mind to him. The
reflection of his respect to thee on thy heart, worketh
respect in thee towards him.

Sec. 101. Of saints' cantestness in 2>ressing (heir interest
in God.

III. Confidence in the interest which saints have in
God, malceth them earnest in pressing it.^ It maketh
them again and again to press the same thing, which
is an undoubted e^ddence of great ardency. Did not
the fire of a zealous spirit even flame out of the
mouth of liim that doth thus redouble a hke relation
before God ? ' Doubtless thou art our fother, though
Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge
us not : thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer,'
Isa. Ixiii. 16. The hke is manifested by the midti-
plication of several words to the same sense, thus,
' Behold and ^^sit this \'ine : and the vineyard which
thy right hand hath planted : and the branch which
thou madest strong for thyself,' Ps. Ixxx. 14, 15.
Vine, vineyard, branch, import one and the same
thing.

Such confidence as is rightly grounded on an as-
sured interest in God, persuadeth a man's heart that
God caimot suffer him to call and cry upon him, and
not hear him. Therefore if God at first hear not,
he will not presently give over, but rather cry the
more earnestly and instantly tOl the Lord do hear
him. Indeed, they that know no title that they can
make to God, nor believe any interest they have in
him, may soon be driven away ; as Saul, who, when
the Loi'd answered him not, 1 Sam. xxrviii. 6, 7,
presently inquired after a witch. But they that
well knew their interest in God took another course.
AMien God seemed to be angiy against their prayer,
Ps. Ixxx. 4, &c., they humbly expostulate the case
" Sec. 98.

with God ; they press the former favours that God
shewed to them, and that title which they had in
him, and thereupon once and again most earnestly
they pray that God would cause his face to shine
upon them, resting on this, that they shall be saved.
By that ground of faith (whereof in the former
section) labour to be strengthened in faith. Get
confidence in God ; and that by considering, as what
he is in himself, a potent, prudent, faithful, merciful
God ; so what he is to thee, thy God, thy king, thy
Father, &c. And give evidence of this thy confi-
dence, by stirring up thy spirit to depend on him,
who gives so just cause to make thee depend on him.
Oft and seriously meditate on those grounds ; and
when thou art before God, whether it be in humiha-
tion or gratulation, call them to mind, press them
again and again. Imitate the worthy patterns that
in this case are prescribed unto us in God's word.
If thus with understanding we do inwardly in our
souls, or outwardly with our tongues, inculcate our
right, title, and interest in God's word, urgmg the
same again and again, thereby our dull spirits mil
be much quickened, our blunt prayers much sharp-
ened, and our weak faith much strengthened — espe-
cially if vnth. patience we can rest upon God.
Saints of old, by their patient expectation and stead-
fast confidence, attained what was jiromised. If
therefore to trust confidently be the way to receive,
we also may so receive. ^

Sec. 102. Of the vigow ivhich is jJreserved in faith
by the constanci/ of God's favour.

TV. Faith is much strengthened by constant evidences
of God's favour.^ HereAvith did he support his faith
that said to God, ' Thou art he that took me out of
the womb : thou didst make me hope when I was
upon my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee
from the womb : thou art my God from my mother's
belly,' Ps. xxii. 9, 10. ' Thou art my trust from my
youth. By thee have I been holden up from the
womb : thou art he that took me out from my
mother's bowels,' Ps. Ixxi. 5, 6. It was not only
the disposition of Obadiah towards God, but also
the evidence that thereby he had of God's afiection

' Acceperunt repromissiones expectando atque confidendo
quod acciperent. Si igitur confidere sit accipere, possumua
sic accipere. — Chrys., horn. 23, in Heb. xi. ^ Sec. 98.

110

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 16.

towards him, that made him with, confidence say to
Elijah, ' I fear the Lord from my youth,' 1 Kings
xviii. 12.

By long continuance of ancient favour many
demonstrations are given of a fast, fixed, and unre-
moveable affection. So as if, by reason of temptations,
one or more evidences should be questioned, yet
others would remain to ujihold faith, and to keep it
from an utter languishing, and a total falling away.
As when a house is supported by many pillars,
though some be taken away, yet by the support of
them which remain, the house will stand.

1. Be admonished hereby, parents,^ to initiate
your children betimes, and from the cradle, yea,
from the womb, to dedicate them to the Lord, and
to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord, so soon as they are capable of instraction,
that when they are gro-ivn even unto manhood, they
may on all occasions, with much comfort and strong
confidence, say in the same sense that the prophet
here doth, ' I am the son of thine handmaid,' being
bom under the covenant, and having in their in-
fancy received the seal of the covenant, and from
their childhood kno^vn the Holy Scriptures, being
taught when they were tender, and thereby brought
from their youth to fear the Lord. It is a glorious
and blessed prerogative to be born a servant in
God's house.2 This is no slavish condition, but the
best freedom and most happy immunity that possi-
bly can be. Such as are bom servants in God's
house, are by virtue of that their birth sons, and
free from the instant of that their birth.' Christ's
servant, and the Lord's freeman, are reciprocal
terms ; either may be said of the other. Christ's
servant is the Lord's freeman, and the Lord's free-
man is Christ's servant, 1 Cor. vii. 22. A good in-
ducement this is to provoke parents to suffer this
word of exhortation.

2. Be ye also, children, exliorted and persuaded to
yield yourselves pliable, from the time that you have
any capacity, to the good instruction of your parents,
that by your continuing to grow in grace answerably

' Of parents' duty in this kind, see 'Domestical Duties,'
treat, vi. sec. 4, 17, 37. " odcirpii/'. — Verha.

' Qui hominis eervua est, liber est Deo, et qui hominibus
liber est, servua est Christi : ambo ergo unum sunt. — Jerome,
Comment., 1 Cor. vii.

to the means which, by the divine providence, have
been afforded you, you may, vnth the greater com-
fort and stronger confidence, both in time of humilia-
tion, when, for preventing or averting some judgment,
or obtaining or regaining some- blessing, you pour
forth your souls to God ; or in time of gratulation for
some judgment removed, or some blessing bestowed,
you enlarge your hearts and ojien your mouths ; you
may say to God, ' I am the son of thine handmaid,
and thou hast been my God from my mother's
womb.' Take heed that, being born in God's house,
and by your parent, the son of his handmaid, you
become not a bond-slave, and have the flesh, a bond-
woman, for your mother. They that serve the flesh
in the lusts thereof are such. What can such ex-
pect but the doom denounced against the bond-
woman and her son, which was this, ' Cast out the
bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the bond-
woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-
woman,' 1 Gal. iv. 30, a woeful doom, for such as are
born in God's house, to be so cast out, thereby they
may know that they have nothing in common with
the true sons of God. Nothing, I say, in regard of
those spiritual privileges which belong to God's free-
born children. So walk, therefore, O children that
are born in the church, so carry yourselves all your
days, as you may on all occasions say to the Lord,
' I am the son of thine handmaid.'

Sec. 103. Of children' s lionour hy piom parents.
V. It is an honour to children to descend from pious
parents.^ This is true in relation to ancient pro-
genitors, for it was a great honour to the Jews in
all succeeding ages that they descended from the
pious patriarchs. But the nearer such parents are,
the more honourable it is to children ; most of all
honourable when their immediate parents, from
whose loins, and out of whose womb they proceed,
are pious. Of such a one the prophet here speaketh,
' I am the son of thine handmaid.' For, question-
less, he here caUeth his mother God's ' handmaid,'
as he called himself God's ' servant,' in a spiritual
i-espect, in regard of God's grace to her and in her.
Such were Solomon's parents, of whom for honour's

1 Ejice ancillam hinc et filium ejus. Discat, inquit, jam
quod nihil commune habebit filiusancillje cum filio rceo Isaac.
—Chrys. hom. 46, in Gen. 21. = Sec. 98.

Ver. 16.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

Ill

sake, lie maketh frequent mention, Prov. iv. 3, and
xxxi. 1 ; 1 Kings viii. 1 7 ; such was, as Lois the
grandmother, so Eunice the motlier, of Timothy,
2 Tim. i. 5.

Notliing, in truth, can make any more honourable
than piety. "Whatsoever men's outward condition
be in this world, though never so mean, yet if they
excel in virtue, they are most honourable in God's
eye. What man before God more noble than Peter,
who was but a poor fi.shorman 1 What woman more
illustrious than blessed Mary, who is set out to be a
carpenter's wife ? i Pious persons for birth are born
of God. For dignities, they are God's favourites, of
God's court, the most honourable therein ; they are
the spouse of his Son. For revenues, the exchequer
of God's treasures is always open for them to have
out of it his most precious jewels ; yea, they are tlie
true heirs of this world and of the world to come.

1. Such parents as desire that their children should
all their days make an honourable mention of them,
let them here take notice of the only right course to
have their desire accomplished. Let them so walk
before their children as they may have sure evidences
that they are God's servants : that when children
make mention of their father before the Lord, they
may have cause to say of him, as Solomon did of his
father, ' Thy servant my father,' 1 Kings viii. 2.5,
and of their mother, ' Thy handmaid,' Ps. Ixxxvi.
16. For a child to style himself the son of a duke
and duchess, earl and countess, lord and lady, or
any other like, is not in truth such an honour as
this, ' Son of God's servant and handmaid.' By
this, poor, mean, despised parents in this world may
make their children honourable, and may make their
own names honourable to their children.

2. Such childi'en as would have just cause not
vaingloriously to brag, but divinely to glory in their
parents, let them here know what kind of parents
do give that just cause. If, indeed, their father be
God's servant, and their mother God's handmaid,
let them not be ashamed of them because they be
poor, of mean condition, not esteemed in this world,
but heartily thank God that they are born of such

' Siimma apiid Deura est nobilitas cUrum esse virtiitibus.
Quid apud Deum iu viris nobilius Petro, qui piscator et pauper
fuit? Quid in feminis beata Maria illustrius, quse spousa
fabri describitur ? — Jerome ad Cdant. de Inslit. Matris fum.

parents as may give them occasion to say, 1 am the
child of God's servant and of God's handmaid. It
is a hard ta.sk to persuade most children hereunto.
But they that know God, and the dignities and im-
munities of his servants, will, without all question,
yield to the truth and equity hereof.

Sec. 104. Of Ihe resolution and instructions of the last
clause of the sixteenth verse.

Ver. 1 6. Thou hast loosed my bonds.

The fourth reason ^ which stirred up the prophet
to give public thanks to God, was the kindness
which God had done to him. That kindness was a
gracious deliverance from a grievous distress, thus
expressed —

' Thou hast loosed my bonds.' The argument
may be thus framed —

They whose bonds thou, Lord, hast loosed, are
bound to praise thee ;

But thou hast loosed my bonds ;

Therefore I am bound to praise thee.

Thus these words have a relation to the principal
duty promised in this psalm.

They may also have an immediate reference to
the other part of this verse, and that as an effect
following from the cause. The Lord accounted him
his servant, and therefore loosed his bonds. To
make this reference the better discerned, some join
this part of the verse with the former in one entire "
sentence, which they express in form of a petition,
thus, ' I beseech thee, Lord, seeing I am thy ser-
vant, I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid,
loose my bonds.' ^ But the mood and tense ^ whereby
this last clause is expressed admitteth not the fonn
of jDetition.

And the very matter whereabout he now is,
namely, gratulation, sheweth it rather to be a pro-
fession of a former, than a supplication for a future
deliverance.

Besides, the inference of the 17th verse imme-
diately on this clause doth demonstrate that he
speaketh of a thing past, a favour done, and succour
received ; and that mention is here made thereof as

1 Sec. 2.

2 Obscero, Jehova, cum ego sim servus tuua, sim servus tuus,
iilius ancillje tu», solveres viucula mea. — Tremcl. el Jun.

' JinJlB- Iiidicat. prffiter-perfect. solristi.

112

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 16.

of the cause of praising God. For if the question
should be asked why mention is here made of loos-
ing his bonds, the 1 7th verse giveth a ready answer,
' I ^vill offer,' &c. As if it had been more fully ex-
pressed. Because the Lord hath loosed my bonds,
therefore I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

Wherefore, to take the words as our English hath
truly and properly translated them, thus, ' Thou
hast loosed my bonds ; ' the word translated loosed,
(nnS,) doth properly signify to open ; and thus it is
diversely applied, as to the parts of one's body,
' mouth,' Ezek. xxxiii. 22 ; ' eyes,' 1 Kings viii. 29 ;
' ears,' &c., Isa. 1. 5. To the earth, and that when
ordinarily it openeth itself to receive rain, or seed,
chap. xlv. 8 ; or extraordinarily, as when it opened
itself to devour ' Dathau and his associates,' Ps.
cvi. 1 7 ; to the ' engraving of -stones,' Exod. xxviii.
9 ; ' metals or any like tiling,' 1 Kings vii. 36 ; to
' doors,' Isa. xxvi. 2 ; ' gates,' 2 Kings xv. 1 6 ;
'treasures,' and such like, Deut. xxviii. 12; Gen.
xli. 56 ; to ' the tlra'iving out of a sword,' Ps. xxxvii.
14 ; and to the undoing, opening, and loosing of
such tilings as are bound. Thus this word is used
to express the undoing of a girdle wherewith a
man is giii;, Isa. v. 27; the opening of a sack that
is tied. Gen xliv. 1 1 ; and the loosing of cords and
chains wherewith one is bound. Job xxx. 11,
and xii. 8. Where Nebuzaradan saith to Jeremiah,
' I loose thee from the chains,' &e., Jer. xl. 4, this
word is used. In this sense is it here used. Afflic-
tions and calamities are as bonds, cords, and chains
which fast tie and bind men, which girt and gall,
pinch and pain them, yea, and oft strangle and IdU
them ; and in these respects called bonds, as in this
and many other places, where the very word that is
here is used in the same sense, Ps. cvii. 14 ; Eccles.
vii. 26 ; Isa. xxviii. 22, and hi. 2 ; Jer. ii. 20,
and xxx. 8 ; Nah. i. 1 3. Yea, because death
holdeth men down as fast bound so as they cannot
stir, it is said to have cords, as was before noted on
ver. 3, sec. 15 ; and when one is deUvered from
death, the grave is said, in the word of this text, to
be ' loosed or opened,' Ezek. xxxvii. 13.

This phrase, then, ' thou hast loosed my bonds,' is
metaphorical. It implieth two tlungs :

1. That he was in sore and grievous afflictions,
wherewith he was as it were bound, as a man that

is taken by robbers and pirates, or by enemies, and
fast bound by ropes, chains, or other Hke bonds.
Thus Jeremiah, chap. xl. 1, among other Jews
that were taken captives by the Babylonians, was
bound.

2. That the Lord delivered him from those afflic-
tions, which deliverance was a kind of loosing those
bonds, so as they continued not to bind him as-
before. Thus Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah, 'I
loose thee this day from the chains which were upon
thine hand,' chap. xl. 4.

The occasion of mentioning this dehverance is to
convince his soul of the equity of that which he was
now in doing, to praise the Lord.

Thus we have a profession of a great deliver-
ance.

This niaj- be considered two ways :

1. Simply, in and by itself

2. Relatively, in and with reference to the occa,-
sion thereof

In the former consideration, one thing is implied,
another expressed.

1. The thing implied is, that he was in great dis-
tress. The mention of bonds, together with the
loosing of them, importeth that bonds were on him;
he was bound with them.

2. The thing expressed pointeth at —

1. The author, or deliverer, thou.

2. The kind of deliverance, hast loosed. .

The reference hereof is partly immediate, to' the
very next words ; partly remote, to the words further
off,

The immediate reference sets it down as an effect
of that relation which was betwixt God and him.
He was God's servant, therefore God loosed his
bonds.

The remote reference expresseth it as a cause of
his praising God. ' God loosed Ms bonds,' therefore
he would praise God.

So also doth the immediate inference of the 1 7tli
verse : ' Because thou, Lord, hast loosed my bonds,
I will offer praise to thee.'

The thing implied, bonds, intimateth that —

I. Saints may fiill into inextricable perplexities ;
even such as they fall into who are bound with
cords and chains, and know not how to unloose
them. Hereof before on ver. 3, sec. 1 6.

Ver 16.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

113

The author aiknowleilged to be his deliverer,
thou, givetli proof that —

II. God is a dehverer from distress.

III. Deliverances are to be ascribed to God. Of
both these before. Of the former on ver. 6, sec. 35,
3G; of the latter, ver. 8, sec. 51.

The kind of deliverance, hast loosed, giveth evi-
dence that —

IV. God can deliver out of inextricable straits.
Hereof before on ver. G, sec. 39-41, and on ver. 8,
sec. 52.

The immediate reference importeth that —

V. God taketli especial care of his servants.
This prophet was God's servant, and God loosed

his bonds. Yea, the inference importeth that there-
fore, even because he was his servant, he loosed them.
The remote reference and immediate inference,
imply that —

VI. They that are delivered from distress are
especially bound to praise the Lord.

Sec. 105. Of God's respect to his servants.

V. God taketh especial care of his servants.^ As
here under a metaphor he is said to loose his bonds,
so otherwhere his care is in other phrases set down,
thus —

' The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants,'
Ps. x-xxiv. 22.

' He delivereth his servants from the huitful
sword,' Ps. cxliv. 10.

' He revengeth the blood of his servants,' Ps.
Ixxix. 10.

' He sent plagues among them that dealt craftily
with his sei-vants,' Ps. cv. 25, &c.

' He hath pleasure in the prosperity of his ser-
vants,' Ps. XXXV. 27.

As the affection and respect which he beareth
to them, which moveth him to make them his
favourites ;' so the honour which he bringeth to
himself thereby, moveth him so and so to deal
with his servants. This reason God himself thus
exin-esseth and presseth, ' For my name's sake will I
defer mine anger, and for my praise ^vill I refrain,'
&:c., Isa. xl\Tii. 9, 11. 'For mine own sake, even
for mine own sake vnll I do it. For how should
my name be polluted ? ' Ezek. xxxix. 25, &c.
^ Sec. 104. = Sec. 96.

They who have assured evidence that they are
God's servants, have good ground to ' cast their
care on him who careth for them,' 1 Pet. v. 7.
And m their distress to remember this their con-
dition, and ^vith the remembrance thereof to sup-
port their faith, and that by pleading it before God,
as he who said, ' Make thy face to shine upon thy
servant ; save me for thy mercies' sake,' Ps. xxxi.
1 6. ' Enter not into judgment mth thy servant,' Ps.
cxliii. 2. ' Deal bountifully wth thy servant, that
I may Uve and keep thy word,' Ps. cxix. 17. 'De-
stroy all them that afflict my soul; for I am thy
servant,' Ps. cxliii. 12. Believe God's word, and
then say to God, ' Eemember the word unto thy
servant,' Ps. cxix. 49. See more hereof before,
sec. 96.

Sec. 106. Of their fm-wardness to praise God who
have been succoured by God.

VI. The// that are delivered from distresses are espe-
cially bound to praise the Lwd.^ This only is in special
enjoined to them, Ps. cvii. 2, &c. ; and where it is
enjoined, this pathetical exclamation of desire is
as the staff of a divine hymn four several times
repeated, ' Oh that men would praise the Lord for
his goodness, and for his wondrous works to the
chDcb-en of men,' Ps. ciii. 1. On this ground doth
the psalmist vehemently incite his soul to this duty.
And it hath been the constant practice of God's
sei-vants, after God hath deUvered them from danger
and loosed their bonds, to praise him : as Moses and
Miriam, Exod. xv. 1, &c. ; Barak and Deborah,
Judges V. 1, &c. ; David, 2 Sam. xxii. 1, &c. ;
Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 26 ; Hezeldah, Isa.
xxxviii. 9 ; and many others.

1. Praise is that which God expecteth for his
kindness in delivering us; for saith he, 'I wiU
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me,' Ps. 1. 15 ;
so as if any just occasion can be given for per-
forming this duty, this is especially a most just
occasion.2 Yea, this being the end why God de-
Hvereth thee, it lieth on thee as a debt, a most due
debt which thou art to pay. The psalmist there-

1 Sec. 104.

^ Propheta dicit, immola Deo sacrificium laiiJis. Et cur hseo
facial adjecit, quoniam eripuit auimam meam de morte. —
Jerome, Comment, in Ps. Iv,

z 2

114

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 17-19.

fore where lie speaketh of praising God, gives tliis
reason thereof, ' Thou hast deUvered my soul from
death,' Ps. Ivi. 12, 13.

2. Distress makes men to call upon God. If
upon dehverance fi'om distress they are not care-
ful to praise God, they shew that they perform
duties of i^iety for theu' own advantage ; and give
just cause to suspect, that if it were not to reap
benefit to themselves thereby, they would perform
no duty at all to God.

To satisfy God's expectation, and to testify that
respect you owe him, and bear to him, ye king-
doms and nations that have had those bonds loosed,
whereby you have been bound by your enemies,
render that unto the Lord which is most due,
solemn, hearty thanks and praise. Do so, ye
countries and people that have been bound and
pinched with the bonds of dearth and famine.
And ye, O cities and societies that have had the
deadly bonds of the plague, and other contagious
sicknesses (wherewith multitudes lie still bound)
loosed. Ye also that have been in prison, but are
now loosed, praise the Lord. Ye that have gone
forth against your enemies, and having been com-
passed about by them before and behind, (as Abijah
and his armies were, 2 Chron. xiii. 13,) are loosed
and freed, be forward to perform your bounden
duty, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, ye that go
down to the sea in ships, and have there been
bound with vehement and violent storms, and in
great hazard of death, but are loosed. Especially if
ye have been taken by pirates, made bond-slaves,
bound to galleys, or bound in dungeons, and are
loosed. Yea, and ye principal debtors, or sureties,
that have been fast bound to hard and cruel credi-
tors, whereby your whole estate hath been in hazard,
and you have feared your own, your ^vives', and chil-
dren's utter undoing, but are loosed from those
bonds, offer to the Lord your sacrifice of thanks-
giving. And ye, O women, who have been bound
with the strait and painful bonds of travail, which
are loosed, and whereof you are eased. All ye also
that have been hard girt with the bonds of the
stone, the strangury, the gout, the colic, or any
other painful malady, or have been f:ist tied to your
beds with the cords of any sickness, and are loosed,
give thanks unto the Lord. Whosoever ye be that

have with any manner of bonds been bound, say
unto the Lord, ' Thou hast loosed my bonds ; ' and
as you say it, so know the end why ye ought to
say it, namely, to convince your souls of the equity
of givmg thanks to God, and to provoke them to
do it the more readily and cheerfully.^ ^\^^en you
are about to render solemn praise to God, do as this
prophet did, think of your bonds which God hath
loosed. Meditation thereon will much inflame your
holy zeal of praising God. When the thought of
your bonds which God hath loosed cometh to your
mind, theu withal inquke (as Ahasueras did when
he heard of the Idndness done to him by Mordecai)
what hath been rendered unto the Lord ? what is
to be rendered to him ? This will make thee, with
such a mind as the prophet did, use these words to
the Lord, ' Thou hast loosed my bond, I will offer
to thee a sacrifice of thanksgiving.'

Sec. 107. Of the resolution of the three last verses.

Ver. 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-
giving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

Ver. 18. / will pay my vows unto the Lord now in
the presence of all his people,

Ver. 19. I7i the courts of the Lord's house, in the
midst of thee, Jerusalem. Praise rje the Lord.

In these three last verses of this psalm the propliet
returneth to his profession of rendering praise unto
the Lord, wherein some things that were before
set down are repeated, and other things are added
thereto. For the better discerning whereof, take
notice of two main points expressed therein : —

1. A protestation to jaraise the Lord himself

2. A provocation to others so to do.
In his protestation we have —

1. The matter thereof

2. The motive thereto.

The matter consisteth of two duties : —

1. Giving thanks to God — ' I will offer to thee the
sacrifice of thanksgiving.'

2. Calling upon God — 'And will call upon the
name of the Lord.'

The motive is taken from his vow, where we have
to consider —

' Unusquisque nostrum escitet et exhortetur animam suam,
et dicat ei Beucdic anima mea Dominum, &c. — Aug. Enar. in
Ps. cii.

Ver. 17-19.]

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

115

1. The general matter thereof — 'I will pay my
vows unto the Lord.'

2. The particular manner of performing it.
The manner is set out by two circumstances, — •

1. The time, now.

2. The place ; wliich is largely described, and
that—

1. Indefinitely — 'In the presence of his people.'

2. Determinately, by a description of the place
where God's people met. This is here described —

1. By the relation it had to God — ' In the courts
of the Lord's house.'

2. By the situation of it — ' In the midst of thee,
Jerusalem.'

The provocation to others is in the very last clause
of all thus expressed, ' Praise ye the Lord.'

The fii'st duty in the jDrotestation was before set
do^\^l, ver. 13, ' I will take the cup of salvation.'
Here it is in other words repeated, thus : ' I will
offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgi\'ing.'

The second duty is here repeated in the very
same words wherein it was expressed before, ver.
1 3, thus : ' And I will call upon the name of the
Lord.'

The matter of the motive, and the amplification
thereof by the tune and by the place, as it is inde-
finitely set down, are all, word for word, repeated
in this 18th verse, as they were before expressed in
the 14th verse, thus : 'I ■s\t11 pay my vows unto the
Lord now in the presence of all his people.'

The detei-minate description of the place in the
1 9th verse by the relation it hath to God and by
the situation of it, — thus, 'In the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, Jerusalem,' —
is for substance the same that was noted before in
the latter end of the 14th and 18th verses.

Concerning these repetitions, we may not think
that he which used them used them in vain.i He
was guided by that divine Spirit, which would not
suffer the least tittle to be iii vain. By repetitions
good doctrine are fast fixed in men's minds. Be-
sides other ends before noted ' for repeating of one
and the same thing, whether in the same or differing
words and phrases, this is a principal one, to testify
and express the more lively, how deeply the soul is

^ Bonorum repetitio doctrinam in animabus bene etabilit.
—Chrys. Serm., defide tt lege. ' Sec. 98.

affected with such and such a thing. Fit and not
affected repetitions are clear expressions of deep
affections ; yea, they are also forcible incitations to
incense holy passion in him that useth them, and in
them that hear or read them so used. These are
the ends why rhetoricians have invented figures of
all manner of repetitions, as — •

1. By repeating the same words Q'^^i^ii^ii) imme-
diately together in the same sentence, as in the
verse before, ' I am thy servant, I am thy servant ; '
and in the psalm before this, ' Not unto us, Lord,
not unto us,' &c., Ps. cxv. 1.

2. By repeating the same (avad/irXwff/s) in the end
of one sentence and beginning of the next, thus :
' Sing unto the Lord ^vitli the harp ; with the harp,
and the voice of a psalm,' Ps. xc\'iii. 5.

3. By repeating the same (atapoga) in the begin-
nings of several sentences, thus : ' Bless the Lord, O
house of Israel. Bless the Lord, house of Aaron,'
&c., Ps. cxxxv. 19, 20.

4. By repeating the same (smirrgo^ij) in the ends
of several sentences, as where every verse of a psalm
endeth with this clause, 'His mercy endureth for
ever,' Ps. cxxxvi.

5. By repeating the same (JTavaX^-vJ/;;) in the be-
ginning and in the end, as where the same psalm
beginneth and endeth with this clause, ' O Lord our
Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! '
Ps. viii. 1, 9.

6. By repeating the same [irrdiabog) in the begin-
ning, midst, and end, thus : ' Sing praises to God,
sing praises, sing praises unto our King, sing
praises,' Ps. xlvii. 6.

Sec. 108. Of a soul so ravished tvith Goets praises
as it cannot be satisfied in setting them out.

By the repetitions noted in the close of this
psalm the prophet manifesteth a divine passion,
(tolSo;, affectus concitatiis,) through a deep apprehen-
sion of God's favour and succour shewed unto him ;
where\vith he was so ravished as he could not be
satisfied in setting it out, nor thought that he could
ever say enough thereabouts. Wherefore he loves
to speak of it again and again, and oft to declare
his pui-]30se thereabouts, sometimes in some other
words, and sometimes in the very same. Hereby
he giveth instance, that,

116

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 17-19.

A deep and due apijrehensiou of God's mercies
makes a soul unsatisfied in setting fortli God's
praises. The divine hj-mns tliat were penned by
such as did indeed deeply ponder on God's mercies
are evident demonstrations thereof. Among other
the book of Psalms ; and in that book the xlvii.,
ciii., cvii., cxxxv., cxxxvi., cxlviii., cxix., and cl.
psalms.

God's mercies, the more they are pondered are the
more admired, esi^ecially when the greatness, free-
ness, seasonableness of them, and other like cir-
cum.stances, together with our unwortliiness, and
therewithal the need that we have thereof, the sweet-
ness that we taste, and benefit that we reap thereby,
are duly and deeply weighed. They are like a
bottomless sea, which, the further it is sounded, the
deeper it appears to be ; or like to the bright sun,
which, the more it is gazed upon, the more it dazzleth
the eye. Yea, further, God's mercies are so linked
together, as when we have occasion to meditate on
one, many of them instantly present themselves to
the view of our mind ; as he that in a clear night
lifteth up his eyes to see one star, hath millions on
a sudden in his sight ; or as he that in a bank of a
deep river maketh a gut for a little water to pass
through, maketh way for a flood to follow after.
Thus was this prophet moved a Httle before to say,
' All his benefits are upon me.' A pious mind will
hereupon say, I will daily rise, I will go to church,
I -will sing praise in the morning, I mil do so again
in the evening. ^ In my house wiU I so do again
and again, daily oflTering up sacrifices of praise.

What now may be thought of such as having
great and just occasion to set out the praises of the
Lord with the uttermost of their power, find in
themselves no heat of aff"ection to do the same ; and
thereupon or whoUy omit tlie duty, or do it so coldly
as they were as good not do it at all 1 Sui-ely such
backwardness to perform this duty, such coldness
and deadness in perfonning it, as is in most men,
betrayeth an ill disposition, a base affection. The
fire that decends from heaven hath not fallen upon
the altar of their heart. If it had it would, as the

' Surgam quolidie, pergam ad eoelesiatn, dicam imum hym-
num matutinum, aliuin Tespertinum, tertium aut quartum
in domo mea, quotidie sacrifico saorificium laudis. — Aug.
Enar., in Pn. xlix.

fire which fell on Elijah's altar, 1 Kings xviii. 38,
lick up the Lethean waters and sluggish slime that
lieth about their heart, and soon kindle and inflame
their sacrifice of praise, and ' turn it to ashes,' Ps. xx.
3 ; that is, God's Spirit would stir up tliem ■with such
cheerfulness to perform this duty, as God would
most graciously accept the same. Great cause there
is much to complain of men's want of zeal to, and
in performance of, this duty. For of those whose
' bonds are loosed,' if their disposition should be ob-
served, they would be found like the lepers whom
Christ cured, Luke x^di. 1 7, nine to one to go away
with their cures without returning back to give glory
to God ; and of those who do return back, though
such a number of them should be gathered together
as came through the Eed Sea, even six hundred
thousand who sang praise to God, yet scarce two in
such a number would be found, as among them only
Caleb and Joshua, inflamed with such a fervent
spirit as this prophet had, so ravished with God's
favours, so unsatisfied with gi\'ing praise to him.
That small, cold thanks which most give, much
provoketh God to repent what he hath done, and to
withhold his heljoiug hand for the time to come.
Due notice is to be taken hereof, that we may be
humbled for what is past, and be more quickened
for the time to come.

As for you whose understandings are enlightened
and judgments convinced about the equitj', not of
the duty only, that thanks is to be given to God,
but also of the manner of doing it, \^'ith Ufe, ^vith
spirit, with zeal, ' with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind,' Luke x. 27, (for praise is an especial fruit of
love : as God, therefore, is to be loved, so is he to
be praised), rouse up your spirits, come with souls
ravished, with hearts inflamed to perform this duty,
as he that said, ' My heart is prepared,"0 God, my
heart is prepared : I ^vill sing and give praise.
Awake up my glory,' &c., Ps. Ivii. 7, &c. Zeal is
not more requisite for any other duty than for
praising God, neither can the spirit be more quick
ened up in the j^erforming of any other duty than
this, if it be rightly performed. Praising of God is
a spiritual mirth, and words of mirth are in Scrij>
ture used to set it out, as : To ' sing unto the Lord,'
Exod. XV. 1 ; ' to sing aloud, to make a joyful noise

Ver. 17-19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

117

unto God,' Ps. bcxxi. 1 ; 'to be glad and rejoice in
God,' Ps. ix. 2. And all instruments of music, rites,
and gestures of mirth were of old wont to be used
in praising God, Ps. Ixxxi. 2, &c., cl. 1, &c. Now
mirth, and such things as tend thereto, are effectual
means to quicken the spirit. Elisha, therefoi'e, being
somewhat heavy in spirit and vexed in soul by reason
of the abominations of the times wherein he lived,
when he was moved to prophesy, that he might be
the more revived and quickened thereto, he said,
'Bring me a minstrel,' 2 Kings iii. 15. It is then
evident that praise must be given to God ■with a
(^uick and zealous spirit.

That we may with such a spii-it perfonn tliis duty,
take a view of such things as in this very jisalm ai'e
noted to incense the heart and ravish the soul of
this prophet.

1. In his distress he called on God, ver. 4, and
that most earnestly. The more earnest men are in
prajing, the more zealous they will be in giving
thanks for that which they have praj'ed for.

2. In his distress he vowed, ver. 14, to give praise
to God. A vow is of special force to incite a
man heartily to perform that which he hath
vowed.

3. He believed that God heard his prayer, ver. 1,2.
They that believe that God hears their prayers can-
not but hold themselves much bound to testify aU
possible thankfulness.

4. He keeps his distress in mind and memory,
ver. 3. So long as a man's mind is fixed on his
danger and distress, his heart remains on fire with
desire of gratitude.

5. He was well instructed in God's goodness, ver.
5, which doth most of all enlarge a man's heart unto
all gratefulness.

6. He acknowledgeth God to be his deliverer, ver.
6-8, whereby he saw himself so engaged to God as
he could not but acknowledge all thanks to be most
due unto him,

7. His love was settled on God, ver. 1. Nothing
can more inflame zeal than love.

8. He sets God always before him, ver. 9. The
presence of him that doth a kindness doth more and
more egg a man on to praise him.

9. He remembered his own weakness, ver. 10, 11,
in making question of God's promises, whereby he

is moved the more to bless God for bringing that to
pass whereof he doubted.

10. He observed that his death was precious in
God's sight, ver. 15, and is induced thereby to have
God's name in high esteem, and to praise him with
the uttermost of his power.

11. He was assured of the mutual relation betwixt
God and liimself, ver. IG, which obliged him the
more to God, and made him the more fervent in
praising God.

1 2. By this benefit all God's benefits came to his
mind, ver. 12, which much increased the heavenly
fire of zeal in him.

13. He knew nothing to render by way of satisfac-
tion to God, ver. 12, therefore he is the more stirred
up to praise him.

14. He useth outward rites to quicken his spu-it
the more, ver. 13. No marvel then that he is so full
of life in performing tliis duty.

15. He goeth to the courts of the Lord's house,
where God's people were assembled together, ver. 1 9
— an especial means to quicken liis spirit.

16. He provokes others to praise God, ver. 19,
and thereby incites liimself the more to that duty.

Sec. 109. Of expressing the same thing in differing
phrases.

The first branch of the repetition of the prophet's
protestation concerneth the principal duty here pro-
mised, thus expressed,

' I \vdll offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.'

Though the prophet for substance of matter in-
tends no more than he did before, ver. 1 3, yet the
different manner of exjiressing the same affordeth
some other useful instructions, which, that we may
the better discern, let us take a \iew of the different
plirases.

1. What he styled before, ' cup of salvations,' here
he termeth, 'sacrifice of thanksgiving.'

2. Where before he said, ' I will take,' or lift up,
here he saith, ' I will offer up.'

This latter manner of expressing his mind is the
more plain and perspicuous, and serveth as a com-
mentary to the former, in which I'espect it is not in
vain, but to very good purpose, added.

In and by this pattern a useful rule for repeating
one and the same thing in different words is set out,

118

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Vee. 17-19.

wliich is, In the latter place to use such words and
phrases as are in themselves more easy, and better
kno-svn than tlie former, and which may give some
light for a better understanding of the former ;i for
why are phrases added to phrases in and about the
same thing but for illustration's sake, to make the
point more perspicuous? That, therefore, which is
added for this end must be more clear and evident,
otherwise multiplication of words and phrases is idle
and absurd.

Sec. 110. Of offering a sacrifice of p-aise.
Where the prophet saith, ' I will offer,' he useth a
word that signifieth to slay, (n2TN,) but is most
usually appUed to the slaying of beasts or birds for
feasts or sacrifices : a noun, therefore, derived from
that verb is here and in many other places put for a
' sacrifice.' Our English, as well as other tongues,
can well express this derivation thus, ' I will sacri-
fice the sacrifice of thanks,' (n3t>< n^f.) The ex-
press relation of this oblation to God in tliis phrase,
'to thee,' (7^-) importeth a kind of donation, that
thereby something was given to God. The attri-
bute of ' thanksgi^dng ' distlnguisheth the kmd of
sacrifice. The word signifieth ' confession,' miD,
and it is applied sometimes to man's sins, and some-
times to God's properties and works. Joshua
useth this word where he saith to Achan, ' Make
confession to God,' Josh. vii. 19, (miD l7-]n,) mean-
ing confession of sin. ' And the psalmist useth this
very word where he saith to God, ' I will publish
with the voice of confession,' (or thanksgiving,) ' and
tell of all thy wonckous works,' Ps. xxvi. 7, ("Plp^
nTIJI.) In this sense this word is oft used. That
staff' of the psalm of praise which is four several
times repeated, by this word doth set out praise and
thanksgiving to God, thus, 'Let men confess be-
fore the Lord his goodness, Ps. era. 8, 15, 21, 31,
("non nin"''? nv, Confiteantur Domino, &c., vet.
transl.) Hereupon that sacrifice, which was offered
up when men recounted and acknowledged God's
mercies towards them, was called a ' sacrifice of con-
fession,' Lev. vii. 12, (HTUnn n^T,) which phrase is
here used in tliis text, and translated, ' sacrifice of

' Debet id, quod iUustrands alterius rei gratia assumitur,
ipsum esse clarius eo quod illuminat. — Quintil., lib. viii.
cap. 3

thanksgiving,' or sacrifice of praise. The significBr
tion of the Hebrew word is the rather to be ob-
served, because it doth excellently set out the nature
of ' thanksgiving,' or ' praise,' as it hath reference to
God, which is, to confess and acknowledge God to
be what he is, to do what he doth, and to give what
he giveth.i To offer a sacrifice at such a confes-
sion, or thanksgi^dng, added much to the solemnity
thereof, and made it more honourable in itself, and
more accej)table to God, which, that we may some-
what the more distinctly discern, let us take a brief
view of the several sacrifices which were appointed
by the law to be offered.

Sect. III. Of the several sacrifices of the Laic.
A sacrifice (as the word is usually taken in the
■ Law) was ' a pious rite whereby something was
offered to God.' 1 term it a rite, because it was one
of those external ceremonies wliich God ordained to
be used in his church till the fulness of time should
come. I add tliis attribute, ' pious,' unto it, to shew
that it was an action of piety, a part of di\4ne wor-
ship. In every sacrifice something, either with or
without life, was brought, and by the priest, in the
name of liim that brought it, offered to the Lord.
Herein lieth a main difference betwLxt this and other
rites, and in special betwixt a sacrifice and a sacra-
ment. The essential action of a sacrament is a re-
ceiving from God : of a sacrifice, an offering to God.
They which entered into the ark, and abode therein,
they which passed through the Eed Sea, and they
which were under the cloud, (all which were
sacramental rites, answerable to our sacrament of
baptism, 1 Pet. iii. 21 ; 1 Cor. x. 2,) received thereby
preservation, protection, and dii'ection from the
Lord. So they wliich were circumcised received
the seal of remission of sins. They which cele-
brated the passover received the seal of deHverance
from bondage. They also which ate manna, and
drank the water tliat flowed out of the rock, (which
answered to the sacrament of the Lord's supper,)
1 Cor. X. 3, 4, apparently received both spiritual
and temporal blessings from the Lord. But in all
manner of sacrifices something was brought and
offered to the Lord, as will more e\ddently appear

' See ' The Guide to go to God ' on the conclusion of the
Lord's Prayer, sec. 239.

Ver. 17-19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

119

by a particular enumeration of the several sacrifices,
which may thus be distinguished :

Two ends there were of sacrifices —

One, to pacify the -oTath of God provoked against
man for his sin. On which ground David giveth
this advice to Saul, ' If the Lord have stirred thee
up against me, let him smell an offering,' 1 Sam.
xx^i. 19.

Another, to gi'atify God for some favour received.
Thus Asa and his peoj)le, 2 Cliron. xv. 11, having
gotten victory over the Ethiopians, that came against
him -irith an army of ten hundred thousand, offered
of the spoil to the Lord.

According to these ends sacrifices were,

1. Expiatory, for expiation of sin.

2. Gratulatory, for testification of thanks.
Expiatoiy sacrifices were express types of the

sacrifice of Christ, by which only sin could be taken
away. Under this head are comprised, whole burnt-
offerings for atonement, Lev. xvi. 6, &c. ; several sorts
of sacrifices for the sins of several persons. Lev. iv. 3,
&c., as of priests, whole assemblies, princes and pri-
vate persons ; and all kinds of sacrifices for cleansing
such as were legally unclean, Lev. xiv. 4, &c., xv.
14, &c., as lepers, those that had running issues, or
had touched a dead corpse, or any unclean thing,
with the Uke.

Gratulatory sacrifices were visible representations
of that praise, Heb. xiii. 15, obedience, Rom. xii. 1,
and benevolence, PhU. iv. 18, Heb. xiii. 16, which
all God's people are bound unto. Of these there
were two sorts —

1. Such things as had life, and were slain.

2. Such as had no life, and were offered to God.
Man}" peace-offerings, free-offerings, vow-offerings,

and fii'stlings of living creatures, were slain for gi-a-
tulatory sacrifices ; and that to shew, that even in
gratulation expiation must be made, and that by the
blood and sacrifice of Christ all things are made
acceptable to God. The word, therefore, that im-
porteth slajing is attributed to gratulatory sacrifices.
Lev. xxii. 21, (n^T,) Heb. xiii. 15, (S-usla.)

Their meat-offerings. Lev. ii. 1, &c., and drink-
offerings, Exod. xxix. 40, many free-offerings and
vow-offerings, first-fiiuts, tithes, and such like, were
of things without Ufe. These are usually expressed
by a word that properly signifieth a gift. Lev. ii. 1,

(nnj2,) Heb. V. 1, (iSisa,) which we translate offering,
because in way of gratitude they were given to the
Lord, and offered up to him.

Gratulatory offerings were ordinary, or extraor-
tlinary.

Ordinary, were those which were constantly offered
every morning and evening, Exod. xxix. 40, &c., and
at other times in their seasons were brought, as first-
fruits, tithes, &c.

E.Ytraordinary, were such as for removing some
gi-eat and imminent judgment, 2 Sam. xxiv. 25, or
conferring some special blessing, were brought and
offered unto the Lord, 2 Chron. xv. 1 1 .

1. The offering up of these extraordinary sacrifices
set out a most solemn and extraordinary manner of
praising God. And this is the substance of that
which the prophet here intendeth under this phrase,
' I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.'
For they offered to God, not in regard of any need
that God had, but as giWng thanks for what he gave,
and as sanctifying the a-eatm'e.^

Of an extraordmary manner of praising God for
extraordinary favours, sufficient hath been before
dehvered, sec. 3.

2. The testifying of his gi-atitude by an outward
warrantable rite, was before expressed, ver. 13,
sec. 86.

3. The kind of sacrifice whereby the prophet
would testify his thanksgiving, was a duty of piety,
an especial part of God's worship, prescribed by God,
and of force in those days ; from which particular
we may safely infer this general —

I. True gi'atitude to God is to be testified by per-
forming due worship to him.

4. This rite being such an one as in and b}^ it that
which God by his law required was given to him, it
giveth instance that —

II. "What is warrantable must in gratitude be
given to God.

Sec. 121. Of testifying gratitude bi/ yiety.
I. True gratitude to God is to be testified by perform-
ing due icorship to him. As tliis is implied under
offering of sacrifices, (whereby the Jews were wont

' Ofiferimus Deo non quasi indigentes, Bed gratias agentea
donationi ejus, et sanctificantes creaturam. — hen. advera.
liar,, lib. iv. cap. 3i.

120

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 17-19.

to testify tlieir gratefulness wlien they had more
than ordinary occasion to do so,) so is it in other
places more plainly and expressly set down ; as where
the psalmist saith, 'I %vill come into thine house in
the multitude of thy mercies, and in thy fear will I
worship toward thy holy temple,' Ps. v. 7 ; 'I wiU
sing praise unto thee : I will worship toward thy
holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lo\-ing-kind-
ness,' Ps. cxxxviii. 1,2. As he promiseth for himself,
so he stu'reth up others after the same manner to tes-
tify their gratitude, saying, ' Give unto the Lord the
glory due unto his name : worship the Lord,' Ps.
xxix. 2 ; xcv. 2, 6 ; xcvi. 8, 9. ^Aliere Jacob, in his
vow of thanksgiving, useth this phrase, ' This stone
shall be God's house,' Gen. xx%-iii. 22, what else doth
he mean, but that that place should be consecrated
to duties of piety for wor.shi25piiig God?i Thus
Abraham's servant, in testimony of his thankfulness
to God for the good success which he gave him,
' worshipped the Lord,' Gen. xxiv. 2G ; so did the
Israelites after Moses had brought them news of their
deliverance from Egypt, Exod. iv. 31 ; xii. 27. So
Joshua, Josh. v. 14; Gideon, Judges vii. 15; Jehosha-
phat with his people, 2 Cliron. xx. 18 ; Hezekiah with
his also, chap. xxix. 29 ; and many others. Yea, the
celestial spirits do use in praising God to worsliip
him. Rev. iv. 10 ; v. 14 ; vii. 11 ; xi. 16 ; xix. 4.

1. A main end of praising is to glorify God; for,
saith the Lord himself, ' Whoso ofiereth praise, glo-
rifieth me,' Ps. 1. 2.3. But there is notliing wherein
and whereby we may more glorify God than by wor-
shipping him. Witness the practice, not only of
them who on earth are instructed by the Spirit of
illumination in tlie good, acceptable, and perfect wHl
of God, but also of them in heaven, who ai'e made
perfect in all knowledge and understanding thereof

2. Works of piety, wherein the worship of God
consisteth, are the works wherein God most delight-
eth, and which he best accepteth. The spouse, tliere-
fore, of the Lord, that the King might greatly delight
in her, hath this advice given to her, ' Worship) thou
him,' Ps. xlv. 11.

3. By works of piety all other actions of rejoicing
are seasoned and sanctified. This moved the pious
Jews to begin their weighty affairs with sacrifices,

1 Locu3 dignus qui consecretur precibua fundendis Deo. —
Trem. ct Jiih. in Sdwliis.

which were then, as we have heard, principal parts
of piety and of divine worship, and there\vith to
end the same, compare 1 Sam. x. 8 with 1 Chron.
xvi. 1.

4. By gi\'ing thanks in and by such duties as are
prescribed for God's worship, we shew that our
hearts are set on God, and prepai-ed to do service
to him who hath done kindness to us.^ Yea, the
duties wherein service is done to God wiU raise our
minds unto God, and fix them the more steadfastly
on him. So as this kind of sacrifice is questionless
the best and greatest that we can offer up, a jjerfect
oblation in the kind of it. And this will prove an
occasion of much confidence to us.

As occasions of thankfulness are offered unto us,
and as by God's Spirit we are moved to take those
occasions for giving thanks, let us here learn how to
order, how to sanctify, how to make the same ac-
ceptable to God. Though the particular ceremony
of worshipping God by sacrifices be uow abrogated,
yet the general equity of performing due worship
to God doth stdl and ever shall remain in force.
Take notice, therefore, of that manner of worship-
ping God which now under the go.spel is waj'rant-
able. The parts of divine worship are praj-er, sing-
ing of psalms, reading, preaching, hearing the word,
and celebrating the sacraments. These are as sacri-
fices of bullocks and calves, goats and kids, sheep
and lambs, turtles, pigeons, sparrows ; and all man-
ner of meat and drink-offerings.- By a pious, devout,
reverent, and upright manner of performing these,
thou testifiest and sanctifiest thy thank.sgiving to
God. "VVlien these holy duties of piety are per-
formed for gratitude's sake, when in, with, and by
them thanks is given to God, then are they, for
substance, in a spiritual resjiect, sacrifices of thanks-
giving, and the Lord will accept them as sacrifices
of thanksgiving.

Sec. 113. Ofgimujtu God.
IL What is uwrantable must be given to God. The
sacrifices, whereof mention is here made, were by

' Continuam gratiarum actionem Domino exbibete. Hoc
maxiujura est sacrificium, hffic olilatio perfecta. Hoc fiduciae
nobis fiet occasio. — Chrys. ad Pop., hom. 72.

' Hoc est sacrificium acceptabile ; hoc est holoeaustum
pingue, ut laudetur Deus, &o. — Jerome, Comment, in Ps. xlix.

Ver. 17-19.]

GOUGE ON PSAXM CXVI.

121

tlie la\v prescribed ; and in all manner of sacrifices
by the law prescribed something was given to God.
They, therefore, that appeared before the Lord
without a sacrifice are said to appear ' empty,' Deut.
xvi. IG, (Dpn) ; which was expressly forbidden.
The many precepts, Deut. xii. 1 1 ; Exod. xxii. 29 ;
Neh. X. 32, &c., of bringing oblations, vow-offerings,
free-\yill-oSerings, first-fruits, tithes, and other gifts
unto the Lord, and God's gracious acceptation
thereof, 2 Chron. xxxi. 5, 10 ; yea, and the many
threatenings, Mai. iii. 8, 9, against those who brought
not those gifts unto the Lord, and judgments exe-
cuted upon them, give suflicient proof to the fore-
mentioned must. ' What is warrantable must be
given to God.' The pious Jews manifested herein
much zeal to the Lord. ^Mien the tabernacle was
first to be made, the peojile were so free-hearted and
bountiful in bringing rams' skins, badgers' skins,
shittim wood, oO, spices, sweet incense, fine linen,
blue, purple, and scarlet, brass, silver, gold, and all
manner of precious stones, as they brought more
than enough, Exod. xxx:\d. 5, G ; a proclamation
was made to restrain them. Wonderful, great, and
precious were the treasures which ' David and his
jjrinces prepared for the Lord towards the building
of his house,' 1 Chron. xxix. 1, &c. At that time
' they offered burnt-offerings to the Lord, a thousand
bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand sheep,
with their cb'iuk-offerings, and sacrifices in abund-
ance,' ver. 21; 'Asa and his people offered seven
hundred oxen, and seven thousand sheep,' 2 Chron.
x^^ 11; ' Hezekiah and liis jjeople, two thousand
bullocks, and seventeen thousand sheep,' chap. xxx.
34 ; ' Josiah and his people, three thousand and
eight hundred bullocks, and thirty-seven thousand
sLx hundred small cattle,' chap. xxxy. 7, &c. ; Solo-
mon went beyond all these, and offered a sacrifice
of ' two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred
and twenty thousand sheep,' chap, xxx^•ii. 5. Be-
hold here what testimonies of gratitude were given
to the Lord.

Ohj. To what end were such oblations, whenas God
required them not, nor cared for them ? Ps. xl. 6.

Jm. 1. Singly and simpl)^ in themselves, as ex-
ternal and earthly things, God took no dehght in
them, Ps. 1. 8.

2. As mere cei-emonies, separated from the sub-

stance and tnith which they tj^>lfied, God neither
enjoined nor required them, Ps. xl. G.

3. As cloaks for hypocrites, to cover and colour
their impieties and iniquities, God detested them,
Isa. i. 10, &c., and Ixvi. 3.

But as external evidences of true pietj% as types
of heavenly truths, as parts of that outwai-d wor-
ship and ser\ice which God prescribed, as visible de-
monstrations of gratitude, he was well pleased with
these sacrifices ; they caused a sweet savour to enter
into his nostrils. Gen. viii. 21; Kxod. xxix. 18;
Lev. i. 9.

Though God, the Creator of all things, stand in
need of nothing that the creature hath, or can offer
to him;i yet by giving to him the things which in liis
word we find to be acceptable to him, we manifest
a willing and ready mind to do what lieth in our
power; and give evidence that if an}'thing wliich
we had could stand the Lord in any stead, or do
him any good, we would with all our hearts gratify
him therewith, which mind God doth as kindly and
graciously accept, as if indeed he were profited by
that which we offer unto liim.

Be liberal and bountiful to the Lord, whosoever
ye be that have anj'thing to give to the Lord." And
who is it that hath not something, yea, that hath
not much to give, if he be no niggard of what he
hath ? The poorest that be have as many calves as
Solomon had to offer to the Lord, ' calves of their
lips,' Hosea xiv. 2. These are sacrifices which may
be offered up to God, Heb. xiii. 15. The poorest
that be have a body, which they may present as ' a
li\ing sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,' Rom.
xii. 1. The poorest that be may every day, morn-
ing and evening, and at other times also, ' direct
their prayer to God as incense,' Ps. cxli. 2. Yea,
they may mix there^\itli the sweetest incense of the
intercession of Christ, and offer all up ' upon the
golden altar which is before the throne,' Eev. viii. 3.
The poorest that be may bring to God ' a broken
heart and a contrite spirit,' which is ' a sacrifice that

1 DecUt populo pneceptum faciendarum oblationum, quamvia
noil indigeret eis, ut disceret Deo servire. — Tren. advers. Ilccr.,
lib. iv. cap. 34.

- Quisquis bene cogitat quid voveat Domino, quss vota
reddat, seipeum voveat, seipsum reddat: hoc exigitur, hoc
debetur. — Aug. Enar. in Ps.cs.v.

122

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 18.

God -vrill not despise,' Ps. li. 1 7. The poorest that
be ma_y ' do justl}% love mercy, and walk humbly
before God,' which the Lord preferreth before ' biirut-
offerings, and calves of a year old;' yea, before
' thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil,'
Micali vi. 8. These and other like offerings have
all of all sorts (not the poorest excepted) now under
the gospel to bring and give unto the Lord. These
sacrifices saints ofler to God.i These sacrifices they
solemnise without intermission day and night, espe-
cially that of gi\ing themselves to God. All good
works are sacrifices fit for God and acceptable to
him. There are also several talents given to several
persons, though not to aU alike, (for to one are
given five, to another two, to another but one,) yet
to him that hath the least so much is given, as by
a good improvement thereof he may brmg some in-
crease and advantage to the Lord,^ and that so
acceptably as the Lord thereby will be moved to
say, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant,
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee iniler over many things,' &c.. Mat. xsrv.
2L As for rich men, they may yet further 'honour
God ivith their substance,' Prov. iii. 9 ; they may
' do good and distribute, for %vith such sacrifices
God is well pleased,' Heb. xiii. IG. They may so
'communicate to the necessities,' not only of the
poorest saints, but also of the ministers of God's word,
as what they do in this kind may be ' an odour of a
sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing
to God,' Phil. iv. 18. Thus, as there were sacrifices
of old, there are sacrifices stOl ; as oblations of old,
so oblations still. Only the kind of them is altered.^
These sacrifices allowed, approved, accepted, under
the gospel, ' please the Lord much better than oxen
and bullocks that have horns and hoofs,' Ps. Ixix.
31. yet to us they are nothing so chargeable, as the
oblations and saciifices were to the Jews. Why
then do we return so little to the Lord 1 are his
mercies fewer in number or less in worth to us under

' HocrossacrificiumDeooffertis ; hoe sacrifioium sine inter-
niissioue die ac uocte celebratis ; hostise facti, &c. — Cypr. Ep'ist.,
lib. iii. ep. 25.

2 A))ta Deo sacriBcia sunt opera vii-tutis. — Amh. de Cain et
Abel, cap. 6.

^ Oblatioues et illie, obLitione-s et hie. Sacrificla in popiilo,
Bacrifieia et in eoclesia, sed est species immutata tantum. —
Jren. advers. Uocr. lib. iv. cap. 34.

the gospel, than they were to his people under the
lawl If the difference betwixt the old and new
covenant, betwixt God's dealing with his church be-
fore and since Christ was exhibited, were thoroughly
discerned, we should find just cause to say, ' He
hath not dealt so with the Jews as he hath dealt
with Christians.' We want those zealous affec-
tions which the pious Jews had. Were our inward
disposition answerable to theii's, we would not, we
could not come so short as we do of outward expres-
sions of gratefulness. Let us by due meditation of
God's surpassing kindness to us, be stii-red up will-
ingly and cheerfully to give what we shall under-
stand to be acceptable to him. God gives all : to
God again let all be returned.^

Sec. 114. Of vowing praUe to God.

Ver. 18. I icill pay my votes ttnto the Lord now in
the presence of all his people.

The inunediate inference of this verse upon the
former, shewetli the principal matter of the prophet's
vow, for he maketh mention of his vow as of a
motive, the more to provoke him to offer up a sacri-
fice of tlianksgi\-ing.- But if he had not vowed such
a sacrifice, what motive could his vow have been
thereto 1 This approved pattern of the prophet
givetli e^'idence that —

Praise to God is a meet matter to be vowed.

AVliere mention is made of performing vows, ex-
press mention useth there to be of this very matter,
and that where directions are given for vows, thus,
' Offer unto God thanksgiraig, and pay thy vows,'
Ps. 1. 14 ; and whei'e performance is promised, thus,
' My praise shall be of thee, I will pay my vows,'
Ps. xxii. 25 ; ' Thy vows are upon me, God ; I
will render praises unto thee,' Ps. Ivi. 12;- 'I will
sing praise to thy name for ever, that I may daily
perform my vows,' Ps. Ixi. 8.^ The praises which he
sang to the Lord tending to this end, 'that he
might perform his vow,' evidently proved that he
had vowed so to do. AMiere Jacob vowed that the
stone which he set for a pillar should be ' God's
house,' Gen. xxviii. 22, what intended he thereby

' Deo datori omnia tribuenda. — Chrys., hom. 10. in 1 Cor.
iii. ' See ver. 14, sec. 89.

' Ilaec sunt vota prophetse, ut laudem domiuicam celebret. —
Jerome, Comment, in Ps. Iv.

Ver is.]

GOLGE OS PSALM CXVI.

123

but tliat public and solemn praise should be given
to Go<J ! This was the main substance of Jephthah's
vow, Judges xL 31, that in way of thanks he would
give something to the Lord. If his vow had not
too far extended itself, even to such things as might
not be offered to the Lord, it had been a warrantable
and commendable vow.

1. A vow rightly made is of something to be
done for the Lord's sake, and to testify our respect
to him. If a vow be made against any sin, or
against temptations or occasions that lead thereto,
it is because by sin God is offended and dis-
honoured. Now to vow against that whereby God
is offended and dishonoured, is implicitly to please
and to honour God. If a vow be made for perform-
ing any duty, that Ls made somewhat the more
directly to the honour and praise of God, for all
good duties tend thereunto. Now, because there is
nothing wherein and whereby we can more honour
God, or better testify our respect to God than by
girag praise to him, to praise God must needs be a
very fit subject for a vow ; yea, the best that can be.

2. In making a vow something is aimed at,
either as received or as expected from the Lord,
which occasioneth the making thereof. When in
distress a vow is made, it is in expectation of de-
liverance from that distress. When to avoid sin
a vow is made, it is to gain assurance of pardon
for that sin before committed, and assistance against
it for the time to come. Though in these and other
like cases a vow be made before the kindness for
which it is made be received, yet it is to bind us
unto gratitude for the kindness which we desire and
expect. If after a kindness conferred a vow be
made, then it is an apparent testimony of grateful-
ness. But what duty more proper to gratitude than
praise of God I wherefore, to praise God is a matter
most meet to be vowed,

3. Those duties whereunto we are most bound,
from performance whereof no superior power on
earth may hinder us, which by the gift of grace
that God useth to give to his children we are able
to do, we ought especially to vow. But in the
uppermost rank of all such duties, praising of God
is most justly to be placed- So as, if any be meet
to be vowed, this is of all most meet.

4. A vow must always be joined with prayer.

Commonl}' when men earnestly desire the removal
of some evil, or the obtaining of some good thing, in
optening their desire to God, they will vow some-
thing to him. At least, when a vow is made, prayer
must then be made for grace to keep it. Now,
when in making any petition to God, the mind is
fixed on rendering something to God, and is thereby
brought to vow praise unto him, this vowing of
praise will much enlarge the desire of a man's heart,
and settle his soul in assurance of obtaining what he
desireth,

A vow of praising God in craving any blessing
from God b like to this protestation, ' As we forgive
them that trespass against us,' annexed to the fifth
petition, whereh>y we are stirred up more earnestly
to crave, and more steadiastfy to believe, pardon of
our sins. The thought of praising God, especially
when it is ratified bj- a vow, works much confidence
in God's fevour towards him that is in truth resolved
to perform that vow. Is not this, then, a very meet
matter to be vowed ?

Do ye now inquire what ye may vow, what ye
may render? Whether such creatures as were
sometimes offered on altars ? Thou needest offer no
such thing. There is in thee what thou mayest
vow and render. From the ark of thy heart bring
forth the incense of praise.^ Now, therefore, ye who
are well informed in the lawfulness, meetness, ex-
cellency, and utility of this duty of tnaVing vows to
God, (whereof before,) and are thereupon moved to
put the duty in practice, here take notice of this
main matter of a vow, and be forward in vowing
praise to God. When for themselves men crave in
sickness, recovery of health ; in penury, supply of
their necessities ; in restraint, liberty ; in sterility,
children ; in oppression, protection ; in their labours,
success ; in any danger, safety ; or in any other case,
any needful blessing ; yea, when they pray in the
behalf of others, whether for the church in general
or such parts thereof as are in distress, or for their
own nation, city, town, parish, family, children, or
any others ; when they pray for anj' more than
ordinary blessing and favour from the Lord, let

' Quid Toveatis, quid redd^is ! An forte jnimalij nia qos
oSerebantar apod aras aliquando ? yihil tale oSeras. In
te est quod roveaa et reddas. De cordk area prefer laadia
jncensam. — Aug. Enar. in Pialm It.

124

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 19.

them in making that prayer vow to render praise
unto the Lord, that when the Lord giveth any evi-
dence of hearing their prayer they may say, ' I will
praise thee, Lord, that I may perform my vow.'
See more of this verse before on ver. 14.

Sec. 115. Of the mean'uig and method of the last
■verse.

Ver. 19. In the courts of the Lord's house, in the
midst of thee, Jerusalem.

In these words ^ the prophet determinately and
expressly setteth down the place where he vowed to
praise the Lord. In the former verse, and before
that in the 1 4th verse, he generally professed to do
it ' in the presence of all God's people.' Here he
describeth the place of the presence of God's people,
where they assembled together, and that —

1. By the relation thereof to God.

2. By the situation of it.

The place in relation to God is styled the Lord's
house. This title is in Scripture used to express a
select place, or an elect people.

As it hath reference to a place, it is taken inde-
finitely or determinately.

1. In an indefinite acception, any place where God
is pleased to afford an especial representation of his
presence may be named God's house. Thus that
place where Jacob in his journey lay and slept is
called 'the house of God,' Gen. xxviii. 17, because of
that divine vision wherein the Lord there appeared
to him. The reason of this name given to that
place is expressly rendered in these words, ' Surely
the Lord is in this place,' ver. 26. On a hke
ground the places where the Lord appeared to
Moses, Exod. iii. 5, and to Joshua, are called holy
ground, Josh. v. 15.

Determinately, this title, God's house, is attri-
buted to places on earth or in heaven.

On earth it was given to two places, the tabernacle
and the temple. Judges xviii. 31, and xx. 26 ; 1
Sam. i. 24, and iii. 15 ; both that which was built in
Solomon's time, 1 Kings vi. 37, 38, and that also
which was built after the captivity, Ezra vi. 7 ; Hag.
i. 14. These in their several times were places
where were especial rejiresentations of God's pres-
ence, and whither God's people by God's appoint-
1 See sec. 107.

ment assembled to worship him, and in those re-
sjjects were called God's house.

2. The tabernacle continued to be God's house for
the sjiace of four hundred and eighty-seven years,
from the first making of it in Moses' time tiU the
temple which Solomon built was finished. Then was
the tabernacle carried into the temple, and after that
remained no more to be of use for a house of God,
1 Kings viii. 4.

3. The temple which Solomon built continued to
be God's house for the space of four hundred years,
from the time when it was first built till the burning
of it down in Zedekiah's time, 2 Kings xxv. 9.

4. The temple built after the captivity continued
for the space almost of five hundred years, from the
time of Zerubbabel, Ezra iii. 8, till it was utterly
ruinated by the Romans, Mat. xxiv. 2.

5. The highest heaven, John »iv. 2, is called God's
house most properly, because the most perspicuous
manifestation of God's jDresence that can be given is
there given.

6. The elect people, who are styled the house of
God, are those that are comprised under this title,
church, which is the communion of saints. In this
communion, all that profess the true Christian re-
ligion, and subject themselves to the ordinances
thereof, 1 Cor. i. 2 ; 1 Pet. i. 2, are, in the judgment
of charity, reputed. To these St Paul, having given
this title, 'house of God,' to shew whom he meant
thereby he addeth, ' which is the church of the
living God,' 1 Tim. iii. 15. These St Peter meaneth
where he saith, ' Judgment must begin at the house
of God,' 1 Pet. iv. 17. For as the whole church
jointly considered in itself, so also every particular
member, is counted and called God's house. Thus
is this phrase taken where the apostle, in relation to
the Lord, saith, ' Whose house we are,' Heb. iii. 6 ;
and again, ' Ye are the temple of the living God ;
as God hath said, I will dwell in them,' 2 Cor. vi.
16. So as every one may account himself to be a
spiritual house of God, so he walk not m the flesh,
but in the Spirit.^

Concerning the particular house of God which is
here in this psalm mentioned, it can hardly be de-

^ Domum Dei spiritiialem seipsum quisque aguoscat, qui
tamen non in carne ambulet, sed in spiritu.^5tTK. super.
Cant., serm. 46.

Ver. 19]

GOUGE ON rSALM CXVI.

125

termiued for certain ■ffliich it should be, because the
author and time of penning this psahn are not ex-
pressed. If the psahn were penned by any i)rophet
after Da\-id's time, then questionless he meancth the
temple. If David, as it is most probable, were the
penman of it, then can it not be meant of the
temple, which was not then Imilt, Ijut rather of the
tabernacle.

But hence ariseth another doubt. In David's
time there were two sacred tabernacles. One maile
by Moses, called the tabernacle of the Lord, which
was in the high place at Gibeon, 1 Cliron. xxi. 29 ;
2 Chron. i. 3. The other made by Da\-id for the
ark of God, 1 Chron. xv. 1, and x\'i. 1 ; 2 Sam. vi.
17. In both these tabernacles there were ministers
appomted to perform daily sendees to the Lord, 1
Chron. x'^^. 37-39, &c. A^liich, then, of these
tabernacles is here meant ?

They were in several places. Gibeon was one of
the cities of Benjamin allotted to the priests. Josh.
x\'iii. 25, and xxi. 1 7. There was the tabernacle ;
but the ark was ua the city of David, which was
Zion, in Jerusalem, 2 Sam. v. 6, 7, 9.

The title, 'house of God,' and the courts applied
to that house, give some evidence that he meaneth
the tabernacle made by Moses. For that is usually
styled the 'house of God,' Judges xix. 18; 2 Sam.
xii. 20 ; the ' tabernacle of the Lord,' Num. xvii.
13, and xix. 13 ; Josh. xxii. 19 ; 1 Kings ii. 28, 29 ;
1 Chron. sxi. 39. But the tabernacle that Da\id
made is never so called. Besides, we read of a
sjiacious court appertaining to the tabernacle made
by Moses, Exod. xxvii. 9, &c. ; Lev. vi. 2G. For
that tabernacle, as afterwards the temple after the
pattern thereof, was divided into three parts.

1. The innermost, called the sanctum sandomm,
Exod. xxvd. 33, the most holy place, whereinto the
high priest only was to enter, and that but once a
year. Lev. xrvi. 2.

2. The middlemost, called the ' holy place,' Exod.
xxxix. 1, wherein the priests performed their daily
services, in which respect it was called the ' court of
priests,' 2 Chron. iv. 9.

3. The outermost, called the ' court of the taber-
nacle,' Exod. xxvii. 9. Into this came all the
people, 2 Cliron. xxiii. 5, in which respect it was
called 'the great comt,' chap. iv. 9. Hither they

brought their sacrifices ; here they stood and beheld
the priests offering them : for the great altar where-
on the ordinary sacrifices were offered stood at the
partition betwLvt this court and the ' holy place,'
Exod. xl. 6. Hence was it that the people are said
to ' compass the altar,' Ps. xxvi. 6, and to ' lay hold
on the horns of the altar,' 1 Kings i. 50, and ii. 28.
But we read not of any such courts appertaining to
the tabernacle which David made. Yea, after
David had made a tabernacle for the ark, 1 Chron.
xrvi. 40 ; 2 Chron. i. 3, the most solemn assemblies
were notwithstanding at the other tabernacle. It is
therefore most probable that by ' the courts of the
Lord's house' he here meaneth that pubhc and solemn
place of assemblmg at the 'tabernacle of the Lord.'

Object. That tabernacle was in David's time at
Gibeon, 1 Chron. xvi. 39 ; 2 Clu-on. i. 3 ; how can
that stand with the situation of the place here men-
tioned, ' In the midst of Jerusalem ' ?

Ans. It is not necessary that both those clauses
be appUed to one and the same place. But as he
mentioueth two duties, so he noteth two places, fit
for each duty. The first duty is to ' offer sacrifice
of thanksgiving.' This was most fit to be done in
the tabernacle at Gibeon, which was ' the court of
the Lord's house.' The other was to ' call upon the
name of the Lord.' This was most fit to be done
before the ark, which was in the tabernacle that
David had made for it in his own city, even ' in the
midst of Jerusalem,' 1 Cliron. xv. 29.

Jerusalem was the most famous city that ever
appertained to the Jews. It was the place where
Melchizedek, the first, most ancient, and best king
that we read of after the flood, even that king who
by reason of his integrity was called 'a king of
righteousness,' Heb. vii. 2, and by reason of the
peace which he preserved, the place where he
reigned was called Salem, Gen. xiv. 18. That
Jerusalem was this Salem, both the notation thereof,
and also the title Salem, Ps. bcxvi. 2, (after it was
called Jerusalem,) given to it, do give sufiicient
proof. The Hebrews, i Gen. xiv. 18, do use the
name Jerasalem where this Salem is mentioned.
This title Jerasalem is compounded of two words.
One is taken from that proverbial name which
Abraham gave to the place where he was about to
' thV, Targum, D'7ti'1~)V Item Ps. Ixxvi. 2.

126

GOUGE OX PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 19.

sacrifice his son, ' Jehovah-jireh,' the Lord -nail pro-
vide,' Gen. xxii. 14. The other is taken from the
name of the place where Melchizedek was king,
which was Salem, peace. So as the meaning of the
name of Jerusalem is, ' He will provide peace,' or
' the ^Tsion of peace.' The Hebrew word is oft set
down in the dual number, a number that signifieth
two, because of the two places whereon it was built,
which were Salem, before mentioned, and Moriah,
the place whither God sent Abraham to sacrifice his
son. This place being the chiefest of all the cities
that were among the Jews, the only people of God
under the law, wherein the ark then was, wherein
the temple was to be built, was an especial type of
the church of God ; and as in the Old Testament
the militant church is oft set out by that name, Ps.
li. 18, and cxxviii. 5 ; Isa. xxiv. 23, xl. 9, andbdi. 1, 7;
Jer. iii. 17; so in the New the triumphant church,
Eev. iii. 12, and xxi. 2, 10. Though therefore 1 cannot
but think that the prophet here meaneth literally
the city which was called Jerusalem, yet 1 doubt not
but that under this title may also ty[)ically be meant
the ' church of God.' -

The substance of that which he intendeth by this
description of the place is to shew that he would
perform the forenamed duties in public and populous
places. Such were the ' courts of the Lord's house,'
where all the people of the Lord met together ; such
also was Jerusalem, the metropolis and cliief city of
the kingdom, where the king's court was, and whi-
ther all of all sorts resorted. And that he might not
be thought to intend to do it in a private corner of
the city, closely and secretly, he addeth, ' in the
midst,' in the most open and populous part of that
ample and populous place — which implieth a holy
boldness ; he would not be ashamed to bind himself
publicly to perform such bounden, public duties.
Yea, further to shew how his heart was set on that
place where 'the ark of the Lord' was, by a most
elegant and familiar kind of turning his speech to
that place, (arroerpofr,) as speaking to a most famiUar
friend in whom he delighted, he saith, 'Thee,
Jerusalem. In the midst of thee.'

1 nin' ^^iT', Jeliovali providebit. Jerusalem est visio
pacis. — Ber. in Dedic. Eccks., ser. 5. D^/Ii^n^-

- In atriie, &c., id est, in eoclesia. — Trem. et Jan., in Annot.
ill hunc loc.

In this pattern of the prophet is declared —
A fit place for solemn and pubUc duties.
Of this description both the matter and the manner
are distinctly exjiressed.

The matter pointeth at two places : —

1. That which was consecrated to sacred duties;

2. That where the most glorious representation of
God's presence was set.

The former is set out —

1. Generally, by the use of it: 'In the courts.'
Courts are j)laces for assemblies.

2. Pai-ticularly, by the quality of it : ' House of
God.' God's house is a sacred house, where sacred
duties of piety are performed to hun.

The latter is expressed by the name of it, ' Jeru-
salem;' and amplified by that part thereof where he
would perform the forementioned duty, ' the midst.'

The manner of setting out this latter is b}' an
apostrophe, turning his speech to the place itself,
and speaking to it as to an intelligible ^ creature,
' Thee, Jerusalem.'

The first branch, ' In the courts,' sheweth that —

I. Public duties must be performed in public
places. The ' sacrifice of thanksgi^dng' which he
professeth to offer was a pubUc duty. The ' courts'
which here he meaneth, in which he would offer that
sacrifice, was a pubhc place.

This style, ' of the house of God,' (which was given
by reason of the divine service that was there per-
formed to God,) giveth evidence that —

II. Places set apart for God's worship are God's
houses.

'The midst' of that populous city, Jerusalem, be-
ing here so expressly mentioned, implieth that —

III. God's praises must be boldly set forth.

The manner of directing his speech to Jerusalem,
which was a type of the church of Christ, as to one
in whom he much delighted, intimateth that — ■

IV. Our delight must be in God's church.

Sec. 118. Of performincj puhlic duties in imhlic places.

1. Puhlic duties must be performed in public places :^

I say public duties, both because such a one was the

sacrifice of thanksgiving which is here intended, and

' That is, ' intelligent.' — Ed.

' Sec. 115. See 'The AVhole Armour of God,' treat, iii.
part ii. sec. 82, &o.]

Ver. 19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

127

also because of private duties Christ saith, 'Enter
into tliy closet, shut thy door,' Mat. vi. 6 ; ' appear
not unto men' to do this or that, ver. 18. But for
public duties, as here the prophet protestetli to do
them in ' the courts of God's house,' so elsewhere the
Holy Ghost commandeth so to do : ' Bring an offer-
ing, and come into his courts,' Ps. xcvi. 8 ; ' Enter
into his courts vnth praise,' Ps. c. 4. That charge
which under the law was given for bringing sacrifices
to ' the door of the tabernacle,' Lev. xvii. 4, con-
cludeth the equity of tliis duty. So doth the fre-
quent mention of ' praising,' Ps. xxii. 22 ; ' blessing,'
Ps. xxvi. 12 ; giving 'thanks to God,' Ps. xxxv. 18 ;
and ' not concealing God's kindness from the congre-
gation,' Ps. xl. 10. 'The coming together in the
church,' and ' into one place,' 1 Cor. xi. 20, whereof
the apostle maketh mention, was a public assembly.

1. Public places have a promise of God's special
m presence in them, 1 Kings ix. 3 ; Mat. x:\dii. 20. As

a visible evidence hereof in the tabernacle, Exod.
xl. 20, and temple there was the ark and mercy-
seat, 1 Kings viii. G. Now where can we with
; better confidence expect to have duties of piety ac-
cepted than in those places where God after a special
manner is present, expecting such duties to be per-
foi-med to him, and accepting them when they are
in a right manner perfoimed l In confidence hereof
the devout Jews did not only frequent, Ps. cxxii. 4,
those pubhc places when they had liberty to go to
them ; but also when they were in other lands, so as
they could not j)ersonaUy come to them, they would
pray towards them, Dan. vi. 10.

2. Public places use to have many people as-
sembled together in them. "\Miere many are as-
sembled there are many eye-witnesses and ear-
witnesses of the tilings that are there done. \^Tiere
many such witnesses are, many spirits wOl be stirred
up to glorify God for that which they see done by
others. They who are moved to glorify God for
that wliich they approve in others, will be moved to
do the like themselves, that others may likewise
gloiify God for that which they do. They which
discern such a blessed fniit to sprout from the public
services which they perform in public places cannot
but be much cheered in their souls, and also en-
couraged to take all occasions of doing the like again
and again.

Object. Christ and his apostles performed public
duties in private places.

Am. Difference must be put lictwixt <luties, per-
sons, times, and places.

1. There are some duties which may and must be
performed both publicly and privately, as prayer,
reading the word, catechising, &c. The manner of
performing these make them to be accounted public
or private.

2. There are persons ordinarily and extraordi-
narily called. They who are extraordinarily called
may have such a special instinct and peculiar war-
rant as can be no pattern for ordinary persons.

3. There are times of founding new churches and
edifying settled churches. Planters and founders
may have more liberty than such as find churches
planted and settled in good order.

4. There are places of persecution, where no liberty
is granted for public assemblies ; and places of peace,
where churches have much rest and great liberty.
In places of persecution bounden duties must rather
be perfoi-med in private than omitted ; for matter of
circumstance must give place to matters of substance,
matters of conveniency to matters of necessity.

Wierefoie, to leave extraordinary persons to their
extraordinary warrant, we that live in well-settled
churches, where through the di\dne providence we
have public places for di\'ine sendees set apart,
whereunto we have much liberty on all occasions to
resort, ought to be of his mind who ' was glad when
they said, Let us go into the house of the Lord,' Ps.
cxxii. 1, and was exceedingly perplexed when by
force he was kept from thence, Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, &c.
It was of old foretold that this should be the dispo-
sition of saints under the gospel in the kingdom of
Christ, to say, ' Come ye, let us go up to the moun-
tain of the Lord,' &c., Isa. ii. 13. Christ and his
apostles, though they had just cause and good war-
rant to perform many public duties in private places,
yet did they much frequent those public places where
public duties were in their tune performed. Of
Christ it is expressly recorded, that, ' as his custom
was,' Luke iv. 16, ' he went into the sj-nagogue on the
Sabbath-day.' Of the apostles also, and of them that
continued in their doctrine and fellowship, it is said,
' They continued daily ^rith one accord in the temj)le,
praising God,' Acts ii. 46. Herein lieth a main dif-

128

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Yer. 19.

ference betwixt such as, like Christ, do all to edify-
ing, (' He ever taught in the synagogue and in the
temple, whither the Jews always resort,' John xviii.
20,) and such as do all for their own ends, seeking
to beguile others, (' They creep into houses, alid lead
captive silly women,' 2 Tim. iii. 6.) Wherefore to
manifest a mind that ainieth at God's glory, the edi-
fication of the church, the quickening of our own
spirits, let us take the occasious that are offered to
go into the courts of the Lord's house, and perform
duties of piety according to their kind — public duties
pubUcly, solemn duties solemnly. This is a good
Christian decorum, agTeeable to that apostolical rule,
' Let all things be done decently and in order,' 1
Cor. xiv. 40. Let us, therefore, be every one of his
mind who said, ' In the midst of the faithful people
I will praise thee, I ■vrill publish thee, O Lord.''

Sec. 117. Of God's houses.
IT. Places set apart for God's tcorship are God's
houses.^ More than five himdred times is this title,
' house of God,' or ' house of the Lord,' in holy
Scripture attributed to places deputed unto divine
service ; and because worship is done to God, not
only in material temples, but also in the communion
of saints, yea, and in the bodies and souls of parti-
cular Christians, they are also called ' God's houses,'
Heb. X. 21, and iii G.

1. Though the Lord in his infinite essence be
everywhere present, ' filUng heaven and earth,' Jer.
xxui. 23, 24, and have ' the eyes ' of his providence
' in every place, beholding the evil and the good,'
Prov. XV. 3, yet the special presence of his grace
and favour abideth in the places where he is truly
and duly worshipped, 1 Kings ix. 3 ; Mat. xviii. 20.
These places, therefore, are to him as kings' palaces
and houses, which most properly they account their
own.

2. God's gi'eatest care is over these places. He
bringeth light into them by his word ; he beauti-
fieth tliem by his ordinances ; he continually repair-
cth them, and keepeth them from ruin by holy dis-
cipline. In them are the treasures of his graces.
Orders, offices, all needful provision, the bread of
life, the wine of spiritual consolation, and other like

' In medio credentium populorum L;udabo te, pra>dicabo
tc. — Jerome, Comment, in Ps. xxi. - Sec. 115.

blessings of a house are there. There God dines
and sups ynih his people. All things fit for a house
are there, which, whosoever observeth, cannot but
say of such a jjlace, It is ' the house of God.'

3. God is very jealous over such places. He can-
not endure to have them defiled, profaned. It was
one cause of the Jews' captivity, that ' they polluted
the house of the Lord,' 2 Cliron. xxxrvi. 14.

Oh how enamoured should we be ^vith such places !
If we be where we cannot come to them, nor join
with God's saints in worshij)ping the Lord, how
should it grieve us ! Ps. Ixxxi. 1, &c. No place
in the world, were it every way as fair, as fer-
tile, as pleasant, as profitable in aU eartlily com-
modities as Eden or Paradise was, should give us
content if God's house be not there — if no place l)e
there for saints to assemble to worship God. In
nothing is any part of the earth made more like to
heaven, than in having God's houise situated on it.
The prophet foretold that the mountain of the
Lord's house should be estabUshed in the top of the
mountains, and exalted above the hills. Why should
it not be accoimted the hill of hUls, where there is such
plenty of aU delectable things, where there is such
a plenitude of plenty 1 It is a hiU of peace, a hUl of
joy and hill of life, a hdl of glory.' We count cities
and towns that have kings and noblemen's houses in
them happy, by reason of the great pro\-ision and
all manner of coimnodities that are brought to them.
Much more happy may we account those cities
and towns where are many houses of God, if in-
deed they be true houses of God. E.xtemal build-
ings made vrith stone or brick, timber, lead, iron,
and other such materials, though never so pompous
and glorious without and witliin, cannot justly be
accounted God's houses, if God's people assemble not
in them to worship God, if God's ordinances be not
there duly observed, if there be no prayers made to
God, no word of God preached, no sacraments ad-
ministered, no divine discipline exercised in them.
But where these are, there are God's houses ; and
happy are the places where God's houses are.

Ye that desire to dwell in cities or towns, be sure

' Quidni montium mons ubi tam multiplex omnium delecta-
bilium copia, ubi copiarum omnium plenitudo ? Erit enim
mons pacis, mons gaudii, mons vitiv, mons gloriiu, &c. — ■
Ber. Serm. de Verb., Ps. xsiii.

Ver. 19.]

GOUOE ON PSALM CXVI.

129

that God's houses be in those cities or towns. Wiat
are best ordered companies wtliout the communion
of saints 1 what the best merchandises without such
as are brought from the celestial Caanan 1 what all
sort of wares without such as the ■wisdom of God
setteth out?

And ye that desire to have your houses stand by
themselves in the open air, be sure that a house of
God be so near them, as on all occasions ye may re-
sort to them. Wliat is the sweetest air without the
breath of God's Spirit 1 What the most fertile soil
■\vithout the fruitful word of God ? WTiat the clear-
est springs and brooks without the current of grace 1
What the best grown woods without God's plants 1
What the most melodious singing of bii'ds without
saints singing hymns and spiritual songs, making
melody to the Lord in their hearts ? A\Tiat all coun-
try or city commodities mthout di\'ine ordinances 1
But in God's houses (rightly and justly so called)
are all these to be had. There is a kind of fatness
of God's house, that is a fulness and sweetness,
whereby all that duly frequent the same shall be
satisfied. Be therefore, if possibly ye can, where
God's house is. ' Blessed are they that dwell there,'
Ps. xxx^n. 8, and Ixxxiv. 4. The psalmist, in a
rhetorical ampUfication of this point, seemeth to
envy the sparrows and swallows which roosted and
built their nests about the house of God, whereunto
he could not come, though his soul longed and even
fainted for it.

Finally, ye that have that favour and honour to
dwell where God's house is, esteem it as a great
fiivour and high honour, and testify as much by
your answerable carriage.

1. Frequent God's house on all occasions. The
Christians of the purer primitive times of the church
' continued daily with one accord in the temple,'
Acts ii. 46. This one thing did the man after God's
ovm heart desire, and professeth more and more to
seek after it, even ' to dwell in the house of the Lord
aU the days of his life,' Ps. xx\ii. 4 ; that is, as an in-
habitant, to have recourse unto it on all occasions.
For, saith he to the Lord, ' 1 have loved the habita-
tion of thy house, and the 23lace where thine honour
dwelleth,' Ps. xx\^. 8.

2. ' Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house
of God,' Eccles. v. 1 ; that is, keep thine heart, which

is to thy soul as thy foot to thy body, to carry it this
way and that way. Go, therefore, to God's house
with a well-prepared heart. There is he present,
who searcheth and trieth the heart.

3. At the very entering into God's house let a
holy trembling and awful fear possess thy soul. The
gi'eat God, the King of glory, is there. When Jacol),
by a divine vision, which was shewed him in a place
where he slept, perceived that ' the Lord was in that
place, he was afraid, and said. How dreadful is this
place ! This is none other but the house of God,'
Gen. xy\dii. IG, 17.

4. When thou art there keep thy thoughts from
wandering. Let not thy soul be fixed on any other
thing than on God, and his holy ordinances which
thou perfoiTuest, lest thou be reckoned in the number
of them ' who di'aw near to God ^^-ith their mouth,
and with their lips do honour liim, but have removed
their heart far from him,' Lsa. xxix. 13, and so thy
service be rejected of God.

5. Profane not God's house with merchandises,
for wliich Christ's indignation was so incensed against
the Jews in his time, ' as wth a scourge he drave
them out,' John ii. 14, &c. Profane it not with
worldly communications or actions, much less with
any impious or unrighteous words or deeds.

6. Pervert not God's house by making it a pre-
text for any impiety or iniquity. As if ha\dng God's
house by thee, thou shouldest thereby be justified, or
bolstered up against evil. ' Will j-e steal, commit
adultery, swear falsely, and walk after other gods;
and come and stand before me in this house, saitli
the Lord, which is called by my name, and say. We
are deUvered to do all these abominations?' Jer.
vii. 9, 10.

Sec. 118. Of holy huldness in praisiiuj God.
III. God's praises must be boldly set forth.''- We
may not be daunted, or ashamed therein, as men
which do tilings secretly in a corner, but by doing
this duty in the midst of populous places, manifest
holy boldness, as he that said, ' I will praise him
among the multitude,' Ps. cxi. 30. ' 1 will speak
of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be
ashamed,' Ps. cxix. 46. ' Before the gods will I
sing praise unto thee,' Ps. cxxx\'iii. 1. Thus St

1 Sec. 115.

2 a2

130

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 19.

Paul, thougli as a malefactor he was brought before
king Agrippa and Bemice sitting in gi'eat pomp,
with Festus, the chief captains, and principal men
of the city. Acts xxv. 23; where were great multi-
tudes of people, yet in declaring the admirable
work of God in his conversion, saith, ' I speak
freely,' Acts xxvi. 26. Herein hath the Lord-
Christ made himself a worthy pattern ; for in this
case thus he saith, ' In the midst of the congrega-
tion will I praise thee. My prai.se shall be of thee
in the great congregation,' Ps. xxii. 22, 25 ; Heb.
ii. 12.

1. Such is the excellency, such the necessity of
praising God, so honourable, so acceptable unto
God, so useful and beneficial is it to us, by so many
bonds are we bound thereunto, as if all the things
in the world which can be pretended to make any
ashamed or afraid thereof, whether reputation, pro-
motion, riches, friends, lil)erty, life, or anything
else, were put into one balance, and the induce-
ments to move us boldly to perform it put into
another, they would be found beyond all compaii-
son too light.

2. By saint-s' boldness in praising God, as they who
are like minded are much affected and stirred up to
bless God, so the weak and faint-hearted are streng-
thened and encouraged, and gaiu-sayers, scorners,
and all sorts of adversaries daunted and put to
silence.

Great cause of just complaint may hence be taken,
not only against impious and profane persons, who
care not to give any praise at all to God, either in
private coruers, or in the midst of assembhes, but
also against such as in their judgments are con-
vinced of the equity of the duty, and in their con-
sciences persuaded of the necessity thereof; and
thereupon are moved inwardly in their hearts, or
secretly in their closets, or other Hke places, to
praise the Lord ; but to do it in assemblies, ui the
midst of populous places, they are ashamed. What
is tliis but to prefer man to God, and applause of
men to God's approbation 1 May it not be said of
such, ' They have their reward ' t Mat. vi. 2. Surely
their own judgment and conscience are terrible wit-
nesses against them. Fearful is the doom which
Christ hath denounced against them ; for, saith he,
' Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my

words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of
him also .shall the Son of man be a.shamed, when he
Cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels,' Mark viii. 38. If therefore we stand before
kings and governors for the Lord, we ought not to
be ashamed, but resolute and constant.^

Be bold, be bold, ye servants of the Lord, in
sounding forth the praises of your God. Go into
presses of people ; and in the midst of them praise
the Lord. Wicked men are over-bold in belching
forth their blasphemies to the dishonour of God ;
they care not who hear them. They stick not to
do it in the midst of cities. Shall they be more
audacious to dishonour God, than ye zealous to
honour him? Assuredly Christ will shew himself
as forward to confess you, as you are, or can be to
confess him. Mat. x. 32. Tliis holy Ijoldness is the
ready way to glory. To add an edge to this ex-
hortation, weU obsers'e these few rules foUo'^ving : —

1. Duly consider the difference betwixt God and
man. It is disrespect of God, and too much re-
spect of man, that niaketh many ashamed and
afraid to declare before men that duty which they
owe to God, Dan. ui. 16, 17.

2. Take an inrincible resolution to do what you
see just cause to do, Acts xxi. 13, 14. Want of a
settled resolution makes men, when they meet with
any discouragements, to turn back, and to cease pro-
.secuting that which in their conceit eauseth fear
and shame.

3. Pass not for praise or dispraise of men ; but
' By honour and dishonour, by e\il report and good
report,' 2 Cor. vi. 8, approve yourselves to be God's
servants, bound with the uttermost of your power to
set forth liis honour. He that said, ' In the midst of
the church -will I praise thee,' Heb. ii. 12 ; said also,
' I receive not honour from men,' John v. 41. But
' They which loved the praise of men more than of
God, though inwardly they beheved in Christ, yet
openly durst not confess him,' John xii. 42, 43.

4. Contemn the world. Love of the world
quencheth the heat of the love of God. The world
is an enticing bait. Many are driven back thereby.
Demas, that old disciple Demas, having left liis

' Si ante reges et prEeaides propter Domiiium stemus, iion
confusi, sed constantes esse debemus. — Jerome, Comment, in
Ps. cxviii.

Ver. 19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

131

lieart on the world, which he loved too much, grew
asliamed and afraid to confess Christ, 2 Tim. iv. 10.

5. Give not reins to licentiousness. Turn not
the grace of God into wantonness, Jude 4. Such
unworthy walking of the profession of the gospel
cannot but make ashamed to appear in the midst
of such congi'egations as are fit to have God's praises
sounded forth among them.

Be not companions with impious and profane
persons, Eph. v. 7. They will keep thee out of
the midst of the forementioned congregations.

7. Associate yourselves mtli them that are pious
and zealous, Ps. cxxii. 1, that are not ashamed
themselves in the most solemn manner that they
can to praise God. Such companions will put life
into you, and provoke you to do as they do. In
them especially are these proverbs verified, ' As iron
sharpeneth iron, so man sharj^eneth the countenance
of his friend. As in water face answereth to face,
so the heart of man to man,' Prov. xxvii. 17, 19.

Sec. 119. Of delighting in God's house.
IV. Our delight must he in God's church.^ It was
usual with the prophets familiarly viith much deUght
to direct their speeches to Jeinisalem and to Zion as
trpes of God's church, after tliis manner, ' Our feet
shall stand within thy gates, Jerusalem,' Ps cxxii.
2 ; • I will seek thy good,' ver. 9. ' If I forget
thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her
cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not
Jerusalem above my chief joy,' Ps. cxxx^di. 5, 6.
Then especially did they cheerfully manifest their
mind to her when they had good tidings to tell her,
thus, ' Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion ;
put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the
holy city,' &c., Isa. lii. 1. 'Rejoice greatly,
daughter of Zion ; shout, daughter of Jerusalem :
behold, thy King cometh unto thee,' &c., Zech. be. 9.
In her misery they could not refrain tears ; for thus
they say, ' ^Ye wept when we remembered Zion,'
Ps. cxxxsdi. 1. 'Mine eyes do fall mth tears, my
bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the
earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my
people,' Lam. ii. 11. This compassion In misery is
a great e^-idence of much love and delight, where-

1 Sec. 115.

upon it is said, ' Thy servants take pleasure in thy
stones, and favour the dust thereof,' Ps. cii. 14.
Yet a greater evidence thereof are the many pas-
sionate words which are used in reference to her,
as love of her, Ps. xxvi. 8 ; desiring and longuig
after her, Ps. xxvii. 4 ; fainting for her, Ps. bcxxiv.
2 ; rejoicing and glorying in her, Ps. cvi. 5.

All things that may work true deHght are in the
church. Therefore the Holy Ghost hath set her
forth by most amiable titles and ornaments, as queen,
king's daughter, Ps. xlv. 9, 13 ; virgin, Jer. xxxi. 4 ;
bride adorned for her husband. Rev. xxi. 2 ; spouse,
Cant. iv. 8 ; -vvife. Rev. xix. 8 ; faii-est of women.
Cant. i. 8 ; ' all glorious \rithin, her clotliing also of
^\•l•ought gold,' Ps. xlv. 13. Within the church is
adorned with the dignity of her husband. ^

In the temple, which was a tj'pe of the church,
tjqiically were prefigured such things as are of force
to draw a man's mind and heart thereunto.

1. God did there in a most gracious manner re-
present himself sitting on a ' mercy-seat,' Exod. xx\-.
22. So as in the church is ' a tkrone of grace where-
unto we may go boldly, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in tune of need,' Heb. iv. 16.

2. Under this mercy-seat was an ' ark,' Exod.
XXV. 21, wluch, being a kind of chest, prefigured that
in the church are all God's treasures to be had.
Christ is this ark. ' In him are hid all iRod's treas-
ures,' Col. ii. 3.

3. There was a high priest who appeared before
that mercy-seat ' to bear the names of the children
of Israel for a memorial before the Lord continually,'
Exod. xxrviii. 29, and ' to make an atonement for all
the congregation of Israel,' Lev. xvi. 17. Christ
Jesus is that true High Priest, who continually ' ap-
peareth m the presence of God for us,' Heb. Ix. 24,
and ' is the true propitiation for om- sms,' 1 John il. 2.

4. There was an ' altar for aU manner of offerings,'
Exod. xxx:\Tii. 1, &c., and ' for sweet incense,' chap.
XXX. 1, &c. ; prefiguring that God, who accepteth
the sacrifice of his Son for our sins, accepteth our
freewill-offerings, and by the sweet savour of the
incense of Chiist's intercession is well pleased there-
■n-ith.

5. There was a 'taljle,' Kxod. xxv. 23, to pre-

' lutrinsecoa aui viri digaitate ornata est Ecclesia. — Aug.
advers. Jud., lib. i. cap. 22.

132

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 19.

figure a holy communion 'betwixt the Lord and
his people,' Luke xxii. 30.

6. There were 'lights,' Exod. xx-v. 37; 'bread,'
ver. 30 ; ' water,' chap. xxx. 18, &c. ; to shew
that in the church there are means to enlighten lis,
to feed us, to cleanse us, and to do all things requi-
site for us.

7. Out of the outward court there was passage
into the ' holy place,' chap, xxvi., and out of it into
the sanctum sanctorum, the most holy place, to shew
that first we must be in the church, in the number
of those who profess the true reUgion, so may we
come by the grace of effectual calling to be priests
unto God, and having served our time, to enter into
the true heavenly holy place.

Not without cause, therefore, doth the psalmist
style the church, ' The place where God's honour
dwelleth,' Ps. xxvi. 8.i He thought it not enough
to say, The place where God dwelleth, but where
his honour dwelleth, which maketh much to the
glory of the church.

Do not these things make the church worthy to
be sought after, to be loved, to be dehghted in?
Many many more are the prerogatives thereof which
make it most amiable ; but these may be sufiicient
to such as are not of a stoical disposition, very blocks,
sensible of no delightsome object.

The affection of our prophet towards Jerusalem,
the church of God, is even for imitation worthy of
all due observation ; that our hearts also may be so
enamoured with her as not to tliink or speak of her
but with delight.

For this purpose two points shall briefly be de-
clared : —

1. How such a delight may be -wrought.

2. How it may be manifested.
I. To work it—

1. Be well instructed in those pri^aleges and pre-
rogatives which make the church worthy to be de-
lighted in. Thus will thy delight be more solid and
stable.

2. Oft meditate thereon, so mil thy delight be the
more inflamed. Serious meditation on that which
works aflection is as bellows to a fire, it enkindles it,
and makes it flame out.

' Non sufficit dicere, loons liabitationis Dei, sed locus habi-
tationis gloria; Dei, — Aug. Enar. in Ps. ixv.

3. Withdraw thy heart from other contrary ob-
jects which work a corrupt delight therein. As the
heart of him that is set on strange women will
thereby be alienated from liis wife ; so delight in the
world and the vanities thereof will dim, yea, clean
put out our delight in the church.

II. To manifest thy delight in the church —

1. Be a member of that blessed communion.

2. Be a companion of the other members thereof.

3. Let her praises be ever in thy mouth.

4. Pray for her peace.

5. Seek her good.

6. Rejoice in her prosperity.

7. Mourn for her misery.

Sec. 120. Of provoking others to iwaise God.

Ver. 19. Praise ye the Lmxl.

The prophet having abundantly testified his o^vii
readiness and forwardness to praise the Lord, con-
tenteth not himself therewith, but, that the more
praise might redound to God, in the close of his
hymn he stirreth up others, even all of all sorts, with-
out any limitation or exception of any, to do the
hke, in this compound word, ' Praise ye the Lord.' ^

Of the duty implied in this phrase, which is to
praise the Lord, sufficient has been spoken before.
It remaineth here to speak of the means of spread-
ing abroad and propagating the praise of God, by in-
citing others to praise him. This cohortation being
added to his profession, two useful observations
hence arise.

I. We must provoke others to praise God.

II. We must ourselves iM'actise what we provoke
others unto.

1. For the first, the duty of provoking other* is in
Scripture applied to all points of piety, justice, and
charity ; for what we find behoovefiil for ourselves to
do, we must thereunto incite others. In general,
therefore, it is said, ' Consider one another, to pro-
voke unto love and good works,' Heb. x. 24 ; ' Ex-
hoi-t one another,' chap. iii. 13 ; 'Edify one another,'
1 Thes. V. 11. But more particularly for inciting
others to praise God, as other books of Scripture, so

' Of this word, see ' The Whole Armour of God,' treat, iii.
part ii. sec. 72. Exhortamur vos, fratres, ut laudetia Deum,
et hoc est quod vobis omnibus dicimus, tjuaudo dicimus AUe-
luiah, &c. — Aiig. Enar. in Ps. clviii.

Yer. 19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

133

especially the book of Psalms doth abound with in-
citations thereto, stirring up angels, kings, princes,
judges, priests, Le^^tes, Ps. cxl\-iii., cxxxv. 19, &c.,
cxlix., cl., old, young, male, female, all of all
sorts, yea, by a rhetorical apostrophe he turns his
speech unto unreasonable and senseless creatures,
and calls on them to praise the Lord, thereby the
more to c^uicken sensible and reasonable creatures
thereunto. The 13Gth Psalm was pui-posely penned,
and appointed to be sung time after time, both daily
in the temple, 1 Chron. xvi. 41, 2 Chron. v. 13,
and \'ii. 3, G, and on extraordinary occasions, chap.
XX. 21, Ezra iii. 11, to incense the spuits mutually
of one another to praise God. The celestial spirits,
(though they be every one most forward to praise
the Lord, and need no incitation, yet) to .shew their
earnest and insatiable desire to have it continually
done by all, they cry one to another, ' Hallelujah,
j)raise ye the Lord,' Rev. xix. 1, 3, 4, 6. ^Vlien we
receive a good turn from man, we use to stir up
others to thank him in our behalf; much more
ought we to in^-ite and incite others to praise God
■with us and for us.^

The zeal we ought to bear to God's gloiy, the
love we owe to our brethren, the comfort that we
reap to our own souls, by provoking others to praise
the Lord, are as a threefold twisted cord to hold us
fost to the performance of this duty.

1. The more persons are brought to praise the
Lord, the more is God's name hallowed. Now,
it is an evidence of a great zeal of God's glory, not
only -Nnth the uttermost of our own power to praise
htm ourselves, but also to be a means to draw on
others so to do ; as he that said, ' I will make thy
name to be remembered in all generations : there-
fore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever,'
Ps. xlv. 17.

2. It is an e%'idence of much love to our bretliren
to incite them to praise the Lord, both in regard of
the great need wherein they stand thereof, and also
in regard of the gi-eat benefit they may reap thereby.
All have great need to be daily stirred up to this duty,
by reason of their natural backwardness thereunto.

1 Cum ab hominibus beneficium accepimua, alios quoque
proTocamus ad communem gratiarum actionem, multo raagia
ad Deum invitandi sunt, qui pro nobis gratias agant. — Chrys.,
horn, ii., in 2 Cor. 1.

The more excellent any duty is, the more backward
we are by nature thereunto ; but of all duties, none
more excellent, none more divine, none wherein we
come nearer unto the celestial spirits, than this of
praising God, which maketh our eartlily, perverse
disposition to be so duU to it as it is. Can heavy
things of the earth be forward to ascend upward 1
But in praising God our spirits ascend to heaven,
where God is. Hence, also, is it that, though we are
at some times quick and fonvard thereunto, yet we
soon wax duU therein, and, as it were, fall down-
ward, as heavy weights, which, though they be pulled
up, by their own heaviness fall dowa again ; or as
water, which, though with fire it be heated, of its
own nature waxeth cold again. Therefore, as weights
are oft to be pulled up, as fire is oft to be put under
water and blown up, so our spirits ai-e oft to be
quickened and stined up by mutual cohortations.
The benefit whereof is very great, by reason of the
true \'irtue and efficacy of incitations. As soldiers,
even fresh-water soldiers, and all that strive for
masteries by nmning, riding, ro-wing, shooting,
wrestling, &c., are much animated and whetted on by
acclamations and incitations, so Christians, by holy
exhortations, are much quickened to praise the Lord.

3. We give evidence to others, and gain assurance
to ourselves, of the spirit of grace abiding and bearing
rule in us, by drawing on others with us to praise
the Lord. This spirit is called the ' anointing,' 1
John ii. 20, 27. It is as an ' ointment poured forth,'
Cant. i. 3, which so diffuseth the sweetness of the
savour that is in it, as all that are near it carry away
some of the sweetness of it. And is it not a great
comfort to have assurance of such a spirit 1 What
now can be more blessed than not only to glorify the
good God with our own tongues, but also to stir up
others by our means to glorify him 1 ^

Certainly these, with other like motives, were of
force with him who said to God ' I have not hid thy
righteousness wdthin my heart ; I have declared thy
faithfulness, and thy salvation : I have not concealed
thy lo\'ing-kindness and thy truth from the great
congregation,' Ps. xl. 10. And again, ' I ^vill declare

' Quid beatiua nobis foret, si glorificemus non solum Unguis
nostris bonum Deum, sed ut proximos quoque ut nostro
nomine eum glorificent, incitemus. — Chrys., bom. 27, in
Gen. viii.

134

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 19.

thy name unto my brethren ; in the midst of the
congregation will I praise thee. I will give thee
thanks in the great congregation : I will praise thee
among much people,' Ps. xxii. 22.

The appUcation of tliis point concerns all of all
.sorts. Especially it concerns ministers, to whom are
committed in a peculiar manner the words of exhor-
tation. The priests and Levites, Ps. cxxxv. 2, 3,
19, 20; 2 Chron. vii. 6, were of all most of aU bound,
as to praise the Lord themselves, so in the midst of
great assemblies to incite others, and to sing and say,
' Praise ye the Lord.' iNext to ministers, magis-
trates, who are as generals and captains in the Lord's
aiany, are bound, by virtue of their authority over
others, to provoke them to j)raise the Lord. Thus
'Moses and the children of Israel,' Exod. xv. 1, not
he alone, but he mth them, he directing and inciting
them, ' sang unto the Lord.' So Deborah and Barak
said to the people, ' Praise ye the Lord,' Judges v. 1.
The like I might instance in David, Solomon, Asa,
Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Nehemiah, and other
pious magistrates. And becau.se governors of fami-
lies, whether husbands, parents, or masters, are in
their houses as kings and priests, to them also it
belongs to see that such as are under their charge do
praise the Lord. Thus Elkanah, 1 Sam. i. 7, for this
very end, took liis wives along with him when he
went to the temple. Thus, for this very end also,
Jacob, Gen. xxxv. 2, calleth upon his whole house-
hold, ivives, children, servants, and all that were vrith
him, to prepare themselves solemnly to praise the Lord.
And Joshua, chap. xxiv. 15, undertaketh for him-
self and his household, to ' serve the Lord.' Finally,
it appertaineth to neighbours, friends, and all sorts
even of private Cliristians, by virtue of the common
bond of nature whereby all are ' one flesh,' Isa. haii.
7, and that nearer bond of spiritual union whereby
all are ' one body,' 1 Cor. xii. 1 2. For these mutual
duties of exhorting one another, of provoking • one
another, of edifying one another, before mentioned,
are not restrained to any particular sorts or kinds of
people, but extended to all sorts. Tliis was wont to
be the saints' phrase, ' come, let us sing unto the
Lord,' Ps. xcv. 1. And as a property of all that are
of the Christian church, it was of old foretold, that
' many people shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go
up to the mountain of the Lord,' &c., Isa. ii. 3. This

is an' especial means of promoting and advancing
Clod's glory, to do it by many tongues.^ They which
are guided by Satan's spirit have their ' Come : ' their
mutual cohortations and provocations. They use to
say, one to another, ' Come ye, we mil fill ourselves
with strong drink,' Isa Ivi. 12; ' Come with us, let
us all have one purse,' Prov. i. 11, 14 ; ' Come, let us
take our fill of love,' chap. vii. 18. Hence is it that
the number of wicked ones so increaseth, that they
are so audacious and impudent in their courses, and
that they carry all before them, as a violent stream,
occasioned by the gathering together of many waters.
They do, without all question, aggravate theii- con-
demnation hereby ; yet do they hereby become wit-
nesses against many that profess themselves to be the
servants of God, in that the spirit of Satan which
ruleth in them is more effectual in them to advance
Satan's throne, than the Spirit of gi-ace, in many of
them which profess themselves to be the servants of
God, to promote the glory of God.

But as for such as are willing and forward to give
evidence of their zeal of God's glory, of their love
to their brethren, and of that assurance they have
of the reign of the Spirit of grace in them, by incit-
ing others to praise the Lord, let them well note the
next doctrine.

Sec. 121. Of lyradistng oiirsclves ivhai we p-ovoke
others unto.

II. We must ourselves practise ivhat we provoke others
unto." We may, and must, as we heard in the
former section, desire saints to give thanks for us,
but withal we may not fail ourselves mutually to
give thanks for ourselves and praise the Lord. So
did this prophet, as we have seen at large from the
beginning of the 12th verse to this last clause of
this psalm. Observe the ijatterns of such as in
Scripture are approved for their zeal in stirring up
others, and you shall find them forward to do them-
selves what they incited others unto. ' We mil
arise and go to Bethel,' &c., saith Jacob, Gen. xxxv.
3. ' As for me and my house,' saith Joshua, chap.

1 Ista est clarissima Dei magnificatio quando per iunumeras
linguas glorificationem offeriai'js. — C/iri/s., horn. 26, in Gen.
viii,

" Obsecremus sanctos ut pro nobis gratiaa agaut, et ipsi pro
nobis hoc agamus mutuo.—Chrys., hom. 2, in 2 Cor. i.

Vek. 10.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

135

xxiv. 15, 'we will sen-e the Lord.' It is a usual
phrase of such as heartily desire to advance the
glorj' of God to express theii- desire ill tlio first
person of the plural number, whereby they shew that
they intend themselves to do what thej^ require of
others, and therefore incite themselves as well as
others, thus, ' Let us offer to God the sacrifice of
praise continually,' Heb. xiii. 15 ; 'Let us sing unto
the Lord,' Ps. xcv. 1 ; ' Let us go up to the moun-
tain of the Lord,' Isa. ii. 3 ; ' We \\-ill praise thy
name, God, for ever, Ps. xliv. 8 ; ' We will give
thee thanks for ever,' Ps. Ixxix. 13 ; ' We will shew
forth thy praise. Unto thee, God, do we give
thanks, do we give thanks,' Ps. Ixxv. 1.

1. Thus, our care to stir up others to praise God
will indeed appear to arise fi'om a true zeal of God's
glory, from true Christian love, and from the Spirit
of grace dwelling in us, when we ourselves do what
we persuade others unto.

2. Thus shall we add an edge to the exhortations
we give others, when they see us leading the way
before them. If soldiers see their captains forward
to those enterprises whereunto they incite them,
they will be much more encouraged and heartened
tliereunto. \^^lerewith can a physician better per-
suade a patient to obsen-e the diet which he pre-
.scribes, than by obser^dngit himself?

3. Refusing to practise ourselves what we exhort
others to do, maketh our exliortations to be profit-
able neither to others nor to ourselves.

Not to others, because the edge of our exliortations
must needs be much blunted thereby ; for people will
be ready to say, 'Physician, heal thyself,' Luke iv. 23.
Hardly will they be brought to think that we .speak
to them from our hearts, or that we ourselves are
well persuaded of the equity, excellency, necessity
and benefit of that whereunto we persuade them.

Not to ourselves, because thus they are made evi-
dences against us, witnessing that we knew the
right course which we reftised to take ; whereby we
make ourselves worthy of ' more stripes,' Luke xii.
47, and aggravate our damnation.

4. Tliis great mischief, beside many others, ariseth
from not practising what we persuade others to, that
impious men's mouths are opened to disgrace our
profession, and blaspheme the name of our God.
' Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thy-

self '? The name of God is bla.«phenied through you,'
Rom. ii. 21, 24.

Ye, therefore, that desire to manifest a true inten-
tion of heart in advancing the glory of God after the
best manner that you can, and to give proof that a
holy zeal of God's gloiy possesseth your soul, and
setteth you on work to do what you do in inciting
others to praise the Lord ; ye that desire to have
your pious endeavours therein to be of good use, not
to prove frustrate and vain, but to be effectual to
the end you aim at ; ye that would not puU down
wth one hand what you seem to build up with an-
other — nor afford occasion to them whom you stir
up to so weighty and bounden a duty, to think that
by-respects move you to incite them in that wherein
ye yourselves are so oold and careless ; j'e that
would have comfort in performing so warrantable
and profitable a duty ; take due notice of the direc-
tion here prescribed. Upon your own performance
(as the psalmist here doth) provoke others to be
followers of you, and to do as you do. First say,
and say it from the heart to him that searcheth the
heart, in truth to him that desireth tnith in the
inward parts — say unto the Lord, ' I wiU offer to
thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving ; ' and then say
unto others, ' Praise ye the Lord.'

Oh that ministers, magistrates, governors of fami-
lies, and all that have either function or disposition
to call upon others to praise the Lord, would first
take notice of the many just and weighty occasions
that themselves have to praise liim, and answerably
bind themselves so to do, and be careful to perfonn
what they are bound to perform, having their own
hearts filled with matter of praises, and their mouths
wide opened to utter the same ; so might they witli
much courage and confidence speak to others and
say, 'Praise ye the Lord.'

Sec. 122. Of God's 2'^reseiit mfrcies to England.

For a particular application of the general sum
and scope of the psahn, and of the two last men-
tioned duties of praising God ourselves, and of pro-
voking others so to do, let us take a view of the
special occasions which the Lord doth now, even at
this present time, give us to quicken our o^vn and
others' spirits to render all possible thanks unto him

136

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver 19.

for his unspeakable blessings on oui- ovni and other
nations.

1. "We here in England do stiU enjoy the great
blessing of peace, together -with that far greater
blessing, the gospel of peace, and a free use of all
God's holy ordinances requisite for our spiritual edifi-
cation and eternal salvation.

At this time this blessing ought to be the more
highly esteemed, because it is in a manner proper to us.
For most of the parts of Christendom are now, or lately
have been, exceedingly annoyed mth bloody war.

Of this blessing, Scotland, Ireland, and all the
parts of his most excellent majesty our sovereign
lord King Charles, do partake.

Of the benefit of this blessing I have elsewhere
treated ; so as here I need no longer to insist
upon it.i

2. The last year there was great scarcity of corn
everj^vhere in this land. Corn rose to a greater
price than hath been kno\vn in our memories. And
where in former times supply m Hke cases hath been
made by the plenty of other countries, all the
nations round about us were pinched with penury ;
so as there was too great cause of fearing a famine.

But the Lord was pleased to hear the heavens,
whereupon the heavens heard the earth, and the
earth heard the com, the grass, and all manner of
fruits, and they heard England, and the cry of the
poor therein.

Thus by the di\'ine providence our land brought
forth such a plentiful harvest, and the heavens af-
forded so fair a season for gatliering it in, as scarcity
is turned into plenty, deamess into cheapness. Our
floors are now full of wheat ; we eat in plenty and
are satisfied.

The misery of fanune giveth sufiicient proof of the
great benefit of plenty.

3. There was also the last yeai' great fear of much
sickness, and that of the infectious, pestilentious
sickness which some few years before had, month
after month, week after week, day after day, de-
stroyed such multitudes, as the fear of the return
thereof was the more terrible.

Physicians gave up their opinion that the air was
infected.

The famous university of Cambridge was so smitten
^ See 'The Church's Conquest,' sec. 96.

therewith as for the space of half a year and more
colleges were dissolved, students dispersed, readings
and acts intermitted, that populous place made de-
solate, and the poor that remained much pinched
with poverty.

Other great market towns round about in the
country were also the last year much infected with
the plague ; and many people were thereby de-
stroyed, or brought into gi'eat exigencies.

But now hath the Lord healed our land ; sickness
is removed, and health restored to our borders.

If the miserable desolation that the plague maketh
in many places — taking away magistrates from their
subjects, ministers from their people, husbands and
wives one from another, parents from children,
children from parents, dear friends, helpful neigh-
bours, one from another, and then especially depriv-
ing persons of the comfort of theii- best fiiends when
they stand in most need of them; if (I say) the
miserable condition occasioned by the plague be well
weighed, we shall find our dehverance and freedom
from the same to be a great blessing.

To amplify this blessmg the more, God's more
than ordinary providence, not only in abating the
violence of that extraordinary sickness which in the _
year 1625 so fiercely raged, but also in his speedy
suppressing and utter remo\dng it, is frequently and
seriously to be considered. A distmct narration
thereof is before set down.^

The more terrible the three evil an'ows of war,
famine, and plague are, the more remarkable are the
blessings of peace, plenty, and health.

4. We in our days have such a blessing conferred
upon us as hath not fallen out in England fourscore
and thirteen years before, which is the birth of a
prince, heir to the croT\Ti.- Blessed in this respect
be the nine and twentieth day of May 1630. On
that day was Prince Charles born.

From the 12th of October 1537, whereon Prince
Edward (who was Edward VI. King of England) was
born, to the said 29th of May 1630, England was not
honoured with such a blessing. This is an incom-
parable blessing to this present age, and to future
ages also, as we steadfiistly hope, and from our hearts,
with the most humble devotion and the most earnest
affection that we can, we daily pray.

' Sec. 31. - The birth of Prince Charles.

Ver. 19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

137

Sec. 123. Of the 2>resent liberty of the reformed churches
in France.

Christian charity requircth that we be afi'ected
with the blessings conferred on others, especially
such as are of the same faith and profession that
we are. Let us, therefore, cast our eyes on other
churches and their present condition, which, if we
duly observe, we shall find God's gracious providence
to be more than ordinarily extended towards them
in these our daj's.

We will begin viitli the reformed churches in
France.

AMien Henry IV., styled the Great, deceased, by
that favour he had shewed and peace he had given
to those of the refonned religion in his kingdom,
they were made so safe and secure, in man's opinion,
as it was supposed that no power was able to vTest
their liberty from them.

They had above two hundred walled and fenced
towns for their refuge and safety.

Many of the gi'eatest nobility in France were
their partisans, and seemed most affectionate to the
religion.

They had troops and armies of men well disci-
plined in arms, with many brave commanders and
old-beaten soldiers.

They were well provided with all store of amuni-
tion. Nothing requisite for defence and safety was
wanting, in man's imagination.

It is to be feared that they were too confident in
the arm of flesh : which that they miglit the more
thoroughly discern, the Lord withdrew his protec-
tion, and left them to defend themselves against the
power of their own sovereign, which at first they too
much slighted.

Soon after that their now sovereign had raised
and brought his forces against them, many of their
chiefest commanders revolted, their soldiers were
slain, their treasures exhausted, their cities and
towns of defence were \dolently wrested from them
or treacherously given up, many bloody massacres
were made among them, and the miserable effects of
war so depopulated their country and destroyed
their persons, as they were left destitute, without all
succour or hope of relief. And since the last taking
in of RocheUe, the king, who was of a contrary

religion to them, became an absolute master of
them.

AVliat now in man's eye could be looked for but
that utterly they should be deprived of the liberty
of their rehgion, and by little and little be enforced
to the idolatrous superstition of the Romish church,
or at least be bred up in blindness and ignorance,
being left without the light of the gospel to guide
and comfort them in that their miserable condi-
tion ?

Yet now in these happy days of deliverances,
behold how in their greatest extremity, when all
human means failed them, the Lord of hosts hath
beyond aU hope afforded them much peace and
quietness, and provided for them new churches,
built with their king's good leave, yea, and at his
cost and charges, because they had lieen demolished
by the fury of impious soldiers, and by the outrage
of superstitious people.

Through that liberty which now they enjoy, their
churches are diligently frequented, and all God's
ordinances duly observed, and their religion 'with
less scorn and derision professed than formerly.

Their peace and security is now greater than
when they had the forementioned means to embolden
them to stand upon their own guard.

This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our
eyes.

They had no Moses, no Joshua, to work for
them.

As they had no power within to defend them
from the might and malice of their enemy, so they
could expect no aid from abroad to encourage them
to stand out against their enemies. AU the aid that
from abroad was afforded unto them proved alto-
gether in vain.

God is all in all to tlicni. He that said, 'The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
lie down with the kid ; and the calf, and the lion,
and the fatling together ; and a little child shall
lead them ; and the sucking child shall play on the
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his
hand on the cockatrice' den,' Isa. xi. G, &c., hath
wrought this concord betwxt them and the adver-
saries of their religion.

' The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as
the rivers of water : lie turneth it whithersoever he

138

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 10.

will,' Prov. xxi. 1. To his churches, therefore,
hath the Lord turned the heart of that king for
their good.

What the inward affection of the king to those
of the reformed religion is, is a secret. Whether
the peace that those churches enjoy be occasioned
by reason of that supreme power, which now he
hath obtained over them, or by reason of his em-
broilments at home and undertakings abroad, Uttle
skilleth for the matter in hand. Sure it is that the
Lord hath ordered all things that have fallen out in
France for the good and peace of his churches
there.

Should not due notice be taken hereof?

Sec. 124. Of God's late mercies to the Low Countries.

From reformed churches in France we -will pass
to the Low Countries, who are of the same profes-
sion.

In recounting God's late mercies to them, (which
is the task that we have undertaken, thereby to
shew what gieat cause we now have to set out the
praises of the Lord,) it would be too far a digres-
sion to begin with those extraordinary deliverances
which they had when first they recovered their
liberty against the cruelty and tj'ranny of Duke
d'Alvau

Later mercies are these that follow.

1. A strong faction of Ai-minians being raised up,
and dispersed throughout all their provinces, where-
by the truth and purity of religion was much cor-
rupted, and the tranquillity and security of their
state put into great hazard, a National Synod, not
without the counsel and consent of our royal De-
fender of the Faith, King James, was assembled at
Dort, whereunto most gi-ave, learned, and judicious
divines, out of all the reformed churches in Chris-
tendom, came, who, all with one unanimous consent,
determined sundry fundamental jxdnts of our Chris-
tian religion agamst the contrary errors of the adver-
saries of God's free grace, — a mercy not to be for-
gotten.

2. The enemy having gathered such an army as
made him master of the field, whereby he so strongly
besieged Breda, (a frontier town of great command
every way round about,) as no succour could be
afforded it, but it was forced to yield ; at which

time also Grave Maurice, Prince of Orange, their
brave general, died. Great fear there was of much
mischief, if not of utter ruin, to beMl that state ;
but, by God's providence, their great enemy Spinola
was called into another country, and a supply made
of the loss of their former general by substituting in
his room his o^vn brother, whose prudence and
prowess success hath crowned ; so as they are now
better secured than they were before.

3. Spain pro\dded an exceeding great treasure for
the foresaid States, which it never intended to them.
The whole fleet of gold, silver, and other rich mer-
chandises which the Spaniards, by the help of the
West Indians, had been sundry years gathering
together, the Netherlanders took on a sudden ;
whereby their enemies were much disfurnished, and
they themselves so plentifully furnished, as they
were the better enabled, not only to defend them-
selves, but also to offend their enemies.

4. The States being now well prepared, they
quickly become masters of the field, and \nth much
resolution attempt that which the enemy little feared
they should attain ; namely, to take in the Bosche, a
very strong frontier town, well fenced, well manned,
and every way well jirejaaied and provided for. But
they so besiege it, as no rehef can be afforded to it ;
they so assault it, as there is no standmg out against
them ; they take it, and keep it.

5. While they lay at this siege, another booty
falls into their hands. Wesell, the magazine of their
enemy, wherein all warlike provision was in great
abundance stored up, sending out some of their gar-
risons abroad, notice thereof comes to the army of
the States m siege at the Bosche, they forthwith
send some troops to surprise Wesell on a sudden :
they come to it unexpected, and quickly take it.
Thus are the States again furnished with their
enemy's provision ; they take a strong town of great
consequence, which is as an inlet for them into the
Palatinate ; and by this means an enemy that, with
a great army, was entered into their country, and
burned and spoiled all before him, was forced back
again.

6. This last year, while the army of the States is
quiet at home, the enemy having plotted some mis-
chievous design against them, unexpectedly sends
an army by water into their territories, which (like

Ver. 19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXTI.

139

a flock of foolish bii-ds) flew into nets tliat were not
laid for them, and were taken.

What can we think, but that the finger of God
hath been in the ordering of these successful mat-
ters, for the better security of them who profess and
maintain the true religion against the professed
enemies thereof?

Sec. 125. Of the seasonable succour afforded to oppressed
Germany.

Among other e-\adences of the di\-ine providence
towards the reformed churches, the late seasonable
succour afforded to the churches in Germany is most
remarkable.

Many years together hath Germany been sore
vexed with intestine and ci\41 war.

Who can without a melting heart tliink on the
much blood that hath been spilt ; the ruins of many
fair cities, towns, castles, churches, and other edifices
that have been made ; the distresses that many exiles
of all sorts, princes and subjects, noble and mean,
clergy and laity, male and female, old and young,
have been brought unto ; the miserable bondage
under which such as have remained in their own
territories and habitations have groaned ; the hea^y
and undue taxes that have been laid on such as
have not had their titles, dignities, inheritances,
calUngs, and hberties by violence wrested from
them : who can without much compunction and
compassion hear of or think on those and many
other pressures and oppressions 1

The princes of the reformed churches in Germany ^
were forced to put up a joint complaint and remon-
strance of their grievances, and to consult about
means, at least of some ease (for their burdens were
intolerable) if not of full redress.

But their complaints proved hke to the complaints
of the Israehtes put up to Pharaoh for easing their
heavy burdens. ' Their savour thereby came to be
abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of
his sen'ants,' Exod. v. 21. They were in a worse
case than before.

.So proud was the enemy by reason of the great
armies that he had gathered together, and so flushed
he was in the conquests that he had made, as he re-

' See the narration of the Protestants' Diet at Leipsig, Feb.
8, 1631.

garded no complaints, he feared no revenge. He
deemed his power to be invincible.

When thus the refonued churches in Germany
were brought to the lowest ebb, and so near to the
pit's brink as they were upon tumbling down to their
utter i-uin, that man's extremity might appear to be
God's opportunity, in a most seasonable time the
Lord raised up, and sent unto them a deliverer,
Gusta-VTis of Sued, in whose title is couched Augustus
and Deus : Gusta\ais importing, by transposition of
letters, Augmtus; and Sued, read backward, Deus.

If the smaU army with which he came into Ger-
many, and the great things which he hath done since
he came thither, be duly weighed, we shall see cause
to acknowledge that the Lord of hosts was with
him.

That which is by experience noted of the snow,
that by being tumbled up and down, of a little ball
it comes to be a great heap that can hardly be
stirred, is Uke^^•ise by experience found verified in
his army.

We read of a dream. Judges vii. 13, &c., which a
soldier of the huge host of the ' Midianites, that for
multitude was as the sand by the sea-side,' thus re-
lated to his fellow, ' I dreamed a dream, and lo, a
cake of barley-bread tumbled into the host of Midian,
and came unto a tent, and smote it, that it fell, and
overturned it, that the tent lay along.' The inter-
pretation, which in the event proved true, was this,
' Tliis is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the
son of Joash, a man of Israel : for into his hand
hath God dehvered Midian, and all the host.'

A fit aUusiou thereunto, which hath likewise in
the event proved to be most true, may be this ; the
sword of the king of Sued, a defender of the true
rehgion, hath smitten the armies of the enemies of
the gospel ; and into his hand hath the Lord de-
livered his church's enemies.

This king proves to be as another C3TUS, ' the
Lord's anointed, whose right hand the Lord hath
holden to subdue nations before him. He shall per-
form the Lord's pleasure,' Isa. xlv. 1, and xhv. 28.

CjTus, the Persian monarch, though he were to
admiration victorious, yet did he not with such
expedition gain in and bring under his power so
many forts, castles, walled towns and cities, every
way weO manned, fenced, and fortified, (no, nor that

140

GOUGE ON PSALM CSVI.

[Vek. 19.

hammer of the world, great Alexander,) as this
anointed of the Lord hath done in so short a time.

The enemy spent more years in subduing cities
and towns in Germany, than this deUverer hath
spent months in reducing them.

Conquering CiBsar came even into this country
whereinto victorious Gustavus is come, and with
such celerity subdued one principality after another,
as the orator is bold to say that he passed over
places by victories more speedily than another could
have done by paces.i This is indeed a hyperboli-
cal speech, but yet thereby exceeding great celerity
is set out ; which also is implied by another hyper-
bolical phrase used by Caesar himself in a letter to
his friend, in these three words, Veiii, ridi, vici, I
came, I saw, I overcame, — meaning thereby that so
soon as he came to a place, and took a \'iew of it, he
forthwith took it.

Yet in much shorter time hath Gusta-iTis subdued
and taken in more towns and cities than Caesar did,
and that after another manner than Caesar did.

Had Ciesar when he came into Gennany such an
adversary as Tilly 1

Were there raised such armies of men and horse
against Caesar as against Gustavus 1

Were there such garrisons, such ammunition,
such provision of all things requisite to repel an
enemy, in the places which Caesar subdued, as in
those which Gustavus took?

Never did Caesar, at least for the time that he
was in Germany, meet with so strong opposition
as Gustavus hath met withal.

Never was that general brought unto such hazards
as this king hath been brought unto.

In no part of Germany did C^sar ever meet with
such a pitched field or such a set battle, as Gustavus
did on God's Acre, near Leipsig. Nor ever was a
battle maintained with such prudence and provi-
dence, with such courage and constancy, agamst an
enemy that was so strong and stout, so seldom
foiled, so much prevaihng ; against an army sup-
posed invincible by reason of former successes and
present preparations ; against all the advantages
that an enemy could desu-e, as the battle at Leipsig
by valorous Gustavus. And all this after a great,

' Neo citius cujiisquam passibus quam suia victoriis, &c. —
Cic. Oral., pro M. Marcel. Plut. in vit. Cces.

if not the greater part, of his own army was put to
rout, and the enemy thereupon made so confident,
as he cried, Victory, victory, follow, follow ; but
with such success as the Benjamites had, when in
the beginning of the battle they had smitten the
Israelites, and thereupon cried, ' They are smitten
do^vn before us,' Judges xx. 32, &c.

On the seventh day of September, the birthday
of victorious Queen Elizabeth, was this never-to-be-
forgotten victory obtained. And on the seventeenth
day of November, the coronation-day of the said
puissant princess, was the liigh and mighty king of
Sweden entertained in the imperial city of Frank-
fort-on-Maine, the city where the German emperor
useth to be elected.

Since the forenamed incomparable victory at
Leipsig, aU things with very good success have
fallen out.

Sec. 126. Of the causes of the Swedish kinri's entering
into Gernmny.

The conquests made by the Adctorious king of
Sweden are in their kind very glorious ; but much
more glorious in the cause of undertaking them.

All confess that it is not so much the punishment
that maketh martyrdom glorious, as the cause.*

So is it in war. The cause rather than the event
makes it warrantable and praiseworthy. Good suc-
cess in just war brings much glory to the under-
takers thereof.

In this respect victorious Gusta\'us carrietli away
more glory than Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar,
Darius, Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar, or other the great
conquerors among the heathen.

Of those conquerors who are commended by the
Holy Ghost, it is said that they ' subdued kingdoms '
and ' wrought righteousness.'

Might and right must go together. Eight with-
out might may be much wronged. Might wthout
right may do much wrong.

Take we therefore a brief view of the causes of
sundry other conquerors, and we shall find might
without right.

Take we a -view of the causes which moved the
conquering king of Sweden to undertake his wars,
and we shall find might regulated by right.

' Causa non poena facit martyrem. — Aug., epist. 61.

Ver. 19.]

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

141

The cause wliich moved conquering monarchs in
former times to enter into other men's dominions
and to subdue nations, was especially the pride of
their heart, and their ambition to have the supreme
sovereignt}^ over the whole world, if possilily tliey
could achieve.it.

It is said of Alexander the Great, that when he
heard the philosopher's conclusion concerning the
the unity of the world, he wept because there were
no more worlds for him to overcome. Behold the
ambition of men's minds, how boundless, how un-
satiable it is !

The forementioned Ca?sar invaded Germany,
Prance, England, and other nations, to enlarge the
dominion of the Roman empire. So did other
Eoman generals before and after Ccesar.

True it is that God in his unsearchable wisdom
stirred up many of them to be his instniments to
punish people's rebellion agamst God. In which re-
spect they are called the ' rod ' of the Lord, Isa.
X. 5; his 'staff,' Jer. xii. 12; his 'sword,' Ezek.
XXX. 24. Yea, God is said to put ' his sword into
their hands ; ' and because the Lord useth them as
his instruments, they are in that respect styled ' the
Lord's anointed,' Isa. xlv. 1 ; his ' servants,' Jer.
xsv. 9 ; his ' shepherds,' Isa. xliv. 28. Yet not-
withstanding this secret intent of the Lord, which
he by their ministry brought to pass, they were
stirred up by pride and ambition to do what they
did. So saith the Lord of Ashur, ' Ass)Tian,
the rod of mine anger, &c. I wUl send him against
a hypocritical nation, &c. I will give him a charge
to take the spoil, &c. Howbeit he meaneth not so,
&c. For he saith, By the strength of my hand I
have done it, and by my wisdom,' &c., Isa. x. 5-7,
13. And further to shew that they by their inward
wicked disposition were set on work, it is said ' that
when God gave people into their hands they shewed
them no mercy,' Isa. xlvii. 6 ; and again, when ' the
Lord was a little displeased they helped forward the
aflBiction,' Zech. i. 15.

But the pious and righteous king of Sweden hath
made it manifest to all the world, that no ambitious
thoughts, no desire of enlarging his o-svn dominions
by forcing away other men's rights from them, hath
embroiled him in these German wars.

Great wrongs were done to him by the enemy.

and fear given of greater, if he looked not the better
to himself. So as he was forced to take up arms to
secure his owti dominions and his neighbours' border-
ing upon him.

It is noted of the Philistines that ' they came up
to seek Da\'id,' 2 Sam. v. 1 7. Whereby is imj^lied
that they first provoked him to war ; and his setting
upon them and destroying them is thereby justified.

It is also recorded of the Syrians that they helped
the Ammonites, who had most despitefully used
David's ambassadors,' 2 Sam. x. 4, &c. Thereby
David's warring against the Ammonites and Syrians
is justified. Against the Ammonites for ^v^ong done
to David ; against the Syrians for aiding Da\'id's
enemies.

Such provocations had king Gustavus to enter upon
these latter wars. He was first fought by the enemy.
His ambassadors were basely used. This latter
enemy sent armies under his own ensigns in aid of
the Pole, his former enemy, ^vith whom he was then
in war.

Besides these wrongs done to himself, complaints
and invitations were made to him by sundry op-
pressed princes and states, and particularly of those
to whom he was engaged by ancient alliances and
confederacies. By these also he was drawn into
these wars, wherein the divine pro^-idence hath
given him so good success and so great glory.

Abraham, Gen. xiv. 14, on such a ground as this
latter is, was moved to take up arms against those
that spoiled Sodom where his brother Lot was ;
wherein the Lord gave him good success.

Joshua also on such a ground made war agauist
the five kings of the Amorites, who encamped
against Gibeon, Josh. x. 6, &c. The Gibeonites
were at that time in league with the Israelites.
Thereupon Gibeon being invaded by the Amorites,
sends unto Joshua to the camp, saying, ' Slack not
thy hand from thy servants, come up to us quickly
and save us and help us.'

Thus Gustavus in affording succour to such as
were oppressed and craved his aid, they being also
his confederates, hath done that which such as were
guided by God's Spirit have done before him ; and
that as well for securing his o^^^l dominions, as for
relieving others. For had that flood of war, which
overflowed, and in a maimer ruinated, the greater

142

GOUGE ON PSALM CTYI.

[Ver. 19.

part of Germany, been suffered to swell and run
longer and further, it might have made an irre-
coverable breach even unto the very kingdom of
Sweden.

"Wliere that flood of war had a current, it carried
away the true religion before it ; it bare away
princes out of their jMincipalities, other governors
out of their jurisdictions, ministers of God's word
from their charges, owners from their possessions,
and others from their places and callings ; it de-
prived free cities of their inmiunities and privileges ;
and brought many mischiefs and inconveniences to
many others.

Wherefore to preserve true religion where it was
in great hazard to be suppressed ; to re-establish it
where it was removed ; to restore princes, other
governors, ministers, owners, and others to their
own rights; to recover to free people their privi-
leges ; to bring home the banished ; to take off the
heavy yoke of bondage and intolerable burdens
from their necks on whom they were unjustly laid ;
and finally to prevent cruel massacres and perse-
cutions for the gospel's sake, hath this contrary
stream of war been ojiposed ; so as violence by
violence, as necessity required, hath been resisted ;
and a strong stream of sweet water hath beaten
back a great flood of salt waters.

Sec. 127. Of the effects of the Swedish Vimfs wars.

The blessed events that have followed upon the
king of Sweden's wars in Germany do give evident
proof to the truth of the ends and intents before-
mentioned. For thereby true religion is in many
places re-established, and a free Uberty for exercise
thereof procured to the professors of it. Ancient
immunities and pri\ileges are recovered ; jirinces,
other governors, ministers of the gospel, states,
polities, private lords and owners, are restored to
their dominions, dignities, charges, callings, inheri-
tances, and possessions. Man)' people are eased of
their heavy burdens and grievances.

There hath also hereupon followed a great abate-
ment of the greatness of the house of Austria, and
such a diminution of the power thereof, as that
they who have been the cliief pillars of the church
of Rome, are by these late victories got agamst
them, disabled, as we hope, from helping fonvai'd

the pope's design of reducing the Christian world
to an absolute obedience unto his chair, yea, and
from further promoting their own ambitious desires
of the monarchy of Europe.

By the forenamed success there is also procured
much addition and great strength to the protestant
parties, by digesting all Germany into their body ;
and a great means effected for facihtating the unions
betwixt those that, to the great scandal of the
profession, and dishonour of those worthy lights
of the church, Luther and Calvin, have been dis-
tinguished by these factious titles, Lutherans and
Cal\'inists.

Great security is hereby further brought to the
reformed churches in France, who could never be
reduced to the terms wherein they now are, so long
as the protestant princes in Geimany retained
freedom and power in their own dominions.

A way is also hereby opened to the very gates of
Rome, whereby the threatenings against the seven-
headed beast may in the Lord's appointed time be
accomplished.

Finally, there is great hope given of establishing
much peace and security to all the true churches of
God ; and many other blessings are expected, wliich
the Lord grant to his people !

Sec. 128. Of praising God for tJic foresaid mercies.

To make a brief recapitulation, and to gather up
the sum of all, for the better application of the main
point intended : —

The Lord having secured our peace, and removed
from us his judgments of plague and famine ;

The Lord having restored to the reformed
churches in France a gracious liberty for exer-
cising their religion ;

The Lord ha\'ing with more than ordinary success
prospered the affairs of our nearest neighbours, the
States General of the united provinces in the Nether-
lands ;

The Lord having succoured his oppressed churches
in Germany, and given to their deliverer factories
beyond expectation, unto admiration ;

The Lord ha\ing given very many clear e\'idences
of his fatherly care over his churches everywhere,
and of his gracious providence towai'ds them, even
now in these our days :

Ver. 19.]

GOUGE OM PSALM CXVI.

143

Should not our souls be affected with all and
every of these mercies ? Should they not he incensed
with an ardent zeal of setting forth the lionour of
his name ?

We, and others of tlie same profession, of the
same religion, enjoy the comfort and benefit of
the foremeutioned mercies, and of many other
mercies flowing from the divine providence; and
sliall not the Lord, who so ordereth his provi-
dence for our good, have the praise and glory
thereof?

Who can give sufficient thanks — nay, whose soul
can be satisfied in rendering praises — to so good and
gracious a God for so many and so great bless-
ings, so seasonably and so freely conferred on his
churches ?

Should not all ministers of the gospel make their
churches to ruig again with sountling forth God's
praises ?

Should not publishers of books make mention
of these mighty works of the Lord, to the further
pubUshing of his name 1

Should not the wits of all divine poets be set on
work to indite due forms of praises, for the better
magnif}-ing of his name who hath done so glorious
things for us ?

Should not every Christian soul, in the best
manner that it can, add something to the magnify-
ing of God's name, as every one brought something
to the building of the tabernacle 1

Did we not, while the Lord was time after time
shooting out against us and others his three deadly
arrows of plague, famine, and sword, humble our
souls before him, and call upon him instantly, con-
tinualh', to spare his people, to remove his ■nTath,
to take away his judgments ?

Should we not now, the Lord having graciously
heard our prayers for ourselves and others, be hearty
and zealous, instant and constant, in rendering all
possible praise and thanks unto him ?

It hath been before declared ^ how tme grateful-
ness hath especial relation to God, and ascribeth the
glory of all dehverances to him, and that praise is
the best gift that can be given him,- and that there-
upon saints are never satisfied in setting forth God's
praises.* They content not themselves with an in-
' Sec. 51, 79. ' Sec. 85. • Sec. 108.

ward affection of praising God in their own souls,
or secretly betwixt God and themselves, but they
nuist needs break forth into praises of God, and
manifest their inward gratitude by outward gratula-
tion,i and that i)ub]icl}% boldly, among much people,
in the midst of great assemblies,' exhorting and in-
citing others to praise God with them,^ and them-
selves conseionably practising what they incite others
unto.''

Now we have so great and just gi-ounds at this
time to praise God, let us take the occasions of stir-
ring up our own and others' spirits to do it heartily
and zealously, that God finding his bles.sings con-
ferred on a grateful people may never repent any
kindness done ; but may go on to add victory to
victory, success to success, blessing to blessing, till
he have finished the good work done for his churches,
and accomplished the promises wliich he hath made
for destro}'ing the kingdom of Antichrist, calling
the Jews, bruiging in the fulness of the Gentiles,
and consummating all things by his last and most
glorious coming.

Wherefore, ' Bless tlie Lord, my soul : and aU
that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Jly heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed : I will
sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory : I my-
self wU awake early. My tongue shall speak of
thy righteousness, and of thy praise all the day
long.'

' Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the
Lord. Give unto the Lord glory and strength :
give unto the Lord the glory due to his name.'

' O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good :
for liis mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so : whom he hath redeemed from
the hand of the enemy.' Let them that were exiled
say so, whom he hath brought to the place of their
habitation. Let them that were oppressed say so,
whom he hath eased of their hea\7- burdens. Let
them that are freed from the infectious plague, and
from pinching famine, say so. So let them say who
are restored to a free exercise of their religion.
Praise ye the Lord who quietly sit on your tlirones
of judgment, to execute righteous justice and judg-
ment. Praise ye the Lord that freely go to your
'Sec. 86. »Sec. 116, 118. ' Sec. 120. * Sec. 121.

144

GOUGE ON PSALM CXVI.

[Ver. 19.

churches to preach and hear God's word, and to ob-
serve all his holy ordinances. Praise ye the Lord
that peaceably exercise your callings, possess your
lands and inheritances, eat the fruit of your labours,
enjoy mutual communion one with another, and
partake of other benefits of the divine providence.
Praise ye the Lord all ye members of the true church.
Blessed be the Lord out of his chiu'ch. Praise ye
the Lord.

And now, good Lord, as thou hast given such oc-
casions of praising thy name, perfect this praise by
perfecting the good work which thou hast begun
for thy churches. Leave not him whom thou hast
raised up to be thy church's deliverer to the mali-
cious and mischievous plots of his enemies.

Be thou his strength, his rock, his fortress, his
deliverer. Uphold him with thy right hand, till he
have performed all thy pleasure. Amen. Amen.

PKINTED BV BALLANTT.NE AND CO., PBINTEBS, EDIXBURGU.

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