Commentary on the Psalms of Ascent, Section 2
The 121. Psalme. I will lift mine eyes vntounto the mountaynes, &c.
The argument of the Psalme.The Psalme going before was a prayer for the preseruation and continuance of the word of God & found doctrine, against pestiferous tongues and wicked opinions: For that is the chiefest assault that Satan maketh against the church of God. Now this Psalme I take to be as an exhortation to the faithful,This Psalme containeth the doctrine of faith. for it conteineth the doctrine of faith. Which faith is a knowledge of thinges inuisible and to be looked for, and resteth in the promise & word of God. But because Gods word excedeth the capacity of man, & the thinges which it promiseth seeme either absurd & vnlikely, or impossible or else incredible & against al reason, therfore they which hauehave once begun to beleue, hauehave nede of continual exhortations, to stirre them vp against ye tētations of the flesh, which striue against faith & the word of God, least the spirit being pressed downe with the heauy burden of the flesh, should be vtterly vnable to thinke of spiritual and heauenly things. For our life is full of troubles, tossed with continual tempests, as they which are sayling on the sea, and we are caried away eueryevery moment with the blasts of tentations, whiles our mindes are assailed either with prosperitie or aduersity, with wealth or pouerty, with glory or ignominy, with ioy or sorrow. And hereof yet doe fellow much more greuous & daungerous tentations: that is to say, security and desperation. Therfore when these stormes blowe, it is necessarie that we shoulde be stirred vp with continuall exhortations out of the worde of God, whereby we may learne to resist the same. And thus doe I vnderstand this Psalme, that it is a doctrine whereby we are admonished & taught that we shoulde hauehave our faith exercised and stirred vp with continual exhortations so long as we liue, least we being ouercome with the cares of this world, should forget and neglect the rich blessings and euerlasting treasures of the life to come.
Verse. 1.
I will lift mine eyes vntounto the mountaines from whence my helpe commeth.
These words do include a cōparison betwene the mountaines which bring helpe and succour, & the mountaines that bring desolation and destruction: as eueryevery doctrine of faith & eueryevery promise importeth also the contrarie, if you hauehave respect to the flesh. The godly hauehave a promise of Christ that he will be their helpe and succour: but if we looke to the outward appearance, Christ himselfe hanging vppon the crosse, seemeth to be vtterly forsaken. In like maner there is a comparing togither of contraries to be vnderstande throughout this whole Psalme:A cōparing of contraries As though the Prophet should say: when tentations & trialls of faith are at hand, one runneth to this place and an other to that, seeking for helpe & succour diuers wayes: As amongst my people some runne to Bethel, some to Gilgal, some to Bethauen, as mountaines from whence they looke for helpe and succour. Euen as in popery they run to eueryevery stocke and blocke, as to their onelyonly patrones and helpers, with kneeling, knocking, creping, kissing and licking. For the reliefs and comforts are infinite which the heart beleueth and seeketh after when it is in trouble and distresse. And it is a wonderfull thing to see howe ready it is to receiue helpe and comfort▪ any way else▪ sauing onelyonly of God.The commendation of faith. This is then the praise and commendation of faith, that it looketh onelyonly towardes the healthfull and comfortable mountayne which is in Ierusalem, & refuseth the succour of all other mountaines. Thus the prophet casteth his eyes aside (as it were) vponupon the wicked, who forsaking the helpe of the Lordes merciemercy and goodnes which was then in Ierusalem, sought reliefe and succour in other mountaines.
In like maner in the kingdom of the Romish Antichrist there are infinite feets and swarmes of Monks and other supersticious votaries, some holding of Augustine, some of Benedict, some of Francisce, &c. which by their vowes and monasticall life thinke to obtaine the kingdom of heauen, hoping also by these comforts to ouercome the terrour of Gods wrath & heale the woundes of conscience. And this is alwayes the inclination of mans nature to follow his owne wayes and to forsake the wayes of the Lord. Therfore Dauid sayth: Some forsake the temple & abhorre the mount Syon, but I abide in the simple way of faith & true religion, which is the healthfull hill that the Lorde him selfe hath appoynted. In that he calleth it the healthfull hill or the hill from whence helpe and succour commeth, he reiecteth and condemneth all other hills which hauehave a shewe of helpe and succour. Such I meane as is visibly wrought in the seruice and honour done to the idols, but true helpe they giuegive none. So the Iewes sayd that Baall shewed more present help in the temple then God. So they cry in Ieremy: VVe will doe sacrifice to the Queene of heauen: but thy commaundement we will not doe: for since we left to doe sacrifice to the Queene of heauen, the sworde and famine hath consumed vsus: And thus forsaking the temple and the true worship of God, they ranne headlong to all impietie.
But you will say: Why would God that Idolatry should hauehave such successe? Euen to trye our fayth, and whether we doe truely beleue and worship one God, according to that commaundement: Thou shalt hauehave none other Godds, &c. True it is in deede that Idolatry hath great successe:Idolatry prospereth and flourisheth for a time. yet is it but for a time. So said King Achas: The goddes of the Kings of the Syrians doe helpe them: therefore will I also seeke their fauour, and they shall helpe me. But what sayth the Scripture? The gods of Syria were the destruction both of them and of all Israell. And this is the end of all such false trust.
So doth Mammon likewise helpe his worshippers: For he is a great god, and bringeth to them libertie, ioy and comfort. He lifteth them vp to wealth and dignitie: he maketh them to swell with pride and glory.Humane helps and comforts. But howe long? For the time of this fraile & brickle life: but in death he doth not only forsake them, but driueth them downe to the deepe pit of hell. Therefore whatsoeuer worldly and visible comfortes and delightes the heart of man can here desire or enioy, he findeth them vncertayne and shortly must forsake them, and yet withall they bring vnspeakeable tormentes and afflictions of mind, and lead men into such blindnes that they hauehave no regard of God at all: who doth not delight his true worshippers with vayne pleasures of this worlde which endure but a moment, but replenisheth them with euerlasting ioyes. For thus he sayth: I will see you againe, and your heart shall reioyce, and your ioy no man shall take from you. Let vsus learne therefore to cleaue fast to the Lord our God, and those inuisible comforts: and if trouble come (as we can not looke to be without a crosse) if we seeme to be desolate and distitute of all comfort, yet God hath a time when he will shew him selfe to hauehave a care of vsus, and we shall finde that the afflictions of this life are not to be compared to the glory which shall be reueiled on vsus, as S. Paule comforteth vsus.
This is then the sense and meaning of this verse, that fayth is a knowledge of thinges inuisible, and yet to be looked for, least we shoulde thinke it to be but a meere speculation, as some doe make it. There are thinges to be looked for of the which we hauehave experience in this life, that is to say, a good conscience, a ioyfull heart, an inuincible faith, which is able to stande against all stormes of tentations, against pouertie, enuy, reproche and sclaunder of the world, against errours and false doctrine, and euen against death it selfe. Thus we must learne to know the nature of faith, namely that it is a will or knowledge or an expectation resting vponupon the word of God, which word sheweth and setteth forth vntounto vsus inuisible helps, and yet to be looked for as certaine and vnfallible: and although we thinke it long before they come, yet will they come, when it shall be most to our ioy & comfort. And this is it that these words of the Prophet doe here expresse: I lift vp mine eyes to the hils from whence my helpe commeth. Here he sheweth him selfe to be destitute of helpe and succour, and yet in sure hope and expectation thereof, he looketh vp vntounto those hills and hopeth for inuisible comfort.
In like maner must we doe also. I am in distresse or affliction of body or mind: I am in necessity and can see no meanes how to liue, how to maintayne my family, how to escape this daunger or that. Here is the hart oftentimes oppressed with sorrow, and miserably vexed, as though there were no succour, no comfort, nor remedy to be founde. But here must we be certainely perswaded that there is help and succour prepared for vsus, and the time therof also appoynted of God, although we know not when it shall be. But by this we may learne what a hard matter it is to beleeue when the hart must yeld and consent to any thing contrary to that which both we se, heare, & feele. I my self hauehave bene oftentimes in wonderful great daūgers, when the whole world (as it were) conspired against me. For the Pope my mortall enemy and the enemy of my Christ, did not cease to stirre vp against me, what power and terrour so euer he was able to deuise. Here reason woulde rather perswade me to kepe silence and say nothing, then to teach and bring my selfe thereby into trouble and daunger.The help of the Lord. For reason can neuer see the Lordes maruelous help and deliuerance, which is inuisible and hidden from the eies of the world: therfore it thinketh onelyonly of that which it seeth, that is to say, destruction.
In all these stormes, how my mind was stablished in God, what my faith and hope was, I will here say nothing. Albeit in these great daungers (I graunt) my minde was oftentimes troubled, and yet at the length the inuisible help of God, being hidden from myne eyes, and from the eyes of the whole worlde, appeared: so that not onelyonly my deadly and mightie aduersaries could not hauehave their wills vppon me, but also the preaching of the Gospell had more prosperous successe, & more mightely encreased then euer it did before. Therefore, forasmuch as flesh can not see the inuisible things of God, let vsus so humble our selues vntounto the obedience of faith, that we may learne to say: I lift myne eyes vntounto the hills. There is sure helpe prepared, though I can by no meanes see or perceiue the same, and flesh seeth & also looketh for the contrary. So doe these wordes expresly and liuely set forth the nature and strength of faith, and what it is.
Why he sayth to the hills, and not to the Lord.But why sayth he, I lift myne eyes to the hills, and not to God? And againe, why doth he mention moe hilles then one? for that seemeth to maintayne Idolatrie. To the first I aunswere that this and such like places: as, he send thee his helpe from the holy place, doe teach vsus yt God will be heard, worshipped, looked for, and prayed vntounto according to his word, and not according to our imaginations. So sayth he in Exodus: In what place soeuer I shall leaue a remembrance of my name, there will I visite thee, and blesse thee. Therefore the Iewes were alwayes bounde to the temple of Ierusalem, in what place or countrey soeuer they were, and also when they prayed at home in their owne houses, to turne their eyes toward Syon. The prayer of the godly pleased God euen in Babylon, farre from the temple and from Ierusalem: but yet in this respect, because they sunge and praied to that God which dwelled in the hill Syon, and there had erected his tabernacle.
And this is the cause why the Prophetes condemned all other kindes of seruice and worship done vntounto God in other places. For it was not enough to say: O God which didst bring thy people out of Egypt: For so Ieroboam also spake vntounto God, and sayd truely of him, and perhaps prayed more earnestly then they that were in Ierusalem, and in the temple. Such a fayre shew and pretence of true holines hypocrisie is wont to make: and Idolatrie is oftentimes more earnest & vehement then true pietie. But why did not such prayers please God? Forsoth because other hilles were not chosen & appointed of God to that purpose, neither had they the word and promise of God. Wherfore God would not heare their prayers but only in that place, or at least, turning thē selues both with eyes and heart towards Ierusalem, if with their bodies they could not be present. Daniel therefore being in Babilon, when he was about to make his prayer vntounto God, turned himself towards Ierusalem, not only because Salomon in his prayer vntounto God besought him that if they at any time shoulde be driuen out of their countrey, & turning them selues towards this place should make their prayer vntounto him, he would heare them and bring them home againe: but also because God will be worshipped in yt place which he hath chosen, that all wandring deuotions and worshipping of God after mans imaginations, might be auoyded.
We which are in the time of the new testament, are not bound to any external place, as Christ sayth: The time shall come when they shall worshippe me neyther in this mountayne nor in that. Christ is our spirituall Sanctuarie:Our mountayne. for God will heare no man but through him onelyonly, according to the saying of Christ: VVhat soeuer ye aske my Father in my name. &c. By him therefore we offer vntounto God the bullockes of our lippes: For without Christ we can neither beleue, trust, nor obtayne any thing. This is the principall poynt of all our doctrine, and therefore we must lay sure hold on it. There hauehave bene many which hauehave gone about to please God without Christ. So Arius, albeit he robbed Christ of his diuinity, ye he would seeme to acknowledge a God whom he professed and worshipped. Monks and other religious Sectaries thinke to please God with their will works, vowes, & monastical life: Yea & in the whole kingdom of the Romish Idoll, what other meanes do they seke to please god withall? yea what other Christ do they make vntounto them selues then their own works, inuētions, and traditions? All these lift vp their eyes, not to the hills, to the which Dauid loked, that is, they do not loke only vntounto Christ: For he alone is that hill & holy Sanctuarie which we must lift vp our eyes vntounto, that like as the Iewes had no Sanctuarie but that in Ierusalem: so we should hauehave no other Sanctuary to flie vntounto but this one and alone, euen Iesus Christ the sonne of Mary.
Thus am I wont to aunswere to the first doubt, that Dauid fastned his eyes vponupon the holy place & thither directed his praier, which place was in Ierusalem, in the which was the memoriall of the name of God which he had made vntounto him selfe. Before that time it was in Siloc & Gibea where the Tabernacle was. In these places he heard the prayers of his people, and he receaued their sacrifices: but in other places he neither receaued praiers nor sacrifices: for there was not the memoriall of the name of the Lord which he had made to him selfe, but the memoriall of Idolls and Idolatry, which the impious Iewes had imagined to themselues. But nowe in the newe Testament the name of God dwelleth in Christ and his Church, which is one body with Christ, whereas is the word of God, baptisme, the supper of the Lord, and the exercise of obedience towards God.
To the second doubt thus I aunswere, that albeit he seemeth to prophecy of the church of the new Testament, in the which are many hilles, that is to say, God in Christ heareth the prayers of the faithfull in euerie place, neither is prayer and the worship of God bound to any externall place, yet may it be that the Prophet therefore spake in the plural number, because there were two hils in Ierusalem, namely mount Sion, and the mount called Moria, where the temple was. And moreouer (as I sayd before) the plural number sheweth a contrariety betwixt those hills and the hils of the Idolaters. As if he should say: The Idolaters run to their mountaines, but I will abide still in these hills, wherein my soule deliteth aboue all other.
Moreouer, where he sayth: I lift vp mine eyes vntounto the mountaynes from whence my helpe commeth: it is the voyce of faith. For the flesh thinketh the crosse and all calamities to come from these hilles, and therefore calleth them not the hills from whence commeth helpe and comfort, but desolation and destruction, when it seeth it selfe in hatred with the worlde for religion, in pouertie, in tentations, in daungers, in terrours. This seemeth to be a desolation and a casting away from the face of God and a descending into hell. Against his iudgement of the fleshe fighteth faith, and iudgeth not according to that which it feleth and seeth, but according to the word which the Lord hath spoken, which biddeth vsus lift vp our eyes to inuisible comfortes, and to become (as it were) inuisible, and by faith, in pouertie to beholde riches, in heauines and sorrowe ioy and comfort, in desolation and destruction helpe and succour, and when we seeme to be cut of and to be cast away from God, euen then to beleue and by faith to lay sure handfast on Gods eternall merciemercy and grace in Christ: As Dauid here did, who was afflicted and felt no comfort, and yet he sayth: I lift vp myne eyes to the hilles from whence commeth my helpe. Thou must lift vp thine eyes therfore, and in no wise fixe them vponupon the present troubles, calamities, or afflictions whatsoeuer the fleshe seeth, feeleth, or suffereth: for that is to obey and consent to the eyes and the eares, that is to say, to harken to the flesh, which is alwaies ready to perswade thee that God is angry with thee, that he hath forsaken thee, that thy daunger is such and so terrible that thou canst neuer escape it. Here therefore thou must lift vp thine eyes to the hills of the Lord, and harken to the voice of God, who sayth and promiseth that helpe shall surely come from those hills: which albeit for the tyme it be inuisible and can neither be seene nor felt, yet is it most certayne and infallble. They that are in wealth, glorie and dignitie lift not vp their eyes to these inuisible thinges, and therefore they are puffed vp with pride and caried away with all noysom lustes. But such as are in pouerty, contempt of the worlde, afflicted in body or minde, are forced to lift vp their eyes, that the helpe which is inuisible may be made to them visible by fayth, according to the promise of God made vntounto them in his word.
These are the words therefore of a man that felt the same that we feele, that is to say, our hearts to be oppressed with sorrow and heauines, when we thinking our selues to be desolate and forsaken, can see no succour: when we see, not riches but pouertie: not glory but ignominy, shame and confusion. In these calamities the heart is an heauie burden, weying downe to the grounde the eyes and the head, that they can see or thinke vponupon nothing else but terrene and earthly thinges. Therefore he exhorteth vsus by his owne example to lift vp our eyes, and looke to inuisible thinges which the word promiseth we shall certainly enioy. Thus we see the nature of faith liuely set out in this Psalme. Nowe followeth, as it were an explication what hills he speaketh of.
Verse. 2.
My helpe commeth of the Lord which hath made heauen and earth.
He speaketh here of such hills as the eyes of the flesh could not see. For who was so quicke of sight to see, or so wise to perceiue and vnderstande, that the hill Moria was a holy hill. A heape of earth the bodily eyes might see: but the holynes, the power and the Maiestie of God there present, they could not see, nor that the word of the Lord was there, that the Lord had promised there to dwell and abide, that he had put a memoriall of his name in that place, and that there he would be sought, there he would be found, For he that sought not God in this place, coulde not finde him in heauen: Like as since God hath reueiled him self in yt man Christ, we truly say and also beleue that whosoeuer doe not imbrace and by faith lay hold on this man which was borne of the virgin, they can neuer beleue in God: but although they say they beleue in the maker of heauen and earth, yet doe they in deede beleue in the Idoll of their owne heart, for without Christ there is no true God. Therefore Dauid beholdeth these hills in Ierusalem, not with bodily eyes, as the oxe doth his stall, but with the eyes of the spirite he seeth that God dwelleth there by his word. Therfore these hils are nowe no more earth and molde, but they are the hilles of the Lorde and the fulnes of his godhead: so that with out these hills, concerning God there can nothing be found. Therefore it is truly sayd of the Prophet, that from these hilles commeth help and succour, that is to say, from God dwelling and abiding there by his word. Like as we beleue that Christ is the throne of grace in the which is the treasure of all good thinges and heauenly blessinges to be found, and without the which there is nothing.
Now, in that he doth not onelyonly say: My helpe commeth from the Lord, but addeth moreouer: which made heauen & earth: he reproueth & condēneth all other helps which men seeke & procure vntounto them selues besides God, with false trust & affiāce in ye same, as Idols of their owne imagination. So is Mammon a god also: that is to say, is worshipped of men as a god & helpeth them also sometimes. But in penury of food & vittells what succour can he bring? no man can satisfie his hungrie belly with gold and siluer. Likewise in drowth and barennes of the earth what can he help? What good can he do in diseases & infirmities of ye body? If then in these corporall maladies he can not help, what can he doe when the conscience is troubled with sinne & the horrour of death? It is therefore but a false pleasure and delite that Mammon bringeth: which is but only to satisfie & please the eyes, as a picture or painted table. Against these helps therfore & such like, which ye world seeketh after, the prophet setteth the Lord him self, who made not only gold & siluer, not only foode & sustenance, heauen and earth, that is to say, angels, men, and the whole world but besides these, giueth remissiō of sinnes, faith, righteousnes, ioy & peace of hart, with euerlasting life. He is (sayth the Prophet) my almighty and sure help, of whom I can not doubt, that he will euer fayle me the twinckling of an eye. To this Lord I flye for aide & succour, who not onelyonly in this life can and doth giuegive health & welfare for a fewe yeres, wt securitie of cōscience & cōtempt of death & all ye furies of ye world: but also after this life, eternal felicity & life euerlasting.
Thus the Prophet inflameth him selfe & stirreth vp his faith for our example, that we likewise should magnifie the blessings & good gifts of God in vsus, & also our hope & trust in him. For if the riche men of the world doe glory in their money, if they vaunt of their wealth and riches, why should not we also glory in the trust & confidence we hauehave in God, which hath made heauen and earth: which hath also in his hand all thinges necessary both for this life & for the life to come. But because these things are inuisible & can not be seene but with spirituall eyes, therefore we commonly neglect thē. And albeit the Lord do somtimes hide these helps from vsus, & let vsus feele the lacke therof for a time (as he doth in deede, to make vsus the more desirous of thē, the more to esteeme them when we hauehave them, and to be the more thankfull to God for the same) yet must we learne surely to trust and vndoubtedly beleue that they will come.
Verse. 3.
He will not suffer thy foote to slippe: For he that keepeth Israel will not slumber.
This verse dependeth vponupon those that go before. For the Prophet, because he began with an exhortation to faith, now goeth about as it were with promises,Trust & affiance in the helpe & succour of the Lord. to moue and exhort the faithfull to hold fast this confidence & trust in the help & succour of the Lord. And very necessarie it is for vsus, to exhort and stirre vp, not onelyonly other, but our selues also, because of the present daungers and afflictions. For seeing the things which discomfort vsus are present, and they which comfort vsus are absent, therfore so long as the present things which vexe vsus do endure, it is needefull that we should be stirred vppe with the worde and exhortation to perseuerance and pacience. For this exper…ce of trouble and affliction must be ioyned with doctrine & exh…tion. For our sight is so dimme, that we can not see these inui… thinges and the ende of afflictions. Therefore the flesh euer s…keth meanes how it may be deliuered, and when it can see non…as the carnall eyes can neuer see Gods maruelous helpe & deli…ance) then is it miserably vexed and tormented and can finde no…est nor quietnes. We hauehave neede therefore of exhortations out … the word of God, that this streatnes of our heart may be dilated and enlarged, which he alone can doe that seeth the end of our tentations. We must heare what his word sayth, and not what our owne heart sayth, which onelyonly seeth and feleth the beginning of tentations and afflictions, but the end thereof it can not see.
Therefore the holy Ghost here amplifieth and enlargeth the matter, that the exhortation may be the more effectuall. And here is first to be noted, that if the contrary were not, that is to say, no tentation felt or perill to be feared, then were this exhortation but in vayne. For if tentation shoulde hauehave an ende as soone as it beginneth, or if as soone as we feele any lacke, God should giuegive vsus that we desire, wherefore then shoulde God promise any thing? Therefore neither is doctrine necessarie in those thinges that we know before, neither exhortation when we are out of daunger and feele no tentation. Therefore where the Prophet sayth: He will not suffer thy foote to slippe, he plainly sheweth what is the state of the afflicted. For when they feele them selues to be in daunger through the grieuousnes of tentation, their hearts are heauy and careful, least they should perish and be forsaken of the Lord for euer. Here hauehave they neede therfore of exhortation, that their faith faile not or be not vtterly quēched. For reason can iudge no other wise, but that a man being in this case is cleane reiected & forsaken of God, and after his owne sense feeleth that to be true which a certaine souldier was wont to say: that there are none which suffer more misery or are in greater daunger then such as serue God and their Prince faithfully.
Here is now no succour but to flie to the word of faith. And first this word pronounceth, that all they which will liue a godly life in Christ Iesu, shall suffer trouble and affliction. It setteth forth Christ for an ensample, who by the crosse entred into glory. It telleth vsus that we must be made like vntounto his image: that is, we must suffer with him if we looke to be glorified with him. Then we see that troubles and crosses are prepared for vsus. It sheweth moreouer what is to be done and what remedie is to be fought in such afflictions:Remedies in afflictions. euen to resort to the word, to harken to the word, to rest in the word and the promise. It promiseth that tentation shall not continue with vsus for euer, as our hearts doe iudge: but rather it telleth vsus, that it is but momentane and short. And Christ compareth the afflictions of the faithfull to the trauell of a woman, where death and life are ioyned togither as neare as may be. For she that euen nowe sawe nothing but death, and despayred of the life both of her selfe and of her childe, as soone as the childe is borne forgetteth all her sorrowes past. Sainct Paule sayth: the afflictions of this life are not to be compared to the glory which shall be reueiled vponupon vsus.The iudgement of the word in afflictions must onelyonly be followed. This iudgement of the word thou must followe, and not thine owne sense, which so iudgeth of the crosse and afflictions, that of a molehill or rather of a mote it maketh a great mountaine. So blind is reason and so vnable to iudge in matters of fayth. For that which God counteth but as a moment, a droppe, a sparcle, reason iudgeth to be euerlasting, a huge sea and a terrible fire. But thou wilt say: I finde and feele it so to be. What then? Doest thou feele or doeth God see and knowe more perfectly, thinkest thou? We must not iudge therefore according to our owne feeling, but according to that which the word of God pronounceth and iudgeth, or rather. God him self in his word.
The stories doe record that when Iulianus persecuted Athanasius and threatned his destruction,The history of Iulian and Athanasius. Athanasius so litle regarded the daunger thereof, that he likened the same to a clowde which the Sunne by litle and litle consumeth to nothing. What could be spoken more contemptuously of that outragious cruelty attempted by such a mightie Monarke and head of the Romane Empire? which rather might hauehave bene compared to a huge sea or a terrible fire. But as Athanasius sayd and beleued, euen so it came to passe: for Iulianus was slayne shortly after, and so Athanasius escaped the daunger. By whose example let vsus learne how to iudge of our owne troubles and perills, and looke to the word of the promiser, that we depend not vponupon our selues and our owne sense, but vpn the promise of the Lord. Death, pestilence, famine, hatred of the world and sclaunder, with such like, may well be resembled to an horrible tempest. And here if we follow reason, we are gone. But we must lift vppe our eyes to the hilles and harken to this voyce: I am the Lorde thy God, therefore magnifie my word, my helpe and my succour. Thus if we doe, then begin we to contemne that which to vsus before seemed so huge and terrible: then the word & promise beginneth to kindle in our harts and bringeth such strength and courage, that we are able to say: Nowe, be it neuer so huge a tempest, neuer so terrible a storme, let it come. Here is God, here is his worde, I will not feare. Thus is all the rage and furie of the Deuill, yea euen sinne and death it selfe brought to nothing, and nowe is it become, as it were a mote, which before seemed to vsus a mighty and huge mountayne.
Thus must we learne the distinctions of the holy Ghost. God taketh away thy wife, thy children. Thou fallest into sicknes and infirmitie of body. Thou losest thy goodes, thine estimation, the peace and tranquillitie of conscience, yea and some time, according to thine owne sense and feeling, Christ him selfe also. These are great matters in deede. But beware that whilest thou iudgest these thinges after thine owne sense, thou make not of a droppe an infinite sea, and of a sparcle a flaming fire. Though it be neuer so great which thou feelest and sufferest, yet God is greater. If God and Christ then perish not, if they still liue and reigne, what if thou lose thy wife, thy children, thy goodes, yea and thy life also? For what are all these if thou compare them to the inestimable grace of God and the riches which he hath promised in his word, but mere nothing? Therefore let vsus lift vp our mindes to these heauenly riches, and let vsus learne rightly to discerne betwene the crosse in respect of it selfe, that is, of the flesh and the sense of our owne heart, and in respect of God and his rich promise. Which if we consider as it is in it selfe and without Christ, what trouble is so small that shall not vtterly ouerthrowe vsus, and so shall eueryevery trouble be vntounto vsus intolerable. But if we behold the same in respect of God with the eyes of faith, though our afflictions and calamities seeme neuer so great and greeuous, yet the super abundant mercy of God in Christ swalloweth them vppe all. Who albeit he suffereth vsus to be afflicted for a litle season, yet shall the ent…e be full of ioy and comfort. So sayth the Prophet Esay: For a litle while hauehave I forsaken thee. This momentane and short time, to the flesh seemeth an eternitie. But (as I said) our carnall eyes doe but deceiue vsus. Therefore we must iudge according to Gods promises concerning inuisible things, and see what God hath said in his word.
This is the exercise of faith, whereof Dauid speaketh in this place,The exercise of faith. admonishing vsus to looke to the word and promise, and to lift vp our eyes to inuisible things, and thereafter to iudge, and not according to thinges present. And here experience teacheth vsus what an infinite wisedom true diuinitie is, which in this life we can neuer fully and perfectly attaine vntounto. For to what sudden mutations this life is subiect, we see. To day aliue and in good health, to morrow dead and gone. Yea how infinite are the troubles, calamities, tentations and daungers wherewith our life is tossed as a shippe on the sea, which so terrifie vsus that heauen and earth are to little for vsus, yea the whole creature is to vsus a very hell. This is the nature of flesh: which Satan moreouer so inspireth and bewitcheth, that it seeth not God, but rather (as it iudgeth) some great and horrible mischiefe: not life, but death and destruction. But this is no iudgement, but rather a delusion of the flesh and the deuil: against the which we must fight, yea and beleue that euen in our destruction (as to vsus it seemeth) God is present with vsus, and in our death Christ our King liueth: in whose sight our tribulations and afflictions, yea and death it selfe are altogither, (as you would say) but one nothing: and if we compare them vntounto God by the iudgement of faith, we shall feele them so to be in deede. But who hath sufficiently learned thus to doe? Somewhat we may say,Experience and practise maketh a right Christian. and teach other after a sort: but vse and experience, with inward practise and feling is that which maketh a right diuine and a true Christian in deede, so that he may be able boldely to affirme and say with Dauid: He will not suffer thy foote to styppe: that is to say, he will not suffer thee to be vtterly ouerthrowne and perish. But the flesh saith the contrary, because it feeleth, not onelyonly thy foote to slyppe, but it selfe also to be troden vnderunder foote.
Beholde the sonne of God what he suffered: Behold Iohn Baptist, the virgin Mary, the Apostles, the Prophets what they suffered. Behold ye church at this day what danger it is in, what troubles and afflictions it continually suffereth. And this is the state of the godly. Upon the experience whereof ariseth this prouerbe: The more wicked, the more happy. And therefore the worlde fearing and shunning these daungers, can neuer abide the Gospell. And thus it appeareth to them not to be true that Dauid sayth here: The Lord wil not suffer thy foote to slippe: but rather the contrary, that he causeth thy foote to slyppe. Albeit it doth but seeme so (for he doth not so in deede) and that to the flesh onelyonly: but contrariwise, to the spirit and faith it is exaltation and glory before God. They iudge that death which is suffered for the confession of the Gospell, to be a beginning of a better and eternall life, Ignominy, shame and contempt of the worlde they count inestimable glory in the sight of God.The iudgement of faith. This is the iudgement of faith, albeit the flesh thinketh otherwise. But we may not iudge after the flesh: for if we do, what needeth then the doctrine of the word? what neede exhortations? what neede the promises? Therefore we must turne the euill into good, and where the fleshe concludeth that it is continually troden vnderunder foote, there faith must confesse and say, that by the crosse and by these afflictions we are made like to the sonne of God & fashioned like vntounto Christ: For these things are to be beleued as inuisible and also insensible, and not as things to be seene and felt.
But such as will not beleue, but follow their owne sense and feling, doe rather choose the glory & pleasures of this worlde, which so litle while endure, and so suddenly vanish away. But how miserable shall their condition be, when, after these transitory, momentane and vaine pleasures they shall find and feele nothing but anguish & torments, with weeping & wailing for euer & without end. How much better had it bene for them to hauehave suffered for a while with Lazarus both sicknes and pouerty, then for a little season to flourish with the rich glutton in welth and prosperitie, & with him to be tormented in euerlasting fire? This doctrine therfore pertaineth to those which desire to beleue & not to fele, that they may discerne betwene God & their afflictions, not fixing their eyes vponupon the present calamities, but looking vp to the inuisible help promised in the word. For those troubles & daungers where unto ye faithfull are subiect, do in deede cause the foote to slippe: but yet so that faith wil not suffer them to fall, but maketh them able to passe ouer those rockes, be they neuer so daungerous, & to compare their momentane afflictions with those things which are infinite and euerlasting, as to God him selfe, his power, his grace, and finally eternall life, which God hath promised in Christ to them that beleue in him. To know these things it is necessary, that we may be able to comfort both our selues and our brethren when Satan beginneth to rage, when troubles arise, when for the words sake we are hated, spoyled, persecuted and put to death. In these daungers whither shall we runne?God is greater then all our afflictions and calamities. Euen this must be our refuge: to say and confesse that God is greater then all our miseries: And albeit we perish, or rather seeme in our owne sence so to doe, yet God perisheth not, and therefore we must assuredly trust in his goodnes, mercy and power, and the sence and feeling of the spirite must be exalted (as ye would say) aboue the feeling of the flesh and of our owne hart. Thus they that will not doe, let them follow their own lustes and pleasures, and yet let them be sure that they shal drinke vp the dregges of the cuppe: wherof the godly drinke but a part, as the Prophet saith.Psal. 75.
Notwithstanding many times the godly doe finde also temporall helpe and deliuerance. For God doth not so neglect his seruaunts that he will leaue them vtterly destitute of comfort in this life. Dauid being driuen out of his kingdome was restored to the same againe. Ezechias stricken with a deadly disease, recouered and was restored to perfect health. The Iewes also dispersed and scattered among the Gentiles, were brought home againe. And euen here also faith hath her proper office, to waite and looke for this helpe and succour: for it commeth not by & by when we hauehave neede thereof or when we desire the same. Now, as the godly in such daungers find not alwayes help and deliuerance: euen so the wicked doe not alwaies prosper, but euen in this life are horribly plaged for their impietie. The kingdom of the Pope hath flourished long, and yet we see that much of his power wealth and riches is diminished, and the terrible vengeance of God is ready to fall vponupon him and his for their impietie. Our nobilitie and gentlemen at this day contemne the ministery, plucke away the liuings of the Church, and spoyle the poore pastors and ministers therof: But the time will come (I nothing doubt) when one Pastor shall be more regarded then x. such gentlemen. And thus God sheweth and will shew his iudgement in the defence of the godly, euen by corporall or temporall punishment vponupon the wicked. Therefore we ought so much the more strongly to cleaue to the word, and to hope and looke for succour, lifting vp our eyes from this sensible misery to Gods inuisible help and succour. Such things as hereafter followe in the Psalme, tende to the same sense and meaning: for the meaning of the spirite is, aboundantly with counsell and exhortation to edifie the Church.
Ver. 4.
Beholde, he wil not sleepe nor slumber that kepeth Israel.
These also after the iudgement of the fleshe are deceaueable words. For is this to keepe and defend, when we are cast into prison? deliuered to the tormentor to be burned? when we are vexed of Satan and of the world with many and sundry afflictions? yea when as Christ him selfe is fastened to the crosse? when Iohn Baptist is beheaded at the request of a strumpet? Is it not extreme folly to call this a keeping and defending, when we see nothing else but an vtter forsaking and desolation? Therefore the flesh vnderstandeth these wordes in the contrary sense: that is for God the keeper and defender,To the flesh God semeth to be no keper but a destroyer. God the forsaker and destroyer. These are wordes therefore of the spirite and of faith, and not of the fleshe or carnall sense. For after the flesh God had no regarde of the Patriarke Iacob, when Ioseph was cast away by the crueltie of his brethren, and yet God did afterwardes declare that he had a care of him when he did so aduaunce Ioseph that he became in a manner the king of all Aegypt. Likewise God doth not so kepe vsus but that we must dye: yea we must see the departing of our wiues, our children, our parents▪ we must be continually troubled and vexed of Satan: we must suffer many iniuryes of the ingratefull and wicked worlde. How doth this care now appeare in keeping and preseruing vsus? wherein doth it appeare that God watcheth ouer vsus? Wherefore we must lift vp our eyes to the hilles where the Lord hath published his wil and his word. There must we harken what he speaketh out of his holy temple, namely that he neither sleepeth, nor forsaketh vsus, as the flesh peruersely iudgeth: but keepeth vsus, careth for vsus and watcheth ouer vsus. This word faith layeth hold on,God is a keper and still watcheth ouer vsus. & according to this word it iudgeth, although the flesh say and iudge the contrary neuer so much, & according to his own sense and feeling do think that God neither seeth nor heareth: but is like to those which the Psalmist speaketh of: They hauehave eares & heare not, they hauehave eyes & see not. Therefore he extolleth his owne god Mammon, that he may hauehave alwayes money at hand, and what so euer may maintaine the pleasures of this life. This vanitie is it that the flesh so magnifieth.
But he seeth not what shall followe when he must dye and forsake his riches, and therefore this keeper, this watchman which keepeth and preserueth vsus by faith and by the word, he nothing regardeth. Let vsus therefore which do beleue, and see this miserable blindenes of the world, be surely perswaded that this hidden & inuisible protection, vnderunder the which we abide by the power of faith and of the word, is almightie. For to this the holy Scripture leadeth vsus,The kingdom of the deuill. and teacheth that the kingdome of the deuill is the kingdom of sinne and death, and therefore eueryevery moment he causeth men to sinne, murthereth them, seduceth and bringeth them into errour, or at least goeth about by all meanes so to doe. Thus are we alwayes in death, in daunger of sinne, errour and damnable opinions. And what doe we whiles Satan is thus occupyed? we teach, we write, we reade, we sleepe, we eate, we drink, and we exercise such other offices and functions of the body & of the senses. Here our diuinitie teacheth vsus euen by our owne experience, that if God did not watch when we sleepe, if he were not carefull for vsus when we are careles, we should perish eueryevery moment, we should lose our tongues, our eyes, our eares, our hands, our feete and our life also. And for as much as these thinges doe many times chaunce, and when we little doubt or thinke thereof, our wiues, our children or our frendes dye or else fall into some great daunger, it is a minifest token that the kingdom of the Deuill is the kingdom of death and sinne.
In this kingdom because we liue whiles we are in this world, hereof it commeth, that we often times offend and fall into many sinnes. Thus Dauid became both an adulterer and a murtherer. So that hereby we may learne that the kingdome of the deuill in this world is to aduaunce sinne, to murther & destroy. Now therefore, that we yet liue and breath, that we fall not dayly into greeuous and horrible sinnes, it is the great mercy, goodnes, and protection of this good keper and watchman whom Dauid here speaketh of. Thus doth our diuinitie teach, and thus doe the godly beleue: For by their owne experience they proue, and by experience of the whole Church, that Satan wil neuer rest vntill he destroy if he may, either soule or body. The destruction of the soule he seeketh by lying, by corrupt doctrine, by wicked & false worshipping and seruing. The destruction of the body he attempteth by infinite sleights & practises, wherof we hauehave experience daily in our selues and other. For as much then as these things doe not come to passe either in such sort or so often as Satan would, it is the benefite, not of Satan, but of this our vigilant keeper and watchman.
Thus we are taught euen by our owne experience (taking this for a principle, that the kingdom of the deuill is the kingdome of sinne and of death) that we are continually and eueryevery moment preserued from death and other daungers both corporally and spiritually by the singular goodnes and grace of Christe, into whose kingdom through baptisme and faith we are translated. And hereof come these heauenly sayings of the Prophets: The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, his mercy endureth for euer. &c. In deede sometimes Satan so preuaileth, and hath such successe in that he goeth aboute, that by sudden plagues he bringeth men to horrible destruction. Such examples ought to warne vsus of those mischeuous practises which he continually goeth about, and faine would bring to passe, as he might easily doe if he were not letted by the vigilancy of our good watchman in heauen. For, as for the power of this our aduersary, I doe beleeue that he is able in one hower to destroy all the people that are liuing vponupon the earth. Now, if both he be able and also leaueth no practise vnattempted so to doe, why then is it not done? Because our good keeper watcheth ouer vsus. But these be matters of faith: they muste be beleued, and therefore he addeth this word beholde. Whereby it may appeare that his purpose is, earnestly to commend and set forth the great vigilancie and tender care of God towards vsus, whereby he keepeth and defendeth vsus that we perish not.
And here note that this care and vigilancie for the safety and preseruation of our life, countrey, cities, familyes, peace and tranquillitie amongst vsus, &c. is of the Prophet wholy attributed vntounto God, when as notwithstanding God vseth to worke the same by other meanes, as first by the ministery of Angels, and then also of men, as of Princes and other inferiour magistrates, &c. Wherby we are admonished that these inferiour meanes which God vseth as his instrumentes for our preseruation are not able to doe vsus any good at all, except God him self take vponupon him to be our chiefe watchman and defender. God therfore vseth the ministery of these for our succour and reliefe, euen as he doth bread, drinke and other sustenaunce. For as bread and drinke doe not preserue our life (for then no man should dye, and yet because of the ordinance of God and the fraile condition of our nature, they are necessary for the sustentation of our life): so doe these meane helpes nothing auayle vsus except God the keeper of Israel doe watch for our succour and defence. This watching, this defence the …orde of God doth reueile, but the fleshe can not see it, and therefore by a contrary sense thus it expoundeth these wordes: The keeper of Israell, that is to say, the forsaker of Israell doth not sleepe, that is, he is not onelyonly in a moste deade sleepe, but also is without all sense, and is in deede nothing. For reason iudgeth according to eueryevery pinch and pange that the flesh feeleth, and according to the beginning of afflictions or first assaults, and not according to the word, and the end or deliuerance which God promiseth in the word.
Verse. 5.
The Lord is thy keper and he is thy shadowe (or protection) at thy right hand.
In this verse he setteth foorth more at large, the certainty of Gods ready helpe and protection. Wherin, speaking to eueryevery one priuatly, he sayth: The Lord is thy keeper: that no man should doubt to apply that vntounto him selfe for his owne comforte, which pertaineth to al Israel. He is called the shadow at thy right hand, to teach thee that he is at hand and standeth euen by thy side ready to defend thee. Or else: the Lord is thy shadow at thy right hand: That is, he prospereth all thy affaires, he giueth successe to all thou takest in hand. If thou be a preacher & a teacher in ye Church of God: if thou trauell in thy vocation vprightly and with a good conscience to prouide for thy selfe and thy family, thou shalt not lack thy crosses. But be of good comfort: for the Lord hath promised to be on thy right hand: he will ayde thee and succour thee in all things that thou shalt either doe or suffer.
But here againe we must remember (as I said before) that these things are spoken and taught in vaine, except we first thinke our selues to be, as it were vtterly forsaken and destitute of al help and succour. Therefore, when he speaketh of this tender care that the Lord hath ouer his in keping, in shadowing, in defēding them that they perish not, he meaneth therewithall that they are such as seeme to them selues so to be forsaken and neglected of God, as if he had no care of them at all. This is therefore a sweete doctrine and full of consolation, that the Lord sheweth him selfe to knowe and to pittie our miseries and calamities, and commaundeth vsus to beleeue that he is our shadowe to couer & defend vsus against all perils & daungers. In him therefore let vsus assuredly trust, with comfortable expectation of most ioyfull deliuerance: who hath promised to be with vsus, with a fatherly care to prouide for vsus, to defend vsus, to strengthen, to succour and to comfort vsus in all our troubles, afflictions and calamities.
Verse. 6.
The sunne shall not hurt thee by day, nor the moone by night.
The heate of the Sunne maketh mens bodyes weake & feeble. So doth the Moone also hurt, not onelyonly with colde, but also with moysture. By these speeches he meaneth all maner of tentations and perils, and that God will be with vsus in the middest of them, to succour vsus and to deliuer vsus, albeit we seeme for a litle while to beare all the heate and burden of the day alone: that is, to be vtterly forsaken and destitute of all helpe and succour. But if we were alone, then should the tentation hauehave no ende, yea it should presently swallow vsus vp: for we are not able of our selues to endure the space of one moment. Now the Lord suffreth Satan to vomet out his poyson and to practise against vsus the beginning of his malice: but he will not suffer him to hurt so much as he would doe. Therefore because we hauehave the shadowe to couer vsus, euen the presence & mightie protection of the Lord, we should patiently endure the beginning of sorrowes, that is to say, the light, short, and momentane afflictions of this life, beeing sure that euen in death our life is hidden and safely kept with Christ in God, and we shall ouercome all the fiery darts and cruel assaults of Satan.
Verse. 7.
The Lord shall preserue thee from all euill: he shall preserue thy soule.
That which the verse going before hath expressed by an allegory, is here simply set forth and without figure. The soule here signifieth the life. Albeit therefore thou suffer neuer so greate and greuous afflictions, yea euen death it self, yet shalt thou not perish because God kepeth thy life. In outward appearance and to the iudgement of the flesh thou seemest to dye, but in deede it is not so, because thy life, euen the Lord thy God liueth, &c. So he saith in an other Psalme:Psal. 97. The Lorde preserueth the soules of his Sainctes.
Verse. 8.
The Lord shall preserue thy going out, and thy comming in, from hence forth and for euer.
That is to saye: whether so euer thou goest, the Lorde will be with thee, he will preserue thee, he will defende and keepe thee: he will neuer forsake thee nor suffer thee to perishe. To goe out, is to goe to the woorkes of thy vocation. To come in againe signifieth to returne from labour and trauell, to rest and quietnes. What so euer thou shalt goe aboute, shall hauehave good successe and prosper vnderunder thy hand. Thus the Prophet in this Psalme sheweth the nature of faith to be, not as it were a deade affection or qualitie of the minde, as the Papistes doe dreame, but a singular worke and motion of the holy Ghoste, whereby we iudge according to the worde, contrary to that which we feele, whiche we see, and by experience doe proue: whereby also we ouercome all kindes of tentations. Of this faith the Papistes can no better iudge then a blinde man can iudge of colours.