Davids Harp, Title page – Dedication
Dauids Harpe ful of moost delectable armony, newely strynged and set in tune by Theodore Basille.
Psal. 97.
¶ Prayse the Lorde vponupon the Harpe, and syng to the Harpe wyth a Psalme of thankes giuynge. Wyth Trompectes also & Shawmes, oh shewe your selues ioyeful before the Lord the Kynge.
¶ The principall contentes of this boke.
i. Of faythe. Of the confession of fayth, & of good workes.
ii Of the crosse, persecucion & trouble for the truethes sake.
iii Of the vanite, falsehode & vnrighteousnes of man.
iiii Of the benefites and great gyftes of God.
v Of bearynge the Crosse, & callynge on the name of the LORDE.
vi Of vowes to be payde, & what they
vii Of ye death of sayntes, & howe (are precious it is in the syghte of God.
viii Of the Chyrch of Christ, and y• Sy nagoge of Antechrist.
ix Of the free delyueraunce from the bondes of Satan thorowe Christ.
x Of the Sacrifice of prayse.
Read and thou shalte reioyse
For hearyng this heuēly voyce.
¶ To the ryghte honorable Syr George Broke, Lord Cob ham, Theodore Basille wys sheth long lyfe, cōtinu al helth & prosperoꝰ felicite.
ALthoughe in the whole psalmody of Da uid, there canne not be fo…e one Psalme, whi che is not able to replenysh the spirituall & true Christen man wyth suche & so great ioye, as is ineffable & can by no meanes be expressed, yet in my iudgement and opiniō this Psalme, which I hauehave nowe from all the other selected to declare, beynge in nomber the hun The excellency of the Psalme, whych here after shalbe expounded.dred & fyftene after the cōmon Laten translaciō, farre excellethe and chalengethe the preeminence, as I may so speake For verely so oft as I rede…t me thik I am in a ioyfuland delectable Paradyse, wher al kynd of pleasures do abound, & so ofte as I taste of it, it semeth vntounto me lyke a goldē floude, which floweth forth wyth moost goodly and pleasaunte stremes, to conclude, this Psalme, so ofte as I heare the wordes of it, beteth & replenyssheth myne eares wt suche swete and delectable armony, as none maye iustely be compared vntounto it, so that neyther Mercurius, Dauid excelleth all musicions.Apollo, nor his sonne Orpheus, nor yet any other, whome the auncient Poetes do so greatly cōmend & exalte wyth incomparable encomies & prayses in theyr moost eloquente lucubracions and ornate monumē tes, are able to compare wyth thys our Mynstrell Dauid, beynge not only an excellent Musicion, but also a puyssaunt kynge and a diuine Prophet Although they shame not to wryte that wyth theyr musicall instrumentes they ware able (theyr melody beyng of so great efficacye, The fanta sies of y• old Poetes con cernīg their musiciōs.vertue, strength, myghte & power) to make the greate Okes to shake theyr toppes, to cause whole flockes of shepe, goates, oxen. &c. to followe them daunsyng pleasauntly, to moue mountaynes, to make the swyfte streames of the runnynge floudes to stonde styl, yea & to fetch oute soules euen out of hell. For all these thynges dothe this our mynstrell Dauid also much more truely thā they fayne of theyr old Musicions. What other thyng, I pray you, dreamed they by the shakynge of the greate and harde Okes toppes, What the shakyng of the Okes toppes signifye.but only to shewe, yt the worde of God is of so great strength, that the Princes and rulers, yea euen y• myghtye Tyrauntes of the worlde can none otherwyse then shake, trē ble, bowe & do reuerence vntounto it, & graunte that it is the almyghtye worde of trueth, lyfe, health & salua ciō, wherto they must nedes obey & submyt thē selues, seyng yt agenst it they can neuer preuayle neyther by act, coūcell, wysdōe assēbly, synode, congregacion, or ony other humayne polecy, as Salomon testifiethe, ther is no wysdōe there is no forcast Pro. rri. Esa. viii.there is no coūsayle y• cā preuayle agenst y• LORD, or els y• what so euer they go in hand with all, shall come to noughte & shall not prosper, yea that they them selues also shall be destroyed, as Christ saythe: Who so falleth on this stone, shall be brokē Matth. xxion peces, & loke vponupon whome it falleth, it shall grynd hym to poulder.
Agayne what ment they by the followynge and daunsynge of the What the daun…ynge of the beastes signifyshape, gotes, oxes. &c. but only to de clare, that at y• preachynge of God des word all people rei…se & are mery, as we maye se in the moost blyssed virgin Mary, which replete wt y• great ioy of this worde, songe on this māner: My soule magnifyeth Luke. i.the LORDE, & my spirite hath reioy sed in God my sauioure. S. Elizabethe also wyfe to the moost vertuous preste …acharias & mother to the holye man S. Iohn̄ Baptiste, sayd vntounto Mary her Cosyn, whan she came & had saluted her: Behold when I hearde the voyce of thy salutaciō, the babe dyd skyppe in my wombe for ioye. The Aungels also sayd to the Sheppardes: Beholde I shew to you great ioye. For there Luke. ii.is borne to you this daye a Sauyour, whiche is Christ the LORDE in y• Cytie of Dauid. What can make vsus soner to be merye, to daunse, to A christen mans ioy, & what it is.skyppe & to leape for ioye, than to heare that by Christ the alone sauiour of the worlde we are delyuered from our spiritual enemy Pharao the dyuell, and that by hym we are Oz…, … i. Cor. xv. Heb …. i. Ioan. v.made safe frō synne, death, hell, desperacion. &c. to whome all thorowe the synne of oure father Adam, we ware made seruile, captiue bonde & thraull, & that we are nowe replenysshed wyth lyfe, ioye, pleasure, felicite, wealth, rest, peace, trāquilite quietnes of conscience, and al kynd of gladnes.
Moreouer what is signified What the mouyng of the mountaynes signifye.by the mouynge of mountaynes, but the cōuersion of men of power from infidelite vntounto fayth, frō ydolatry vntounto the true worshyppynge of God from supersticion vntounto god ly religion, frō the dedes of the flesh vntounto the fruytes of the spirite, frō affiaūce reposed in theyr owne carnal & politike workes, vntounto ye trust in the true and lyuynge God.
Furthermore what other thyng What the stondynge styll of the swyft floudes signyfyedyd they figure & shadowe by ye stō dyng styl of the swyfte floudes, but only the great admyracion, merue lynge, stupoure & wonderynge of ye Gentyles, whan they heard a newe kynde of religion taughte them, as we maye se in the Actes of the Apo stles? To be shorte, as towchynge y• fetchyng of soules out of hel, what other thynge mente they, thē that What the fetchyng of Soules out of hel meneby the preachynge of Christes Gospel the very dead in synne shall reuiue & be made alyue agen, as Dauid sayth, the lawe of the LORDE is pure, it turnethe soules. The wytnes of the LORDE is faythfull, and gyuethe wisdome vntounto babes. The statutes of the LORDE are ryght & Psal. xviii.reioyse the harte, the cōmaūdemēt of the Lorde is pure & gyueth light to the eyes. Christ also sayth, I am ye resurreccion & lyfe, he yt beleueth in me, although he be dead, yet shal Ioan. xi.he liue, & eueryevery one that liueth and beleueth in me, shall neuer dye. Is not the Gospell of Christ called the Phil. ii.word of lyfe in dyuers places of the holy Scripture bycause it quickeneth & gyueth lyfe to them, that be fore were dead & laye buryed in the stynckynge donge hyll of synne?
Thus se we, that what so euer the olde Poetes hauehave wrytten in ti mes past cōcernyng ye excellency of ye musike of theyr Minstrelles, it is altogither nothīg elles than a very type, figure, cloud & shadow of this our Mynstrell Dauid, which doth y• very same thynge in dede, which they fayned in wordes. So that al the glory & prayse of true Musyke ought of ryght only to redowne vn to oure moost excellente Musicion Dauid. And althoughe he sheweth hymselfe a very perfecte Musicion & connynge Mynstrell in all his other sōges & Psalmes, yet me thīke in this our Psalme he farre excelleth & almoste ouercōmeth himself, his Harpe soundeth so pleasauntly & his songe is so ful of moost swete & delectable armony. Neither doth he entreate of vayne, childish, lyght & tryflynge thiges, but of serious, Note howe many godly & goodly thynges are entreated of in thys Psalme.graue, earnest & weyghty matters. For he syngeth of fayth, of the confession of his fayth, of good workes of the crosse, trouble & affliccion, of the vanitie & noughtynes of man, of the benefites of God, of the inuo cacion & callynge on the name of y• LORDE, of the vowes to be performed vntounto the LORDE before his peo ple, of the deathe of Saynctes and howe precious it is in the syght of God, of the free delyueraunce from Satan, synne, death, hell, desperacion. &c. thorowe Christ, of the Sacrifice of prayse, and, as I maye at the last make an ende, of the ryghte institucion of a Christen mans life in this worlde. What songe may be cōpared vntounto this our song? What Harpe maketh so goodly & plesaūte melodye, as this Harpe of Dauid doth? Let all mynstrels gyue place to this our Mynstrel. Let all Harpes & other musicall instrumentes be silente & holde theyr peace, whan Dauids harpe entreth & cōmeth in place. Let all songes be banysshed, whan Dauids Psalmes be songe. For what so euer Dauid syngethe, it is excellent & incōparable. He wt Beholde what Dauid doth.his songes exciteth, prouoketh & en flameth ye myndes of the faythefull & diligent hearers vntounto the louelove & desyre not of trāsitory but of heauē ly thynges. He conforteth the conforteles. He exhorteth the synnner vntounto amendmēt of lyfe. He lyfteth vp the desperate vntounto the hoope of Goddes mercy. He corroborateth & maketh stronge the weake. He healeth the diseased. He rayseth vp the dead vntounto lyfe. He makethe the sad mery. He exhilarateth & reioycethe y• merely disposed. To cōclude, he is a Mynstrell fytte for all kynde of parsons, so y• they be bent vntounto god lynes. Ah woulde God y• all Mynstrels in the world, yea & all sorte of parsons both olde & yonge, woulde ones leaue theyr lasciuious, wantō & vnclene balades, & syng such god ly & vertuous songes, as Dauid te cheth them, wherby they myght be auocated & called away from synne & excited & stored vp vntounto vertue & goodnes. For it is not vncomly for Not….Christen men to synge Christē songes, yea & that in all places, so that it be done reuerently, & wtoute ony iestynge, scoffynge, raylynge, or reproche of other persons.
Moreouer who can deny y• there The greate vertue of Dauids harpe.is much & great vertue in Dauids Harpe, seynge that the sounde ther of dyd chase & dryue awaye the vncleane & wycked spirite out of king Saul, wherwith at other tymes he i. Reg. xvi.was miserably afflicted & troubled? Agayne must not Dauids songes be of great excellency, seyng that y• sonne of god came downe from the glorious throne of his heauenly fa The excellē cy of Dauids songes Luke, xxiiii Ephe. v.ther to accōplish & fulfyl thē? Doth not. Paule also saye, be ye fylled wt the spirite, speakynge among your selues in Psalmes, Hymnes, & spirituall songes, syngyng & makyng melody in your hartes to ye LORDE euer gyuyng thanckes for all thinges in the name of our LORDE Iesu Christ? Certes the Psalmody of Dauid maye well be called y• Trea The Psalmody of Dauid is … tresure house of the holy Scripture.sure house of the holye Scripture. For it contayne the what so euer is necessary for a christē mā to know: There is nothynge in the lawe, no thynge in the Prophetes, nothyng in ye prechyng of Christ & of his apo stles, yt this noble Mynstrell, Kyng & Prophet doth not decantate and synge wt moost goodly & manifeste wordes. He syngeth all the workes & wōderous miracles of God from the begynnynge of the worlde, vntyll the redēpcion of mankynde by Christ. He syngeth Christes incarnacion, preachinge, workyng of miracles, passion, death, resurreccion ascencion, glory, the blessynge of all nacions, the conuersion of the Gē tiles withe all other misteries that pertayne to our helth. He syngethe the iudgement & mercy of God. He syngeth the discōmendacion of vice & auauncement of vertue. He syngeth the vanite & vnryghteousnes of mens strēgthes without ye helpe of God. To be short, he sigeth what so euer is expidiente for a Christen mās knowledge. So that euē this one boke alone of Dauids songes had ben sufficiēt truly to instructe a man in the ryghteousnes of God but yt the goodnes of God would, y• our fragilite, weakenes & ignorancy shoulde be holpen wt mo scriptures. O the wonderful & meruelous strength of Dauids Harpe. O the great & excedyng vertu of Dauids songes. Happy is that man that de lyghteth & hath a pleasure in them for he shal neuer be vexed wtan euel spirite. He shall alwaye abhore vice & enbrase vertue. He shall neuer be sadde, but euer reioyce wt a godly & Agood lessō for all men of honoure.spiritual myrth. Would God that all men of honoure woulde noryshe such Mynstrelles in theyr houses, as Dauid is, & that might syng vn to thē bothe at dyner & supper, yea and at all other tymes these moost swete & delectable songes of Dauid So should both they & all theyr family be desposed to lyue more vertuously, than many be nowe a dayes, & be prouoked to leaue theyr pō pous, galāt, wycked, venereal, fleshly, beastlyke & vncleane manner of lyuynge. Would God also that all Beholde & followe.fathers & mothers, al masters and mastresses, would brynge vp theyr chyldren and seruaūtes in the syngynge of these moost godly songes. Agayne, woulde God y• all Scholemasters & teachers of youth, would in stede of Uirgile, Ouide, Horas, Catullus, Tibullus, Propertiꝰ. &c teach these verses of Dauid. For so shoulde they not only obtayne eloquence, but also diuine erudicion, godlye knoweledge, spirituall wisdome, & encrease in all kynde of ver tue, vntounto the great glory of God, y• saluacion of theyr owne soules, the ryght instituciō of theyr owne lyfe the great ioye of theyr parentes, y• good reporte of theyr techers, and to the hygh cōmodite of the Christē publique weale. God grafit that it maye once thus come to passe. But I wyll returne vntounto our Psalme, which I hauehave entiteled ī the forhed of my boke, Dauids Harpe.
Some man wyll meruayle peraduēture whye I call this Psalme Dauids Harpe▪ rather than on y other. The reason is this. There are contayned in this Psalme, besydes Why thys Psalme is called Dauids Harpeother, ten speciall thynges, mooste worthy to be entreted of. The fyrst is, fayth. The seconde, confession of fay the, wherbye are vnderstandde all good workes. The thyrd, persecucion. The fourthe, the vanite of man. The fyfte, y• benefites of God The syxte, bearinge of the Crosse, ye inuocacion & callynge on the name of the LORDE. The seuenth, vowes to be performed vntounto the LORDE be fore all his people. The eyghte, the death of sayntes, & how precious it is in the sighte of God. The nynte, fre delyueraunce from the bondes of Satā thorow Christ. The tente y• sacrifice of prayse. These ten are equal in nomber wt the strynges of Dauids Harpe, which also ware tē as it appereth by his owne wordes wher he sayth, prayse the LORDE wt Harpe, & with a psaltry of ten strin Psa. xxxii.ges synge ye vntounto him. Agayne, O God, I wyl syng to the a new sōge, Psal. cxii…yea wc a psaltry of ten stringes wyl I make melody to the. What kynd of musicall instrumēt this psaltry was, which the Grekes call Nablō, of the Hebrewe worde Neball, it is vncertayne to the wryters. But y• it was an instrument of ten strynges, moche lyke vntounto an Harpe, it is euident ynough. Wher of it came to passe that it is nowe commonly called Dauids Harpe. But for as …nuche as it is no matter of weyghty importauuce, & only signifyethe the true & spirituall gladnes of the mynde, wher wt a Christē man is re plenished of ye spirite, I wyl omitte & let it passe, & after y• cōmon vsage call it Dauids Harpe, yea & so enti tle this our psalme, desyryng all mē diligētly to marke not the name of Dauids Harpe, but the swete soūd & delectable melody that it maketh yea & the goodly & cōfortable songe, that he syngethe vntounto it. So shall they acquire & gette to them selues much spirituall ioye, great knowelege, godly wisdom, & be very much edified in the doctrine of Christes religion.
Now for as muche as I am not only credibly ēformed of other, but also perfectly perswaded that your ryght honorable Lordeshyp delyghteth in nothynge so greatly as in y• holy scripture, whiche is the word Phil. ii. Ioan. viii. Psal. xviii. Iacob. i.of lyfe, the lyght of the worlde, the only treasure of christianite and is abundantly able to saue the soules of so many as heare it▪ beleue it, & worke therafter: I thoughte it not vnfyttyng, nor vnworthy your honour to dedicate this my labour to your name trustīg y• by this menes many other shalbe allured to y• hearynge of Dauids armonye, & be so enflamed wt the feruent louelove & perpetual desyre therof, that they shal wysh like paynes to be taken in the declaraciō of y• other Psalmes, that they myghte be red withe the more fruyte. And woulde God that this my laboure mighte excite store vp Sette hand to it, o ye y• be lerned.& moue other that farre excel me in all kynde of diuine knowledge, and that can hādle the scriptures more learnedly thā I, to trauayle in the busines of Gods word, & so to sette forth the sincer intelleccion and the right vnderstandynge therof, that the vayle myght be taken away frō the eies of all men, & the true lyght shyne vniuersally wtout ony impediment ii. Cor. iiii.or lette. There is much har Math. ix. Luke. x.ueste, but fewe workemen. We had nede therfore to praye vntounto ye Lord of y• haruest, to send oute labourers into his reape.
But me thynke, I se your Lord shyp verye desyrous to heare some of Dauids melody. I make an end desyrynge you moost intierlye, fauourablye to accepte this my lytle gyfte, if not for my sake, yet for the louelove y• ye hauehave euer borne vntounto Da uid, being not only an excellēt Mu siciō & cōnyng Mynstrel, but also a puyssaūt Kyng & diuine Prophet. God, whose holy worde you moost feruentely louelove, and mooste earnestly practyse in your dayely conuersacion, moughte vouchesaufe to preserue your righte honorable Lordshyp & that ver tuous Lady your wyfe, wyth all your moste swete chil dren and family in perpetuall helth and prosperous felicite.
Amē.