Meditations Upon Eight Psalms, Part 5
Beza vponupon the A meditation vponupon the 102 Pſalme.
1 O Lorde, heare my prayer, and let my cry come vntounto thee.O Eternal God, it is now high tyme for thee to heare the prayer of thy poore deſolate Church, whoſe diſtreſſes ſithe they force her not to ſpeake, but to cry with a full voyce, let not her crie vaniſh in the aire, but come to thee, who art eueryevery where to heare ſuch as call to thee.
2 Hide not thy face from mee in the time of my trouble: incline thine eares vntounto me: when I call, make haſte to heare me.2 The darke day of affliction is come: alas, caſt vponupon mee thy looke of compaſſion, that may ſcatter this moſt thicke darkneſſe. Pardon, O my God, my rude vnmannerlineſſe, and beare with mee that in this preſſing neede I once more pray the bending of thine eare, and thy ſpeede to make mee feele howe thou haſt heard me, anſwering mee by the experience of thy bountie and merciemercy.
3 For my dayes are conſumed like ſmoke, and my bones are burnt like an herth.3 Alas, time was when I was faire & floriſhing vnderunder thy fauourable gentleneſſe, now am I not ſo, my good dayes are paſt, as a ſmoking vapour: I hauehave bene mightie and in flower of my ſtrēgth againſt all aſlaultes within and without, abiding ſtill faſt by meanes of thine vnderpropping and ſtay: nowe my bones are cracked and weare into duſt, as if they had bene ſeared and burned like lime in a kilne.
4 Mine heart is ſmitten & withereth like graſſe, becauſe I forgate to eate my bread.4 That wonted courage ſo ſtoute againſt Sathan and his complices, is now withered as haye, and dryed like graſſe cut down by the mower. I had, alas, ſo good an appetite and fedde my ſelfe hungerly with that ſo nouriſhing, ſo ſweete, and ſo delicate viande wherewith thou dideſt furniſh vsus from aboue, and I dranke in ſo great draughtes of that ſo precious and well reliſed liquor of thy quickening water: Nowe finde I a dearth of this bread, and the ſmall remaine that I hauehave therof, goeth downe with mee againſt the ſtomacke, ſo low am I brought, and hauehave loſt my taſte.
5 For the voyce of any groning my bones do cleaue to my ſkinne.5 The ayre was wont to reſounde from Eaſt to Weſt, thoſe ſonnets of gladneſſe, whereof thou dideſt miniſter to mee both the matter and the making. Nowe the heauens and the earth doe ring of my lamentable cryes, woe begone that I am lying on the ground,6 I am like a pelicane of the wildernes: I am like an owle of the deſerts. and languiſhing like her that hath nothing left, but the ſkinne bounde to the bones.
6 There was no quarter of the worlde where I was not lodged in palaces moſt beautifull and princely, which thou haddeſt ſo well founded, buylded, and trimmed for mee: in which I tooke pleaſure to ſee thee in thy great beautie, and to be recreated with thy moſt cleare and cheerefull voyce, (in deede a heauenly happineſſe:) Nowe nothing is to be ſeene but ruines, in which hardly can I diſcrye ſome appearance of that which hath bene: eueryevery where are horrible deſertes, hydeous caues, wherein nothing is heard but the howlings of ſhricke owles, night rauens, and ſuch like dolefull and vnlucky blacke night birdes.
7 I watch and am as a ſparowe alone vponupon the houſe top.7 And I poore ſoule, wandring through thickeſt of this deſert, hauing no reſt day nor night, I dwell all alone, hatching my griefes at a venture vnderunder couert of ſuch ſmall retraict as I may light vponupon. Alack, I hurt no body, yea I render good for euill:8 Mine enemies yet in ſteade that my deſolation ſhoulde cleaue the heart of the moſt hardened, and mooue the felleſt of them, if not to relieue me, at leaſt not to perſecute me further. I ſee nothing but enemies rounde about mee, and what maner enemies: Firſt, that great deuouring Lyon, which hath ſpoyled, torne, and ſwallowed ſo many of my poore children from the beginning of the worlde: Then thoſe Inchanters which by their coloured wordes and reaſons, in very deede vnreaſonable, ſet together by their bibble habble, hauehave ſuborned very many of my childrē, yea, ſome of the beſt wittes of my companie. Thoſe ſnares of cōſcience, wolues maſking like paſtours, paunches belching out ſacriledges, deuouring, O God, thy people as bread, ſmallowing vp the poore widowes and orphanes vnderunder ſhadowe of prayer. What ſhall I ſay, Lord, of them that are yet worſe, to witte, theſe curſed ones, which gnawe mee within my bowels, theſe heretiques, murderers, rending in pieces the members from the bodie, whereof thou art head? Very ſoule quellers, coniured enemies againſt thy trueth, turners vpſide downe of thy right wayes, mouthes for the father of lyes, folke without ſhame or cōſcience, raſers vnderunder the name of buylders: to bee ſhort, the moſt pernitious enemies that I hauehave. Alas, this is not all, there is no crime which they laye not to my charge,reuile me dayly, no rage which exerciſeth not it ſelfe againſt mee: I am the daughter of peace, and yet charge they me as mother and nource of al hurliburlies that toſſe and tomble the world. Patience is my marke, and yet I am accuſed as a ſtirrer of all ſedition: I keepe a ſchoole of all trueth, yet am I condemned as a lyar, and the fountaine of leaſings: I praye for my very enemies, yet will they needes make me vengeable and irreconcilable. O my bleſſed children, whoſe ſoules by the crueltie of my deſperate enemies hauehave bene thruſt into heauē through all ſortes of torments, and of whom the worlde was not worthie, ioyne your teſtimonies before the eternal God, vntounto the complaintes of your poore widowe mother languiſhing yet in earth. O earth drunken with the blood of mine innocent childrē: ye waters, whoſe ſtreames hauehave bene oft ſtopped, and their hue changed by the poore murdered bodies: O ayre, which haſt receyued ſo many of their grones and ſighes: yee flames which hauehave conſumed ſo many martyrs to the trueth: yee ſmordes, which hauehave wounded, hewen, and chopt off ſo many of my members, are ye not ſufficient witneſſes to me, that I complayne not without moſt iuſt cauſe? And yet my God, it is not of thee that I thus playne me: for, if I looke vponupon the faults of my children, I confeſſe, that what rigor ſoeuer they hauehave felt, that yet thy merciemercy ſurmountes thy iudgement: And conſidering on the other ſide, that the wicked doe not hate and perſecute me but for thy name, and that thereby I am made like vntounto my deare and alone ſpouſe, thy welbeloued Sonne. Oh father, ſo farre am I from complayning, that contrariwiſe this croſſe is to me a moſt certaine and pretious teſtimonie, that thou chaſtiſeſt mee as a father, and loueſt mee with the ſame louelove, wherewith thou loueſt my ſpouſe, with whome being crucified, I am likewiſe ſure to raygne. To bee ſhort, wherein can I deeme my ſelf honourable, but in thy croſſe? for, to bee hated of the worlde for thy ſake, is a goodly teſtimonie, that a man is not of the worlde: and to drinke in the cuppe of his Lorde, is one of the greateſt honours that the ſeruant can receiue. But alas, I ſee and confeſſe, that what the wicked doe vniuſtly, thou doeſt it iuſtly for the iniquitie of moſt part of my riotous children, it being a thing right reaſonable, that the bringing into order beginne at thine owne houſe, and that they which hauehave leaſt excuſe, bee with the firſt moſt rigorouſly chaſtiſed. Moreouer, my God, what cauſe hauehave I to put on all my wayling weede,9Surely I hauehave eaten aſhes as bread, and mingled my drinke wt wéeping, 10 Becauſe of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou haſt heaued me vp, and caſt mee downe. 11 My dayes are like a ſhadowe that fadeth, and I am withered like, graſſe. ſeeing thy holy name ſo blaſphemed, thine houſe prophaned, robbed, ruined, and brought into aſhes, thy glorie giuen into the handes of enemies?
9 Loe why I lye on the earth, liuing on the duſt in ſtead of meate, and teares for drinke, through the deepe conceyuing of this moſt horrible indignation, and this ſo iuſt diſpleaſure againſt mee, whome thou haſt thus ouerthrowen, from a ſtate wherein thou hadeſt ſuperexalted mee, in ſo much as I goe fading away, and loſt as a ſhadowe at Sunne fall, and am there as cut downe graſſe without force or liuelineſſe.
12But thou, O Lord, doeſt remayne for euer, & thy remembrāce from generation to generation.12 But what? yet am I not out of heart, O mightie and eternall God, when I conſider that thou art for euer the ſame, and that it can not be otherwiſe, but the memorie of thy renoume muſt be euer durable. For, this preſuppoſed, albeit thou art not vnderpropped but of thy ſelfe,13Thou wilt ariſe & hauehave mercy vponupon Zion: for ye time to hauehave mercy thereon, for the appoynted time is come. and that nothing may bee put too, or taken from thee: Yet, ſith it hath liked thee to choſe from out of the vnworthieſt creature, to wit, man, a certaine number, which is thy Church, there to make thine infinite glory for euer to ſhine: I conclude with my ſelfe, that of neceſſitie (howſoeuer it ſeemes ſometimes otherwiſe) as thou haſt bene caſt downe in thy Church, nowe lying on the grounde, ſo wilt thou rayſe againe thy ſelfe, in vprearing her, and all for thy great pitie and compaſſion ſake. In deede, Lord, thou haſt ſo promiſed, and many a time effected it. For, into what ſtreights was thy Church brought during that horrible ſlauerie of Egypt, their pilgrimage in the wilderneſſe, their calamities befalling them vnderunder the Iudges, the captiuitie of thine Arke, the renting of Iudah and Iſrael, the dreadfull deſtruction by Babel, when there remayned not one ſtone vponupon another: thine holy Temple was made an heape of duſt, the ſacred veſſels were ſacrilegiouſly rauined, caried away, and profanely abuſed: thy ſacrificers murdered, the crowne of Dauid tombled to the grounde, all the lande dyed with blood, without regarde of age, ſexe, or degree: the ſmall reſidue dragged into bondage among all the nations of the worlde, vnderunder ſo many calamities, among the Syrians and Egyptians: and aboue al, when thy temple being reedified, thou departedſt out of it, and gaueſt roome as it were to Idoles in thine owne palaces: and when thy lawe, I ſaye, thy moſt ſacred lawe was ſo villanouſly interdicted, torne, and burnt, and as it were, quite abrogated by conſent of moſt part of thy people iuſtly abandoned of thee? Nowe after this horrible and dreadfull deſtruction of mine auncient children thus cut off, and when thou gaueſt mee a newe generation, alas, of what rages and cruelties had I experiment for the ſpace of three hundreds of yeeres one after another?
14For thy ſeruantes delight in the ſtones therof, and hauehave pitie on the duſt thereof.14 Yet euer at mine extremeſt neede thou dideſt ſende mee Champions, and madeſt me to finde force in feebleneſſe, calme in tempeſt, felicitie in miſery, life in death: Thou dideſt, I ſay, euermore cauſe mee to ſee what differēce there is betwene that fatherly rodde wherewith thou correcteſt thy children to ſaluation, & that yron barre wherewith thou daſheſt thine enemies paſt all recouerie. Egypt, Niniue, Babel, and this loftie image of the monarchies teared by my ruines, and cymented with my childrens blood, are nowe come downe, while yet thy poore Sion ſtandes and ſpeakes. Thou, O God, euermore moſt like thy ſelfe, nowe that thou ſeeſt me more ſtreyghted then euer, ſhewe that thou haſt ſet boundes to my miſeries, as thou dideſt in olde time to thoſe captiuities of Egypt and Babylon. Rayſe vp ſome Ioſuahs, and Eſdras, ſome Nehemiahs and Conſtantines, which may reare againe thy raſed palaces, taking pitie on our ruines and ſackinges. Aboue all, Lord, ſende vsus ſome Aarons and ſome Eſdras, hauing thy ſpirite in their heart, and thy worde in their mouth, as true inſtruments of thy power, to rayſe againe this thy ſpirituall buylding which is throwen to the grounde, and ſo diſfigured, as with much a doe can a man tracke out ſo much as the very auncient foundation: And bleſſe, Lorde,15Then ye heathen ſhal feare the Name of ye Lord, and all the kings of ye earth thy glory. the hande and the labours of thy faithfull workemen, ſo as in ſteade of ſo many peoples at this day reuolted from thee, ſome forced by Mahomet, others ſeduced by falſe paſtors, profaning the chayre of trueth by their coyned and counterfaited doctriues,16When ye Lorde ſhall buylde vp Zion, and ſhall appeare in his glory, all may bee brought backe againe to thee, in ſuch wiſe, that thy glory may ſhine more then euer,17And ſhal turne vntounto the prayer of the deſolate, & not deſpiſe their praier and thy heauenly Sion, that workemanſhip of thine owne very hande, may be lifted vp againe to her former brightneſſe.
17 Heare, O mightie God, the prayer of thy poore deſolate daughter,18This ſhall bee written for the generation to come: and the people, which ſhalbe created, ſhall prayſe the Lord. yet ſo much cheriſhed of thee.
18 GiueGive me matter to couche in my recordes this moſt excellent deliuerance, to the ende that the memorie may dure without ende, and that this people beyng throughly renewed,19For hee hath looked down from the height of his ſanctuarie: out of the heauen did the Lorde beholde the earth. may hauehave occaſion to magnifie thy prayſe from father to ſonne.
19 Bring againe that golden worlde, wherein one may ſaye with better ſpeede then euer, that thou, O eternall God, being ſet in thy high throne, aduaunced aboue the heyghtes of heauens, haſt caſt thy cheerefull & gracious eye vponupon the earth,20 That he might heare the mourning of the priſoner, & deliuer the children of death: giuing eare to the grones of thy languiſhing captiue Church, and of thy poore children looking for nothing but the ſlaughter.
21 That they may declare the name of ye Lorde in Lion, & his prayſe in Ieruſalem.21 Gather againe together, Lord, the ſheepe wildly ſtraying and ſcattered through the wilderneſſe, full of hungerbitten and ſtarke wood Lyons and Tygers.
22 When the people ſhall be gathered together, and the kingdomes to ſerue the Lord.22 Vnite againe to thee the realmes which Sathan hath withdrawen, ſith thou art King of kings, to whome all glorie, puiſſaunce, and magnificence belongs. Let thy name be called on, and thy prayſe proclaymed in Ieruſalem in ſight and knowledge of all the worlde.
23 He abated my ſtrength in the way, & ſhortened my dayes.23 Well then, I hauehave bene afflicted a thouſande and a thouſande ſortes, my courſe hath bene cutte in two, my dayes hauehave bene, as it were ſhortened:24 And I ſayd, O my God, take me not away in the middes of my dayes: thy yeeres endure from generation to generation I hauehave bene conſtrayned to beſeeche my God, that he would not plucke me away with ſuch violence, and that he would ſuffer mee to finiſh my rare: But conſidering the eternitie of my God, for euer himſelfe, this chaunge doeth no longer amaze mee, knowing that my foundations are layde farre more ſurely, then if they were buttriſed by the heauen or by the earth:25 Thou haſt aforetime layde the foūdadion of the earth, & the heauens are ye work of thine handes. For, though the earth be ſubſtantially ſetled by the maruailous power of him that layde the foundation, and that this heauenly frame, the very workemanſhippe of the eternall God, hath neuer yet ſwerued among ſo many, ſo violent, and continuall reuolutions, yet al within meaſure and compaſſe ſo exquiſite,…6 They …al periſh, …t thou …alt en…re: euen …ey al ſhal …axe olde … doeth a …rment: … a veſture …lt thou …nge …m, and …y ſhalbe …nged. But …u art ye …e, & thy …es ſhall … fayle. The …dren of … ſeruāts …l con…e, and … ſeede … ſtande in thy …. as none can amende: Neuertheleſſe muſt all this geare paſſe away one daye, it being ſo determined: and this goodly ſhewe ſhall vaniſh as wee ſee a garment by litle and litle waxe old and weare away. But thou, O mightie God, abſolute in thy ſelfe, haſt neyther ende nor beginning, but exempting thy ſelfe from all chaunge, thou declareſt thy power in the varietie of thy workes.
28 And for ſo much as I am ſtayed vponupon this thy permanent power, & vnchangeable good will, aſſured, I ſaye, vponupon that throne, whereof thy Sonne my redeemer hath taken poſſeſſion, to make mee his coheire through the mercy, integritie, obedience, ſatiſfaction and merite wherewith he purchaſed me the celeſtiall kingdome: I am certainly reſolued, that this ſtayedneſſe will vpholde mee, and that through all the tempeſtes, by which it pleaſeth thee to leade mee, for the manifeſtation of thy bountie and power in conſeruation of thine, I ſhall yet arriue in that eternal hauen, wherein all we, whome thou alloweſt for thy ſeruantes, though neuer ſo vnprofitable, beyng borne age after age, and whome thou ſhalt acknowledge for true children of Abraham, Iſaak, and Iacob, with whom thou contractedſt the couenant of eternall life, ſhal hauehave our dwelling worlde without ende, Amen.