Explication of Psalm 110, Verse 7
VERSE 7.
Hee shall drinke of the Brooke in the way: therefore shall hee lift up the Head.
SOme understand these words in the sense of the two former, for a figurative expression of the victories of Christ; and they in a twofold manner. Some by brooke understand the bloud of the adversarie with which the way should bee filled as with a streame: and by drinking hereof, the satiating, refreshing, and delighting himselfe in the confusion of his enemies; for the Lord is eased when his enemies are subdued, Esai. 1.24. Others, that hee should pursue his victorie with such heate and importunity, that hee should not allow himselfe any times of usuall repast, but should content himselfe with such obvious refreshment as should offer it selfe in the way: and should immediatly lift up his head againe, to pursue the enemie at the heele; and in this sense, there is no more new matter here intimated than that which hath been before handled.
Others understand the meanes whereby Christ should thus lift up his head and exalt himselfe above all the enemies of his Kingdome, namely by his Passion, and sufferings; by death destroying death and him that had the power of death, which is the Devill. I will not undertake to define which sense is most agreeable to the place; it being so difficult. But upon occasion of this latter (which I thinke is more generally embraced) I shall speake something of the meanes and ground of Christs victories over his enemies, and of his government in his Church, namely his sufferings and resurrection.
He shall drinke of the brooke in the way] By Brooke then or Torrent we may understand the wrath of God, and the rage of men. The afflictions and sufferings which befell Christ. And this is a very frequent Metaphore in holy Scriptures to understand afflictions by water, Psal. 18.4, 5.42.7.69.1.124.4, 5. So the wrath of the Lord is called a streame, and a lake, Esay 30.33. Revel. 19.20. In regard of the rage and irresistiblenesse thereof, Sternit agros, sternit sata laeta, boum que labores, and in regard of the turbidnesse and foulenesse thereof, for Gods wrath is full of dregs, Esay 51.17. Psal. 75.8. It is said in the History of Christs passion, when he was going to wrestle with that woefull agony in the garden, that hee passed over the brooke Cedron. Ioh. 18.1. And we may observe in the History of the Kings, that when the good Kings Hezekiah, and Asa, and Iosiah, purged the Citie and the Temple of idolatry, they burnt the cursed things at the brooke Kidron, and cast them thereinto, 2 Chron. 15. 16. 2 Chron. 29.16.30.14. 2 King. 23.6. To note unto us that that brooke was the sinke, as it were, of the Temple, that into which al the purgamenta, and uncleannesses of Gods house, all the cursed things were to bee cast; with relation whereunto it is not improbable that the Prophet David by a propheticall spirit might notifie the sufferings of Christ, by drinking of that cursed brooke over which hee was to passe, to signifie that on him all the faithfull might lay and powre ut their sins, who is therefore said to be made sinne and a curse for us, 2 Cor. 5.21. Gal. 3.13. As the people when they laid their hands on the head of the sacrifice, did thereby, as it were, unload all their sinnes upon it.
Now as waters signifie Afflictions; so there are two words with relation thereunto, which signifie suffering of afflictions, and they are both applied unto Christ, Matth. 20.22. Are yee able to drinke of the cup that I shall drinke of, or be baptized with that Baptisme that I am baptized with? He that drinketh hath the water in him; he that is dipped or plunged, hath the water about him: So it notes the universalitie of the wrath which Christ suffered, it was within him, My soule is heavie unto death; and it was all about him, betrayed by Iudas, accused by Iewes, forsaken by Disciples, mocked by Herod, condemned by Pilate, buffeted by the servants, nailed by the souldiers, reviled by the theeves and standers by, and which was all in all, forsaken by his Father. So then by drinking of the brooke is meant suffering of the curses, and it is frequently so used, Ier. 25.27.49.12. Ezek. 23.32.34. Hab. 2.16. Revel. 14.9.10.
By [The way] we must understand either the life of Christ on earth, his passage betweene his assumed voluntary humility and his exaltation againe; or The way between mankind and heaven, which by that should of wrath and torrent of curses, which were foreign, Col. 2.14. was made utterly unpassable, till Christ by his sufferings made a path thorow it, for the ransomed of the Lord to passe over.
Therefore shall be lift up the head.] It noteth in the Scripture phrase victory, electation, and breaking thorow those evils which did urge and presse a man before, Psal. 27.6. and also boldnesse ▪ confidence, and securitie to the whole body,Qui se humiliaverat, ipse exaltis. Hieron. Luke 21.28. And further, it is not, He shall be lifted up, but, He shall doe it himselfe, He hath the power of life, and the fountaine of life in himselfe, Ioh. 5.26. 10.18. So that following this sense of the words, the meaning is, He shall suffer, and remove all those curses which were in the way between mankinde and heaven, and then he shall lift up his head in the Resurrection, and breake thorow all those sufferings into glory againe; which sense is most punctually and expresly unfolded in those parallel places, Luk. 24.26.46. Phil. 2.8, 9. 1 Pet. 1.11.
He shall drinke of the brooke in the way] From hence we may note, First, that betweene mankinde and heaven there is a torrent of wrath and curses, which doth everlastingly separate betweene us and glory; foreign, a great and fixed gulfe, which all the world can neither wade thorow, nor remove. The Law at first was an easie and smooth way to righteousnesse, and from thence to salvation, but now every step thereof sinkes as low as hell. It is written within and without with curses, which way soever a man stirres, he findes nothing but death before him: one mans way by the civility of his education, the ingenuitie of his disposition, the engagement of other ends or relations, may seeme more smooth and plausible than anothers, but by nature they all runne into hell, as all rivers, though never so different in other circumstances, runne into the sea. It is as impossible for a naturall man of himselfe to escape damnation, as it is to make himselfe no childe of the old Adam, or not to have beene begotten by fleshly parents. The Gulfe of sin in our nature cannot be cleansed, and therefore the Guilt thereof cannot be removed. The Image we have lost is by us unrepairable; the Law we have violated, inoxorable; the Iustice we have injured, unsatisfiable; the concupiscence of our nature insatiable, sinne an aversion from an infinite good, and a conversion to the creature infinitely; and therefore the Guilt thereof infinite and unremoveable too.
We should learne often to meditate on this point, to finde our selves reduced unto these straits and impossibilities, that we cannot see which way to turne, or to helpe our selves, for that is the onelyonly way to draw us unto Christ. Every man naturally loves to be in the first place beholding to himselfe; in any extremity, if his owne wits, purse, projects, or endevours will helpe him out, hee lookes no further; but when all his owne succours have forsaken him, then hee seekes abroad. It is much more true in the matter of salvation; no man ever did begin at Christ, but went unto him upon meere necessitie, when he had experience of the emptinesse of all his other succours and dependencies, we all by nature are offended at him, and will not have him to reigne over us, till thereunto we be forced by the evidence of that infinite and unpreventable misery, under which without him we must sinke for ever. This is of all other the most urging argument unto men at first to consider, that there is a torrent of curses, a sea of death, a raigne of condemnation, a hell of sinne within, and a hell of torments without betweene them and their salvation; and there is no drop of that sea, no scruple of that curse, no title of that Law, which must not all be either fulfilled or endured. Suppose that God should summon thy guilty soule to a sudden apparance before his tribunall of Justice; and should there begin to deale with thee even at thy mothers wombe: Alas, thou wouldest be utterly gone there; even there a seed of evill doers, the spawne of viperous and serpentine parents, a cursed childe, a childe of wrath, an exact image of the old Adam, and of the bloud of Satan. But then here is after this produced a catalogue, and history of sinnes of forty, fiftie, or three score yeeres long. And in them every inordinate motion of the will, every sudden stirring, and secret working of inward lust, every idle word, every uncleane aspect, every impertinencie and irregularity of life, scored up against thy poore soule, and each of them to be produced at the last, and either answered or revenged. O where shall the ungodly and sinners appeare if they have not right in Christ? And how should men labour to be secured in that right? Who would suffer so many millions of obligations and indictments to lye betweene him and God, uncancelled, and not labour to have them taken out of the way? Now the onelyonly way to be brought hereunto is, to deny our selves and all we doe; to doe no good thing for this end that we may rest in it, or rely upon it when we have done, but after all to judge our selves unprofitable servants: when wee have prayed, to see hell betweene heaven and our prayers; when wee have preached, to see hell betweene heaven and our sermons; when we have done any worke of devotion, to see hell between heaven and all our services, if God should marke what is amisse in them, and should enter into judgement with us: In one word, to see hell betweene heaven and any thing in the world else, save onelyonly betweene Christ and heaven. Till in this manner men be qualified for mercy, they will have no heart to desire it, and God hath no purpose to conferre it. Christ must be esteemed worthy of all acceptation, before God bestowes him: and the way so to esteeme of him is, to feele our selves the greatest of all sinners. And when the soule is thus once humbled with the taste and remembrance of that worme-wood and gall which is in sinne, there is then an immediate passage unto hope and mercy, Lament. 3.19—22. and that hope is this.
That Christ hath drunken up, and dried that torrent of curses which was betweene us and heaven, and hath made a passage through them all by himselfe unto his Fathers Kingdome. He was made sinne and a curse for us, that so hee might swallow up sinne and death, and might bee the destruction of hell, Hos. 13.14. I will here but touch upon two things. First, What Christ suffered. Secondly, why he suffered: for understanding of the first we must note, first, that Christ Humane nature was by the hypostaticall Vnion exalted unto many dignities, which to all the Creatures in the world besides are utterly incommunicable; as the communication of properties, the adoration of Angels, the primogenitu…e of the Creatures, the cooperation with the Deitie in many mighty workes, the satisfaction of an infinite Justice by a finite passion, &c. Exalted likewise it was by his spirituall unction above all his fellowes, with that unmeasurable fulnesse of grace, as wonderfully surpasseth the united and cumulated perfections of all the Angels in heaven. Secondly, wee must note likewise, that all these things Christ received for the worke of mans Redemption, and therefore he had them in such a maner as was most suteable and convenient for the execution of that worke. Now Christ was to fulfill that worke by a way of suffering and obedience, by death to destroy him that had the power of death, as David by Goliahs sword slew him that was master of the sword. As there fell a mighty tempestuous winde upon the red sea, whereby the passage was opened for Israel to goe out of Egypt into Canaan; so Christ was to be torne and divided by his sufferings, that so there might be a passage for us to God, through that sea of wrath which was betweene our Egypt and our Canaan, our sinne and our Salvation. Here then are two generall Rules to be observed concerning the sufferings of Christ. First, that the Oeconomie or dispensation of his Mediatorship is the measure of all that he suffered. So much as that required, he did suffer, and more he did not: for though he suffered as man, yet he suffered not because he was a man, but because he was a Mediator. Secondly, in as much as a Mediatour betweene God and sinners was to be holy and separate from sinners (for if he should have beene a sinner, he had beene one of the parties, and not a Mediator) therefore none of those sufferings which are repugnant to his holinesse, and, by consequence, unserviceable to the administration of his office, could belong unto him. Such things then as did no way prejudice the plenitude of his grace, the union of his natures, the quality of his mediation, such things as were suteable to his person, and requisite for our pardon, such as were possible for him, and such as were necessary for us, those things he suffered as the punishments of our sinnes.
Now punishments are of severall sorts; some are sins, some onelyonly from sinnes. Some things in severall respects are both sinnes and punishments. *Deus naturarum bonarum Creator optimus, malarum voluntatum justissimus ordinator. Aug. de Civit. Dei, li. 11. c. 17. l. 14. ca. 26. & to .7. cont. Iulian. Pelag. l. 5. c. 3. De Grat▪ & Lib. Arbitr. c. 23. de Praedest. storum. cap. 10.In relation to the Law, as Deviations, so they are sinne: in relation to the order and disposition of Gods providence, so they are punishments. As hardnesse of heart, and a reprobate sense. Other punishments are from sinne, and in this regard sinne is two wayes considerable, either as inherent, or as imputed: from sinne as inherent, or from the consciousnesse of sinne in a mans selfe, doth arise remorse, or torment and the worme of conscience. Againe, sinne as imputed may be considered two wayes; either it is imputed upon a ground in nature, because the persons to whom it is imputed are naturally one with him that originally committed it, and so it doth seminally descend, and is derived upon them. Thus Adams sinne of eating the forbidden fruit is imputed unto us, and the punishment thereof on us derived, namely the privation of Gods Image, and the corruption of our nature. Or else it is imputed upon a ground of voluntary contract, vadimonie, or susception, so that the guilt thereupon growing is not a derived, but an assumed guilt, which did not bring with it any desert, or worthinesse to suffer, but onelyonly an obligation and obnoxiousnesse thereunto. As if a sober and honest person be suretie for a prodigall and luxurious man, who spending his estate upon courses of intemperance and excesse, hath disabled himselfe to pay any of his debts; the one doth for his vitious disability deserve imprisonment, unto which the other is as liable as he, though without any such personall desert. Now then the punishments which Christ suffered are onelyonly such as agree unto sinne thus imputed, *foreign Greg. Nazian. Orat. 36as all our sinnes were unto Christ. Againe, in punishments we are to distinguish betweene punishments inflicted from without, and punishments ingenerated, and immediately resulting from the condition of the person that suffereth. Or betweene the Passions and Actions of the men that are punished. Punishments inflicted are those paines and dolorous impressions which God either by his owne immediate hand, or by the ministery of such instruments as he is pleased to use, doth lay upon the soule or body of a man. Punishments ingenerated are those which grow out of the weakenesse and wickednesse of the person lying under the sore and invincible pressure of those paines which are thus inflicted. As Blasphemie, despaire, and the worme of conscience. In one word, some evils of punishment are *Infirmitates quaedam vitiosae, quaedam miserae. Aug.vitious, either formally in themselves or fundamentally, and by way of connotation in regard of the originals thereof in the person suffering them. Others are onelyonly dolorous and miserable, which presse nature, but doe no way defile it, nor referre to any either pollution or impotency in the person suffering them, and of this sort onelyonly were the punishments of Christ.
Now these punishments which Christ thus suffered are either inchoate or consummate; inchoate, as all those penall defects of our nature which neither were sinnes, nor grounded upon the inherence of sinnes (for hee tooke not our personall, but onelyonly our naturall defects.) And these were either corporeall, as hunger, thirst, wearinesse, and the like; or spirituall, as feare, griefe, sorrow, temptations, &c. consummate, were those which he suffered at last. And these likewise were either corporeall, as shame, mockings, buffets, trials, scourgings, condemnation, an ignominious and a cursed death. Or spirituall, and those were principally two. First, a punishment of Dereliction. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken mee? Matth. 27.46. There was some kinde of separation betweene God and Christ during the time of his sufferings for sinne in that cursed manner. For understanding wherof we must note that he had a fourfold Vnion unto God? First, In his humane Nature, which was so fast united in his person to the divine, that death it selfe did not separate it either from the person or from the deitie. It was the Lord that lay in the grave. Secondly, In Love, and so there was never any separation neither, but when hee hanged on the Crosse, hee was still the beloved Sonne of his Father, in whom hee was well pleased. Thirdly, In the Communion of his Spirit and Holinesse; and in that regard likewise there was no disunion, for hee was offered up as a lambe without spot or blemish. Lastly, In the fruition of the light of his countenance, and of his glory and favor, and in this respect there was for the time of his sufferings a dereliction, subtractione visionis, non dissolutione unionis, by the withdrawing of his countenance, not by the dissolving of his union. Hee looked upon Christ as a God armed against the sinnes of the world which were then upon him. Secondly, There was a punishment of malediction. Hee did undergoe the curse of the Law, hee did graple with the wrath of God, and with the powers of darknesse, hee felt the scourges due unto our sinnes in his humane nature, which squeezed and wrung from him those strong cries, those deepe and woefull complaints, that bloudy and bitter sweate, which drew compassion from the very rocks. And surely it is no derogation to the dignity of Christs person, but on the other side a great magnifying of the Iustice of God against sinne, of the power of Christ against the Law, and of the mercy of them both towards sinners, to affirme, that the sufferings of Christ, what-ever they were in specie ▪ in the kinde of them, were yet in pondere, in their weight and pressure, equally grievous with those which we should have suffered; for being in all things save sinne like unto us, and most of all in his liablenesse to the curse of the Law (so farre as it did not necessarily denotate either sinne inherent, or weaknesse to breake through in the person suffering) why hee should not bee obnoxious to as great extremities of paine, I see no reason; for no degree of meere anguish and dolor can bee unbefitting the person of him who was to bee knowne by that Title, A man of sorrowes. And surely farre more indignity it was to him to suffer a violent death of body from the hands of base men, than to suffer with patience, obedience, and victorie farre sorer stripes from the hand of God his Father, who was pleased upon him to lay the iniquity of us all.
For the second thing proposed, Why Christ suffered these things; The Scripture giveth principally these five reasons: First, to execute the decrees of his Father, Act. 4.27, 28. Secondly, to fulfill the prophesies, prefigurations, and predictions of Holy Scriptures, Luk. 24.46. Thirdly, to magnifie his mercy, and free love to sinners, and most impotent enemies, Rom. 5.8. Fourthly, to declare the Righteousnesse and truth of God against sinne, who would not bee reconciled with sinners but upon a legall expiation, Rom. 3.25. For although wee may not limit the unsearchable wisedome and wayes of God,Aug. de Trin. lib. 13. cap. 10. & de Agone Christiano, To. 3. cap. 11. as if hee could no other way have saved man; yet wee are bound to adore this meanes, as being by him selected out of that infinite treasure of his owne counsell, as most convenient to set forth his wonderfull hate of sinne, his inexorable Iustice and severity against it, his unsearchable riches of love and mercy towards sinners, and in all things to make way to the manifestation of his glory. Lastly, To shew forth his owne power which had strength to stand under all this punishment of sinne, and at last to shake it off and to declare himselfe to bee the Sonne of God by the resurrection from the dead, Rom. 1.4. For though Christ did exceedingly feare, and for that seeme to decline and pray against these his passions: yet none of that was out of jealousie, or suspicion that hee should not breake through them. But hee feared them as being paines unavoidable, which hee was most certainly to suffer; and as paines very heavie and grievous, which hee should not overcome without much bitternesse, and very woefull conflict. Now for a word of the last Clause.
Therefore shall hee lift up the Head.] Wee may hence observe, that Christ hath conquered all his sufferings by his owne power. As in his passion when hee suffered hee Bowed downe his head before-hand, and gave up the ghost with a loud voice, to note that his sufferings were voluntary, Ioh. 19.30. So in his resurrection hee is said to lift up his head himselfe, to note that hee had life in himselfe, that hee was the Prince of Life, that it was impossible for him to be held under by death (as we were by the Law, Rom. 7.6.) And that his exaltation was voluntary likewise and from his owne power, for he was not to have any assistant in the worke of our redemption, but to doe all alone, Ioh. 2.19.5.26.10.17. Act. 3.15.
If it bee objected that Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of his Father, and that hee raised him up, Rom. 6.4. Act. 13.33. To this I answer that this was not by way of supplement and succor to make up any defect of power in Christ; but onelyonly by way of consent to Christs owne power and action, that so men might joyntly honour the Sonne and the Father, Ioh. 5.19-26. Or by the Glorie of the Father wee may understand that glorious power which the Father gave unto his Sonne in the flesh, to have life in himselfe, Ioh. 5.26. annexing thereunto a command to exercise the same Power, Ioh. 10.18. Or hee is said to bee raised by himselfe and his Father both, because that Holy Spirit which immediatly quickned him (Rom. 1.4. 1 Tim. 3.16. 1 Pet. 3.18.) was both his and his Fathers. It was not any personall thing wherein the Sonne differ'd from the Father which raised Iesus from the dead, but that Spirit which was common to them both.
To conclude then with the consideration of those great benefits, and that excellent use which this resurrection of Christ doth serve for unto us. First, it assureth us of the accomplishment of his workes of mediation on earth, and that he is now in the execution of those other offices which remaine to bee fulfilled by him in heaven for the application of his Sacrifice unto us; for having in the resurrection justified himselfe hee thereby rose for our justification likewise, Rom. 4.25. For if the debt had not been taken quite off by the suretie, it would have lien upon the principall still. And therefore the Apostle proveth the resurrection by this that Gods mercies are sure, Act. 13.34. Whereas if Christ were not risen from the dead wee should bee yet in our sinnes, and so by consequence, the mercies of David should have failed us, 1 Cor. 15.17, 18. And for this reason it is (as I conceive) that the Lord sent an Angell to remove the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher; not to supply any want of power in him, who could himselfe have roled away the stone with one of his fingers; but as a Iudge when the Law is satisfied sendeth an officer to open the prison-doores to him who hath made that satisfaction; so the Father to testifie that his Iustice was fully satisfied with the price which his Sonne had paid, sent an officer of heaven to open the doores of the grave, and as it were to hold away the hangings while his Lord came forth of his bed-chamber.
Secondly, it assureth us of our resurrection; for as the head must rise before the members, so the members are sure to follow the Head. The wicked shall rise by his Iudiciary power, but not by the vertue and fellowship of his Resurrection; as the faithfull, who are therefore called Children of the Resurrection, Luk. 20.36. 1 Cor. 15.20-23. Thirdly, it doth by a secret and spirituall vertue renew and sanctifie our Nature, Rom. 6.4. For the acts of Christs mediation in his sufferings and victories are spiritually appliable and effectuall in us unto answerable effects. His death to the mortification of sinne, Heb. 9.14. 1 Ioh. 1.7. And his resurrection, to the quickning of us in holinesse, Eph. 2.5. Col. 2.12. Fourthly, it comforteth us in all other calamities of life which may befall us; hee that raised up himselfe from the dead, hath compassion and power to deliver us from all evill and to keepe us from falling. This is the summe of Iobs argument, God will raise me up at the last day, therefore undoubtedly hee is able (if it stand with my good and his owne glory) to lift me up from this dunghill againe, Iob 19.27. And this is Gods argument to comfort his people in patient waiting upon him in their afflictions, because their dead bodies shall live, and they that dwell in the dust shall awake and sing, Esai. 26.19. Lastly, it serveth to draw our thoughts and affections from earth unto heaven; Because things of a nature should move unto one another. Now saith the Apostle, Our conversation is in heaven, from whence wee looke for a Saviour, even the Lord Iesus Christ; who shall change our vile Body, and make it like unto his glorious Body, according to the working whereby hee is able to subdue all things unto himselfe. To him with the Father and the Holy Ghost, three persons, and one God, bee all honor, glory, Majesty and thanksgiving for ever, Amen.
FINIS.
Errata.
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