Davids Evidence, Sermon 6
THE SIXTH SERMON, December 19. 5. Sabboth.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israell world without end. So be it, euen so be it.
THe Prophet Dauid hauing receiued assuraunces of Gods fauour towards him, he prayseth God the giuer. What tokēs he had of Gods louelove both without him, and within him, we hauehave heard in the verses before, of his behauiour after the receipt therof, we shall heare in this last verse. He now returneth to God, for his iewells, such as he had, prayse & thāksgiuing, louelove for louelove, praises for blessings, as was his duety. The Lord of louelove wooeth Dauid his beloued, he hath wōne his affectiō, Dauid is ye Lords, both in body and soule, & in all that he hath, Dauid is happy thereby, for he is samed therby, but ye Lord is neuer ye richer for his gift. In Dauids thankesgiuing, we may obserue two things, first to whō he offereth his sacrifice of praise: secōdly in what maner he offereth it. For ye first: it is y• Lord to whō he doth offer it, & to none but the Lord. Papistes say, blessed be God, & our Layd, blessed be God, & such a sainct, & such a sainct, for this & ye blessing: so doth not Gods child here, Ergo they are not Gods childrē in so doing. A mā after Gods owne hart doth not so, Ergo they are not men after Gods owne hart in doing so. Great reason had Dauid, & great reasō hauehave all ye faithfull to prayse God onelyonly: for first, who kept Dauids enemies frō triūphing against him but the Lord? who vpheld him in his integrity, but ye Lord? who set him before his face for euer, but ye Lord? therefore who must be praysed but the Lord? This was ye Lords own doing, & this was ye Lords onelyonly doing, therfore he onelyonly is to be praysed. Again, the Lord which saueth vsus euen for his own name sake, wil not hauehave his glory parted betwéene him & his creatures, but giuen wholly to himselfe, as ye Prophet Esay saith,Esay. 42.8. …herfore, cursed be they, whatsoeuer they be, y• dare ioyne any whatsoeuer, as partners wt God, either in his workes or in his worship. For his maner & forme of praising God, it is most excellēt, for he doth it in such wordes & maner as noteth a wōderfull earnest affectiō in him towardes ye Lord, a great zeale of his glorie, great humilitie in him selfe, & a great feare least he should not doe it as he ought: for first, he doth not say simply, blessed be God, but blessed be the Lord God of Israell, to shew that nothing in him selfe deserued such louelove at Gods hands, but onelyonly the couenaunt, which ye Lord made, with his Church moued him thereunto, Dauid being a member of the Church. Secondly as Gods louelove is infinite and euerlasting, so accordingly he praiseth his name for it, saying, world without end. Thirdly, to shew his hartie, and vnfained cōsent to that, which he spake, he saith. So be it, and as one not repēting him of that he had said, but rather fearing that he came too short in the first, he doubleth his speech, and with a second blow, to rouse vp his hart and affection, which were scant awakened with the first, he saith, So be it, and againe I say So be it, So be it, euen so be it.
The doctrine that is to be gathered from this verse, ariseth two wayes, first from the matter subiect: secondly, from the forme of ye words. The matter subiect of the verse is Dauids thankesgiuing to the Lord, for that he had so many wayes sealed vp, and made sure his louelove vntounto his soule. From which example we may gather this general doctrine, that after benefits receiued of God, it is our dutie, and our delight to returne thankes vntounto the Lord, if Gods louelove be swéete vntounto vsus. And this dutie can none performe aright but the elect children of God, which are led by Gods spirit, endued with Gods grace, enriched with Gods benefites, and inflamed with his louelove. All of vsus do begge and craue like lepers, but scarce one of ten do returne praises and thankesgiuing for our healing, as though Gods gifts were not worth thāks. We are not so kinde to the Lord for all his benefites, as we are to a mortall man for one curtesie. OnelyOnly the faithfull being once throughly enlightened, and effectually called, are afraid to omit or neglect this dutie, and when they do faile therein, they are not a litle grieued thereat: and that they do, for Gods spirit is in them. Therefore as they pray by the spirit, so by the same spirite they praise God: alwayes knitting vp their prayers with thankesgiuing, for they must not be separated. Daniell prayed,Dan. 6.10. & praised God thrée times a day on his knées: no doubt he did it oftener as occasion was offred, but this he bound him selfe vntounto what businesse soeuer he had, because of his dulnesse: to teach vsus what we must do. But how many deuour the graces of God one after another like a hogge vnderunder the trée, neuer looking vp to the trée from whence they come: as though all that God sendeth were nothing. Some are afraid to be acknowen who did them good, or gaue them goods,Iohn. 9.21. like the blind mans father, who for feare of the Iewes durst not tel who gaue his sonne his sight. Some are ashamed like Sarah, Gen. 18.13.who laughed at the Angels message, when she should rather hauehave giuen thankes: & this is because the wicked mocke the godly for praising of God, as the sonne of the bond woman mocked the sonne of the frée woman, and it is now become a reproch to speake any one word amongst many to the praise of God: whereof it commeth that the most part both at bed and boord do so commonly forget to prayse the Lord, but like beasts they sit and lye down, and like beasts they rise vp againe. But litle may we do beloued, if we cannot by prayer aske leaue of God to take his blessings, when we hauehave no right to any thing but in Christ, and litle may we do, if we cannot giuegive him thanks, & acknowledge him to be the giuer. Thus like théeues we steale the Lords benefites and do nothing for them, as if we should boldly goe into our neighbours house, & take our diner, and his plate, and go away, and neuer say, with your leaue, nor I thanke you: the Lord open our eyes, and touch our hearts. Some that would séeme to be a litle more manerly, will vtter, nay I may more truely say, smother out a few cold words of course, like gossips & protestants at large, when they meete one another, Here is a goodly weather God be praised, Oh you hauehave a swéete child neighbour, God blesse him, God be thāked of your vpsitting, or your comming abrode againe, and so foorth: but if any thing be added more then these common gratulations, whereby God may reape more glorie, that is a note of a Puritane, and he is too holy for our company. Some would giuegive God thankes oftener then they do, but they cannot remember him without a picture, or a crucifixe, or some Popish relicke, like the Ioclatrous Iewes, which could not remember God til they saw a calfe. As though the Lords dayly benefits were not sufficient remembrances & liuely pictures of the Lords goodnesse, or as though when any doth bestow a benefite vponupon vsus by his sonne, we should not thanke his father because we neuer saw him, and we want his picture.
Some will for fashion sake giuegive God a good word or two, and say perhaps, God is a good God, God be blessed, I thanke God for my deliuerance, &c. but then they must run a long discourse of them selues, but if I had not done this and that, if I had not played ye man, & had a good forecast, &c. it had not gone so well with me as it did. Thus many deale with God, like him that when he hath tolde out his money to his creditor which he ought him, and taken vp his bond, snatcheth vp his money againe, and for an hundred pound giueth him a penie and a boxe on the eare. But to leaue all these to the Lord, this is most certaine, if we be afrayd, or ashamed, or forgetfull, or indifferent to praise the Lord: or if we be vnreuerent, or idolatrous, or superstitious in praising God, how can we assure our selues to be the children of God?
But note further in this holy seruant of God, how he was qualified, and prepared, before he would, or before he could offer any sacrifice of praise acceptable to God. First he examineth his heart, and findeth his affectiōs holy, and vpright before the Lord, his heart frée from reuenge, his spirit humbled vnderunder the hand of God, his soule assured of Gods fauour, and his faith setled in his promises: this being done, he procéedeth and saith Blessed be the Lord God of Israell, &c. assuring him selfe, that when his person is accepted with God, his praises & thankesgiuing shall not be reiected. This is to teach vsus, that they which come vnsanctified, and vnprepared by a liuely faith and true repētance, and hauehave nothing to cōmend them vntounto God but their pride, their hatred, their infidelitie, their impietie, and such like, they cannot prayse the Lord, and if they do, it is returned vpō their heads as sinne: & so they are sent away not onelyonly emptie, but in worse case then they came, like the vnworthy guest that came to the Kings feast without his wedding garment. And this doctrine runneth currant thorough the whole body of the Scriptures, and no man doth aske from whence it commeth or whither it goeth, but eueryevery one of the Lords Seers and seruants giueth testimonie vntounto it. The Psalmist is of yt mind, for he saith,Psal. 34.15 16 The eyes of the Lord are vponupon the righteous, and his eares are open to their crie, but the face of the Lord is against them that do euill, to cut off the remembrance of them from off the earth, to shew how little the Lord regardeth their prayers, or any thing that they can offer vntounto his maiestie. Salomon is likewise of the same mind, for he saith,Prou. 15.8. The sacrifice of the wicked is abominatiō to the Lord, but the prayer of the righteous is acceptable vntounto him. He sheweth a good reason why. For (saith he) the way of the wicked is abomination to the Lord, but he loueth them that followe righteousnesse. In another place he saith,Prou. 17.7 High talke becō meth not a foole. If high talke becometh not a …oole, much lesse doth diuine talke become a wicked man: for what talke hi…her thē talke with the most high? and who so foolish as the wicked and profane? The Prophet Esay is also of the same mind, for he (speaking in the person of God) saith thus, When you shall stretch out your hands, Esay. 1.15.I will hide mine eyes from you, & though you make many praiers, I will not heare you, for your handes are full of bloud, that is: your déedes are full of oppression, and therefore your prayers, and praises are stained with your bloudy hands.
S. Luke saith,Luke. 4.41 That deuils came out of many, crying and saying, thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God, but Christ rebuked them, and suffred them not to say that they knew him to be that Christ, because they were deuils. For our Sauiour Christ will not be praised out of a deuils mouth, for their commendation tendeth rather to his discredite thē otherwise: so deuilish men may perhaps come out of many houses, to Church, & cry we prayse thée O God, we know thée who yu art, Iesus the sonne of the liuing God, glory be to the father and to the sonne and to the holy Ghost, and many good wordes and spéeches moe they vtter, but surely the Lord is so farre from accepting any such thing at their hands, that he is more prouoked to anger against them for it, because they are deuilish, and come without repentance into the presence of the most holy. The like in all respectes shall we read of in the 16. of the Actes.Act. 16.17.18. A certaine maid had a spirite of diuination, she was such a one as some ignorantly call a cunning womā, no better then a witch or a cōiurer, one that wrought by the deuil, & could by helpe of the deuil tell where things were yt were lost, & such a one followed Paul and Silas, crying, These are the seruaunts of the most high God, and this she did many dayes. But Paul being greeued, turned about and said to the spirite, I commaunde thee in the name of Iesus Christ that thou come out of her. Now as Gods seruaunts could not abide the confession of the deuill, much lesse can God him selfe abide it, being onelyonly for feare and not of louelove. A straunge thing that deuils, which are at defiāce with God, should confesse him. And yet (all things duely considered) it is not so straunge as it may séeme to be, for what if they do it of constrainte whether they wil or no? or what if it be for feare onelyonly and not for louelove? or what if they do it to bring credit vponupon their own matters, and to bring Gods matters into contempt? then the strangenesse of the matter is diminished: for indéede this is common not onelyonly among the deuils, but amongest all the reprobate. Sathā shall alledge Scripture to credite his owne cause, and Balam will not (because …e cannot) passe the boundes of that, which God hath put in his mouth, whē his hart hunteth for ye wages of iniquitie. Sometime to make them inexcusable God will wring a confession from their own mouthes, as he did from Pharao. Sometime the wicked will doe that, which their hart goeth against, to bring Gods seruaunts in question amongest men, like the cunning maide before mentioned. Sometime to deceiue the more easily, and strongly, he will chaunge him selfe into the likenesse of an Angell of light, and put vponupon a fowle matter a faire cloake of holinesse. The truth wherof may sufficiently appeare in the kingdome or Poperie, amongest the Monkes and Friers, which vnderunder pretence of holinesse, commit all kinde of wickednes. I hauehave knowen some Arian heretiques▪ whose life hath bene most strickt amongest men, whose toungs hauehave bene tired with Scripture vponupon Scripture, their knées euen hardned in prayer, and their faces wedded to sadnesse, and their mouthes full of prayses to God, while in the meane time, they hauehave stoutly denied the diuinitie of the sonne of God, and hauehave not sticked to teare out of the Bible, all such places as made against them, such were Hamond, Lewes and Cole heretiques of wretched memorie lately executed and cut of in Norwich, what shall I say of Fraunces Ket another Arian which succéeded them,F. Kett. in opinions more monstrous then his predecessours, for he held that whosoeuer wilbe saued, must before he dye, go to Ierusalē: that Christ with his Apostles, are now personally in Iudea gathering of his church: that ye faithfull should miraculously be preserued at Ierusalem, with a wall of fire, & be fed with Angels foode from heauen: but these were his dreames, & yet such dreames as (rather then he would for go them, hauing once embraced them) caused him to plunge him selfe ouer head and eares in most damnable & cursed heresies, for behold: to maintaine his former fancies, he held most impudently that Christ Iesus is not God, but a good man, as others be, and that which was neuer heard before, that Christ hath suffred once for his own sinnes, and shall (before ye end of the world) suffer again, for the sinnes of the world, and that being done, he shalbe then made God after his secōd resurrection. And yet as monstrous as he was in opiniō, sée how holy he would séeme to be in his outward conuersatiō. The sacred Bible almost neuer out of his handes, him selfe alwayes in prayer, his toung neuer ceased praysing of God, when he went to the fire he was clothed in sackcloth, he went leaping and dauncing: being in the fire, aboue twentie times together, clapping his handes, he cried nothing, but blessed be God, blessed be God, blessed be God, and so continued vntill the fire had consumed all his neither parts, and vntill he was stifled with the smoke that he could speake no longer: all which I was a witnes of my self. But shall we thinke that the Lord tooke any delight in the prayers or prayses of such a deuill incarnate? farre be it from vsus. A straunge and fearefull example of a desperate, of a hardened, and a cursed creature, and yet not to be wondered at, for the deuill hath his souldiers, and martyrs aswell as the Lord, and oftentimes they are more resolute in the deuils quarrell, then some are in Gods quarrel. As for his willing and ready going, with his cōstant enduring, it was no more then is perfourmed by such as hang them selues, or drowne themselues, but what pleasure hath the Lord in the sacrifices of such? What shall we say of our English Donatists, our schismaticall Brownists, & followers of Barrow and his crue? they hold our Church for no visible Church,Schismatiques. neither that we hauehave so much as a face of a Church amōgst vsus: they cōdēne all our assemblies at their pleasure, terming vsus & our Churches to be but dunghils, and Sinagogues of Sathan, our Ministerie no Ministerie, our Sacramēts no Sacraments, our teachers they terme Baals Priests, the taile of the red dragon, the whole Church of England, they call Babilon, Sodom, Egipt, & all that naught is, thus they cast mire in ye face of their mother in whose bowels they were first begotten (if euer they were begotten) to the Lord, separating thē selues frō all the holy things of God, because eueryevery thing is not iust as they would hauehave it. But in the meane time to get more credite vntounto their pretended cause of separation, they séeme to be very deuout in prayer, and as though the spirite of prayer were proper vntounto them, they condēn… all other mens prayers, their mouthes alwayes thundering out the iudgements of God, while they take a felicitie in condemning their brethrē, they come vnderunder a cloake of sinceritie and reformation, while they go about to plucke vp the Lordes vineyeard by the rootes, and none more zealous in their profession, none more deuout in praysing of God, none more ready in the Scriptures then they, yea as plentifull in their proofes, and textes of Scripture they séeme to be for vpholding of their errors & shcisme, as Kett was for the defending of his heresies, but what pleasure the Lord hath in such schismaticall prayers & prayses, which hauehave nothing to present them to the Lord, but a spirite of pride, and errour, I feare to speake, ye Lord open their eyes, to see their sinne, that so many as belong to him may be conuerted and be saued.
Thus we sée it manifest both by testimonies and examples that the sacrifices of the wicked & vngodly are vile before the Lord, how holy soeuer they séeme to be amongest men, and they can not prayse him, but as the deuils did confesse him. But if any come before the Lord, as his beloued spouse, decked with their garment of diuers colours, I meane their soules clothed with the riches of Gods fauour, as true repentaunce, a liuely faith, brotherly louelove, lowlinesse of spirite, integritie of hart, patience in affliction, ioy in the holy Ghost, if any come to the Lord depending on Gods grace, naked in himself▪ yet clothed in Christ, doubting of himselfe yet assuring himselfe of Gods fauour both promised & purchased in ye bloud of Christ Iesus they may bring their offering, wt Dauid, & say, Blessed be the Lord God of Israell, and the king of glory shall then hauehave delight in their beautie, for he loueth the prayses of his people, and of none els.
This doctrine, if it were throughly applied, and closely layd to the conscience of eueryevery estate & calling, it would I hope make vsus all more warie, and carefull in offering our selues with our presents of prayses and prayers vntounto the Lord while we liue. And first of all, what will Idolaters, and persecuters of Gods Sainctes say vntounto this. In a merry note they sing Te Deum laudamus, & Benedictus Deus Israel. &c. But whether such Popish, and bloudy seruices be accepted of God or no, I would wish them to consider.
In our Church if there be any in ye plate of seers & watchmen ouer the Lords people, and yet hauehave neither will, skill, nor courage to lead the people of the Lord in the wayes of righteousnesse, and also do wearie them selues in the wayes of loosenesse and prophanesse, and yet wil come into Gods house, and without repentance offer vp cōfessions, prayers, & thākesgiuings for themselues & the people: how acceptable such sacrifices are vntounto the Lord, I would wishe them also to consider.
Agayne, there are some called Parishe Clarkes, which without any manner of calling thereunto from God, doe intrude them selues into the Ministers office, onelyonly for a litle filthie lucre sake, and most confusedly and disorderly tumble ouer the holy things of God, as the Lordes prayer, with diuers things, which I blush to name, vnderunder pretence forsooth of helping the Minister to say seruice: a thing which I neuer saw, but in this place. How acceptable the prayers, and seruice of such men are, or rather how detestable it is vntounto God, I would they had grace to consider.
What will hypocrites, and contēners of the word preached, say to this? because they cannot chuse, they come to common prayer, which indéede is too much negelcted, but as for other excercises, of preaching, and Catechising (of all, the most néedefull, & most pro…table) they dedicate those times to bowles, or cardes, or tables, or tipling, or wanton walking, & I know not what, and then the exercises being done they repaire to the ordinary seruice, where they make a fained confession, and prayers, and prayses for custome sake,Pro. 28.9. but, He that turneth his eare frō hearing the law (saith the holy Ghost) euen his prayer shalbe abhominable. If his prayer be abhominable, what is his presumptuous prating, and proude blaspheming? Againe, let pirates and rouers at sea, with vsurers, & oppressours by land, with swearers, drunkardes, filthie liuers, Sabboth prophaners and such like, lay this to their hart, and God in mercy looke vponupon them, for their seruice done to God, is as acceptable to his Maiestie as the harlots vowes, and offrings, of which we read in the 7. of the Prouerbes,Pro. 7.14. when she went about to entice vntounto follie: or as if they cut of a dogges head for the Lord. Againe, if there be any husbands and wiues, or any neighbours, liuing in discord, and suffering their harts to boyle in hatred one against another, how can they thinke that the Lord wilbe delighted with their wrathfull prayers, and prayses, when they doe offer them, what should I say more? I would wish, and I do earnestly desire, that eueryevery one would lay it to his hart, & to consider wt him selfe: first, what a sinne it is not to pray, and praise God at all: next, how the sinne is encreased, if they be not prepared and sanctified before they do blesse God, as Dauid was: for the sacrifices of the wicked are like the salutations of the Iewes, when they bowed the knée vntounto Christ, and spit in his face together.