Eighty Sermons, prebend · Sermon 67
SERM. LXVII. The third of my Prebend Sermons upon my five Pſalmes: Preached at S. Pauls, November 5. 1626. In Veſperis.
PSAL. 64.10.
And all the upright in heart ſhall glory.
I Have had occaſion to tell you more then once before, that our Predeceſſors, in the inſtitution of the Service of this Church, have declared ſuch a reverence and ſuch a devotion to this particular Booke of Scripture, The Pſalmes, as that by diſtributing the hundred and fifty Pſalmes (of which number the body of this booke conſiſts) into thirty portions, (of which number the body of our Church conſiſts) and aſſigning to every one of thoſe thirty perſons, his five Pſalmes, to bee ſaid by him every day, every day God receives from us (howſoever wee be divided from one another in place) the Sacrifice of Praiſe, in the whole Booke of Pſalmes. And, though we may be abſent from this Quire, yet whereſoever diſperſed, we make up a Quire in this Service, of ſaying over all the Pſalmes every day. This ſixty fourth Pſalme, is the third of my five. And when, (according to the obligation which I had laid upon my ſelfe, to handle in this place ſome portion of every one of theſe my five Pſalmes) in handling of thoſe words, of the Pſalme immediately before this, in the ſeventh verſe, (Becauſe thou haſt beene my helpe, therefore in the ſhadow of thy Wings I will rejoyce) I told you, that the next world, Heaven, was (as this world is) divided into two Hemiſpheares, and that the two Hemiſpheares of Heaven, were Joy and Glory, (for, in thoſe two notions of Joy and Glory, is Heaven often repreſented unto us) as in thoſe words which we handled then, wee ſailed about the firſt Hemiſpheare, That of Joy, (In the ſhadow of thy Wings will I rejoyce) So, in theſe which I have read to you now, our voyage lies about the Hemiſpheare of Glory, for, (All the upright in heart ſhall Glory.) As we ſaid then of Joy, we ſay of Glory now; There is an inchoative joy here, though the conſummative joy be reſerved for Heaven; ſo is there alſo ſuch a taſte, ſuch an inchoation of glory in this life. And as no man ſhall come to the joyes of Heaven, that hath no joy in this world, (for, there is no peace of conſcience without this joy) ſo no man ſhall come to the glory of Heaven, that hath not a holy ambition of this glory in this world; for, this glory which we ſpeake of, is the evidence, and the reflexion of the glory from above; for, the glory of God ſhines through godly men, and wee receive a beame and a tincture of that glory of God, when we have the approbation, and teſtimony, and good opinion, and good words of good men; which is the Glory of our Text, as far as this world is capable of glory. All the upright in heart ſhall glory, that is, They ſhall be celebrated and encouraged with the glory and praiſe of good men here, and they ſhall be rewarded with everlaſting glory in Heaven.
In theſe words we propoſe to you but two parts;Diviſio. Firſt, The diſpoſition of the Perſons, Omnes recti corde, All the upright in heart, and then, The retribution upon theſe Perſons, Gloriabuntur, They ſhall Glory, or, (as it is in the Vulgat, and well) Laudabuntur, They ſhall be celebrated, they ſhall be praiſed. In the firſt, The qualification of the perſons, wee ſhall paſſe by theſe ſteps; Firſt, that God in his puniſhments and rewardings propoſes to himſelfe Perſons, Perſons already made, and qualified. God does not begin at a retribution, nor begin at a condemnation, before he have Perſons, Perſons fit to be rewarded, Perſons fit to be condemned. God did not firſt make a Heaven and a Hell, and after thinke of making man, that he might have ſome perſons to put in them; but, firſt for his Glory he made Man, and for thoſe, who by a good uſe of his grace preſerved their ſtate, Heaven, and for thoſe, who by their owne fault fell, he made Hell. Firſt, he propoſed Perſons, Perſons in being; And then, for the Perſons (as his delight is for the moſt part to doe) in this Text he expreſſes it; which is, rather to inſiſt upon the Rewards, which the Good ſhall receive, then upon the condemnation and judgements of the wicked. If he could chuſe, that is, If his owne Glory, and the edification of his Children would beare it, he would not ſpeake at all of judgements, or of thoſe perſons that draw neceſſary judgements upon themſelves, but he would exerciſe our contemplation wholly upon his mercy, and upon Perſons qualified and prepared for his gracious retributions. So he does here; He ſpeakes not at all of perverſe, and froward, and ſiniſter, and oblique men, men incapable of his retributions, but onelyonly of Perſons diſpoſed, ordained, prepared for them.
And, in the qualification of theſe Perſons, he propoſes firſt a rectitude, a directneſſe, an uprightneſſe; declinations downeward, deviations upon the wrong hand, ſquint-eyed men, ſplay footed men, left-handed men, (in a ſpirituall ſenſe) he meddles not withall. They muſt be direct, and upright; And then, upright in heart; for, to be good to ill ends, (as, in many caſes, a man may be) God accepts not, regards not. But, let him be a perſon thus qualified, Vpright; upright becauſe he loves uprightneſſe, Vpright in heart; And then, he is infallably imbraced, and enwrapped in that generall rule, and propoſition, that admits no exception, Omnes recti corde, All the upright in heart ſhall be partakers of this retribution: And in theſe branches we ſhall determine our firſt Part, firſt, That God propoſes to himſelfe Perſons; Perſons thus and thus qualified; he begins at them. Secondly, That God had rather dwell himſelfe, and propoſe to us the conſideration of good perſons, then bad, of his mercies, then his judgements, for he mentions no other here, but perſons capable of his retributions; And then, the goodneſſe that God conſiders, is rectitude, and rectitude in the roote, in the heart; And from that roote growes that ſpreading univerſality, that infallibility, Omnes, All ſuch are ſure of the Reward.
And then, in our ſecond Part, in the Reward it ſelfe, though it be delivered here in the whole barre, in the Ingot, in the Wedge, in Bulloyn, in one ſingle word, Gloriabuntur, Laudabuntur, They ſhall Glory, yet it admits this Mintage, and coyning, and iſſuing in leſſer pieces, That firſt we conſider the thing it ſelfe, The metall in which God rewards us, Glory, Praiſe; And then, ſince Gods promiſe is faſtened upon that, (We ſhall be praiſed) As we may lawfully ſeeke the praiſe of good men, ſo muſt wee alſo willingly afford praiſe to good men, and to good actions. And then, ſince we finde this retribution fixed in the future, (We ſhall be praiſed, we ſhall be in glory) there ariſes this Conſolation, That though we have it not yet, yet we ſhall have it, Though wee be in diſhonour, and contempt, and under a cloud, of which we ſee no end our ſelves, yet there is a determined future in God, which ſhall be made preſent, we ſhall overcome this contempt, and Gloriabimur, and Laudabimur, we ſhall Glory, we ſhall be celebrated; In which future, the conſolation is thus much farther exalted, that it is an everlaſting future; the glory, and praiſe, the approbation, and acclamation, which we ſhall receive from good men, here, ſhall flow out and continue, to the Hoſannaes in Heaven, in the mouth of Saints, and Angels, and to the Euge bone ſerve, Well done, good and faithfull Servant, Mat. 25.21.in the mouth of God himſelfe.
Firſt then, God propoſes to himſelfe, (in his Rewards and Retributions) Perſons;1 Part. Perſonae qualificatae. Perſons diſpoſed and qualified. Not diſpoſed by nature, without uſe of grace; that is flat and full Pelagianiſme; Not diſpoſed by preventing grace, without uſe of ſubſequent grace, by Antecedent and anticipant, without concomitant and auxiliant grace; that is Semi-pelagianiſme. But perſons obſequious to his grace, when it comes, and perſons induſtrious and ambitious of more and more grace, and husbanding his grace well all the way, ſuch perſons God propoſes to himſelfe. God does not onelyonly reade his own works, nor is he onelyonly delighted with that which he hath writ himſelfe, with his own eternall Decrees in heaven, but he loves alſo to reade our books too, our hiſtories which we compoſe in our lives and actions, and as his delight is to be with the ſonnes of men, Pro. 8.31. Epheſ. 3.7.ſo his ſtudy is in this Library, to know what we doe. S. Paul ſayes, That God made him a Miniſter of the Goſpel, to preach to the Gentils, to the intent that the Angels might know the manifold wiſdome of God by the Church; That is, by that that was done in the Church. The Angels ſaw God; Did they not ſee theſe things in God? No; for, Theſe things were hid in God, ſayes the Apoſtle there; And the Angels ſee no more in God, then God reveales unto them; and theſe things of the Church, God reſerved to a future, and to an experimentall knowledge, to be knowne then when they were done in the Church. So there are Decrees in God, but they are hid in God; To this purpoſe and entendment, and in this ſenſe, hid from God himſelfe, that God accepts or condemnes Man Secundum allegata & Probata, according to the Evidence that ariſes from us, and not according to thoſe Records that are hid in himſelfe. Our actions and his Records agree; we doe thoſe things which he hath Decreed; but onelyonly our doing them, and not his Decreeing them, hath the nature of evidence. God does not Reward, nor Condemne out of his Decrees, but out of our actions. God ſent downe his Commiſſioners the Angels to Sodome, to inquire,Gen. 18.17. Gen. 3.9. and to informe him how things went. God goes down himſelfe to inquire, and informe himſelfe, how it ſtood with Adam and Eve. Not that God was ever ignorant of any thing concerning us, but that God would prevent that dangerous imagination in every man, That God ſhould firſt meane to deſtroy him, and then to make him, that he might deſtroy him, without having any evidence againſt him. For God made man Ad imaginem ſuam, To his owne Image. If he had made him under an inevitable, and irreſiſtible neceſſity of damnation, he had made him Ad Imaginem Diabolicam, to the Image of the Devill, and not to his own. God goes not out as a Fowler, that for his pleaſure and recreation, or for his commodity, or commendation, would kill, and therefore ſeeks out game that he may kill it; It is not God that ſeeks whom he may devoure: 1 Pet. 5.8.But God ſees the Vulture tearing his Chickens, or other birds picking his Corne, or pecking his fruit, and then when they are in that miſchievous action, God takes his bowe and ſhoots them for that. When God condemns a man, he propoſes not that man to himſelfe, as he meant to make him, and as he did make him, but as by his ſinnes he hath made himſelfe. At the firſt Creation, God looked upon nothing; there was nothing; But ever ſince there have been Creatures, God hath looked upon the Creature: and as Adam gave every Creature the Name, according as he ſaw the Nature thereof to be; ſo God gives every man reward or puniſhment, the name of a Saint or a Devill, in his purpoſe, as he ſees him a good or a bad uſer of his graces. When I ſhall come to the ſight of the Booke of life, and the Records of heaven, amongſt the Reprobate, I ſhall never ſee the name of Cain alone, but Cain with his addition, Cain that killed his brother; Nor Iudas name alone; but Iudas with his addition, Iudas that betrayed his Maſter. God does not begin with a morte moriendum, ſome body muſt die, and therefore I will make ſome body to kill; But God came to a morte morieris, yet thou art alive, and mayeſt live, but if thou wilt rebell, thou muſt die. God did not call up feavers, and peſtilence, and conſumptions, and fire,Levit. 26.16. and famine, and warre, and then make man, that he might throw him into their mouths, but when man threw downe himſelfe, God let him fall into their mouths. Had I never ſinned in wantonneſſe, I ſhould never have had conſumption; nor feaver, if I had not ſinned in Riot; nor death, if I had not tranſgreſſed againſt the Lord of life. If God be pleaſed to looke upon me, at the laſt day, as I am renewed in Chriſt, I am ſafe. But if God ſhould looke upon me, (as he made me) in Adam, I could not be un-acceptable in his ſight, except he looked farther, and ſaw me in mine own, or in Adams ſin. I would never wiſh my ſelfe better, then God wiſhed me at firſt; no, nor then God wiſhes me now, as manifold a ſinner as he ſees me now, if yet I would conforme my will to his. God looks upon perſons; perſons ſo conditioned as they were, which was our firſt branch, in this firſt part; and our ſecond is, That he delights to propoſe to himſelfe Perſons that are capable of his rewards; for he mentions no others in this place, All that are upright in heart.
The firſt thing that Moſes names to have been made,Inſiſtit in bonis. was Heaven, (In the beginning God made Heaven and Earth) And infinite millions of generations before this Heaven was made, there was a Heaven, an eternall emanation of beams of glory, from the preſence of God. But Moſes tells us of no Hell made at the Creation; And before the Creation, ſuch a Hell, as there was a Heaven, there could not be; for, the preſence of God made Heaven; and God was equally preſent every where. And they who have multiplied Hells unto us, and made more Hells then God hath made, more by their two Limboes, (one for Fathers, another for Children) and one Purgatory, have yet made their new Hells, more of the nature of Heaven then of Hell. For, in one of their Limboes, (that of the Fathers) and in their Purgatory, there is in them, who are there, an infallible aſſurance of Heaven, They that are there, are infallibly aſſured to come to Heaven; And an aſſurance of ſalvation will hardly conſiſt with Hell; He that is ſure to come to Heaven, can hardly be ſaid to be in Hell.
God was loath and late in making places of torment; He is loath to ſpeake of Judgements, or of thoſe that extort Judgements from him. How plentifully, how abundantly is the word Beatus, Bleſſed, multiplied in the Booke of Pſalmes? Bleſſed, and Bleſſed in every Pſalme, in every Verſe; The Booke ſeems to be made out of that word, Bleſſed, And the foundation rayſed upon that word, Bleſſed, for it is the firſt word of the Booke. But in all the Booke, there is not one Vae, not one woe, ſo denounced; Not one woe, upon any ſoule in that Booke. And when this Vae, this woe is denounced in ſome other of the Prophets, it is very often Vox dolentis, and not Increpantis, That Vae, that woe, is a voyce of compaſſion in him that ſpeaks it, and not of deſtruction to them to whom it is ſpoken. God,Jerem. 9.1. in the perſon of Ieremy, weeps in contemplation of the calamities threatned, Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might weepe day and night for the ſlaine of the Daughter of my people. It is God that was their Father, and it is God, their God that ſlew them; but yet, that God, their Father weepes over the ſlaughter. So in the perſon of Eſay, Eſay 16.9.God weeps againe, I will bewaile thee with weeping, and I will water thee with teares. And without putting on the perſon of any man, God himſelfe avowes his ſighing,Eſay 1.24. when he comes to name Judgements, Heu, vindicabor, Alas, I will revenge me of mine enemies; And he ſighs, when he comes but to name their ſinnes, Heu abominationes, Ezek. 16.11.Alas, for all the evill abominations of the houſe of Iſrael. As though God had contracted an Irregularity, by having to doe in a cauſe of blood, He ſighs, he weeps when he muſt draw blood from them. God delights to inſtitute his diſcourſes, and to take, and to make his Examples, from men that ſtand in ſtate of grace, and are capable of his Mercies, and his Retributions, as here in this Text, he names onelyonly thoſe, who are Recti corde, The upright in heart, They ſhall be conſidered, rewarded.
The diſpoſition that God propoſes here in thoſe perſons,Recti. whom he conſiders, is Rectitude, Uprightneſſe, and Directneſſe. God hath given Man that forme in nature, much more in grace, that he ſhould be upright, and looke up, and contemplate Heaven, and God there. And therefore to bend downwards upon the earth, to fix our breaſt, our heart to the earth, to lick the duſt of the earth with the Serpent, to inhere upon the profits and pleaſures of the earth, and to make that which God intended for our way, and our riſe to heaven, (the bleſſings of this world) the way to hell; this is a manifeſt Declination from this Uprightneſſe, from this Rectitude. Nay, to goe ſo far towards the love of the earth, as to be in love with the grave, to be impatient of the calamities of this life, and murmur at Gods detaining us in this priſon, to ſinke into a ſordid melancholy, or irreligious dejection of ſpirit; this is alſo a Declination from this Rectitude, this Uprightneſſe. So is it too, to decline towards the left hand, to Modifications, and Temporiſings in matter or forme of Religion, and to thinke all indifferent, all one; or to decline towards the right hand, in an over-vehement zeale, To pardon no errors, to abate nothing of hereſie, if a man beleeve not all, and juſt all that we beleeve; To abate nothing of Reprobation, if a man live not juſt as we live; this is alſo a Diverſion, a Deviation, a Deflection, a Defection from this Rectitude, this Uprightneſſe. For, the word of this Text, Iaſhar, ſignifies Rectitudinem, and Planiciem; It ſignifies a direct way; for, the Devils way was Circular, Compaſſing the Earth; But the Angels way to heaven upon Iacobs ladder, was a ſtraight, a direct way. And then it ſignifies, as a direct and ſtraight, ſo a plaine, a ſmooth, an even way, a way that hath been beaten into a path before, a way that the Fathers, and the Church have walked in before, and not a diſcovery made by our curioſity, or our confidence, in venturing from our ſelves, or embracing from others, new doctrines and opinions.
The perſons then, whom God propoſes here to be partakers of his Retributions,Recti Corde. are firſt Recti, (that is, both Direct men, and Plaine men) and then recti corde, this qualification, this ſtraightneſſe, and ſmoothneſſe muſt be in the heart; All the upright in heart ſhall have it. Upon this earth, a man cannot poſſibly make one ſtep in a ſtraight, and a direct line. The earth it ſelfe being round, every ſtep wee make upon it, muſt neceſſarily bee a ſegment, an arch of a circle. But yet though no piece of a circle be a ſtraight line, yet if we take any piece, nay if wee take the whole circle, there is no corner, no angle in any piece, in any intire circle. A perfectt rectitude we cannot have in any wayes in this world; In every Calling there are ſome inevitable tentations. But, though wee cannot make up our circle of a ſtraight line, (that is impoſſible to humane frailty) yet wee may paſſe on, without angles, and corners, that is, without diſguiſes in our Religion, and without the love of craft, and falſehood, and circumvention in our civill actions. A Compaſſe is a neceſſary thing in a Ship, and the helpe of that Compaſſe brings the Ship home ſafe, and yet that Compaſſe hath ſome variations, it doth not looke directly North; Neither is that ſtarre which we call the North-pole, or by which we know the North-pole, the very Pole it ſelfe; but we call it ſo, and we make our uſes of it, and our concluſions by it, as if it were ſo, becauſe it is the neereſt ſtarre to that Pole. He that comes as neere uprightneſſe, as infirmities admit, is an upright man, though he have ſome obliquities. To God himſelfe we may alwayes go in a direct line, a ſtraight, a perpendicular line; For God is verticall to me, over my head now, and verticall now to them, that are in the Eaſt, and Weſt-Indies; To our Antipodes, to them that are under our feet, God is verticall, over their heads, then when he is over ours.
To come to God there is a ſtraight line for every man every where: But this we doe not, if we come not with our heart. Praebe mihi fili cor tuum, ſaith God,Pro. 23.26. My ſonne give me thy heart. Was hee his ſonne, and had hee not his heart? That may very well bee. There is a filiation without the heart; not ſuch a filiation, as ſhall ever make him partaker of the inheritance, but yet a filiation. The aſſociating our ſelves to the ſonnes of God, in an outward profeſſion of Religion, makes us ſo farre the ſonnes of God, as that the judgement of man cannot, and the judgement of God doth not diſtinguiſh them.Iob 1.6. Becauſe, then when the ſonnes of God ſtood in his preſence, Satan ſtood amongſt the ſons of God; God doth not diſavow him, God doth not excommunicate him, God makes his uſe of him, and yet God knew his heart was farre from him. So, when God was in Councell with his Angels, about Ahabs going up to Ramoth Gilead,1 King. 22.22. A ſpirit came forth and offered his ſervice, and God refuſes not his ſervice, but employes him, though hee knew his heart to be farre from him. So, no doubt, many times, they to whom God hath committed ſupreme government, and they who receive beames of this power by ſubordination, and delegation from them, they ſee Satan amongſt the ſonnes of God, hypocrites and impiouſly diſpoſed men come into theſe places of holy convocation, and they ſuffer them, nay they employ them, nay they preferre them, and yet they know their hearts are farre from them; but as long as they ſtand amongſt the ſonnes of God, that is, appeare and conforme themſelves in the outward acts of Religion, they are not diſavowed, they are not ejected: by us here, they are not. But howſoever wee date our Excommunications againſt them, but from an overt act, and apparant diſobedience, yet in the Records of heaven, they ſhall meet an Excommunication, and a conviction of Recuſancy, that ſhall beare date from that day, when they came firſt to Church, with that purpoſe to delude the Congregation, to elude the lawes in that behalfe provided, to advance their treacherous deſignes by ſuch diſguiſes, or upon what other collaterall and indirect occaſion ſoever, men come to this place: for, though they bee in the right way, when they are here, at Church, yet becauſe they are not upright in heart, therefore that right way brings not them to the right end.
And that is it which David lookes upon in God, and deſires that God ſhould looke upon in him;2 Sam. 7.21. (According to thine owne heart, ſaith David to God, haſt thou done all theſe great things unto us) (For, ſometimes God doth give temporall bleſſings to men, upon whom he hath not ſet his heart) And then in the 27. Verſe he ſayes, (Therefore hath thy ſervant found in his heart, to pray this prayer unto thee) If he had onelyonly found it in the Liturgy, and in the manner of the Service of that Church, to which hee came with an ill will, and againſt his heart, he would not have prayed that prayer, nay he would not have come to that Church.Pſal. 35.11. 40.10. For, though David place a great joy in that, (That he can come to praiſe God in the Congregation, and in the great Congregation) And though David ſeeme even to determine Gods preſence in the Church, (for he multiplies that expoſtulation, that adprecation many times, When ſhall I come, in conſpectum tuum, into thy preſence? And, Reſtore me, O Lord, conſpectui tuo, to thy preſence, Hee was not right, not in the right way, if he came not to Church) yet there is a caſe in which David glories in, though (as hee ſaith there) In corde meo abſcondi eloquium tuum, Pſal. 119.11.Thy word have I hidden, locked up, in my heart. Though in another, in many other places, he rejoyce in that, (I have not hid thy righteouſneſſe in my heart, Pſal. 40.10.I have not concealed thy truth from the great Congregation) yet here he glories in his Abſcondi, I have hid it. Which, (as both S. Hilary, and S. Ambroſe referre it to a diſcreet and ſeaſonable ſuppreſſing of the myſteries of Religion, and not to caſt pearles before ſwine) may alſo inferre this Inſtruction; That a man were better ſerve God at home, (though not in ſo right a way, if he thinke it right) then to come hither againſt his heart, and conſcience. Not, but that there is better meanes of receiving good here, then at home in private prayer, (though made the right way) But his end in comming is not to make this meanes his way to that good; And therefore his very being here, (though hee be thereby in the right way) becauſe it comes not from an upright heart, as it is a greater danger to us, who are deluded by their hypocriticall conformity, ſo is it a greater ſinne to them, who come ſo againſt their conſcience. David prayes thus,Pſal. 119.19. Incola ſum, ne abſcondas, I am a ſtranger, hide not thy commandements from mee, (Let me not be a ſtranger at Church, at thy Service.) And ſo it behooves us to pray too, That thoſe Doores, and thoſe Books may alwayes bee open unto us; But yet I will ſay with David too, Abſcondam eloquium, where I am a ſtranger, and in a place of ſtrange, and ſuperſtitious worſhip, I will hide my religion ſo farre, as not to communicate with others, in a ſervice againſt my heart; It is not ſafe for us to truſt our ſelves at a ſuperſtitious Service, though curioſity, or company, or dependency upon others draw us thither; neither is it ſafe to truſt all that come hither, if their hearts be not here. For the Retribution of our Text, that is, Thanks and Praiſe, belongs onelyonly to them, who are Right, and Right of heart, and to them it is made due, and infallible, by this promiſe from God, and made univerſall, Omnes, All the upright in heart ſhall glory.
How often God admits into his owne Name,Omnes. this addition of Univerſality, Omne, All, as though he would be knowne by that eſpecially. He is Omnipotent, There he can doe All; He is Omniſcient, There he can know All; Hee is Omnipreſent, There he can direct All. Neither doth God extend himſelfe to all, that he may gather from all, but that he may gather all, and all might meet in him, and enjoy him. So, God is all Center, as that hee looks to all, and ſo, all circumference, as that hee embraces all. The Sunne works upon things that he ſees not, (as Mynes in the wombe of the earth) and ſo works the leſſe perfectly. God ſees all, and works upon all, and deſires perfection in all. There is no one word ſo often in the Bible, as this, Omne, All. Neither hath God ſpread the word more liberally upon all the lines of this Booke, then he hath his gracious purpoſes upon all the ſoules of men. And therefore, to withdraw Gods generall goodneſſe out of his generall propoſitions, That he would have all repent, That he came to ſave all, is to contract and abridge God himſelfe, in his moſt extenſive Attribute, or Denotation, that is, his Mercy: And as there is a curſe laid upon them, that take away any part, any propoſition out of this Booke, ſo may there be a curſe, or an ill affection, and countenance and ſuſpicion from God, that preſſes any of his generall propoſitions to a narrower, and leſſe gracious ſenſe then God meant in it. It were as eaſily beleeved, that God lookes towards no man, as that there ſhould be any man (in whom he ſees, that is, conſiders no ſin) that he lookes not towards. I could as eaſily doubt of the univerſall providence of God, as of the univerſall mercy of God, if man continued not in rebellion, and in oppoſition. If I can ſay, by way of confeſſion, and accuſing my ſelfe, Lord, my wayes have not beene right, nor my heart right, there is yet mercy for mee. But, to them who have ſtudied and accuſtomed themſelves to this uprightneſſe of heart, there is mercy in that exaltation, mercy in the nature of a Reward, of a Retribution; And this Retribution expreſſed here, in this word Glory, conſtitutes our ſecond Part, All the upright in heart ſhall Glory.
This Retribution is expreſſed in the Originall, in the word Halal; And Halal, 2 Part. Laus.to thoſe Tranſlators that made up our Booke of Common Prayer, preſented the ſignification of Gladneſſe, for ſo it is there, They ſhall be glad; So it did to the Tranſlators that came after, for there it is, They ſhall rejoyce; And to our laſt Tranſlators it ſeemed to ſignifie Glory, They ſhall Glory, ſay they. But the firſt Tranſlation of all into our Language (which was long before any of theſe three) cals it Praiſe, and puts it in the Paſſive, All men of rightfull heart ſhall be praiſed. He followed S. Hierom, who reads it ſo, and interprets it ſo, in the Paſſive, Laudabuntur, They ſhall be praiſed. And ſo truly Iithhalelu, in the Original, beares it, nay requires it; which is not of a praiſe that they ſhall give to God, but of a praiſe, that they ſhall receive for having ſerved God with an upright heart; not that they ſhall praiſe God in doing ſo, but that godly men ſhall praiſe them for having done ſo. All this will grow naturally out of the roote; for, the roote of this word, is Lucere, Splendere, To ſhine out in the eyes of men, and to create in them a holy and a reverentiall admiration, as it was Iohn Baptiſts praiſe, That he was A burning, and a ſhining Lampe. Properly it is, by a good and a holy exemplary life, to occaſion others to ſet a right value upon Holineſſe, and to give a due reſpect to holy men. For ſo, where we read,Pſal. 78.63. Their Maidens were not given in Marriage, we finde this word of our Text, Their Maidens were not praiſed, that is, there was not a due reſpect held of them, nor a juſt value ſet upon them.
So that, this retribution intended for the upright in heart, as in the growth and extenſion of the word, it reaches to Joy, and Glory, and Eminency, and Reſpect, ſo in the roote, it ſignifies Praiſe; And it is given them by God, as a Reward, That they ſhall be Praiſed; now, Praiſe (ſayes the Philoſopher) is Sermo elucidans magnitudinem virtutis; It is the good word of good men, a good teſtimony given by good men of good actions. And this difference we uſe to aſſigne betweene Praiſe, and Honour, Laus eſt in ordine ad finem, Honor eorum qui jam in fine; Praiſe is an encouragement to them that are in the way, and ſo far, a Reward, a Reward of good beginnings; Honour is reſerved to the end, to crowne their conſtancy, and perſeverance. And therefore, where men are rewarded with great honours at the beginning, in hope they will deſerve it, they are paid beforehand. Thanks, and Grace, and good countenance, and Praiſe, are interlocutory encouragements, Honours are finall Rewards. But, ſince Praiſe is a part of Gods retribution, a part of his promiſe in our text, They ſhall be praiſed, we are thereby not onelyonly allowed, but bound to ſeeke this praiſe from good men, and to give this praiſe to good men; for, in this Coine God hath promiſed, that the upright in heart ſhall be paid, They ſhall be praiſed.
To ſeeke praiſe from good men, by good meanes,Laus à bonis quaerenda. Prov. 22.1. Bernar. is but the ſame thing which is recommended to us by Solomon, A good name is rather to be choſen, then great riches, and loving favour, then ſilver and Gold. For, Habent & mores colores ſuos, habent & odores; Our good works have a colour, and they have a ſavor; we ſee their Candor, their ſincerity in our owne conſciences, there is their colour; (for, in our owne conſciences our works appeare in their true colours; no man can be an hypocrite to himſelfe, nor ſeriouſly, deliberately deceive himſelfe) And, when others give allowance of our works, and are edified by them, there is their ſavour, their odor, their perfume, their fragrancy. And therefore S. Hierom, and S. Auguſtin differ little in their manner of expreſſing this,Hieron. Non paratum habeas illud è trivio, Serve not thy ſelfe with that triviall, and vulgar ſaying, As long as my conſcience teſtifies well to me, I care not what men ſay of me;Auguſt. And ſo ſayes that other Father, They that reſt in the teſtimony of their owne conſciences, and contemne the opinion of other men, Imprudenter agunt, & crudeliter, They deale weakly, and improvidently for themſelves, in that they aſſiſt not their conſciences, with more witneſſes, And they deale cruelly towards others, in that they provide not for their edification, by the knowledge and manifeſtation of their good works. For, (as he adds well there) Qui à criminibus vitam cuſtodit, bene facit, He that is innocent in his owne heart, does well for himſelfe, but Qui famam cuſtodit, & in alios miſericors eſt, He that is known to live well, he that hath the praiſe of good men, to bee a good man, is mercifull, in an exemplary life, to others, and promoves their ſalvation. For, when that Father gives a meaſure, how much praiſe a man may receive, and a rule, how he may receive it, when he hath firſt ſaid, Nec totum, nec nihil accipiatur, Receive not all, but yet refuſe not all praiſe, he adds this, That that which is to be received, is not to be received for our owne ſakes, ſed propter illos, quibus conſulere non poteſt, ſi nimia dejectione vileſcat, but for their ſakes, who would undervalue goodneſſe it ſelfe, if good men did too much undervalue themſelves, or thought themſelves never the better for their goodneſſe. And therefore S. Bernard applies that in the Proverbs to this caſe;Prov. 25.16. Haſt thou found Honey? eate that which is ſufficient. Mellis nomine, favor humanae laudis, ſayes he, By Honey, favour, and praiſe, and thankfulneſſe is meant; Meritóque non ab omni, ſed ab immoderato edulio prohibemur, We are not forbid to taſte, nor to eate, but to ſurfet of this Honey, of this praiſe of men. S. Auguſtine found this love of praiſe in himſelfe, and could forbid it no man, Laudari à bene viventibus, ſi dicam, nolo, mentior, If I ſhould ſay, that I deſired not the praiſe of good men, I ſhould belie my ſelfe. He carries it higher then thus; He does not doubt, but that the Apoſtles themſelves had a holy joy, and complacency, when their Preaching was acceptable, and thereby effectuall upon the Congregation. Such a love of praiſe is rooted in Nature; and Grace deſtroyes not Nature; Grace extinguiſhes not, but moderates this love of praiſe in us, nor takes away the matter, but onelyonly exhibits the meaſure. Certainly, he that hath not ſome deſire of praiſe, will bee negligent in doing praiſe-worthy things; and negligent in another duty intended here too, that is, To praiſe good men, which is alſo another particular branch in this Part.
The hundred forty fift Pſalme is,Laus danda aliis. in the Title thereof, called A Pſalme of Praiſe; And the Rabbins call him Filium futuri Seculi, A child of the next World, that ſayes that Pſalme thrice a day. We will interpret it, by way of Accommodation, thus, that he is a child of the next World, that directs his Praiſe every day, upon three objects, upon God, upon himſelfe, upon other men. Of God, there can be no queſtion; And for our ſelves, it is truly the moſt proper, and moſt literall ſignification of this word in our Text, Iithhalelu, That they ſhall praiſe themſelves, that is, They ſhall have the teſtimony of a rectified conſcience, that they have deſerved the praiſe of good men, in having done laudible ſervice to God. And then, for others, That which God promiſes to Iſrael in their reſtauration,Zephan. 3.19. belongs to all the Iſrael of the Lord, to all the faithfull, I will get thee praiſe, and fame in every land, and I will make thee a name, and a praiſe amongst all the people of the earth. This, God will doe; procure them a name, a glory: By whom? When God bindes himſelfe, he takes us into the band with him, and when God makes himſelfe the debtor, he makes us ſtewards; when he promiſes them praiſe, he meanes that we ſhould give them that praiſe. Be all waies of flatterings, and humourings of great perſons precluded with a Proteſtation, with a deteſtation; Be Philo Iudaeus his compariſon received, His Coquus, and his Medicus, One provides ſweetneſſe for the preſent taſte, but he is but a Cooke, The other is a Phyſitian, and though by bitter things, provides for thy future health; And ſuch is the hony of Flatterers, and ſuch is the wormewood of better Counſellors. I will not ſhake a Proverbe, not the Ad Corvos, That wee were better admit the Crowes, that picke out our eyes, after we are dead, then Flatterers that blinde us, whilſt we live; I caſt juſtly upon others, I take willingly upon my ſelfe, the name of wicked, (if I bleſſe the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth) or any other whom he hath declared to be odious to him. But making my object goodneſſe in that man, and taking that goodneſſe in that man, to be a Candle, ſet up by God in that Candleſticke, God having engaged himſelfe, that that good man ſhall be praiſed, I will be a Subſidy man ſo far, ſo far pay Gods debts, as to celebrate with condigne praiſe the goodneſſe of that man; for, in that, I doe, as I ſhould deſire to be done to, And in that, I pay a debt to that man, And in that I ſuccour their weakneſſe, who, (as S. Gregory ſayes) when they heare another praiſed,Greg…r. Si non amore virtutis, at delectatione laudis accenduntur, At firſt for the love of Praiſe, but after, for the love of goodneſſe it ſelfe, are drawne to bee good.Phil. 4.8. For, when the Apoſtle had directed the Philippians upon things that were True, and honeſt, and juſt, and purc, and lovely, and of a good report, he ends all thus, If there be any vertue, and if there be any praiſe, thinke on theſe things. In thoſe two ſayes S. Auguſtine, he divides all, Vertue, and Praiſe; Vertue in our ſelves, that may deſerve Praiſe; Praiſe towards others, that may advance and propagate Vertue. This is the retribution which God promiſes to all the upright in heart, Gloriabuntur, Laudabuntur, They ſhall Glory, they ſhall have, they ſhall give praiſe. And then it is ſo far from diminiſhing this Glory, as that it infinitely exalts our conſolation, that God places this Retribution in the future, Gloriabuntur, If they doe not yet, yet certainly they ſhall glory, And if they doe now, that glory ſhall not goe out, ſtill they ſhall, they ſhall for ever glory.
In the Hebrew there is no Preſent tenſe; In that language wherein God ſpake,Futurum. it could not be ſaid, The upright in heart, Are praiſed; Many times they are not. But God ſpeaks in the future; firſt, that he may ſtill keepe his Children in an expectation and dependance upon him, (you ſhall be, though you be not yet) And then, to eſtabliſh them in an infallibility, becauſe he hath ſaid it, (I know you are not yet, but comfort your ſelves, I have ſaid it, and it ſhall be.) As the Hebrew hath no Superlatives, becauſe God would keepe his Children within compaſſe, and in moderate deſires, to content themſelves with his meaſures, though they be not great, and though they be not heaped; ſo, conſidering what preſſures, and contempts, and terrors, the upright in heart are ſubject to, it is a bleſſed reliefe, That they have a future propoſed unto them, That they ſhall be praiſed, That they ſhall be redeemed out of contempt. This makes even the Expectation it ſelfe as ſweet to them, as the fruition would be. This makes them, that when David ſayes, Expecta viriliter, Waite upon the Lord with a good courage; Waite, I ſay,Pſal. 27.14. upon the Lord, they doe not anſwer with the impatience of the Martyrs under the Altar, Vſquequo, How long, Lord, wilt thou defer it?Rev. 6.10. Pſal. 40.1. Pſal. 52.9. But they anſwer in Davids owne words, Expectans expectavi, I have waited long, And, Expectabo nomen tuum, ſtill I will waite upon thy Name; I will waite till the Lord come; His kingdome come in the mean time, His kingdome of Grace, and Patience; and for his Eaſe, and his Deliverance, and his Praiſe, and his Glory to me, let that come, when he may be moſt glorified in the comming thereof. Nay, not onelyonly the Expectation, (that is, that that is expected) ſhall be comfortable, becauſe it ſhall be infallible, but that very preſent ſtate that he is in, ſhall be comfortable, according to the firſt of our three Tranſlations, They that are true of heart, ſhall be glad thereof; Glad of that; Glad that they are true of heart, though their future retribution were never ſo far removed; Nay, though there were no future retribution in the caſe, yet they ſhall finde comfort enough in their preſent Integrity. Nay, not onelyonly their preſent ſtate of Integrity, but their preſent ſtate of miſery, ſhall be comfortable to them; for this very word of our Text, Halal, that is here tranſlated Ioy, and Glory, and Praiſe, in divers places of Scripture, (as Hebrew words have often ſuch a tranſplantation) ſignifies Ingloriouſneſſe, and contempt, and dejection of ſpirit; Pſal. 75.4. Eſa. 44.25. Job 12.17.So that Ingloriouſneſſe, and contempt, and dejection of ſpirit, may be a part of the retribution; God may make Ingloriouſneſſe, and Contempt, and Dejection of ſpirit, a greater bleſſing and benefit, then Joy, and Glory, and Praiſe would have been; and ſo reſerve all this Glory and Praiſing to that time, that David intends,Pſal. 112.6. The righteous ſhall be in everlaſting remembrance. Though they live and die contemptibly, they ſhall be in an honorable remembrance, even amongſt men, as long as men laſt, and even when time ſhall be no more, and men no more, they ſhall have it in futuro aeterno; where there ſhall be an everlaſting preſent, and an everlaſting future, there the upright in heart ſhall be praiſed, and that for ever, which is our concluſion of all.
If this word of our Text, Halal, ſhall ſignifie Ioy, (as the Service Booke,Aeternum. and the Geneva tranſlation render it) that may be ſomewhat towards enough, which we had occaſion to ſay of the Joyes of heaven, in our Exerciſe upon the precedent Pſalme, when we ſay-led thorough that Hemiſpheare of Heaven, by the breath of the Holy Ghoſt, in handling thoſe words, VnderUnder the ſhadow of thy wings I will rejoyce. So that, of this ſignification of the word, Gaudebunt in aeterno, They ſhall rejoyce for ever, we adde nothing now. If the word ſhall ſignifie Glory, (as our laſt tranſlation renders it) conſider with me, That when that Glory which I ſhall receive in Heaven, ſhall be of that exaltation, as that my body ſhall inveſt the glory of a ſoule, (my body ſhall be like a ſoule, like a ſpirit, like an Angel of light, in all endowments that glory it ſelfe can make that body capable of, that body remaining ſtill a true body) when my body ſhall be like a ſoule, there will be nothing left for my ſoule to be like but God himſelfe;2 Pet. 1.4. 1 Cor. 6.17. I ſhall be partaker of the Divine nature, and the ſame Spirit with him. Since the glory that I ſhall receive in body, and in ſoule, ſhall be ſuch, ſo exalted, what ſhall that glory of God be, which I ſhall ſee by the light of this glory ſhed upon me there? In this place, and at this time the glory of God is; but we lack that light to ſee it by. When my ſoule and body are glorified in heaven, by that light of glory in me, I ſhall ſee the glory of God. But then, what muſt that glory of the Eſſence of God be, which I ſhall ſee thorough the light of Gods own glory? I muſt have the light of glory upon me, to ſee the glory of God, and then by his glory I ſhall ſee his Eſſence.Rom. 11.33. When S. Paul cryes out upon the bottomleſſe depth of the riches of his Attributes, (O the depth of the riches, both of the wiſedome and knowledge of God!) how glorious, how bottomleſſe is the riches of his Eſſence? If I cannot look upon him in his glaſſe,1 Cor. 13.12. 1 Joh. 3.2. in the body of the Sunne, how ſhall I looke upon him face to face? And if I be dazeled to ſee him as he works, how ſhall I ſee him, Sicutieſt, as he is, and in his Eſſence? But it may be ſome eaſe to our ſpirits, (which cannot endure the ſearch of this glory of heaven, which ſhall ſhew us the very Eſſence of God) to take this word of our Text, as our firſt tranſlation of all tooke it, for one beame of this glory, that is Praiſe; Conſider we therefore this everlaſting future onelyonly ſo, How the upright in heart ſhall be praiſed in heaven.
Firſt, The Militant Church ſhall tranſmit me to the Triumphant, with her recommendation, That I lived in the obedience of the Church of God, That I dyed in the faith of the Sonne of God, That I departed and went away from them, in the company and conduct of the Spirit of God, into whoſe hands they heard me, they ſaw me recommend my ſpirit,1 Cor. 6.19. And that I left my body, which was the Temple of the Holy Ghoſt, to them, and that they have placed it in Gods treaſury, in his conſecrated earth, to attend the Reſurrection, which they ſhall beſeech him to haſten for my ſake, and to make it joyfull and glorious to me, and them, when it comes. So the Militant Church ſhall tranſmit me to the Triumphant, with this praiſe, this teſtimony, this recommendation. And then, if I have done any good to any of Gods ſervants, (or to any that hath not been Gods ſervant, for Gods ſake) If I have but fed a hungry man, If I have but clothed a naked childe, If I have but comforted a ſad ſoule, or inſtructed an ignorant ſoule, If I have but preached a Sermon, and then printed that Sermon, that is, firſt preached it, and then lived according to it, (for the ſubſequent life is the beſt printing, and the moſt uſefull and profitable publiſhing of a Sermon) All thoſe things that I have done for Gods glory, ſhall follow me, ſhall accompany me, ſhall be in heaven before me, and meet me with their teſtimony, That as I did not ſerve God for nothing, (God gave me his bleſſings with a large hand, and in overflowing meaſures) ſo I did not nothing for the ſervice of God; Though it be as it ought to be, nothing in mine own eyes, nothing in reſpect of my duty, yet to them who have received any good by it, it muſt not ſeeme nothing; for then they are unthankfull to God, who gave it, by whoſe hand ſoever.
This ſhall be my praiſe to Heaven, my recommendation thither; And then, my praiſe in Heaven, ſhall be my preferment in Heaven. That thoſe bleſſed Angels, that rejoyced at my Converſion before, ſhall praiſe my perſeverance in that profeſſion, and admit me to a part in all their Hymns and Hoſannaes, and Hallelujahs; which Hallelujah is a word produced from the very word of this Text, Halal; My Hallelujah ſhall be my Halal, my praiſing of God ſhall be my praiſe. And from this teſtimony I ſhall come to the accompliſhment of all, to receive from my Saviours own mouth, that glorious, that victorious, that harmonious praiſe, that Diſſolving, and that Recollecting teſtimony, that ſhall melt my bowels, and yet fix me, powre me out, and yet gather me into his boſome, that Euge bone ſerve, Mat. 25.21.Well done, good and faithfull ſervant, enter into thy Maſters joy. And when he hath ſealed me with his Euge, and accepted my ſervice, who ſhall ſtamp a Vae quod non, upon me? who ſhall ſay, Woe be unto thee, that thou didſt not preach, this or that day, in this or that place? When he ſhall have ſtyled me Bone & fidelis, Good and faithfull ſervant, who ſhall upbraid me with a late undertaking this Calling, or a ſlack purſuing, or a lazy intermitting the function thereof? When he ſhall have entred me into my Maſters joy, what fortune, what ſin can caſt any Cloud of ſadneſſe upon me? This is that that makes Heaven, Heaven, That this Retribution, which is future now, ſhall be preſent then, and when it is then preſent, it ſhall be future againe, and preſent and future for ever, ever enjoyed, and expected ever. The upright in heart ſhall have, whatſoever all Tranſlations can enlarge and extend themſelves unto; They ſhall Rejoyce, they ſhall Glory, they ſhall Praiſe, and they ſhall bee praiſed, and all theſe in an everlaſting future, for ever. Which everlaſtingneſſe is ſuch a Terme, as God himſelfe cannot enlarge; As God cannot make himſelfe a better God then he is, becauſe hee is infinitely good, infinite goodneſſe, already; ſo God himſelfe cannot make our Terme in heaven longer then it is; for it is infinite everlaſtingneſſe, infinite eternity. That that wee are to beg of him is, that as that ſtate ſhall never end, ſo he will be pleaſed to haſten the beginning thereof, that ſo we may be numbred with his Saints in Glory everlaſting. Amen.