Eighty Sermons, miscellaneous · Sermon 74
SERM. LXXIV. Preached at VVhite-hall, the 30. Aprill 1620
PSAL. 144.15.
Being the firſt Pſalme for the day.
Bleſſed are the People that be ſo; Yea bleſſed are the People, whoſe God is the Lord.
THe firſt part of this Text hath relation to temporall bleſſings, Bleſſed is the people that be ſo: The ſecond part to ſpirituall, Yea bleſſed is the people, whoſe God is the Lord. His left hand is under my head, ſaith the Spouſe;Cant. 2.6. That ſuſtaines me from falling into murmuring, or diffidence of his Providence, becauſe out of his left hand he hath given me a competency of his temporall bleſſings; But his right hand doth embrace mee, ſaith the Spouſe there; His ſpirituall bleſſings fill me, poſſeſſe me, ſo that no rebellious fire breaks out within me, no outward tentation breaks in upon me. So alſo ſayes Solomon againe,Prov. 3.16. In her left hand is riches and glory, (temporall bleſſings) and in her right hand length of dayes, all that accompliſhes and fulfils the eternall joyes of the Saints of heaven. The perſon to whom Solomon attributes this right and left hand is Wiſedome; And a wiſe man may reach out his right and left hand, to receive the bleſſings of both ſorts. And the perſon whom Solomon repreſents by Wiſedome there, is Chriſt himſelfe. So that not onelyonly a worldly wiſeman, but a Chriſtian wiſeman may reach out both hands, to both kinds of bleſſings, right and left, ſpirituall and temporall. And therefore, Interrogo vos, filios regni coelorum, ſaith S. Auguſtine, Let mee ask you, who are ſonnes and heires of the Kingdome of Heaven, Progeniem Reſurrectionis in aeternum, You that are the off-ſpring of the Reſurrection of Chriſt Jeſus, and have your reſurrection in his, Membra Chriſti, Templa Spiritus Sancti, You that are the very body of Chriſt, you that are the very temples of the Holy Ghoſt, Interrogo vos, Let me ask you, for all your great reverſion hereafter, for all that preſent poſſeſſion which you have of it, in an apprehenſive faith, and in a holy converſation in this life, for all that bleſſedneſſe, Non eſt iſba ſaelicitas? Is there not a bleſſedneſſe in enjoying Gods temporall bleſſings here too? Sit licèt, ſed ſiniſtra, ſaith that Father; It is certainely a bleſſedneſſe, but a left handed bleſſedneſſe, a weaker, a more imperfect bleſſedneſſe, then ſpirituall bleſſings are.
As then there is dextra, and ſiniſtrabeatitudo, a right handed, and a left handed bleſſedneſſe in the Text: ſo there is dextra and ſiniſtra Interpretatio, a right and a left Expoſition of the Text. And as both theſe bleſſedneſſes, temporall and ſpirituall, are ſeales and teſtimonies of Gods love, though not both of equall ſtrength, and equall evidence; ſo both the Interpretations of theſe words are uſefull for our edification, though they bee not both of equall authority. That which we call Siniſtram Interpreiationem, is that ſenſe of theſe words, which ariſes from the firſt Tranſlators of the Bible, the Septuagint, and thoſe Fathers which followed them; which, though it bee not an ill way, is not the beſt, becauſe it is not according to the letter; and then, that which we call Dextram Interpretationem, is that ſenſe which ariſes pregnantly, and evidently, liquidly, and manifeſtly out of the Originall Text it ſelfe.
The Authors and followers of the firſt ſenſe reade not theſe words as we doe, Beatus populus, That people is bleſſed, but Beatum dixerunt populum, That people was eſteemed bleſſed; and ſo they referre this and all the temporall bleſſings mentioned in the three former Verſes to a popular error, to a generall miſtaking, to the opinions, and words of wicked and worldly men, that onelyonly they deſire theſe temporall things, onelyonly they taſte a ſweetneſſe, and apprehend a bleſſedneſſe in them; whereas they who have truely their converſation in heaven, are ſwallowed up with the contemplation of that bleſſedneſſe, without any reflection upon earth or earthly things. But the Author of the ſecond ſenſe, which is God himſelfe, and his direct word, preſents it thus, Beatus populus, That people is truely bleſſed, there is a true bleſſedneſſe in temporall things; but yet, this is but ſiniſtra beatitudo, a leſſe perfect bleſſedneſſe; For the followers of both Interpretations, and all Tranſlators, and all Expoſitors meet in this, That the perfect, the accompliſhing, the conſummatory bleſſedneſſe is onelyonly in this, That our God be the Lord.
Firſt then,Interpretatio to make our beſt uſe of the firſt ſenſe, That temporall things conduce not at all to bleſſedneſſe, S. Cyprians wonder is juſt, Deum nobis ſolis contentum eſſe, nobis non ſufficere Deum; That God ſhould think man enough for him, and man ſhould not bee ſatiſfied with God; That God ſhould be content with Fili da mihi cor, My ſonne give me thy heart, and man ſhould not be content with Pater da mihi Spiritum, My God, my Father, grant me thy Spirit, but muſt have temporall additions too. Non eſt caſtum cor, ſaith S. Auguſtine, ſi Deum ad mercedem colit; as he ſaith in another place, Non eſt caſtauxor, quae amat quia dives, She is never the honeſter woman, nor the lovinger wife, that loves her husband in contemplation of her future joynture, or in fruition of her preſent abundancies; ſo hee ſayes here, Noneſt caſtum cor, That man hath not a chaſt, a ſincere heart towards God, that loves him by the meaſure end proportion of his temporall bleſſings. The Devill had ſo much colour for that argument, that in proſperity there can bee no triall, whether a man love God or no, as that he preſſes it even to God himſelfe, in Iobs caſe:Iob 1 Doth Iob ſerve God for nought? haſt not thou hedged him in, and bleſſed the works of his hands, and encreaſed his ſubſtance? How canſt thou tell whether he will love thee, or feare thee, if thou ſhouldſt take away all this from him? thou haſt had no triall yet. And this argument deſcended from that father to his children, from the Devill there, to thoſe followers of his whom the Prophet Malachy reprehends for ſaying, It is in vaine to ſerve God, Mal. 3.14.for what profit is it, that wee have kept his commandements? When men are willing to prefer their friends, we heare them often give theſe teſtimonies of a man; He hath good parts, and you need not be aſhamed to ſpeake for him; hee hath money in his purſe, and you need not be ſorry to ſpeak for him; he underſtands the world, he knowes how things paſſe, and he hath a diſcreet, a ſupple, and an appliable diſpoſition, and hee may make a fit inſtrument for all your purpoſes, and you need not be afraid to ſpeake for him. But who ever caſts into this ſcale and valuation of a man, that waight, that he hath a religious heart, that hee feares God? what profit is there in that, if wee conſider this world onelyonly?
But what profits it a man, if he get all the world, and loſe his owne ſoule? And therefore that opinion, That there was no profit at all, no degree towards bleſſedneſſe in thoſe temporall things, prevailed ſo farre, as that it is eaſie to obſerve in their Expoſitions upon the Lords Prayer, that the greateſt part of the Fathers doe ever interpret that Petition, Da nobis hodie, Give us this day our daily bread, to be intended onelyonly of ſpirituall bleſſings, and not of temporall; So S. Hierome ſaith, when we ask that bread, Illum petimus, qui panis vivus eſt, & deſcendit de coelo; we make our petition for him, who is the bread of life, and deſcended from the boſome of the Father; and ſo he refers it to Chriſt, and in him, to the whole myſtery of our Redemption. And Athanaſius and S. Auguſtine too (and not they two alone) refer it to the Sacramentall bread; That in that Petition, wee deſire ſuch an application of the bread of life, as wee have in the participation of the body and blood of Chriſt Jeſus in that Communion. S. Cyprian inſiſts upon the word Noſtrum, Our bread; For, ſaith he, temporall bleſſings cannot properly bee called Ours, becauſe they are common to the Saints, and to the reprobates; but in a prayer ordained by Chriſt for the faithfull, the petition is for ſuch things as are proper, and peculiar to the faithfull, and that is for ſpirituall bleſſings onelyonly. If any man ſhall ſay, Ideo quaerenda, quia neceſſaria, We muſt pray, and we muſt labour for temporall things, becauſe they are neceſſary for us, we cannot be without them, Ideo non quaerenda quia neceſſaria, ſayes S. Chryſoſtome, ſo much of them, as is neceſſary for our beſt ſtate, God will give us, without this laborious anxiety, and without eating the bread of ſorrow in this life, Non ſperan dum de ſuperfluis, non deſperandum de neceſſariis, ſayes the ſame Father; It is a ſuſpicious thing to doubt or diſtruſt God in neceſſary things, and it is an unmannerly thing to preſſe him in ſuperfluous things. They are not neceſſary before, and they are not ours after: for thoſe things onelyonly are ours, which no body can take from us: and for temporall thing, Auferre poteſt inimicus homo, invito: Let the inimicus homo be the devill, and remember Iobs caſe, Let the inimicus homo be any envious and powerfull man, who hath a minde to that that thou haſt, and remember Naboths caſe, and this envious man can take any temporall thing from thee againſt thy will. But ſpirituall bleſſings cannot bee taken ſo, Fidem nemo perdidit, niſi qui ſpreverit, ſayes S. Auguſtin, No man ever loſt his faith, but he that thought it not worth the keeping.
But for Iobs temporall eſtate ſayes S. Auguſtine, all was loſt. And leſt any man ſhould ſay, Vxor relicta erat, Iob had not loſt all, becauſe his Wife was left, Miſericordem putatis diabolum, ſaies that Father, qui ei reliquit Vxorem? doe you thinke that Iob lighted upon a mercifull and good natur'd devill, that the devill did this out of pity and compaſſion to Iob, or that Iob was beholding to the devill for this, that he left him his Wife? Noverat per quam deceperat Adam, ſayes he, The devill knew by what inſtrument he had deceived the firſt man, and by the ſame inſtrument he practiſes upon Iob; Suam reliquit adjutricem, non mariti conſolatricem, He left Iob a helper, but a helper for his owne ends, but for her Husband a miſerable comforter. Caro conjux, ſayes the ſame Father in another place, This fleſh, this ſenſuall part of ours, is our wife: and when theſe temporall things by any occaſion are taken from us, that wife, that fleſh, that ſenſuality is left to murmure and repine at Gods corrections, and that is all the benefit we have by that wife, and all the portion we have with that wife.
Though therefore S. Hierom, who underſtood the Originall Language, the beſt of his time, in his Tranſlation of the Pſalmes, doe give the true, the right ſenſe of this place, yet in his owne Commentaries upon the Pſalmes, he takes this firſt ſenſe, and beats upon that doctrine, that it is but a popular error, a generall miſtaking, to make worldly bleſſings any degree of happineſſe: he ſaw ſo good uſe of that doctrine, as that he would not ſee the right interpretation of the words: he ſaw well enough, that according to the letter of the text, temporall things were bleſſings, yet becauſe they were but left-handed bleſſings, remembring the ſtory in the booke of Judges, of 700. left-handed Benjamites,Iudg. 20.10. that would ſling ſtones at a haires breadth, and were better mark-men then the right-handed, and conſidering the left-handed men of this world, thoſe who purſue temporall bleſſings onelyonly, went with moſt earneſtneſſe, and beſt ſucceſſe to their works, to correct that generall diſtemper, that generall vehemence upon temporall things, S. Hierom, and ſo many of the Fathers as accompany him in that interpretation, were content to embrace that ſenſe, which is not truly the literall ſenſe of this place, that it ſhould be only Beatum dixerint, and not Beatus populus, a popular error, and not a truth, that any man, for any people, were bleſſed in temporall things; and ſo we have done with the firſt ſenſe of theſe words, and the reaſon why ſo many follow it.
We are come now to the ſecond Interpretation: where there is not Beatitudo falſa and vera, for both are true, but there is dextra and ſiniſtra, 2. Interpretatio.a right-handed and left-handed bleſſedneſſe; there is Inchoativa and perfectiva, there is an introductory, and a conſummatory bleſſedneſſe: and in the firſt of theſe, in the left-handed, in the leſſe perfect bleſſedneſſe, we muſt conſider three things. Firſt, Beatitudinem ipſam, That there is a bleſſedneſſe propoſed: and ſecondly, In quibus, in what that bleſſedneſſe is placed in this text, Quibus ſic, bleſſed are they that are ſo, that is, ſo, as is mentioned in the three former verſes: and thirdly, another In quibus, not in what things, but in what perſons this firſt bleſſedneſſe is placed, Beatus populus, It is when all the people, the whole body, and not ſome ranks of men, nor ſome particular men in thoſe ranks, but when all the people participate of theſe bleſſings.
Now firſt, for this firſt bleſſedneſs,Beatitudo. As no Philoſophers could ever tell us amongſt the Gentiles, what true bleſſedneſs was, ſo no Grammarian amongſt the Jews, amongſt the Hebrews, could ever tell us, what the right ſignification of this word is, in which David expreſſes bleſſedneſs here; whether Aſherei, which is the word, be a plurall Noune, and ſignifie Beatitudines, Bleſſedneſſes in the plurall, and intimate thus much, that bleſſedneſs conſiſts not in any one thing, but in a harmony and conſent of many; or whether this Aſherei be an Adverbe, and ſignifie beatè, and ſo be an acclamation, O how happily, how bleſſedly are ſuch men provided for that are ſo; they cannot tell. Whatſoever it bee, it is the very firſt word, with which David begins his booke of Pſalmes; Beatus vir: as the laſt word of that booke is, Laudate Dominum; to ſhew, that all that paſſes betweene God and man, from firſt to laſt, is bleſſings from God to man, and praiſes from man to God; and that the firſt degree of bleſſedneſſe is, to finde the print of the hand of God, even in his temporall bleſſedneſſe, and to praiſe and glorifie him for them, in the right uſe of them.
A man that hath no land to hold by it, nor title to recover by it, is never the better, for finding, or buying, or having a faire peece of evidence, a faire inſtrument, fairely written, duly ſealed, authentically teſtified; A man that hath not the grace of God, and ſpirituall bleſſings too, is never the neerer happineſſe, for all his abundances of temporall bleſſedneſſe. Evidences are evidences to them who have title. Temporall bleſſings are evidences to them, who have a teſtimony of Gods ſpirituall bleſſings in the temporall. Otherwiſe as in his hands, who hath no Title, it is a ſuſpicious thing to finde evidences, and he will be thought to have embeazeled and purloyned them, he will bee thought to have forged and counterfaited them, and he will be called to an account for them, how he came to them, and what he meant to doe with them: ſo to them, who have temporall bleſſings without ſpirituall, they are but uſeleſſe bleſſings, they are but counterfait bleſſings, they ſhall not purchaſe a minutes peace of conſcience here, nor a minutes refreſhing to the ſoule hereafter; and there muſt be a heavy account made for them, both how they were got, and how they were employed.
But when a man hath a good title to Heaven,1 Tim. 4.8. then theſe are good evidences: for, Godlineſſe hath a promiſe of the life to come, and of the life that now is; and if we ſpend any thing in maintenance of that title, give, or loſe any thing for his glory and making ſure this ſalvation,Mat. 19.29. We ſhall inherit everlaſting life, ſayes the beſt ſurety in the world; but we ſhall not ſtay ſo long for our bill of charge, we ſhall have A hundred fold in this life. S. Auguſtine ſeemes loath to take Chriſt at that large word, he ſeemes to thinke it too great uſury, to take a hundred fold for that which we have laid out for Chriſt: And therefore he reads that place, Accipiet ſepties tantum, He ſhall receive ſeven times as much, in this life. But in both the Euangeliſts, Matthew and Marke, the overflowing bounty and retribution of God is ſo expreſſed, Centuplum accipiet. God repaired Iob ſo, as he had beene impaired; God recompenced him in ſpecie, in the ſame kinde as he had beene damnified. And Chriſt teſtifies of himſelfe, that his comming to us is not onelyonly, Vt vitam habeatis, ſed habeatis abundantiùs; More abundantly; that is, as diverſe of the Fathers interpret it, that you might have eternall life ſealed to you, in the proſperity and abundancies of this life.Iohn 9.10. I am the doore, ſayes Chriſt, in the ſame Chapter: we muſt not thinke to flye over wals, by ſudden and undeſerved preferments, nor to ſap and undermine, and ſupplant others; wee muſt enter at that doore, by faire and Chriſtian meanes: And then, By me if any man enter, ſayes Chriſt there, he ſhall be ſaved; there is a rich and bleſſed inheritance; but before he come to that ſalvation, He ſhall goe in and out, and finde paſture, ſayes that text. Now, in Heaven there is no going in and out; but in his way to Heaven, in this life, he ſhall finde his intereſt in the next, conveied and ſealed to him in temporall bleſſings here.
If Plato found and acknowledged a happineſſe in that, Quòd natus homo, that he was borne a man, and not a beaſt, (Lactantius adds in Platoes behalfe, when he cites that place out of him, Quòd natus vir, that he was borne a man and not a woman) if he found a farther happineſſe, Quòd Graecus, that he was borne a Grecian, and not a Barbarian; quòd Athenienſis, that he was borne in the Towne which was the receptacle, and dwelling of all wiſdome; and quòd tempore Socratis, and that he was borne in Socrates his time, that ſo he might have a good example, as well as a good rule for his life: As all we owe to God an acknowledgement of bleſſedneſſe, that we are borne in a Chriſtian Church, in a Reformed Church, in a Monarchy, in a Monarchy compoſed of Monarchies, and in the time of ſuch a Monarch, as is a Peace-maker, and a peace-preſerver both at home and abroad; ſo let all them who are borne of Nobility, or borne up to Nobility upon the two faire wings of merit and of favour, all that are borne to riches, and born up and born out by their riches, all whom their induſtry, and wiſedome, and uſefulneſſe to the State, hath or may any way preferre, take heed of ſeparating the Author and the meanes; of ſeparating God and the King, in the wayes of favour; of ſeparating God and their riches, in the wayes of purchaſe; of ſeparating God and their wiſedome, in the wayes of preferment; but let them alwayes diſcerne, and alwayes acknowledge, the hand of God, the Author, in directing and proſpering the hand of his inſtrument in all theſe temporall things, and then, theſe temporall things are truly bleſſings unto them, and they are truly bleſſed in them.
This was our firſt Conſideration, our firſt branch in this part,In quibus. that temporall things were ſeales and teſtimonies of bleſſedneſſe; The ſecond is, to what particular evidence this ſeales is annexed in this text, upon what things this bleſſedneſſe is placed here; which are all involved in this one little particle, this monaſyllable So, Bleſſed are they that are ſo; that is, ſo, as a prayer is made in the three former verſes, that they might be. Now as the maledictions which were threatned to David, were preſented to him by the Prophet in three formes, of warre, of famine, of peſtilence; ſo theſe bleſſings which are comprized in thoſe three verſes, may well be reduced to three things contrary to thoſe three maledictions; To the bleſſing of peace, contrary to Davids warre,Ver. 14. That there may be no invaſion; To the bleſſing of plenty, contrary to Davids famine,Ver. 13. That our barnes may abound with all ſorts of Corne; To the bleſſing of health, contrary to Davids deſtroying ſickneſſe, That our ſonnes may grow up as plants in their youth.Ver. 12.
For the firſt temporall bleſſing of peace, we may conſider the lovelineſſe,Pax. the amiableneſſe of that, if we looke upon the horror and gaſtlineſſe of warre: either in Effigie, in that picture of warre, which is drawn in every leafe of our own Chronicles, in the blood of ſo many Princes, and noble families, or if we look upon warre it ſelfe, at that diſtance where it cannot hurt us, as God had formerly kindled it amongſt our neighbours, and as he hath transferred it now to remoter Nations, whileſt we enjoy yet a Goſhen in the midſt of all thoſe Egypts. In all Cities, diſorderly and facinorous men, covet to draw themſelves into the skirts and ſuburbs of thoſe Cities, that ſo they may be the nearer the ſpoyle, which they make upon paſſengers. In all Kingdomes that border upon other Kingdomes, and in Iſlands which have no other border but the Sea, particular men, who by dwelling in thoſe skirts and borders, may make their profit of ſpoile, delight in hoſtility, and have an adverſeneſſe and deteſtation of peace: but it is not ſo within: they who till the earth, and breed up cattell, and imploy their induſtry upon Gods creatures, according to Gods ordinance, feele the benefit and apprehend the ſweetneſſe, and pray for the continuance of peace.
This is the bleſſing, in which God ſo very very often expreſſes his gracious purpoſe upon his people, that he would give them peace; and peace with plenty;Copia. O that my people had hearkned unto me! ſayes God, I would ſoone have humbled their enemies, Pſal. 81.13. & ult.(there is their peace) And I would have fed them with the fat of wheat, and with the honey out of the Rocke, and there is their plenty. Perſons who are preferred for ſervice in the warre, prove often ſuſpicious to the Prince. Ioabs confidence in his own merit and ſervice, made him inſolent towards the King, and the King jealous of him. But no man was more ſuddenly nor more ſafely preferred then Ioſeph, for his counſell to reſiſt penury, and to preſerve plenty and abundance within the Land. See Baſil in an Homily which he made in a time of dearth and drought, in which he expreſſes himſelfe with as much elegancy, as any where, (and every where I thinke with as much as any man) where he ſayes, there was in the skie, Triſtis ſeveritas & ipſa puritate moleſta, That the ayre was the worſe for being ſo good, and the fouler for being ſo faire; and where he inverts the words of our Saviour, Meſsis magna, operarii pauci, ſayes Chriſt, Here is a great harveſt,Luk. 10.2. but few workmen; but Operarii multi, meſsis parva, ſayes Baſil, Here are workmen enow, but no harveſt to gather, in that Homily; He notes a barrenneſſe in that which uſed to be fruitfull, and a fruitfulneſſe in that which uſed to be barren; Terra ſterilis & aurum foecundum, He prophecyed of our times; when not onelyonly ſo many families have left the Country for the City, in their perſons, but have brought their lands into the City, they have brought all their Evidences into Scriveners ſhops, and changed all their renewing of leaſes every ſeaven yeares, into renewing of bonds every ſix moneths: They have taken a way to inflict a barrenneſſe upon land, and to extort a fruitfulneſſe from gold by uſury. Monſters may be got by unnaturall mixtures, but there is no race, no propagation of monſters: money may be raiſed by this kinde of uſe; but, Non haerebit, It is the ſweat of other men, and it will not ſtick to thine heire. Nay, commonly it brings not that outward bleſſing of plenty with it; for, for the moſt part, we ſee no men live more penuriouſly, more ſordidly, then theſe men doe.
The third of theſe temporall bleſſings is health, without which both the other are no more to any man, then the Rainbow was to him who was ready to drowne; Quid mihi, ſi peream ego? ſayes he, what am I the better, that God hath paſt his word, and ſet to his ſeale in the heavens, that he will drowne the world no more, if I be drowned my ſelfe? What is all the peace of the world to me, if I have the rebellions and earth-quakes of ſhaking and burning Feavers in my body? What is all the plenty of the world to me, if I have a languiſhing conſumption in my blood, and in my marrow? The Heathens had a goddeſſe, to whom they attributed the care of the body, deam Carnam: And we that are Chriſtians, acknowledge, that Gods firſt care of man, was his body, he made that firſt; and his laſt care is reſerved for the body too, at the Reſurrection, which is principally for the benefit of the body. There is a care belongs to the health, and comelineſſe of the body. When the Romans canonized Pallorem and Febrim, Paleneſſe and Fevers, and made them gods, they would as faine have made them Devills, if they durſt; they worſhipped them onelyonly, becauſe they ſtood in feare of them. Sickneſſe is a ſword of Gods, and health is his bleſſing. For when Hezekias had aſſurance enough, that he ſhould recover and live, yet he had ſtill a ſenſe of miſery, in that he ſhould not have a perfect ſtate of health.Eſay 38.15. What ſhall I ſay, ſayes he, I ſhall walke weakly all my yeares, in the bitterneſſe of my ſoule. All temporall bleſſings are inſipid and taſtleſſe, without health.
Now the third branch of this part,Populus. is the other In quibus, not the things, but the perſons, in whom theſe three bleſſings are here placed: And it is Beatus populus, when this bleſſedneſſe reaches to all, dilates it ſelfe over all. When David places bleſſedneſſe in one particular man, as he does in the beginning of the firſt Pſalme, Beatus vir, Bleſſed is that man, there he pronounces that man bleſſed, If he neither walke in the counſell of the wicked, nor ſtand in the way of ſinners, nor ſit in the ſeate of the ſcornfull. If he doe not all, walke, and ſtand, and ſit in the preſence and feare of God, he is not bleſſed. So, if theſe temporall bleſſings fall not upon all, in their proportions, the people is not bleſſed. The City may be bleſſed in the increaſe of acceſſe; And the Lawyer may be bleſſed in the increaſe of ſuits; and the Merchant may be bleſſed in the increaſe of meanes of getting, if he be come to get as well by taking, as by trading; but if all be not bleſſed, the people is not bleſſed: yea, if theſe temporall bleſſings reach not to the Prince himſelfe, the people is not bleſſed. For in favorabilibus Princeps è populo, is a good rule in the Law; in things beneficiall, the King is one of the people. When God ſayes by David, Let all the people bleſſe the Lord, God does not exempt Kings from that duty; and when God ſayes by him too, God ſhall bleſſe all the people, God does not exempt, not exclude Kings from that benefit; And therfore where ſuch things as conduce to the beeing, and the well-beeing, to the ſubſtance and ſtate, to the ceremony and majeſty of the Prince, be not chearfully ſupplied, and ſeaſonably adminiſtred, there that bleſſing is not fully faln upon them, Bleſſed is that people that are ſo; for the people are not ſo, if the Prince be not ſo.
Nay, the people are not bleſſed, if theſe bleſſings be not permanent; for, it is not onelyonly they that are alive now, that are the people; but the people is the ſucceſſion. If we could imagine a bleſſing of health without permanency, we might call an intermitting ague, a good day in a fever, health. If we could imagine a bleſſing of plenty without permanency, we might call a full ſtomach, and a ſurfet, though in a time of dearth, plenty. If we could imagine a bleſſing of peace without permanency, we might call a nights ſleepe, though in the midſt of an Army, peace; but it is onelyonly proviſion for the permanency and continuance, that makes theſe bleſſings bleſſings. To thinke of, to provide againſt famine, and ſickneſſe, and warre, that is the bleſſing of plenty, and health, and peace. One of Chriſts principall titles was,Eſay 9. that he was Princeps pacis, and yet this Prince of peace ſayes, Non veni mittere pacem, I came not to bring you peace, not ſuch a peace as ſhould bring them ſecurity againſt all warre. If a Ship take fire, though in the midſt of the Sea, it conſumes ſooner, and more irrecoverably, then a thatched houſe upon Land: If God caſt a fire-brand of warre, upon a State accuſtomed to peace, it burnes the more deſperately, by their former ſecurity.
But here in our Text we have a religious King, David, that firſt prayes for theſe bleſſings, (for the three former Verſes are a prayer) and then praiſes God in the acknowledgement of them; for this Text is an acclamatory, a gratulatory glorifying of God for them. And when theſe two meet in the conſideration of temporall bleſſings, a religious care for them, a religious confeſſing of them, prayer to God for the getting, praiſe to God for the having, Bleſſed is that people, that is, Head and members, Prince and ſubjects, preſent and future people, that are ſo; So bleſſed, ſo thankefull for their bleſſings.
We come now, Ad dextram dextrae, to the right bleſſedneſs,2 Part. in the right ſenſe and interpretation of theſe words, to ſpirituall bleſſedneſs, to the bleſſedneſs of the ſoule. Eſtne Deo cura de bobus? is the Apoſtles queſtion, and his anſwer is pregnantly implied,1 Cor. 9.9. God hath care of beaſts: But yet God cared more for one ſoule then for thoſe two thouſand hogges which he ſuffered to periſh in the Sea, when that man was diſpoſſeſſed.Mar. 5. A dram of ſpirituall is worth infinite talents of temporall. Here then in this ſpirituall bleſſedneſs (as we did in the former) wee ſhall looke firſt, Quid beatitudo, what it is; and then, In quibus, in what it is placed here, Vt Deus eorum ſit Dominus, That their God bee the Lord; And laſtly, the extent of it, That all the people bee made partakers of this ſpirituall bleſſedneſs.
This bleſſedneſs then, you ſee is placed laſt in the Text;Beatitudo. not that it cannot be had till our end, till the next life; In this caſe, the Nemo ante obitum failes, for it is in this life, that we muſt find our God to be the Lord, or elſe, if we know not that here, we ſhall meet his Neſcio vos, he will not know us; But it is placed laſt, becauſe it is the waightieſt, and the uttermoſt degree of bleſſendneſs, which can be had, To have the Lord for our God. Conſider the making up of a naturall man, and you ſhall ſee that hee is a convenient Type of a ſpirituall man too.
Firſt, in a naturall man wee conceive there is a ſoule of vegetation and of growth; and ſecondly, a ſoule of motion and of ſenſe; and then thirdly, a ſoule of reaſon and underſtanding, an immortall ſoule. And the two firſt ſoules of vegetation, and of ſenſe, wee conceive to ariſe out of the temperament, and good diſpoſition of the ſubſtance of which that man is made, they ariſe out of man himſelfe; But the laſt ſoule, the perfect and immortall ſoule, that is immediatly infuſed by God. Conſider the bleſſedneſs of this Text, in ſuch degrees, in ſuch proportions. Firſt, God bleſſes a man with riches, there is his ſoule of vegetation and growth, by that hee growes in eſtimation, and in one kinde of true ability to produce good fruits, for he hath wherewithall. And then, God gives this rich man the bleſſing of underſtanding, his riches, how to employ them according to thoſe morall and civill duties, which appertaine unto him, and there is his ſoule of ſenſe; for many rich men have not this ſenſe, many rich men underſtand their owne riches no more then the Oaks of the Forreſt doe their owne Akorns. But laſt of all, God gives him the bleſſing of diſcerning the mercy, and the purpoſe of God in giving him theſe temporall bleſſings, and there is his immortall ſoule. Now for the riches themſelves, (which is his firſt ſoule) he may have them ex traduce, by devolution from his parents; and the civill wiſedome, how to governe his riches, where to purchaſe, where to ſell, where to give, where to take, (which is his ſecond ſoule) this he may have by his owne acquiſition, and experience, and converſation; But the immortall ſoule, that is, the diſcerning of Gods image in every piece, and of the ſeale of Gods love in every temporall bleſſing, this is infuſed from God alone, and ariſes neither from Parents, nor the wiſedome of this world, how worldly wiſe ſo ever wee bee in the governing of our eſtate.
And this the Prophet may very well ſeeme to have intimated, when he ſaith,Pſal. 112.1. The generation of the righteous ſhall be bleſſed; Here is a permanent bleſſedneſs, to the generation. Wherein is it expreſſed? thus; Riches and treaſure ſhall bee in his houſe, and his righteouſneſſe endureth for ever. Hee doth not ſay, that Simony, or Uſury, or Extortion ſhall bee in his houſe; for riches got ſo are not treaſure; Nor he doth not ſay, that Riches well got, and which are truely a bleſſing, ſhall endure for ever, but his righteouſneſſe ſhall endure for ever. The laſt ſoule, the immortall ſoule endures for ever. The bleſſedneſs of having ſtudied, and learnt, and practiſed the knowledge of Gods purpoſe in temporall bleſſings, this bleſſedneſs ſhall endure for ever; When thou ſhalt turne from the left to the right ſide, upon thy death bed, from all the honours, and riches of this world, to breathe thy ſoule into his hands that gave it, this righteouſneſs, this good conſcience ſhall endure then, and then accompany thee: And when thine eyes are cloſed, and in the twinckling of his eye that cloſed thine, thy ſoule ſhall be gone an infinite way from this honour, and theſe riches, this righteouſneſs, this good conſcience ſhall endure then, and meet thee in the gates of heaven. And this is ſo much of that righteouſneſs, as is expreſſed in this Text, (becauſe this is the root of all) That our God be the Lord.
In which,In quibus. firſt wee muſt propoſe a God, that there is one, and then appropriate this God to our ſelves, that he be our God, and laſtly, be ſure that we have the right God, that our God be the Lord. For, for the firſt, he that enterpriſes any thing, ſeeks any thing, poſſeſſes any thing without recourſe to God, without acknowledging God in that action, he is, for that particular, an Atheiſt, he is without God in that; and if hee doe ſo in moſt of his actions, he is for the moſt part an Atheiſt. If he be an Atheiſt every where, but in his Catechiſme, if onelyonly then he confeſſe a God when hee is asked, Doeſt thou beleeve that there is a God, and never confeſſe him, never conſider him in his actions, it ſhall do him no good, to ſay at the laſt day, that he was no ſpeculative Atheiſt, he never thought in his heart, that there was no God, if hee lived a practique Atherſt, proceeded in all his actions without any conſideration of him. But accuſtome thy ſelfe to find the preſence of God in all thy gettings, in all thy preferments, in all thy ſtudies, and he will be abundantly ſufficient to thee for all. Quantumlibet ſis avarus, ſaith S. Auguſtine, ſufficit tibi Deus, Be as covetous as thou wilt, bee as ambitious as thou canſt, the more the better; God is treaſure, God is honour enough for thee. Avaritia terram quaerit, ſaith the ſame Father, adde & Coelum; wouldſt thou have all this world? wouldſt thou have all the next world too? Plus eſt, qui fecit coelum & terram, He that made heaven and earth is more then all that, and thou mayeſt have all him.
And this appropriates him ſo neare to us,Noſter, as that hee is thereby Deus noſter. For, it is not enough to finde Deum, a God; a great and incomprehenſible power, that ſits in luce, in light, but in luce inacceſsibili, in light that we cannot comprehend. A God that enjoyes his owne eternity, his owne peace, his owne bleſſedneſs, but reſpects not us, reflects not upon us, communicates nothing to us. But it is a God, that is Deus noſter; Ours, as we are his creatures; ours, as we are like him, made to his image; ours, as he is like us, in aſſuming our nature; ours, as he hath deſcended to us in his Incarnation; and ours, as we are aſcended with him in his glorification: So that wee doe not conſider God, as our God, except we come to the conſideration of God in Chriſt, God and man. It is not enough to find Deum, a God in generall, nor to find Deum meum, a God ſo particularly my God, as that he is a God of my making: That I ſhould ſeeke God by any other motions, or know God by any other notions, or worſhip God in any other faſhions, then the true Church of God doth, for there he is Deus noſter, as hee is received in the unanime conſent of the Catholique Church. Sects are not bodies, they are but rotten boughes, gangrened limmes, fragmentary chips, blowne off by their owne ſpirit of turbulency, fallen off by the waight of their owne pride, or hewen off by the Excommunications and cenſures of the Church. Sects are no bodies, for there is Nihil noſtrum, nothing in common amongſt them, nothing that goes through them all; all is ſingular, all is meum and tuum, my ſpirit and thy ſpirit, my opinion and thy opinion, my God and thy God; no ſuch apprehenſion, no ſuch worſhip of God, as the whole Church hath evermore been acquainted withall, and contented with.
It is true, that every man muſt appropriate God ſo narrowly, as to find him to be Deum ſuum, his God; that all the promiſes of the Prophets, and all the performances of the Goſpell, all that Chriſt Jeſus ſaid, and did, and ſuffered, belongs to him and his ſoule; but yet God is Deus meus, as he is Deus noſter, my God, as he is our God, as I am a part of that Church, with which he hath promiſed to be till the end of the world, and as I am an obedient ſonne of that Mother, who is the Spouſe of Chriſt Jeſus: For as S. Auguſtine ſaith of that Petition, Give us this day our daily bread, Vnde dicimus Da noſtrum? How come we to ask that which is ours, Quomodo noſtrum, quomodo da? if we be put to ask it, why doe wee call it ours? and then anſwers himſelfe, Tuum confitendo, non eris ingratus, It is a thankfull part to confeſſe that thou haſt ſome, that thou haſt received ſome bleſſings; and then, Ab illo petendo, non eris vacuus, It is a wiſe and a provident part, to ask more of him, whoſe ſtore is inexhauſtible; So if I feele God, as hee is Deus meus, as his Spirit works in me, and thankfully acknowledge that, Non ſum ingratus; But if I derive this Pipe from the Ciſtern, this Deus meus, from Deus noſter, my knowledge and ſenſe of God, from that knowledge which is communicated by his Church, in the preaching of his Word, in the adminiſtration of his Sacraments, in thoſe other meanes which he hath inſtituted in his Church, for the aſſiſtance and reparation of my ſoule that way, Non er o vacuus, I ſhall have a fuller ſatisfaction, a more abundant refection then if I rely upon my private inſpirations: for there he is Deus noſter.
Now, as we are thus to acknowledge a God, and thus to appropriate that God;Dominus. ſo we muſt be ſure to confer this honour upon the right God, upon him who is the Lord. Now this name of God, which is tranſlated the Lord here, is not the name of God, which preſents him with relation to his Creatures: for ſo it is a problematicall, a diſputable thing, Whether God could be called the Lord, before there were any Creatures. Tertullian denies abſolutely that he could be called Lord till then; S. Auguſtin is more modeſt, he ſayes, Non audeo dicere, I dare not ſay that he was not; but he does not affirme that he was; Howſoever the name here, is not the name of Relation, but it is the name of his Eſſence, of his Eternity, that name, which of late hath beene ordinarily called Iebovah. So that we are not to truſt in thoſe Lords, Whoſe breath is in their noſtrils, Eſay 2. ult.as the Prophet ſayes, For, wherein are they to be eſteemed? ſayes he; we are leſſe to truſt in them, whoſe breath was never in their noſtrils, ſuch imaginary Saints, as are ſo far from hearing us in Heaven, as that they are not there: and ſo far from being there, as that they were never here: ſo farre from being Saints, as that they were never men, but are either fabulous illuſions, or at leaſt, but ſymbolicall and allegoricall alluſions. Our Lord is the Lord of life and being, who gave us not onelyonly a well-being in this life, (for that, other Lords can pretend to doe, and doe indeed, by preferments here) nor a beginning of a temporary being in this life, (for that our Parents pretend, and pretend truly to have done) nor onelyonly an enlarging of our being in this life, (for that the King can doe by a Pardon, and the Phyſitians by a Cordiall) but he hath given us an immortall being, which neither our Parents began in us, nor great perſons can advance for us, nor any Prince can take from us. This is the Lord in this place, this is Iehova, and Germen Iehovae, The Lord,Eſay 4.2. and the off-ſpring of the Lord; and none is the off-ſpring of God, but God, that is, the Son, and the Holy Ghoſt. So that this perfect bleſſedneſſe conſiſts in this, the true knowledge and worſhip of the Trinity.
And this bleſſing, that is, the true Religion and profeſſion of Chriſt Jeſus,Populus. is to be upon all the people; which is our laſt Confideration. Bleſſed is the Nation, whoſe God is the Lord, Pſal. 33.12.and the people whom he hath choſen for his Inheritance. And here againe (as in the former Conſideration of temporall bleſſedneſſe) The people includes both Prince and people; and then, the bleſſing conſiſts in this, that both Prince and people be ſincerely affected to the true Religion; And then, the people includes all the people; and ſo, the bleſſing conſiſts in this, that there be an unanimitie, a conſent in all, in matter of Religion; And laſtly, the people includes the future people; and there, the bleſſing conſiſts in this, that our poſterity may enjoy the ſame purity of Religion that we doe. The firſt tentation that fell amonſt the Apoſtles carried away one of them: Iudas was tranſported with the tentation of money; and how much? For thirty peeces, and in all likelihood he might have made more profit then that, out of the privy purſe; The firſt tentation carried one, but the firſt perſecution carried away nine, when Chriſt was apprehended, none was left but two, and of one of thoſe two, S. Hierom ſaies, Vtinàm fugiſſet & non negaſſet Chriſtum, I would Peter had fled too, and not ſcandalized the cauſe more by his ſtay, in denying his Maſter: for, a man may ſtay in the outward profeſſion of the true Religion, with ſuch purpoſes, and to ſuch ends, as he may thereby damnifie the cauſe more, and damnifie his owne ſoule more, then if he went away to that Religion, to which his conſcience (though ill rectified) directs him. Now, though when ſuch tentations, and ſuch perſecutions doe come, the words of our Saviour Chriſt will alwayes be true,Luke 12.32. Feare not little flocke, for it is Gods pleaſure to give you the Kingdome, though God can lay up his ſeedcorne in any little corner, yet the bleſſing intended here, is not in that little ſeed-corne, nor in the corner, but in the plenty, when all the people are bleſſed, and the bleſſed Spirit blowes where he will, and no doore nor window is ſhut againſt him.
And therefore let all us bleſſe God, for that great bleſſing to us, in giving us ſuch Princes, as make it their care, Nebona caducaſint, ne mala recidiva, That that bleſſedneſſe which we enjoy by them, may never depart from us, that thoſe miſeries which wee felt before them, may never returne to us. Almighty God make alwaies to us all, Prince and people, theſe temporall bleſſings which we enjoy now, Peace, and Plenty, and Health, ſeales of his ſpirituall bleſſings, and that ſpirituall bleſſedneſſe which we enjoy now, the profeſſion of the onelyonly true Religion, a ſeale of it ſelfe, and a ſeale of thoſe eternall bleſſings, which the Lord the righteous Judge hath laid up for his, in that Kingdome which his Son, our Saviour hath purchaſed for us, with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible blood. In which glorious Son of God, &c.