Eighty Sermons, penitential psalms · Sermon 60
SERM. LX. Preached upon the Penitentiall Pſalmes.
PSAL. 32.7.
Thou art my hiding place; Thou ſhalt preſerve mee from trouble; Thou ſhalt compaſſe me about with ſongs of deliverance.
AS Rhetorique is ſaid to bee a fiſt extended and diſplayed into an open Hand, And Logique a Hand recollected, and contracted into a fiſt; So the Church of God may be ſaid to be a ſoule dilated and diffuſed into many Congregations, and a ſoule may be ſaid to be the Church contracted and condenſed into one boſome. So not onelyonly the Canticle of Solomon is taken indifferently by the ancient and later Expoſitors, by ſome for an Epithalamion, and marriage Song betweene Chriſt and his Church, by others, for the celebration of the ſame union between every Chriſtian ſoule and him, but alſo many other places of Scripture have received ſuch an indifferent interpretation, and are left in ſuſpence, whether they be to be underſtood of the Church in generall, or of particular ſoules; And of this nature and number is this Text, Thou art my hiding place, &c. For S. Hierom takes theſe words (and the whole Pſalme) to be ſpoken collectively, others diſtributively; He in the perſon of the Church,Hieron. They of every, or at leaſt of ſome particular ſoules. To examine their reaſons is unneceſſary, and would bee tedious; It will aske leſſe time, and afford more profit to conſider the words both wayes. In them therefore, conſidered twice over, wee ſhall ſee a threefold ſtate of the Chriſtian Church, and a threefold mercy exhibited by God to every Chriſtian ſoule. Firſt, we ſhall ſee the Church under the clouds, in her low eſtate, in her obſcurity, in her inglorious ſtate of contempt and perſecution, and yet then ſupported by an aſſurance that God overſhadowed her, Tu abſconſio, Tu latibulum, Thou art my hiding place; And in that firſt part wee ſhall conſider the ſtate of a timorous ſoule, a ſoule that for feare of tentations dares ſcarce looke into the world, or embrace a profeſſion. Secondly, we ſhall ſee the Church emancipated, enfranchiſed, unfettered, unmanacled, delivered from her obſcure and inglorious ſtate, and brought to ſplendor, and beauty, and peace, bleſſing God in that acknowledgement, Thou ſhalt preſerveme from trouble. And in that part, wee ſhall conſider the ſtate of that ſoule exalted to a holy confidence and aſſurance, that though ſhe come into the world, and partake of the dangers thereof, in opening herſelfe to ſuch tentations, as do neceſſarily and inſeparably accompany every calling, yet the Lord will preſerve her from trouble. And thirdly and laſtly, we ſhall ſee a kinde of Triumphant ſtate in the Church in this world, a holy exultation, God ſhall compaſſe her with ſongs of deliverance. In which part, we ſhall alſo ſee the bleſſed ſtate of that ſoule which is come, not to a preſumptuous ſecurity, but to modeſt certainty of continuing in the ſame ſtate ſtill. And theſe will bee our three parts in theſe words, as they receive a publike accommodation to the Church, and a more particular application to our ſelves.
Wee enter into theſe conſiderations, with this obſervation,1 Part. That as God himſelfe is eternall and cannot bee conſidered in the diſtinction of times, ſo hath that language in which God hath ſpoken in his written word, the Hebrew, the leaſt conſideration of Time of any other language. Evermore in expreſſing the mercies of God to man, it is an indifferent thing to the holy Ghoſt whether he ſpeak in the preſent, or in the future, or in the time that is paſt: what mercies ſoever he hath given us, he will give us over againe; And whatſoever he hath done, and will doe, hee is alwayes ready to doe at the preſent. This verſe is eſpecially an exultation for mercies paſt, and yet the two laſt clauſes are delivered in the future, Thou ſhalt preſerve me, Thou ſhalt compaſſe me, And the firſt is delivered without any limitation at all; The preſent word, Thou art, is but inſerted by our Tranſlators; In the Originall it is onelyonly, Tu refugium, Thou my hiding place, There is no fuiſti, nor es, nor eris, That he was, or is, or will be ſo, but it is an expreſſing of a perpetuall and everlaſting mercy, for his mercy endureth for ever.
Firſt then,Eccleſia. this is an acknowledgement of the Church, contemplating her ſelfe in her low eſtate; for the word Sether implies, Tu abſconſio, Though I were in the darke, it was thou that didſt overſhadow me, Though I were in danger, it was thou that didſt hide mo from them. This the Church hath had occaſion to ſay more then once; Once in the Primitive plantation thereof, and againe in her Reformation: At both times God ſhewed mercy to her that way, in hiding her.
Firſt then God hid the Primitive Church from the eye of envy,Primitiva. by keeping her poore; and from the eye of jealouſie and ſuſpition, by keeping her in an humble devotion towards him. But yet even her poverty, and her humility hid her not ſo, but that perſecution found her out, and raged ſo againſt her, as that thoſe Emperours which raiſed the ten Perſecutions againſt the Church, ſeeme to have laboured to have gone beyond God in the ten Plagues of Egypt, and to have done more at Rome then he did there. All the power of the Roman world was bent againſt Chriſtians; more home-Chriſtians ſlaine then forraine enemies. All the criminall juſtice of the world bent upon them; All other mens crimes, even Neroes burning of Rome, imputed to the Chriſtians. All the wit of the world bent againſt them; All their Epigrammatiſts, & Satyriſts, having their wits exalted, with rage, with wine, with rewards, to multiply libels, and calumnies, and defamations upon the Chriſtians. All the Mechaniques of that world bent againſt them; All the Enginiers employed to invent racks and tortures for the Chriſtians. Truly, if I were to work upon Heathen men, Weſterne Americans, or Eaſterne Chineſes, for their converſion to Chriſt, I ſhould ſcarce adventure to propoſe to them the hiſtories of the Martyrs of the Primitive Church, becauſe to men that had no taſte of Religion before, they would rather ſeeme fables then truths; and I ſhould as ſoone be beleeved, That a Virgin had a Son, or in any maine Article of our Religion, as that man could inflict, or that man could beare ſuch things, as we are ſure the Martyrs in the Primitive Church did. Then God hid the Church; He hid her, in a great part in the Wilderneſſe, in Ermitages, and ſuch retirings, ſinglely one by one; and after in penurious and obſcure Monaſteries, many of theſe ſingle Ermits gathering themſelves together into one houſe; when thoſe Monaſteries were both Schooles of learning, and ſhops of Manufactures; they taught and wrought in them;Auguſt. Nemo cuiquam oneroſus, No man was a burden to any others, no man fed upon anothers labours, nor drunke the ſweat of anothers brow: But, Operabantur manibus ea, quibus & corpus paſci poſsit, & à Deo mens impediri non poſsit, They laboured in ſuch manufactures, as might ſuſtaine their bodies, and not withdraw their minds from the ſervice of God. So God hid the Church, not that the perſecution did not finde and lop off many a great, and top bough, but he hid the roote, and prevented the extirpation of that Tree, which his owne right hand had planted.
Tu abſconſio, Reformata.Thou art my hiding place, ſayes the Primitive Church, and ſo may the Reformed Church ſay too. For when the Roman Church had made this Latibulum, this hiding place, this refuge from Perſecution, Ermitages and Monaſteries, to be the moſt conſpicuous, the moſt glorious, the moſt eminent, the richeſt and moſt abundant places of the World; when they had drawne theſe, at firſt remote corners in the Wilderneſſe, firſt into the skirts, and ſuburbs, then into the body and heart of every great City; when for revenew and poſſeſſion, they will confeſſe, that ſome one Monaſtery of the Benedictan had ten thouſand of our pounds of yearely rent; when they were come for their huge opulency to that height, that they were formidable to thoſe States that harboured them, and for their numbers, (other Orders holding proportion with that one) to reckon out of one Order, fifty two Popes, two hundred Cardinals, ſeven thouſand Archbiſhops and Biſhops, and almoſt three hundred Emperours and Kings, and their children, and fifty thouſand declared and approved Saints; when they were come to that over-valuation of their Religious Orders, as to ſay, That a Monke, a Fryer merited more in his very ſleep, or meales, then any ſecular man, (though a Church-man too) did in his beſt works, That to enter into any Order of Religion was a ſecond Baptiſme, and wrought as much as the firſt; Their revenew, their number, their dignity being come to this, And then their viciouſneſſe, their ſenſuality, their beſtiality, to as great a height and exaltation, as that; yet in the midſt of all theſe, Tu abſconſio mea, may the Reformed Church ſay, The Lord was their hiding place, that mourned for this, when they could not helpe, and at all times, and by all meanes that God afforded them, endeavoured to advancea Reformation. And though God expoſed them as a wood to be felled, to a ſlaughter of twenty, of forty, of ſixty thouſand in a day, yet Ille abſconſio, He hath beene our hiding place, He hath kept the roote alive all the way; And though it hath beene with a cloud, yet he hath covered us.
God came unto Moſes, though he came In caligine Nubis, In a thick Cloud; Exod. 19.9.when the glory of the Lord is ſaid to have filled the Tabernacle, even that glory was a Cloud; Exod. 40.34.And ſo it was in the ſecond place of his worſhip too, in Solomons Temple,2 Chro. 5.13. that was filled with a Cloud. S. Chryſoſtome when he conſidered that Chriſt aſcended in a Cloud, aActs 1.Chryſoſt.And that he ſhall returne againe in a Cloud, bMat. 24.Paternum Currum deligere voluit, The Son would make uſe of his Fathers Chariot, and ſhew mercy, nay ſhew glory in a Cloud, as his Father had done often. The Primitive Church, the Reformed Church, muſt not complaine of having beene kept under Clouds; for Ille abſconſio, God hath made thoſe Clouds their hiding place, and wrapped up the ſeed, and the roote ſafe in that Cloud. Though the Church were trodden upon like a worme of the earth, yet ſtill ſhe might heare God in that Cloud, Noli timere vermis Iacob, Be not afraid thou worme of Iacob, for I will keepe thee, Eſay 41.14.ſaith the Lord thy Redeemer, the holy One of Iſrael. God hid her then, and hath manifeſted now, that there was never any time, when he had not ſome of his to oppoſe her tyrannie and her Idolatry. They can name no time, when wee cannot name ſome ſuch; And it would be much harder for them, to name men in every age, that have profeſſed all the doctrines of the preſent Roman Church, then for us to finde men that have oppoſed thoſe points that we oppoſe. Will they ſay, that theſe were too few, to conſtitute or eſtabliſh, or give name to a Church? They were never ſo few,1 King. 19.14. as Elias thought there had beene in his time, when he ſaid, I onelyonly am left; no nor ſo few, as God, for Elias comfort, named to him, ſeven thouſand; they were more then ſo, elſe they could not have found ſo many to kill, as they did. Howſoever, ſince ſo great Schoolemen amongſt them as Alexander Ales, and ſo great Canoniſts amongſt them, as Cardinall Turrecremata, Brondus in Apoc. c. 1. q. 11.with many others, (as they themſelves call them) Graviſsimi Theologi, of the graveſt Divines, aſſeveranter affirmant, do dogmatically affirme, that during the time that Chriſt lay in the Grave, there was no faith, and conſequently no Church, but onelyonly in One, in the perſon of the Virgin Mary; in relation to which it is, that in the Ceremonies of the Church, they put out all their Candles but one, in the Church, at that time, to denote that all the Apoſtles loſt their faith, and one She alone retained one; If the Church were then in one perſon, they may well afford a Church to have conſiſted of ſuch numbers, as the Lord did hide under his wings, all the ſtormy time of their Perſecutions.
Tu abſconſio, may the Primitive Church, and the Reformed Church ſay,Anima. Thou haſt beene our hiding place, And ſo muſt every timerous ſoule too, (for you may remember, that theſe words are by our Expoſitors aſcribed to particular ſoules in the Church, as well as to the Church in generall) every ſuch ſoule, that for feare of tentations in the world, is loth to come abroad from its retiredneſſe, and venture on the publique view, muſt rely upon that, Tu abſconſio, The Lord is able to hide them, able to cover them.
Iovinian the Heretique whom S. Hierom oppoſed, would needs thinke, or at leaſt ſay, That after Baptiſme no man was tempted of the Devill: not onelyonly not overcome, but not tempted. But our Baptiſme does not drowne the Devill.Chryſoſt. Pauci inter Athletas in expugnabiles, Few wraſtlers that never tooke fall; none that may not, ſince we are all at beſt, but wraſtlers. Vita hominis piraterium, ſayes S. Ambroſe, what Copy ſoever he followed.Ser. 42. Iob. 7.1. Ambroſe. Others read it, Mans life is a warfare; And that is labour enough, and danger enough. But to be ſtill upon ſo unconſtant an element as the water, and ſtill purſued by Pirats, or conſorted with Pirates, is more; and Vita Piraterium, ſayes he, Mans life, every mans life is ſpent amongſt Pirats, purſued by them, or conſorted with them. The Devill hath not a more ſubtile tentation to enſnare me with, then to bring me to thinke my ſelfe tentation-proofe; above tentation. Nemo diu fortis eſt, Idem.is excellently ſaid by the ſame Father: No man continues ſtrong againſt tentations long. For when he ſees, that ſome tentations have done him no harme, hee growes negligent and ſlacke towards others. Infoelix ego! victonem me puto, dum capior, Miſerable miſtaking man that I am!Hieron. I thinke my ſelfe able to overcome any tentation, and I am overcome even by that tentation of thinking ſo. I thinke my ſelfe conquerour, when I am captive, and am chained to the Chariot, when I thinke I ſit in it. Tranquillitas iſta tempeſtas eſt, This calme is a ſtorme, this ſecurity is a defeat; For, it is one of Davids heavy imprecations, Veniat illi laqueus quem ignorat, Pſal. 35.8. Ecclus. 34.9.Let him be catchedin a ſnare, that he ſuſpected not: Deſtruction come upon him unawares, ſo we read it. We are tempted, and it is well that we are ſo. Qui non eſt tentatus, quid ſcit? He is an ignorant ſoule, and knowes nothing, that hath paſſed no tentations; Nothing at all;Auguſt. not himſelfe; Neſcit ſe homo, niſi tentatione diſcat ſe, Except he be taught in that Schoole, The Schoole of tentations, no man ever comes to know himſelfe. So then,Leo. Laqueus eſt in ſecuritate; If I be ſecure, and negligent, that is a ſnare; But Laqueus in timore too, ſayes he; It is a ſnare caſt by the Devils owne hand, If I be over-timerous, If upon pretence of hiding my ſelfe from tentations, I withdraw my ſelfe from the offices of mutuall ſociety. Tu abſconſio, The Lord will be my hiding place from tentations that attempt me in my calling,Eccl. 9.20. but not to hide me from a calling. Scito quod in medio laqueorum ingrederis, Know that thou walkeſt in the midſt of ſnares, but yet thou muſt walke,Chryſoſt. walke in a calling. So S. Chryſoſtome reads that; and adds, He does not ſay, Vide, but Scito; He does not ſay, ſee them, for they are inviſible; but know that there are ſnares, and be wary.Auguſt. And then, as S. Auguſtin ſayes of the whole Church, (which was our firſt Conſideration) Eccleſia Catholica inter tentationes vivit, inter tentationes creſcit, The whole Church is in the midſt of tentations, but lives and growes up in the midſt of them: So, heare thy God ſay to thy ſoule, (which is the Conſideration that we are now upon) Son of man, Ezek. 2.6.though bryars and thornes be with thee, though thou dwell among Scorpions, bee not afraid of their words, nor diſmaid with their lookes. Proceed in a lawfull calling, and God ſhall hide thee though with his Clouds: And though he cover thee with a cloud of poverty, with ſickneſſe, with diſgrace, and if he ſee no other cover ſafe, cover thee with the cloud of death, and the grave, all is to cover thee from the Tempter, and thereby to preſerve thee for himſelfe, which is our ſecond part, Thou art my hiding place, Thou ſhalt preſerve me from trouble.
If wee content our ſelves with that word which our Tranſlators have choſen here, Trouble, 2 Part. Trouble.(Thou ſhalt preſerve me from Trouble) we muſt reſt in one of theſe two ſenſes; Either that God ſhall arme, and indue thoſe that are his, with ſuch a conſtancy, as thoſe things that trouble others,2 Cor. 1.5. ſhall not trouble them, but, As the ſufferings of Chriſt abound in them, 2 Cor. 6.9.ſo their conſolation alſo aboundeth by Chriſt, As unknowne, and yet well knowne, as dying, and behold we live, as ſorrowfull yet alwayes rejoycing, as poore yet making many rich, as having nothing, and yet poſſeſsing all things; For, God uſes both theſe wayes in the behalfe of his ſervants; ſometimes to ſuſpend the working of that that ſhould worke their torment, as he ſuſpended the rage of the Lyons for Daniel, and the heat of the fire in the furnace, for the others; Sometimes by imprinting a holy ſtupefaction, and unſenſibleneſſe in the perſon that ſuffers, So S. Laurence was not onelyonly patient, but merry and facetious when he lay broyling upon the fire, and ſo we reade of many other Martyrs, that they have beene leſſe moved, leſſe affected with their torments, then their Executioners, or their Perſecutors have beene, That which troubled others never troubled them; Or els the phraſe muſt have this ſenſe, That though they be troubled with their troubles, though God ſubmit them ſo far, to the common condition of men, that they be ſenſible of them, yet he ſhall preſerve them from that trouble ſo, as that it ſhall never overthrow them, never ſinke them into a dejection of ſpirit, or diffidence in his mercy; They ſhall finde ſtormes, but a ſtout and ſtrong ſhip under foote; They ſhall feele Thunder and lightning, but garlands of triumphant bayes ſhall preſerve them; They ſhall be trodden into the earth with ſcornes and contempts, but yet as ſeed is buried, to multiply to more. So far this word of our Tranſlators aſſiſt our devotion, Thou ſhalt preſerve me from trouble, Thou ſhalt make me unſenſible of it, or thou ſhalt make me victorious in it.
But the Originall word Tzur hath a more peculiar ſenſe;Perplexity. It ſignifies a ſtraite, a narrowneſſe, a difficulty,2 Sam. 1.26. a diſtreſſe; I am diſtreſſed for thee, my brother Ionathan, ſayes David, in this word, when he lamented his irremediable, his irrecoverable death. So is it alſo,Eſa. 21.3. Pangs have taken hold of me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth. And ſo the word growes to ſignifie,Pſal. 89.43. Aciem gladii, Thou haſt turned the edge of the ſword, and to ſignifie the top and precipice of a rock;Pſal. 78.15. He clave the rocks in the wilderneſſe. So that the word expreſſes Anguſtiam, narrowneſſe, preſſure, precipitation, inextricableneſſe, in a word, (that will beſt fit us) Perplexity; and, The Lord ſhall preſerve me from perplexity; And this may the Church, and this may every good ſoule comfort it ſelfe in, Thou ſhalt preſerve me from perplexity.
Conſider it firſt in the Church, and then in our ſelves; and firſt in the Primitive,Eccleſia Primitiva. and then in the reformed Church. When God had brought his Church, ex abſcondito, from his hiding place, from poverty, and contempt, and ſolitarineſſe, and glorified it in the eyes of the world, by many royall endowments and poſſeſſions, with which Princes (then become Chriſtians) and other great perſons, piouſly and graciouſly inveſted her, though theſe were tentations to aſpire to greater, yet God preſerved her from perplexities of all kinds; from perplexing of Princes with her claims, that they might not marry, nor make leagues, nor levy Armies, but by her permiſſion. The Church called nothing her own, but that which God had called His, and given her, that is, Tithes: All the reſt, ſhee acknowledged to have received from the bounty of pious benefactors. This was her plea, The Lord is my rock, and my fortreſſe, and my deliverer, my ſtrength, my buckler, Pſal. 18.2.and my high tower. In all this Inventory, in all this Armory, and furniture of the Church, there is never a ſword; Rocks, and fortreſſes, and bucklers, and Towers, but no ſword, no materiall ſword in the Churches hand; Arma noſtra preces & fletus; Ambroſe.The Church fought with nothing but prayers and teares. And as God delivered her from theſe perplexities, from perplexing the affayres of Princes with her intereſt in their government; ſo he delivered her from any perplexities in her own government. No uſurpation, no offer of any Prince that attempted to invade or violate the true right of the Church, no practiſe of any Heretiques, how ſubtile, how potent ſoever, though they equalled, though they exceeded the Church in number, and in power, (as at ſome times the Arians did) ever brought the Church to a perplexitie, or to an apprehenſion of any neceſſitie, of yeelding to ſacrilegious Princes, or to irreligious Heretiques in any point, to procure their peace, or to enjoy their reſt, but ſtill they kept the dignitie of Prieſthood intire, and ſtill they kept the truth of the Chriſtian Religion intire; no perplexity how they ſhould ſubſiſt if they were ſo ſtiffe, ever brought them to goe leſſe to any prevarications, or modifications, either in matter of Religion towards Heretiques, or in the execution of their religious function towards facrilegious uſurpers. So God preſerved the Primitive Church from perplexitie; ſhee was ever thankfull and ſubmiſſe towards her benefactors; ſhee was ever erect and conſtant againſt uſurpers. And this preſervation from perplexity, we conſider in the reformed Church alſo.
When the fulneſſe of time was come,Eccleſia Reformata. and that Church which lay in the bowels of the putative Church, the ſpecious Church, the Romane Church, that is, thoſe ſoules which groaned and panted after a Reformation, were enabled by God to effect it; when the Iniquity of Babylon was come to that height, That whereas at firſt they tooke of Almes, afterwards Monachi emunt & Nobiles vendunt, Monkes bought, and Lords ſold,Hieron. Ep. ad Demetr. nay Monaſteries bought, and the Crowne ſold; when they went ſo far, as to forgea Donation of Conſtantin, by which they laid hold upon a great temporall ſtate, and after that ſo much farther, as to renounce the Donation of Conſtantin, by which, for a long time, the Roman Church claimed all their temporall ſtate, S. Peters patrimony, and ſo, at laſt came to ſay, That all the ſtates of all Chriſtian Princes are held of the Church, and really may be, and actually are forfeited to her, and may, at her pleaſure, be re-aſſumed by her; when for the art and ſcience of Divinity it ſelfe, they had buried it in the darkneſſe of the Schoole, and wrapped up that that ſhould ſave our ſoules, in thoſe perplexed and inextricable clouds of Schoole-divinitie, and their Schoole-divinitie ſubject to ſuch changes, as that a Jeſuit profeſſes, that in the compaſſe but of thirty yeares,Tanner. in Aquin. p. 1. ad Lector. ſince Gregory de Valentia writ, Verè dici poſsit, novam quodammodo Theologiam prognatam eſſe, We may truly ſay, that we have a new art of Divinity riſen amongſt us; The Divinity of theſe times, ſayes he, is not in our Church the ſame that it was thirty yeares ſince; ſince all parts of the Chriſtian Church were ſo incenſed, both with their hereſie, and their tyranny, as that the Greeke Church, which generally they would make the world beleeve, is abſolutely as they are, is by ſome of their own Authors confeſſed to be more averſe from them,Stenartius Ep. Dedic. ante Calecam. and more bitter againſt them, then Luther or Calvin; ſince upon all theſe provocations, God was pleaſed to bring this Church, the Reformed Church, not onelyonly to light, but to ſplendor, He hath preſerved this Church from perplexities. If they ſay, we are perplexed with differences of opinions amongſt our ſelves, let this ſatisfie them, that we doe agree all, in all fundamentall things: And that in things much nearer the foundation, then thoſe in which our differences lie, they differ amongſt themſelves, with more acrimony and bitterneſſe, then we doe. If they thinke to perplex us with the Fathers, we are ready to joyne that iſſue with them; where the Fathers ſpeak unanimouſly, dogmatically, in matters of faith, we are content to be tried by the Fathers. If they thinke to perplex us with Councels, we will goe as farre as they in the old ones, and as farre as they for meeting in new Councels, if they may be fully, that is, Royally, Imperially called, and equally proceeded in, and the Reſolutions grow and gathered there upon debatements, upon the place, and not brought thither upon commandment from Rome. If there be no way but Force and Armes, if they will admit no triall but that, God bee bleſſed that keepes us from the neceſſity, but God bee bleſſed alſo that he preſerves us from perplexity, or not being able to defend his cauſe, if he call us to that triall. And therefore let them never call it a Perplexity in us, let them never ſay that we know not what to doe, when we acknowledge the Church of Rome to be truly a Church: for the Peſt-houſe is a houſe, and theirs is ſuch a Church; But the Peſt-houſe is not the beſt ayre to live in, nor the Romane Church the beſt Church to die in. Thou haſt preſerved me from perplexities, may the Primitive Church ſay, and ſo may the Reformed too, and ſo alſo may every particular ſoule ſay, which is a Conſideration, that from the beginning we propoſed for every Part, and are now come to it in this.
When we were upon this conſideration in our former Part,Anima. we ſhewed you, that no over-tender or timorous ſoule, might hide it ſelfe in a retired life, from the offices of ſociety, but though every particular age bring a new ſin with it, every complexion a new ſin, every occupation a new ſin, every friend a new ſin, that muſt be loved for his ſake, yet Para te foro, Thou art bound to come abroad, and truſt upon Gods hiding thee there from tentations, and ſo aſſure thy ſelf that he will preſerve thee from perplexities. Now, wee conſider in the Schoole, Perplexities, which are ſuch onelyonly by miſ-underſtanding; and Perplexities, which are ſuch in the true nature of the thing. Thoſe of the firſt kinde, perplexities in a miſ-underſtanding, ſhould fall upon no man; perplexities of the ſecond kinde, in the nature of the thing it ſelfe, can fall upon no man. Of the firſt kinde, this is an example, A man ſweares to conceale all his friends ſecrets, and he tells him of a treaſonable purpoſe againſt the State; Either way he muſt offend; Againſt his oath if he reaveale it, or againſt his Allegeance, if he doe not. This is no perplexity; for in a right underſtanding he muſt know, that ſuch an Oath bindes not. Of the ſecond kinde there was an example in Origen, who muſt, by the commandement of the Perſecutor, either offer ſacrifice to an Idol, or proſtitute his body to an adominable abuſe with another man. Which ſhould he doe? Neither. God gives a man an iſſue in ſuch caſes, by death;Auguſt. Et vitam potiùs finire dèbet quàm maculare, He is bound to give his life, rather then to ſtaine his life. This timorous ſoule then feares where no feare is. He would hide himſelfe, he is loath to come into the world, becauſe he thinks hee muſt needs ſin. Hee needs not. Is there a neceſſity laid upon him, that he muſt die as rich as the richeſt of his profeſſion, and that he cannot doe without ſin? That he muſt leave his wife ſuch a Joynture, and his children ſuch Portions, and all that he cannot doe without ſin? Firſt, all that he may doe without ſin: We have ſeene in all Profeſſions honeſt men die as rich,Mark 10.29. as diſhoneſt. If thou do not, he that hath ſaid, There is no man that hath left wife or children for my ſake, but ſhall have a hundred fold here, and everlaſting life, (which is a bleſſed Codicil to a Will that was abundant before) will alſo ſay, There is no man that hath left wife and children poore for my ſake, but I will enlarge my providence upon them even in this life, and my glory in the next: And this was our ſecond Part, conſidered in the Church and in our ſelves, Thou ſhalt preſerve, &c.
There remaines yet a third Part,3. Part. that as God hides us from tentations, that they reach us not; or preſerves us from intricacies, and perplexities, ſo that they hurt us not; ſo if they doe, yet he compaſſes us with a joyfull Deliverance, (as our former) or with ſongs of Deliverance, as this Tranſlation hath it, that is, imprints in us a holy certitude, a faire aſſurance, that he will never forſake us; And this voyce we may heare from the Church firſt, and then from every particular ſoule; for, to both, (as we have told you all the way) doe all the parts of this Pſalme appertaine.
As it is an exaltation of Gods indignation,Compaſſe. Lament. 3.5. when he is ſaid to Compaſſe by way of ſiege, (ſo Jeruſalem complaines, He hath builded againſt me, he hath compaſſed me with gall and travell, he hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out; So God threatens, I will camp againſt thee round about, Eſay 39.3.and I will lay ſiege againſt thee) for this intimates ſuch a diſpleaſure of God, as that he does not onelyonly leave us ſuccourleſſe, joyleſſe, comfortleſſe in our ſelves, but cuts off thoſe ſupplies which might relieve us; He compaſſes us, he beſieges us, hee camps round about us, that no reliefe can enter; ſo when his love and mercy is expreſſed in this phraſe, that he compaſſes us, it ſignifies both an intire mercy, that no enemy ſhall break in in any part, whilſt he doth compaſſe us, and a permanent and durable mercy, that as no force of the enemy, ſo no wearineſſe in himſelfe, ſhall make him diſcontinue his watches, or his guard over us, but that he will compaſſe us ſtill.
Thy faithfulneſſe is round about thee, ſayes David to God; that is our firſt comfort,Pſal. 89.8. that God compaſſes himſelfe with his owne faithfulneſſe, that is, is never unmindfull of his owne promiſes, and purpoſes; And then, He is round about our habitations; Pſal. 78.28.God compaſſes himſelfe with his owne faithfulneſſe, and then, he compaſſes us with himſelfe: That as Satan told God one day after another, Circuivi terram, & perambulavieam, Job 1.8.I have compaſſed the earth, and walked it round, Job 2.2.but could never ſay that he had broke into Iobs quarter, for hee found the impoſſibility in that, The Lord had made a hedge about him, Where note that Gods firſt care is of the man; and the ſoule is the man; firſt a hedge about him, and then, about his houſe, and about all that he had, on every ſide; Job 1.10.So day after day we ſhall finde arguments to eſtabliſh our hearts in hope, that the Lord hath compaſſed us, and nothing ſhall breake in ſo, as to take us from him; but God ſhall ſay to us, as to his former people, Leva in circuitu oculos tuos, Lift up thine eyes round about, Eſay 49.18.and behold, (which is one great comfort, that he enables us to ſee and to know our enemies, to diſcerne a tentation to be a tentation) Omnes iſti congregati ſunt, All theſe gather themſelves together, and come to thee, (which is another aſſiſtance, that when we ſee our enemies multiply, and that there is none that fighteth for us, but onelyonly thou O God, we make a more preſent recourſe to him) But, Vivo ego dicit Dominus, As I live ſaith the Lord, Velut ornamento veſtieris, thou ſhalt ſurely cloathe thee with them all as with an ornament, and binde them on thee as a Bride doth; (which is the fulneſſe of the mercy, That as in another place, he promiſes his children, Panis veſter ſunt, your enemies ſhall be your Bread, Numb. 14.9.you ſhall feed upon your enemies; So here hee makes our enemies, even our ſpirituall enemies; our Cloathes, and more then that, our Jewels, our Ornaments, wee ſhall bee the ſtronger, the warmer, the richer, by tribulations, and tentations, having overcome them, as we ſhall, if the Lord compaſſe us, if he continue his watchfulneſſe over us) And that David ſayes here, firſt in the Churches behalfe.
God from the beginning carried a wall about his Church, in that aſſurance,Primitiva. Mat. 16.18. Portae inferi, The gates of hell ſhall not prevaile againſt it. The Gentiles, the Philoſophers that were without the Church, found a party, Traitors, Conſpirators within, The Heretiques; and all theſe led and maintained by potent Princes that perſecuted the Church; The gates of hell were all opened, and iſſued all her forces, but Non praevaluerunt, they never prevailed. The Arians were ſometimes more then the true Chriſtians in all the world: The Martyrians, a ſect that affected the name of Martyrdome, could name more Martyrs then the true Church could, but Evanuerunt, yet they vaniſhed: The Emperours of Rome perſecuted the Biſhops of Rome to death, yet when we looke upon the reckoning, the Emperors died faſter then Biſhops. Thou haſt compaſſed me, ſayes the Primitive Church, and ſo ſayes the Reformed too.
Princes that hated one another have joyned in leagues againſt the Religion,Reformata. Princes that needed their Subjects, have ſpent their Subjects by thouſands, in Maſſacres, to extinguiſh the Religion; Perſonall Aſſaſinates, Clandeſtine plots by poyſon, by fire, by water have been multiplied againſt Princes that favour the Religion; Inquiſitions, Confiſcations, Baniſhments, Diſhonours have overflowne them that profeſſe the true Religion; and yet the Lord compaſſing his Church, ſhe enjoyes a holy certainty, ariſing out of theſe teſtimonies of his care, that ſhe ſhall never be forſaken. And this may every good ſoule have too.
God comes to us without any purpoſe of departing from us againe;Anima. For the Spirit of life that God breated into man, that departs from man in death; but when God had aſſumed the nature of man, the God-head never parted from that nature; no, not in death; When Chriſt lay dead in the grave, the God-head remained united to that body and that ſoule, which were diſ-united in themſelves; God was ſo united to man, as that he was with man, when man was not man, in the ſtate of death. So when the Spirit of God hath inveſted, compaſſed thy ſoule, and made it his by thoſe teſtimonies, that Spirit eſtabliſhes it in a kinde of aſſurance that he will never leave it. Old Rome had (as every City amongſt the Heathen had) certaine gods which they called their Tutelar gods, gods that were affected to the preſervation of that place; But they durſt never call upon thoſe gods, by their proper names, for feare of loſing them; leſt if their names ſhould bee knowne by their enemies, their enemies ſhould winne away their gods from them, by beſtowing more coſt, or more devotion towards them then they themſelves uſed. So alſo is it ſaid of them, that when they had brought to Rome a forraigne god, which they had taken in a conquered place, Victory, they cut the wings of their new god Victory, leſt he ſhould flie from them againe. This was a miſery, that they were not ſure of their gods when they had them. We are; If he once come to us, he never goes from us, out of any variableneſſe in himſelfe, but in us onelyonly; That promiſe reaches to the whole Church,Eſay 30.20. and to every particular ſoule, Thy Teachers ſhall not bee removed into a corner any more, but thine eye ſhall ſee thy Teachers, which in the Originall (as is appliably to our preſent purpoſe, noted by Rabbi Moſes) is, Non erunt Doctores tui alati, Thy Teachers ſhall have no wings, They ſhall never flie from thee, and ſo the great Tranſlation reads it, Non avolabunt. As their great god, Victory, could not flie from Rome, ſo after this victory which God hath given his Church in the Reformation, none of her Teachers ſhould flie to, or towards Rome. Every way that God comes to us, he comes with a purpoſe to ſtay, and would imprint in us an aſſurance that he doth ſo, and that Impreſſion is this Compaſſing of thy ſoule, with ſongs of deliverance, in the ſignification and uſe of which word, we ſhall in one word conclude all.
God hath given us this certitude,Songs. this faire aſſurance of his perpetuall reſidence with us, in a word of a double ſignification; The word is Ranan, which ſignifies Joy, exultation, ſinging;Lament. 2.14. Pſal. 17.1. But it hath another ſenſe too. Ariſe, Cry out in the night. And, Attend unto my cry, which are voyces far from ſinging. This God meanes therein, That though he give us that comfort to ſit and ſing of our Deliverance, yet hee would not have us fall aſleepe with that muſique, but as when we contemplate his everlaſting goodneſſe, wee celebrate that with a conſtant Joy, ſo when we looke upon our owne weakneſſe and unworthineſſe, we cry out, Wretched men that wee are, who ſhall deliver us from this body of death? For though we have the Spirit of life in us, we have a body of death upon us. How loving ſoever my ſoule be, it will not ſtay in a diſeaſed body; How loving ſoever the Spirit of life be, it will not ſtay in a diſeaſed ſoule. My ſoule is loath to goe from my body, but ſickneſſe and paine will drive it out; ſo will ſinne, the Spirit of life from my ſoule. God compaſſes us with Songs of Deliverance, we are ſure he would not leave us; But he compaſſes us with Cries too, we are afraid, we are ſure, that we may drive him from us. Pray we therefore our Lord of everlaſting goodneſſe, That he will be our Hiding-place, That hee will protect us from tentations incident to our ſeverall Callings, That hee will preſerve us from troubles, preſerve us from them, or preſerve us in them, preſerve us that they come not, or preſerve us that they overcome not; And that hee will compaſſe us, ſo as no enemy find overture unto us, and compaſſe us with ſongs, with a joyfull ſenſe of our perſeverance, but yet with cries too, with a ſolicitous feare, that that multiplicity and hainouſneſſe of our ſins may weary even the inceſſant and indefatigable Spirit of comfort himſelfe, and chaſe him from us.