Eighty Sermons, penitential psalms · Sermon 52
SERM. LII. Preached upon the Penitentiall Pſalmes.
PSAL. 6.4, 5.
Returne, O Lord; Deliver my ſoule; O Lord ſave me, for thy mercies ſake.
For in Death there is no Remembrance of thee; and in the Grave, who ſhall give thee thanks?
THe whole Pſalme is Prayer; and Prayer is our whole ſervice to God. Earneſt Prayer hath the nature of Importunity; Wee preſſe, wee importune God in Prayer; Yet that puts not God to a moroſity, to a frowardneſſe; God flings not away from that; God ſuffers that importunity, and more. Prayer hath the nature of Impudency; Wee threaten God in Prayer; as Gregor: Nazi: adventures to expreſſe it; He ſaies, his Siſter, in the vehemence of her Prayer, would threaten God, Et honeſta quadam impudentiae, egit impudentem; She came, ſaies he, to a religious impudency with God, and to threaten him, that ſhe would never depart from his Altar, till ſhe had her Petition granted; And God ſuffers this Impudency, and more. Prayer hath the nature of Violence; In the publique Prayers of the Congregation, we beſiege God, ſaies Tertul: and we take God Priſoner, and bring God to our Conditions; and God is glad to be ſtraitned by us in that ſiege. This Prophet here executes before, what the Apoſtle counſailes after, Pray inceſſantly; Even in his ſinging he prayes; And as S. Baſil ſaies, Etiam ſomniajuſtorum preces ſunt, A Good mans dreames are Prayers, he prayes, and not ſleepily, in his ſleepe, ſo Davids Songs are Prayers. Now in this his beſieging of God, he brings up his works from a far off, cloſer; He begins in this Pſalme, at a deprecatory Prayer; He asks nothing, but that God would doe nothing, that he would forbeare him; Rebuke me not, Correct me not. Now, it coſts the King leſſe, to give a Pardon, then to give a Penſion; and leſſe to give a Reprieve, then to give a Pardon; and leſſe to Connive, not to call in Queſtion, then either Reprieve, Pardon or Penſion; To forbeare, is not much. But then, as the Mathematician ſaid, That he could make an Engin, a Screw, that ſhould move the whole frame of the World, if he could have a place aſſigned him, to fix that Engin, that Screw upon, that ſo it might worke upon the World: ſo Prayer, when one Petition hath taken hold upon God, works upon God, moves God, prevailes with God, entirely for all. David then having got this ground, this footing in God, he brings his works cloſer; he comes from the Deprecatory, to a Poſtulatory Prayer; not onelyonly that God would doe nothing againſt him, but that he would doe ſomething for him. God hath ſuffered man to ſee Arcana imperii, The ſecrets of his State, how he governs; He governs by Precedent; by precedents of his Predeceſſors, he cannot; He hath none; by precedents of other Gods, he cannot; There are none; And yet he proceeds by precedents; by his owne Precedents; He does as he did before; Habenti dat, To him that hath received, hee gives more, and is willing to bee wrought, and prevailed upon, and preſt with his owne example. And, as though his doing good, were but to learne how to do good better, ſtill he writes after his owne copy; And Nulla dies ſine linea, He writes ſomething to us, that is, hee doth ſomething for us, every day. And then, that which is not often ſeene, in other Maſters, his Copies are better then the Originals; his later mercies larger then his former: And in this Poſtulatory Prayer, larger then the Deprecatory, enters our Text, Returne O Lord; Deliver my ſoule; O ſave me, &c.
David, Diviſio.who every where remembers God of his Covenant, as he was the God of Abraham, remembers alſo, how Abraham proceeded with God, in the behalfe of Sodom; And he remembers, that when Abraham had gained upon God, and brought him from a greater, to a leſſe number of righteous men, for whoſe ſakes God would have ſpared that City, yet Abraham gave over asking, before God gave over granting; And ſo Sodom was loſt. A little more of S. Auguſtines Importunity, of Nazi: Impudence, of Tertul: violence in Prayer, would have done well in Abraham; If Abraham had come to a leſſe price, to leſſe then ten, God knowes what God would have done; for God went not away, ſaies the text there, till he had left communing with Abraham; that is, till Abraham had no more to ſay to him. In memory and contemplation of that, David gives not over in this text, till he come to the utter moſt of all, as far as man can aske, as far as God can give; He begins at firſt, with a Revertere Domine, Returne O Lord, and higher then that, no man can begin; no man can begin at a Veni Domine; no man can pray to God, to come, till God be come into him; Quid peto, ut venias in me, ſaies S. Auguſt: Qui non eſſem, ſi noneſſes in me? How ſhould I pray, that God would come into me, who not onelyonly could not have the Spirit of praying, but not the Spirit of being, not life it ſelfe, if God were not in me already? But then, this prayer is, that when God had been with him, and for his ſins, or his coldneſſe, and ſlackneſſe in prayer, was departed aſide from him, yet he would vouchſafe to returne to him againe, and reſtore to him that light of his countenance which he had before, Revertere Domine, O Lord returne. And then he paſſes to his ſecond petition, Eripe animam, Deliver my ſoule; That when God in his returne ſaw thoſe many and ſtrong ſnares which entangled him, thoſe many and deepe tentations and tribulations which ſurrounded him, God, being in his mercy thus Returned, and in his Providence ſeing this danger, would not now ſtand neutrall, betweene them, and ſee him, and theſe tentations fight it our, but fight on his ſide and deliver him; Eripe animam, Deliver my ſoule. And then, by theſe two petitions, hee makes way for the third and laſt, which is the perfection and conſummation of all, as far as he can carry a Prayer or a Deſire, Salvum me fac, O Lord ſave me; that is, Imprint in me a ſtrong hope of Salvation in this life, and inveſt me in an irremoveable poſſeſſion, in the life to come. Lord I acknowledge that thou haſt viſited me heretofore, and for my ſins haſt abſented thy ſelfe, O Lord returne; Lord, now thou art returned, and ſeeſt me unable to ſtand in theſe tentations and tribulations, Deliver thou my ſoule; Lord thou haſt delivered me againe and againe, and againe and againe I fall back to my former danger, and therefore, O Lord ſave me, place me where I may be ſafe; ſafe in a conſtant hope, that the Saviour of the World intended that ſalvation to me; And theſe three Petitions conſtitute our firſt part in Davids poſtulatory Prayer.
And then the ſecond part, which is alſo within the words of this text, and conſiſts of thoſe reaſons, by which David inclines God to grant his three Petitions, which are two, firſt, Propter miſericordiam tuam, Do this O Lord, for thine own mercy ſake, And then, Quia non in morte, Doe it O Lord, for thine owne honours ſake, Becauſe in death there is no remembrance of thee, that ſecond part will be the ſubject of another exerciſe, for, that which belongs to the three Petitions, will imploy the time allowed for this.
Firſt then, the firſt ſtep in this Prayer, Revertere, O Lord return, implies firſt a former preſence,Revertere. and then a preſent abſence, and alſo a confidence for the future; Whoſoever ſaies, O Lord returne, ſayes all this, Lord thou waſt here, Lord thou art departed hence, but yet, Lord thou maieſt returne hither againe. God was with us all, before we were any thing at all; And ever ſince our making, hath beene with us, in his generall providence; And ſo, we cannot ſay, O Lord Returne, becauſe, ſo, he was never gone from us. But as God made the earth, and the fruits thereof, before he made the Sun, whoſe force was to work upon that earth, and upon the naturall fruits of that earth, but before he made Paradiſe, which was to have the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge, he made the Sun to doe thoſe offices, of ſhining upon it, and returning daily to it: So God makes this earth of ours, that is our ſelves, by naturall wayes, and ſuſtaines us by generall providence, before any Son of particular grace be ſeene to ſhine upon us. But before man can be a Paradiſe, poſſeſt of the Tree of life, and of Knowledge, this Sun is made and produced, the particular graces of God riſe to him, and worke upon him, and awaken, and ſolicite, and exalt thoſe naturall faculties which were in him; This Son fils him, and fits him, compaſſes him, and diſpoſes him, and does all the offices of the Sun, ſeaſonably, opportunely, maturely, for the nouriſhing of his ſoule, according to the ſeverall neceſſities thereof. And this is Gods returning to us, in a generall apprehenſion; After he hath made us, and bleſt us in our nature, and by his naturall meanes, he returnes to make us againe, to make us better, firſt by his firſt preventing grace, and then by a ſucceſſion of his particular graces. And therefore we muſt returne to this Returning, in ſome more particular conſiderations.
There are beſide others, three ſignifications in the Scripture, of this word Shubah, which is here tranſlated, to Returne, appliable to our preſent purpoſe. The firſt is the naturall and native, the primary and radicall ſignification of the word. And ſo, Shubah, To Returne, is Redire ad locum ſuum, To returne to that place, to which a thing is naturally affected; So heavy things returne to the Center, and light things returne to the Expanſion; So Mans breath departeth, Pſal. 146.4.ſayes David, Et redit in terr am ſuam, He returnes into his Earth; That earth, which is ſo much his, as that it is he himſelfe; Of earth he was, and therefore to earth he returnes. But can God returne in ſuch a ſenſe as this? Can we finde an Vbi for God? A place that is his place? Yes; And an Earth which is his earth; Surely the vineyard of the Lord of Hoſts, Eſay 5.is the houſe of Iſrael, and the men of Iudah are his pleaſant plant. So the Church, which is his Vineyard, is his Vbi, his place, his Center, to which he is naturally affected. And when he calls us hither, and meets us here, upon his Sabbaths, and ſheds the promiſes of his Goſpel upon the Congregation in his Ordinance, he returnes to us here, as in his Vbi, as in his own place. And as he hath a place of his owne here, ſo he hath an Earth of his owne in this place. Our fleſh is Earth, and God hath inveſted our fleſh, and in that fleſh of ours, which ſuffered death for us, he returnes to us in this place, as often as he maketh us partakers of his fleſh, and his bloud, in the bleſſed Sacrament. So then, though in my dayes of ſinne, God have abſented himſelfe from me, (for God is abſent when I doe not diſcerne his preſence) yet if to day I can heare his voyce, as God is returned to day to this place, as to his Vbi, as to his own place; ſo in his entring into me, in his fleſh and bloud, he returnes to me as to his Earth, that Earth which he hath made his by aſſuming my nature, I am become his Vbi, his place; Delitiae ejus, His delight is to be with the ſonnes of men, and ſo with me; and ſo in the Church, in the Sermon, in the Sacrament he returnes to us, in the firſt ſignification of this word Shubah, as to that place to which he is naturally affected and diſpoſed.
In a ſecond ſignification, this word is referred, not to the place of God, not to the perſon of God, but (if we may ſo ſpeake) to the Paſſion of God, to the Anger of God; And ſo, the Returning of God, that is, of Gods Anger, is the allaying, the becalming, the departing of his Anger; and ſo when God returnes, God ſtayes; his Anger is returned from us,Eſay 5.25. but God is ſtill with us. The wrath of the Lord was kindled, ſayes the Prophet Eſay; and He ſmote his people, ſo that the mountaines trembled, and their carkaſſes were torne in the midſt of the ſtreets. Here is the tempeſt, here is the viſitation, here is Gods comming to them; He comes, but in anger, and we heare of no returne; nay, we heare the contrary, Et non redibat furor, For all this, his wrath, his fury did not returne, that is, did not depart from them; for, as God never comes in this manner, till our multiplied ſinnes call him, and importune him, ſo God never returnes in this ſenſe, in withdrawing his anger and judgements from us, till both our words and our works, our prayers and our amendment of life, joyne in a Revertere Domine, O Lord Returne, withdraw this judgement from us, for it hath effected thy purpoſe upon us. And ſo the Originall, which expreſſes neither ſignification of the word, for it is neither Returne to me, nor Returne from me, but plainely and onelyonly Returne, leaves the ſenſe indifferent; Lord, thou haſt withdrawne thy ſelfe from me, therefore in mercy returne to me, or elſe, Lord, thy Judgements are heavy upon me, and therefore returne, withdraw theſe Judgements from me; which ſhewes the ductileneſſe, the appliableneſſe of Gods mercy, that yeelds almoſt to any forme of words, any words ſeeme to fit it.
But then, the comfort of Gods returning to us, comes neareſt us, in the third ſignification of this word Shubah; not ſo much in Gods returning to us, nor in his anger returning from us,Pſal. 80.3. as in our returning to him, Turne us againe, O Lord, ſayes David, Et ſalvi erimus, and we ſhall be ſaved; There goes no more to ſalvation, but ſuch a Turning. So that this Returning of the Lord, is an Operative, an Effectuall returning, that turnes our hearts, and eyes, and hands, and feet to the wayes of God, and produces in us Repentance, and Obedience. For theſe be the two legges, which our converſion to God ſtands upon;Deut. 32.2. For ſo Moſes uſes this very word, Returne unto the Lord and heare his voyce; There is no returning, without hearing, nor hearing without beleeving, nor beleeving, to be beleeved,Mat. 11.21. without doing; Returning is all theſe. Therefore where Chriſt ſaies, That if thoſe works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, Tyre and Sidon would have repented in ſackcloth and aſhes; In the Syriack Tranſlation of S. Matthew, we have this very word Shubah, They would have Returned in ſack-cloth and aſhes. So that the word which David receives from the Holy Ghoſt in this Text, being onelyonly Returned, and no more, applies it ſelfe to all three ſenſes, Returne thy ſelfe, that is, Bring backe thy Mercy; Returne thy Wrath, that is, Call backe thy Judgements, or Returne us to thee, that is, make thy meanes, and offers of grace, in thine Ordinance, powerfull, and effectuall upon us.
Now when the Lord comes to us, by any way, though he come in corrections, in chaſtiſements, not to turne to him, is an irreverent, and unreſpective negligence. If a Purſevant, if a Serjeant come to thee from the King, in any Court of Juſtice, though hee come to put thee in trouble, to call thee to an account, yet thou receiveſt him, thou entertaineſt him, thou paieſt him fees. If any Meſſenger of the Lord come to attach thee, whether ſickneſſe in thy body, by thine own diſorder, decay in thy eſtate, by the oppreſſion of others, or terrour in thy Conſcience, by the preaching of his Miniſters, turne thou to the Lord, in the laſt ſenſe of the word, and his mercy ſhall returne to thee, and his anger ſhall returne from thee, and thou ſhalt have fulneſſe of Conſolation in all the three ſignifications of the word. If a Worme be trodden upon, it turnes againe; We may thinke, that is done in anger, and to revenge; But we know not; The Worme hath no ſting, and it may ſeeme as well to embrace, and licke his foote that treads upon him. When God treads upon thee, in any calamity, ſpirituall or temporall, if thou turne with murmuring, this is the turning of a Serpent, to ſting God, to blaſpheme him; This is a turning upon him, not a turning to him; But if thou turne like a Worme, then thou turneſt humbly to kiſſe the rod, to licke and embrace his foot that treads upon thee, that is, to love his Miniſters, which denounce his judgements upon thy ſinnes, yea, to love them, from whom thou receiveſt defamation in thy credit, or detriment in thy ſtate.
We ſee how it was imputed to Aſa, when God trod upon him, that is,2 Chro. 16.12. diſeaſed him in his feete, and exalted his diſeaſe into extremity, Yet in his diſeaſe he ſought not to the Lord, but to the Phyſitians. He turned a by-way; at leaſt, though a right way, too ſoone, to the Phyſitian before the Lord. This is that, that exaſperated God ſo vehemently,Eſay. 9.13. Becauſe the people turneth not to him that ſmiteth them; neither do they ſeeke the Lord of Hoſts; when the Lord of Hoſts lies with a heavy Army upon them. Therefore, ſayes the Prophet there, The Lord will cut off from Iſrael, head and tayle, branch and ruſh in one day. God is not ſo vehement, when they neglected him in their proſperity, as when, though he afflicted them, yet they turned not to him. Meaſure God by earthly Princes; (for we may meaſure the world by a Barly corne) If the King come to thy houſe, thou wilt profeſſe to take it for an honour, and thou wilt entertaine him; and yet his comming cannot be without removes, and troubles, and charges to thee. So when God comes to thee, in his word, or in his actions, in a Sermon, or in a ſickneſſe, though his comming diſlodge thee, remove thee, put thee to ſome inconvenience, in leaving thy bed of ſinne, where thou didſt ſleepe ſecurely before, yet here is the progreſſe of the Holy Ghoſt, intended to thy ſoule, that firſt he comes thus to thee, and then if thou turne to him, he returnes to thee, and ſettles himſelfe, and dwels in thee.
This is too lovely a Proſpect, to depart ſo ſoone from; therefore looke we by S. Auguſtines glaſſe, upon Gods comming and returning to man. God hath imprinted his Image in our ſoules; and God comes, ſayes that Father, Vt videat imaginem; Where I have given my Picture, I would ſee how it is reſpected: God comes to ſee in what caſe his Image is in us; If we ſhut doores, if we draw Curtaines between him and his Image, that is, cover our ſoules, and diſguiſe and palliate our ſinnes, he goes away, and returnes in none of thoſe former ſenſes. But if we lay them open, by our free confeſſions, he returnes againe; that ſo, in how ill caſe ſoever he finde his Image, he may waſh it over with our teares, and renew it with his own bloud, and, Vt reſculpat imaginem, that he may refreſh and re-engrave his Image in us againe, and put it in a richer and ſafer Tablet. And as the Angel which came to Abraham at the promiſe and conception of Iſaac, Gen. 18.10.gave Abraham a farther aſſurance of his Returne at Iſaaes birth, I will certainly returne unto thee, and thy wife ſhall have a Sonne; So the Lord, which was with thee in the firſt conception of any good purpoſe, Returnes to thee againe, to give thee a quickning of that bleſſed childe of his, and againe, and againe, to bring it forth, and to bring it up, to accompliſh and perfect thoſe good intentions, which his Spirit, by over-ſhadowing thy ſoule, hath formerly begotten in it. So then, he comes in Nature, and he returnes in Grace; He comes in preventing, and returnes in ſubſequent graces; He comes in thine underſtanding, and returnes in thy will; He comes in rectifying thine actions, and returns in eſtabliſhing habits; He comes to thee in zeale, and returnes in diſcretion; He comes to thee in fervour, and returnes in perſeverance; He comes to thee in thy peregrination, all the way, and he returns in thy tranſmigration, at thy laſt gaſpe. So God comes, and ſo God returnes.
Yet I am loath to depart my ſelfe, loath to diſmiſſe you from this ayre of Paradiſe, of Gods comming, and returning to us. Therefore we conſider againe, that as God came long agoe, ſix thouſand years agoe, in nature, when we were created in Adam, and then in nature returned to us, in the generation of our Parents: ſo our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus came to us long agoe, ſixteene hundred yeares agoe, in grace, and yet in grace returnes to us, as often as he aſſembles us, in theſe holy Convocations. He came to us then, as the Wiſemen came to him, with treaſure, and gifts, and gold, and incenſe, and myrrhe; As having an ambition upon the ſoules of men, he came with that abundant treaſure to purchaſe us. And as to them who live upon the Kings Penſion, it is ſome comfort to heare that the Exchequer is full, that the Kings moneyes are come in: ſo is it to us, to know that there is enough in Gods hands, paid by his Son, for the diſcharge of all our debts; He gave enough for us all at that comming; But it is his returning to us, that applyes to us, and derives upon us in particular, the benefit of this generall ſatisfaction. When he returns to us in the diſpenſation and diſtribution of his graces, in his Word and Sacraments; When he calls upon us to come to the receipt; When the greater the ſumme is, the gladder he is of our comming, that where ſinne abounds, grace might abound too; When we can purſue this Prayer, Revertere Domine, Returne O Lord in grace, in more and more grace, and when we are in poſſeſſion of a good meaſure of that grace, we can pray againe, Revertere Domine, Returne O Lord in glory, Come Lord Jeſus, come quickly; When we are ſo rectified by his Ordinances here, that in a ſincerity of ſoule, we are not onelyonly contented, but deſirous to depart from hence, then have we religiouſly followed our example, that man according to Gods heart, David, in this prayer of his. If Chriſt have not beene thus fully in thine heart, before, this is his comming; entertaine him now: If he have been there, and gone againe, this is his returning; bleſſe him for that: And meet him, and love him, and embrace him, as often as he offers himſelfe to thy ſoule, in theſe his Ordinances: Wiſh every day a Sunday, and every meale a Sacrament, and every diſcourſe a Homily, and he ſhall ſhine upon thee in all dark wayes, and rectifie thee in all ragged wayes, and direct thee in all croſſe wayes, and ſtop thee in all doubtfull wayes, and returne to thee in every corner, and relieve thee in every danger, and arme thee even againſt himſelfe, by advancing thy worke, in which thou beſiegeſt him, that is, this Prayer, and enabling thee to prevaile upon him, as in this firſt Petition, Revertere Domine, O Lord returne, ſo in that which followes next, Eripe animam, Deliver my ſoule.
In this Prayer,Eripo animā. we may either conſider David in that affection which S. Paul had when he deſired to be delivered ab angelo Satanae, from the meſſenger of Satan that buffeted him, that ſo that Stimulus carnis which he ſpeaks of, that vexation, and provocation of the fleſh, might have been utterly removed from him, whereby he might have paſt his life in Gods ſervice in a religious calme, without any ſtorme, or oppoſition, or contradiction ariſing in his fleſh: Or we may conſider it as a Prayer agreeable to that Petition in our Lords Prayer, Libera nos à malo, Deliver us from evill; which is not from being attempted by evill, but by being ſwallowed up by it. Eripe me, may be, Deliver me from rebellions, or Deliver me in rebellions; Either that they come not, or that they overcome not.
In that prayer of S. Paul, that God would remove Angelum Satanae, and take away Stimulum carnis, firſt, S. Paul is not eaſily underſtood, and then, it may be, not ſafely imitated. It is hard to know what S. Paul means in his Prayer, and it may be dangerous to pray as he prayed. For the actions of no man, how holy ſoever, till we come to Chriſt himſelfe, lay ſuch an obligation upon us, as that we muſt neceſſarily doe as t…y did. Nay the actions of Chriſt himſelfe lay not that obligation upon us, to faſt as he faſted; no nor to pray as he prayed. A man is not bound in an Affliction, or Perſecution, at leaſt at all times, to that Prayer, Si poſsibile, or Tranſeat calix, If it be poſſible let this cup paſſe; But if God vouchſafe him a holy conſtancy, to goe through with his Martyrdome, he may proceed in it without any ſuch Deprecation to God, or Petition to the Judge.
But firſt, before we conſider whether he might be imitated, if we underſtood him, we find it hard to underſtand him. S. Auguſtines free confeſſion, Se neſcire quid ſit angelus Satanae, That he never underſtood what S. Paul meant by that Meſſenger of Satan, is more ingenuous then their interpretation, who, I know not upon what Tradition, referre it to an extreame paine in the head, that S. Paul ſhould have, as Theophylact ſayes; or refer it Ad morbum Iliacum, which Aquinas ſpeaks of, or to the Gout, or pains in the Stomach, as Nazianzen, and Baſil interpret it. Oecumenius underſtands this Angel, this Meſſenger of Satan, to be thoſe Heretiques, which were his Adverſaries, in his preaching of the Goſpel; according to that ſignification of the word Satan, in which Solomon uſes it to Hiram, 1 King. 5.4.Non eſt mihi Satan, I have no Adverſary. Others, even amongſt the Fathers, underſtand it particularly, and literally, of that concupiſcence, and thoſe luſts of the fleſh, which even the moſt ſanctified men may have ſome ſenſe of, and ſome attempts by. Others underſtand it generally of all calamities, ſpirituall, and temporall, incident to us in this life. But Cajetan goes fartheſt, who reads it not as we do, Angelum Satanae, but Angelum Satanam; not that Angel which comes from Satan, but that Angel that is Satan himſelfe. So that he conceives it to be a prayer againſt all tentations and tribulations here, and hereafter, which the Devill or the Devils Inſtruments can frame againſt us.
Now, if we think we underſtand it aright, in underſtanding it ſo generally, then enters our ſecond doubt, whether we may imitate S. Paul in ſo generall a prayer. We diſpute in the Schoole, whether, if it were in his powerto doe it, man might lawfully deſtroy any intire ſpecies of creatures in the world, though offenſive, and venerhous, as Vipers, or Scorpions. For every ſpecies being a link of Gods great chaine, and a limb of his great creature, the whole world, it ſeemes not to be put into our power, to break his chaine, and take out a link, to maime his great creature, and cut off a limb, by deſtroying any intire ſpecies, if we could. So neither does it ſoeme conduceable to Gods purpoſes in us, (which is the rule of all our prayers) to pray utterly againſt all tentations, as vehemently as againſt ſins. God ſhould loſe by it, and we ſhould loſe by it, if we had no tentations; for God is glorified in thoſe victories, which we, by his grace, gaine over the Devill. Neſcit Diabolus, quant a bona de illo fiunt, etiam cum ſaevit; Auguſt.Little knowes the Devill, how much good he does us, when he tempts us; for by that we are excited to have our preſent recourſe to that God, whom in our former ſecurity, we neglected, who gives us the iſſue with the tentation. Ego novi quid appoſuerim, Idem.I know what infirmities I I have ſubmitted thee to, and what I have laid and applied to thee. Ego novi unde aegrotes, ego novi unde ſaneris; I know thy ſickneſſe, and I know thy phyſick. Sufficit tibi gratiamea; Whatſoever the diſeaſe be, my grace ſhall be ſufficient to cure it. For whether we underſtand that, as S. Chryſoſtome does, De gratia miraculorum, That it is ſufficient for any mans aſſurance, in any tentation, or tribulation, to conſider Gods miraculous deliverances of other men, in the like caſes; or whether we underſtand it according to the generall voyce of the Interpreters, that is, Be content that there remaine in thy fleſh, Matter and Subject for me to produce glory from thy weakneſſe, and Matter and Subject for thee to exerciſe thy faith and allegeance to me, ſtill theſe words will carry an argument againſt the expedience of abſolute praying againſt all tentations; for ſtill, this Gratiamea ſufficit, will import this, amount to this, I have as many Antidotes, as the Devill hath poiſons, I have as much mercy as the Devill hath malice; There muſt be Scorpions in the world; but the Scorpion ſhall cure the Scorpion; there muſt be tentations; but tentations ſhall adde to mine, and to thy glory, and, Eripiam, I will deliver thee.
This word is in the Originall, Chalatz; which ſignifies Eripere in ſuch a ſenſe, as our language does not fully reach in any one word. So there is ſome defectiveneſſe, ſome ſlackneſſe in this word of our Tranſlation, Delivering. For it is ſuch a Delivering, as is a ſudden catching hold, and ſnatching at the ſoule of a man, then, when it is at the brink, and edge of a ſin. So that if thy facility, and that which thou wilt make ſhift to call Good Nature, or Good Manners, have put thee into the hands of that ſubtile woman, that Solomon ſpeaks of, That is come forth to mect thee, and ſeek thy face; Prov. 7.10.15.If thou have followed her, As an Oxe goeth to the ſlaughter, and as a foole to the correction of the ſtocks; Even then, when the Axe is over thy head, then when thou haſt approacht ſo neare to deſtruction, then is the ſeaſon of this prayer, Eripe me Domine, Catch hold of me now O Lord,Gen. 39.10. and Deliver my ſoule. When Ioſeph had reſiſted the tentations of his Maſters Wife, and reſiſted them the onelyonly ſafe way, not onelyonly not to yeeld, but as the Text ſayes, not to come in her company, and yet ſhe had found her opportunity when there was none in the houſe but they, he came to an inward Eripe me Domine, O Lord take hold of me now, and ſhe caught, and God caught; She caught his garment, and God his ſoule; She delivered him, and God delivered him; She to Priſon, and God from thence. If thy curioſity, or thy conſidence in thine owne ſpirituall ſtrength, carry thee into the houſe of Rimmon, to Idolatry, to a Maſſe, truſt not thou to Naamans requeſt, Ignoſcat Dominus ſervo in bacre, 2 Kings 5.That God will pardon thee, as often as thou doeſt ſo; but ſince thou haſt done ſo now, now come to this Eripe animam, O Lord deliver my ſoule now, from taking harme now, and hereafter, from expoſing my ſelfe to the like harme. For this is the purpoſe of Davids prayer in this ſignification of this word, that howſoever infirmity, or company, or curioſity, or confidence, bring us within the diſtance, and danger, within the Spheare, and Latitude of a tentation, that though we be not lodged in Sodome, yet we are in the Suburbs, though we be not impailed in a ſin, yet we are within the purlues, (which is not ſafely done; no more then it is in a State, to truſt alwaies to a Defenſive Warre) yet when we are ingaged, and enthralled in ſuch a tentation, then, though God be not delighted with our danger, yet then is God moſt delighted to help us, when we are in danger; and then, he comes not only to deliver us from that imminent, and particular danger, according to that ſignification of this word, but according to that Interpretation of this word, which the Septuagint have given it, in the Prophet Eſay, Eſay 58.11.Iachalitz, Pinguefaciet; He ſhall proceed in his worke, and make fat thy ſoule; That is, Deliver thee now, and preſerve, and eſtabliſh thee after, to the fulfilling of all, that belongs to the laſt Petition of this prayer, Salvum me fac, O Lord ſave me; Though he have been abſent, he ſhall Returne; and being Returned, ſhall not ſtand ſtill, nor ſtand Neutrall, but deliver thee; and having delivered thee, ſhall not determine his love in that one act of mercy, but ſhall Save thee, that is, Imprint in thee a holy confidence, that his ſalvation is thine.
So then,Salvum me fac. Eſay 19.20. in that manner is Gods Deliverance expreſt, They ſhall cry unto him, (till wee cry, he takes no knowledge at all) and then he ſends to them, (there is his returning upon their cry) and then, He ſhall deliver them, ſayes that Prophet; and ſo, the two former Petitions of this prayer are anſwered; but the Conſummation, and Eſtabliſhment of all, is in the third, which followes in the ſame place, He ſhall ſend them a Saviour, and a great one. Eſay 62.11.But who is that? what Saviour? Doubtleſſe he that is proclaimed by God, in the ſame Prophet, Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Behold thy ſalvation commeth. For, that word which that Prophet uſes there, and this word, in which David preſents this laſt Petition here, is in both places, Iaſhang, and Iaſhang is the very word, from which the name of Ieſus is derived; ſo that David deſires here, that ſalvation which Eſay proclaimed there, ſalvation in the Saviour of the world, Chriſt Jeſus, and an intereſt in the aſſurance of his merits.
We finde this name of Saviour attributed to other men in the Scriptures, then to Chriſt. In particular diſtreſſes, when God raiſed up men, to deliver his people ſometimes, thoſe men were ſo called, Saviours. And ſo S. Ierome interprets thoſe words of the Prophet, Aſcendent ſalvatores, Obad. 1.21.Saviours ſhall come up, on Mount Sion, of Prophets, and Preachers, and ſuch other Inſtruments, as God ſhould raiſe for the ſalvation of ſoules. Thoſe, whom in other places, he calls Angels of the Church, here he calls by that higher name, Saviours. But ſuch a Saviour as is proclaimed to the ends of the world, to all the world, a Saviour in the Mountaines, in the height of preſumptuous ſins, and a Saviour in the vallies, in the dejection of inordinate melancholy too, A Saviour of the Eaſt, of riſing, and growing men, and a Saviour of the Weſt, of withering, declining, languiſhing fortunes too, A Saviour in the ſtate of nature, by having infuſed the knowledge of himſelfe, into ſome men then, before the light, and help of the Law was afforded to the world, A Saviour in the ſtate of the Law, by having made to ſome men then, even Types Accompliſhments, and Propheſies Hiſtories, And, as himſelf Cals things that are not, as though they were, So he made thoſe men ſee things that were not, as though they were, (for ſo Abraham ſaw his day and rejoyced) A Saviour in the ſtate of the Goſpel, and ſo, as that he ſaves ſome there, for the fundamentall Goſpels ſake, that is, for ſtanding faſt in the fundamentall Articles thereof, though they may have been darkned with ſome ignorances, or may have ſtrayed into ſome errors, in ſome Circumſtantiall points, A Saviour of all the world, of all the conditions in the world, of all times through the world, of all places of the world, ſuch a Saviour is no man called, but Chriſt Jeſus only. For when it is ſaid that Pharaoh called Ioſeph, Salvatorem mundi, A Saviour of the world, (beſides,Gen. 41.45. that if it were ſo, that which is called all the world, can be referred but to that part of the world which was then under Pharaoh; as when it is ſaid, that Auguſtus taxed the world, that is intended De orbe Romano, ſo much of the world, as was under the Romanes) there is a manifeſt error in that Tranſlation, which cals Ioſeph ſo, for that name which was given to Ioſeph there, in that language in which it was given, doth truly ſignifie Revelatorem Secretorum, and no more, a Revealer, a Diſcoverer, a Decypherer of ſecret and myſterious things; according to the occaſion, upon which that name was then given, which was the Decyphering, the Interpreting of Pharaohs Dreame.
Be this then thus eſtabliſht, that David for our example conſiders, and referres all ſalvation,Pſal. 98.2. to ſalvation in Chriſt. As he does alſo where he ſayes after, Notum fecit ſalutare tuum, The Lord hath made known his ſalvation. Quid eſt ſalutare tuum? ſaies S. Baſil; Luke 2.What is the Lords ſalvation? And he makes a ſafe anſwer out Simeons mouth, Mine eyes have ſeene thy ſalvation, when he had ſeen Chriſt Ieſus. This then is he, which is not only Satvator populi ſui, The Saviour of his people, the Jews, to whom he hath betrothed himſelfe, In Pacto ſalis, A Covenant of ſalt, an everlaſting Covenant: Nor onelyonly Salvator corporis ſui, The Saviour of his own body, as the Apoſtle calls him; of that body which he hath gathered from the Gentiles, in the Chriſtian Church: Nor only Salvator mundi, A Saviour of the world, ſo, as that which he did, and ſuffered, was ſufficient in it ſelfe, and was accepted by the Father, for the ſalvation of the world; but, as Tertullian, for the moſt part reads the word, he was Salutificator; not only a Saviour, becauſe God made him an inſtrument of ſalvation, as though he had no intereſt in our ſalvation, till in his fleſh he died for us; but he is Salutificator, ſo the Author of this ſalvation, as that from all eternity, he was at the making of the Decree, as well as in the fulneſſe of time he was at the executing thereof. In the work of our ſalvation, if we conſider the merit, Chriſt was ſole and alone, no Father, no Holy Ghoſt trod the Wine-preſſe with him; And if in the work of our ſalvation we conſider the mercy, there, though Chriſt were not ſole, and alone, (for that mercy in the Decree was the joynt-act of the whole Trinity) yet even in that, Chriſt was equall to the Father, and the Holy Ghoſt. So he is Salutificator, the very Author of this ſalvation, as that when it came to the act, he, and not they, died for us; and when it was in Councell, he, as well as they, and as ſoone as they, decreed it for us.
As therefore the Church of God ſcarce preſents any petition, any prayer to God, but it is ſubſcribed by Chriſt; the Name of Chriſt, is for the moſt part the end, and the ſeale of all our Collects; all our prayers in the Liturgy, (though they be but for temporall things, for Plenty, or Peace, or Faire-weather) are ſhut up ſo, Grant this O Lord, for our Lord and Saviour Chriſt Ieſus ſake: So David for our example, drives all his petitions in this Text, to this Concluſion, Salvum me fac, O Lord ſave me; that is, apply that ſalvation, Chriſt Jeſus to me. Now beloved, you may know, that your ſelves have a part in thoſe means, which God uſes to that purpoſe, your ſelves are inſtruments, though not cauſes of your own ſalvation. Salvus factus es pro nihilo, non de nihilo tamen; Bernard.Thou bringeſt nothing for thy ſalvation, yet ſomething to thy ſalvation; nothing worth it, but yet ſomthing with it; Thy new Creation, by which thou art a new creature, that is, thy Regeneration, is wrought as the firſt Creation was wrought. God made heaven and earth of nothing; but hee produced the other creatures, out of that matter, which he had made. Thou hadſt nothing to doe in the firſt work of thy Regeneration; Thou couldſt not ſo much as wiſh it; But in all the reſt, thou art a fellow-worker with God; becauſe, before that, there are ſeeds of former grace ſhed in thee. And therefore when thou commeſt to this laſt Petition, Salvum me fac, O Lord ſave me, remember ſtill, that thou haſt ſomething to doe, as well as to ſay; that ſo thou maiſt have a comfortable anſwer in thy ſoule, to the whole prayer, Returne O Lord, Deliver my ſoule, and Save me. And ſo we have done with our firſt Part, which was the Prayer it ſelfe; and the ſecond, which is the Reaſons of the Prayer, we muſt reſerve for a ſecond exerciſe.