Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 4 [i.e. 5] · Psalm 119 · Stanza 4
4. DALETH.
DAƲID in this Octonary, The Contents.firſt, ſets down the ſtate of an imperfect man; ſecondly, confeſſeth it; thirdly, asks grace and mercy; fourthly, which being granted, profeſſeth what he would do.
1. David complains of his imperfection.David confeſſeth his imperfection, and petitions for grace.
1. He complains, My ſoul cleaveth to the duſt. Whereas, he ſhould have ſet his affections on things above, Ver. 1 he was over-much preſſ'd with earthly cogitations.
2. And prayes for grace to quicken him.Then prayes, Quicken thou me according to thy Word. Give me a life according to thy Law; by cleaving to the earth, I am earthly; by cleaving to the fleſh, I am carnal; but if I ſhall live according to thy Law, which is ſpiritual, I ſhall cleave unto God, and become one Spirit with him. Now the godly eſteem of life, not according to that they have in body, but in ſoul; when they want a heavenly diſpoſition to ſpiritual things, they lament over it, as a dead ſoul; and therefore pray, quicken me.
2. 2Again he confeſſeth them.David goes on in confeſſion of his imperfections, and petitions for grace.
1. Ver. 2 I have declared my wayes heretofore, ſhewed unto thee my wandrings, wants, doubts, griefs, I have not been aſhamed to open them all, and declare them, I have hid nothing.
2. And thou heardſt me, ſparedſt me, and forgaveſt me out of meer mercy.And prayes again for grace.
3. Do the like now; and being reconciled to me, Teach me thy ſtatutes, give me light and grace to direct my wayes. Theſe two ought to be ſought together, mercy and grace; mercy for remiſſion, and grace for renovation.
3. In which prayer he proceedsDavid deſires to proceed in the wayes of God, and therefore he continues his prayer for farther grace and illumination.
1. Ver. 3 Make me to underſtand the way of thy precepts. Where the mind is darkned, the heart can never be rightly ordered, therefore he prayes more inſtantly and diligently for the light of his mind; Teach me then how I ſhall walk in thy Law.
2. He that asks good things of God, ſhould ask them for a good end; ſo doth David, Make me to underſtand, ſo ſhall I talk of thy wondrous works. Taught in thy School, I ſhall talk how wonderful are thy Lawes. Diliges Deum & proximum, &c. Or that thy works of Creation, Providence, Redemption, &c. are marvellous.
4. And again he returns to ſpeak of his imperfection and infirmity, Ver. 4 and asks mercy.Shewes his weakneſs.
1. My ſoul melts for heavineſs, as a thing melts and conſumes by diſtillation, till nothing be left; ſo the life and ſtrength of his ſoul was decaying by grief, and tediouſneſs of his ſpiritual Combate within, the fleſh luſting against the Spirit.
2. Therefore he prayes for ſtrength: Deſires ſtrength.Strengthen thou me according to thy Word. Add the heat of grace as thou haſt promiſed, and confirm me in this agony, and keep me from falling; which he more clearly begs in the next verſe.
3. Remove from me the way of lying. Ver. 5
1. Bring to paſs by thy grace, And power to avoid ſin.that I may far depart from every evil way to which in my heavineſs I leaned too much.
2. And grant me thy Law graciouſly: Which granted, the effects would be:Not ſo much the Book of the Law, as the matter of it printed in my heart, that may aboliſh the Law of corruption, vanity, and ſin; which I ſhall account a gift graciouſly beſtowed on me.
5. Thus by prayer having obtained grace and mercy, he tells us what the effects of it were in him, which were three: Election of, Adheſion to, and continuance in the way of truth.
1. I have choſen the way of truth, and thy judgments have I laid before me. In my infirmity I was apt to go the way of lying, but now raiſed by grace, 1Election of.I have choſen the way of truth, i. e. the way of thy Commandments.
2. I have cleaved to thy Teſtimonies. In my imperfect ſtate, my …oul cleaved to the duſt; but now having obtained mercy, 2Adheſion to.I have ſtuck unto thy Teſtimonies.
3. Before my ſoul melted away for heavineſs, but now I will run the way of thy Commandments, expeditely, chearfully, with delight. 2. 3Continuance in the way of truth.When or ſince thou haſt enlarged my heart, and ſet it free to run by thy Spirit of grace, which, hath made my yoke eaſie, and my burden light.
The Prayer.
O Lord, with ſhame of face I muſt néeds confeſs, Ver. 1 that my ſoul hath cleaved too much to the duſt, my affections being ſet on things on the earth, and not on things above; my wandrings are many, my failings innumerable, my ſoul even dead to ſpiritual things; O quicken me by thy grace, and revive me by thy mercy, according to thy Word; and reach me thy ſtatutes: Englighten my mind, and make me to underſtand the way of thy precepts; and ſtrengthen me in thy Word, that I ſlip and fall no more, nor no more adhere to the World, and my carnal deſires.
Enrich and beautifie my ſoul with thy grace, and ſo for the way of lying, I ſhall cleave to the way of truth; as my ſoul hath cleaved to the duſt, ſo ſhall it ſtick to thy Teſtimonies; and as in the Combate betwixt the fleſh and the Spirit, I yielded to the fleſh, ſo now I will chearfully and readily run the way of thy Commandments, and ſo ſhew my ſelf thankful for thy grace that hath ſet my heart at liberty, for the merits of Ieſus Chriſt my Lord. Amen.