Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 4 [i.e. 5] · Psalm 106
PSAL. CVI. foreign.
THE Intention of the Prophet in this Pſalm, is, To expreſs Gods Long-ſuffering in bearing with rebellious ſinners, and yet his Mercy in pardoning them, upon the Confeſſion of their ſins, and turning to him; both which he doth exemplifie, by a long. Narration of Iſraels Rebellions, Repentance, Turning to God, and Gods dealing with them; which gave him juſt occaſion both to praiſe God, and to pray for his Church and People.
The Contents of this Pſalm, are theſe.
1. An Exhortation to praiſe God, with the Reaſons in general, ver. 1. and who are fit to perform this Duty, ver. 2, 3.
2. A Petition and Prayer directed to God in his own perſon for the whole Church, and the end of it, ver. 4, 5.
3. A Confeſſion of fin, particularly of the Iſraelites, together with Gods patience to them, and his healing them upon their Repentance; Toties, quoties, from ver. 6. to 46.
4. His Prayer, that God would collect his Church out of all Nations, that they might meet and praiſe him, ver. 47, 48.
1. Allelujah, Praiſe ye the Lord; O give thanks unto the Lord. The firſt part. He incites to praiſe God.To this the Prophet invites, and that we ſtick the leſs at the performance, by two Reaſons he perſwades unto it.
1. Becauſe he is good; he is before-hand with us, Ver. 1 and prevents men with many Benefits.
2. Becauſe his mercy endures for ever; his mercy is everlaſting, and far exceeds our ſins and miſeries; for after men have offended him, and deſerve no mercy, yet his mercy is unconquerable; for he receives to mercy penitent offendors: 'Tis but Reaſon then we praiſe him, and magnifie his mercy.
Yea, but now it may be ſaid, Quis idoneus ad haec? Ver. 2 Who is ſufficient for theſe things? who fit to praiſe him, and ſet forth his mercies? Thoſe fit to do it, who keep judgment, and do righteouſneſs.Who can utter the mighty Acts of the Lord? that is, the infinite Benefits in mercy exhibited to his people: Or, Who can ſhew forth all his Praiſe, in conſerving, pardoning, defending, propagating his Church? This is the foreign.
To which the foreign, or right anſwer ſhould be, Who can? none can; Ver. 3 for we are all ſinners, and therefore all unworthy, Praiſe being not comely in the mouth of a ſinner: But the Prophet gives in his anſwer another way: They are only happy men, who keep judgment, and do righteouſneſs at all times; and by conſequent fit to do this Duty, they may ſpeak of the mighty Acts of God with comfort, and ſhew forth all his praiſe.
1. They are happy in proſperity and adverſity; they dwell in the houſe of God, under his protection.
2. They keep his judgments; follow in their lives the ſtrict Rule of Divine Law, by which they judge of all their Actions, and ſo keep faith, and a good conſcience.
3. They do righteouſneſs at all times: Alwayes they approve, and do what is right, true, and juſt; condemn, hate, and puniſh what is unjuſt; theſe then are fit to praiſe God with their tongues, becauſe they praiſe him in their lives.
2. After the Prophet had invited to the praiſe of God, The ſecond part.and ſhewed who were fit to do it, he falls upon his Petition, which he propoſeth in his own perſon for the whole Church, in the two following verſes.He prayes for himſelf.
1. Remember me: Ʋulg. Nostri. Me, but not me alone, rather thy whole Church: By what we ſuffer, Ver. 4 Thou haſt ſeemed to forget thy Covenant and Promiſe, but now call it to mind again.
2. Which I expect not yet for any deſert of mine, but meerly out of thy good-will: Remember me with the favour thou bearest to thy people.
3. O viſit me, but yet not in wrath; for ſuch a viſitation there is: but in mercy and grace.
4. With thy Salvation: Save me at this time from my ſins, and from my preſent calamities.
And to this end I deſire thy Favour, thy gracious Viſitation, thy Salvation.With the Church, who are:
1. That I may ſee the good of thy Choſen: Be a partaker of, and in their happineſs.
2. Ver. 5 That I may rejoyce in the gladneſs of the Nation: Partake in the joy of the Nation, which is the conſequent of happineſs.
3. That I may glory with thine inheritance: Glorifie thee with them, and glory in thy Salvation.
But obſerve here the three eminent Titles given to Gods Church, by which is ſet forth their happy condition.
1. 1Gods choſenFirſt, They are Electi, a choſen people; which is a glorious and a gracious Title, and intimates, being coupled to Beneplacitum, Favour; in the former verſe, that it proceeded not out of merit, or fore-ſeen works; but out of free-grace, and meer love: He choſe whom he pleaſed; and this foundation remains ſure, God knowes who are his.
2. 2His Nation.They are his Nation, his peculiar people; choſen out of all other people, brought to be of his Houſhold and Family, that they might be partakers of his Salvation, for which they were to worſhip and praiſe him.
3. 3His heritage.They are his inheritance: Fallen to him, and given to his ſon, as the reward of his Paſſion.
In theſe two fore-going verſes, we find the happy condition of Gods people, their Predeſtination in his favour, good-will, and election; their Juſtification in his Salvation; their Glorification in the Viſion of Gods face, where they are to rejoyce in the gladneſs of his people, and glory with his inheritance.
3. The third part. To move God to mercy.In the following part of the Pſalm, from ver. 7. to 46. he makes uſe of a new Argument to move God to mercy: He preſents not the preſent condition the people of God were in, not their captivity, miſeries, afflictions; but ingenuouſly confeſſeth how they had offended God, and how juſtly they ſuffered; for which being penitent, he hopes for pardon. He knew, foreign. Nazianz. and therefore he begins with that.
1. We have ſinn'd with our fathers, trode in their ſteps, and fill'd up the meaſure of their ſins.He confeſſeth their ſins, and aggravates them.
2. We have committed iniquity, not only upon infirmity, but upon malice and choice.
3. We have done wickedly; the intent and purpoſe in it was evil: And by theſe three ſteps he exaggerates the ſin; the act, the frequency, the intent: As every true Confeſſioniſt to God ought, never to extenuate, but to aggravate the offence againſt himſelf.
And becauſe he had mentioned their fathers at large, Enumerates their rebellions.now he inſtanceth in their Rebellions; they began betime, not yet gone out of Aegypt, but they murmured and rebelled.
Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Aegypt: Ver. 7 That is, laid not to heart.
1. At the red Sea.They remembred not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the Sea, even at the red Sea. When they ſaw Pharaohs Army on one ſide, and the Sea on the other, they grew heartleſs, diffident, and murmured, as is apparent, Exod. 14.10, 11, 12.
2. This was their ſin at that time: But not Obſtante, God was then merciful to them: Ver. 8 Nevertheleſs he ſaved them; of which he aſſigns two cauſes.When yet in mercy God ſaved them for his glory.
1. For his Names ſake: To advance his glory, his honour. It was not for any worth or deſert that was in them, but that he might make it known that he was a God, true in his Promiſes.
2. That he might make his mighty power to be known. Pharaoh and the Egyptians might have taken notice of it, by the plagues he had already upon them; but it ſeems they contemned, and laugh'd at it: Now therefore they ſhould know his power to their utter ruine.
And in the following verſes, by a diſtribution, he ſhewes the manner of their deliverance.
1. By Gods rebuke, and drying up of the Sea: He rebuked the red Sea alſo, Ver. 9 and it was dryed up.
2. By the unheard of way he led them; ſo he led them through the depths, as through the Wilderneſs, no more water there to offend them, than in the ſands of Arabia.
3. By the Conſequent of it: And he ſaved them from the hand of him; i. e. Pharaoh, that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
4. And the waters covered their enemies, there was not one of them left.
The effect was, that for the preſent.The effects on them for the preſent.
1. It extorted, will they, nill they, from them a confeſſion, that God was true in his promiſes: Then believed they his words.
2. It incited them to praiſe him: They ſang his praiſe; 1Faith.and the Song is extant, Exod. 15.2Praiſe.
2. This was their firſt Rebellion, which begot in them belief and thanks, 2But they rebelled again.which the Prophet interſerted; not to commend their piety, or to extenuate their ſin and ingratitude; but rather to aggravate both: For theſe very men that were forced to confeſs his power, and ſing his praiſe for the overthrow of Pharaoh in the red Sea, were ſcarce departed from thoſe Banks; but they for want of a little bread and water, grew as impatient and diſtruſtful, as they were before, and this was their ſecond Rebellion, Exod. 15.22, &c.
1. Feſtinaverunt & obliti ſunt; They made haſte to forget: Or, They ſoon forgot, which aggravates their ſin. Ver. 13
2. They forgat his Omnipotence, his Providence; And forgat him quickly.as if they had not had but now a ſufficient proof of both.
3. They waited not for his Counſel; Murmured.with patience they expected not the end, why God in his Wiſdom and Counſel ſuffer'd them now to want, which was, to prove their faith, their hope, their love: But they not underſtanding the end of Gods Counſel, murmur'd, as if God had caſt them off, and had no care of them, and could not relieve them.
4. And what they did at this time, they did alſo at others: Luſted.For they luſted exceedingly in the Wilderneſs, and tempted God in the Deſart; as is evident, Exod. 16. & 17. and Numb. 11. & 20.
Now God yielded to theſe deſires of the people, he gave them bread, fleſh, But he gave them bread, fleſh, water.and water.
1. And he gave them their requeſt; Exod. 16.12.
2. But he ſent leanneſs into their ſouls; which certainly hath reference to the Quails in Numb. 11.20. & 33. where the people eat, and dyed of the plague; ſo that the place from the multitude there buried, was call'd, Kibrothhattaava.
3. Another rebellion yet there was, which the Prophet now toucheth, 3They rebelled a third time, roſe againſt Moſes, Aaron.when they roſe up againſt the King and the Prieſt, the ſtory of which is extant, Numb. 16.
1. They envied alſo Moſes in the Camp; objecting unto him, that he had uſurped a power over them, and taken it upon him of his own head, which aroſe out of envy; for they envied.
2. And Aaron, the Saint of the Lord: Him whom God had choſen, and ſanctified to the Prieſts Office.
The puniſhment followes, which at large may be read, Numb. 16.
1. The earth opened, and ſwallowed up Dathan, For this puniſhed.and covered the Congregation of Abiram.
2. And a fire was kindled in their company, the flame burnt up the wicked; i. e. the 250. men that preſumed to offer Incenſe, and preſently after the 14700. that murmured, and objected to Moſes and Aaron that they had killed the people of the Lord.
4. 4Made the golden Calf.Still the Prophet goes on in his ſtory of Iſrael's ſtubbornneſs and rebellion, and now he comes to their grand ſin, their Idolatry, in erecting the golden Calf, which he deteſts; and withall, praiſeth the mercy of God, that would be pacified by Moſes prayer; the ſtory is extant, Exod. 32.
1. They made a Calf in Horeb, and worſhipped the molten image; quite contrary to the ſecond command.
2. Thus they chang'd their Glory: That is, the true God, who indeed was their glory, into the ſimilitude of an Oxe, a brute Beaſt, that eats graſs; a baſe creature, which much aggravates their ſin. A ſin ſo great, that the Jewes conceive, that it is not expiated to this day; for they have uſually theſe words in their mouths; Non accidit tibi, O Iſrael, ullaultio, in quâ non ſit uncia de iniquitate anrei vituli.
3. But the Prophet aggravates their ſtupidneſs and folly: They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things in Aegypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the red Sea.
In the following verſe is expreſſed Gods juſt anger and mercy.
1. Againſt this, God ſhews his anger.His anger againſt their ſins: Therefore he ſaid, pronounced his will to deſtroy them.
2. His mercy, in that yet he ſpared them at Moſes interceſſion; for deſtroyed them certainly he had:But ſpares them at Moſes prayer.
1. Had not Moſes his choſen ſtood before him in the breach: That breach and diviſion which this ſin had made betwixt God and his people, like ſome breach made in the Wall of a beſieged Town, in which ſome valiant Captain ſtands, and oppoſeth himſelf againſt the aſſault of the enemy; ſo did Moſes.
2. For his end was the ſame; it was, To turn away his wrath, leſt he ſhould deſtroy: And the effect was anſwerable; for by his interceſſion the wrath of God was turned away; ſo powerful are the interceſſions and prayers of Gods Saints, ſervants, friends with him.
5. 5A new rebellion, viz. their murmuring at the Spies report.Farther yet, he calls to mind a new rebellion, which fell out upon the report of the Spies ſent to ſearch the Land, Numb. 13.26, &c. and Numb. 14. For when the Spies told them, that it was a land that eat up the Inhabitants, that the ſons of Anak were there, in compariſon of whom, they were but as Graſhoppers.
1. They despiſed the pleaſant Land, and had a mind to return into Aegypt, Numb. 14. from ver. 1. to 5.
2. They believed not his Word; for they ſaid, Hath the Lord brought us unto this Land to fall by the Sword, &c.
3. But murmured in their Tents, and hearkned not to the voyce of the Lord, Numb. 14.10.
As their ſin, Which God puniſheth on them:ſo their puniſhment is alſo extant, Numb. 14.29. at which the Prophet here points.
1. Therefore he lift up his hand againſt them, to overthrow them in the Wilderneſs: Your carkaſſes ſhall fall in the Wilderneſs, doubtleſs ye ſhall not come into the Land.
2. This puniſhment fell upon the Murmurers themſelves: but if their children ſhould be guilty of the like rebellion, And their ſeed.they ſhould not eſcape neither; for God then would lift up his hand againſt them too, and overthrow their ſeed among the Nations, and ſcatter them in the Lands; which we have lived to ſee fully brought to paſs.
6. 6Their re bellion at Baal-Peor.The Prophet joyns to that of the golden Calf, another piece of Idolatry in the Wilderneſs, to which there was joyned Fornication alſo, by the Connſel of Balaam, and the policy of Balaac; this cauſed them to eat, and ſacrifice to their God, Numb. 25. which the Prophet inſiſts upon next.
1. They joyned themſelves to Baal-Peor, becauſe the Idol was ſet up upon that Mountain.
2. And eat the offerings of the dead: They left the Sacrifices of the living God, and eat of thoſe meats which were offered to their dead Idols, That have eyes, but ſee not; and hands, but handle not.
Upon which there followed Gods wrath, and their puniſhment.
1. God was angry: For they provoked him to wrath with their inventions, Gods wrath and vengeanceinventing a new god.
2. And the plague brake in upon them: It ruſh'd in upon them, as ſome mighty waters; or as an Army into a City, at a breach; for there dyed of the plague, 24000, Numb. 25.9.
In the former Idolatry Gods anger was averted by Moſes interceſſion, in this by Phinehaz execution of judgment; for,
1. Then stood up Phinehaz, Phinehaz averts it.moved no queſtion with the zeal of Gods honour. Ver. 30
2. And he executed judgment upon Zimri and Cozbi; for which, let men conceive as they pleaſe, I ſee nothing to the contrary, His zeal rewarded.but he had his Commiſſion from Moſes, or God rather, Numb. 25.4, 5.
3. The event was, and ſo the plague was ſtayed; execution of Juſtice on Offendors, pacifies God.
Which zeal of his was well rewarded: This was accounted to him for righteouſneſs unto all Generations for evermore. God that knowes the heart, knew his good intention, and ſo accounted it not murder, but a juſt puniſhment, that deſerved both praiſe and a reward: And an ample reward he had for it; for God eſtabliſhed the dignity of the high Prieſthood in Phineaz, and in his poſterity, as long as the Common-wealth of the Jewes continued.7Another rebellion at Meribah.
7. The Prophet comes to another remarkable ſin of the Jewes, extant, Numb. 20. where the people chode with Moſes for want of water.
1. They anger'd him alſo at the waters of ſtrife: That is, God, when they contradicted Moſes.
2. So that it went ill with Moſes, for their ſakes, for being paſſionate and diſturbed with cholar; He spake unadviſedly with his lips: When Moſes ſmote the Rock, and offended God.Hear now ye Rebels, &c. and he ſmote the Rock. By their murmuring and grumbling, they ſo provoked his ſpirit to bitterneſs, that he who at other times was chearful, and ready to obey all Gods Commands, did now ſomewhat ſtrike at it.8Their rebellion after they came into Canaan.
8. Hitherto the Prophet hath ſet down ſeven ſeveral rebellions of the Jewes during their abode in the Wilderneſs; now he proceeds to ſhew us, how they have behaved themſelves after they came into, and were ſeated in the land of Canaan: Better, a man would think, they ſhould be, now that God had made good his Word to them: But I ſee, a Blackmore cannot change his skin, nor they their manners; diſobedient, ſtubborn, and rebellious they were ſtill, which the Prophet confeſſeth, and is upon Record in the Book of Judges.1They deſtroy'd not the Heathen.
1. God had expreſly commanded that the Nations of Canaan ſhould be deſtroyed, Deut. 7.1, 2, 3. But they did not destroy the Nations concerning whom the Lord had commanded; this was Diſobedience.2They married with them
2. But were mingled among the Heathen: They made Leagues and Marriages with them, Judg. 2. & 3.
3. And learned their works: Many ſuperſtitious, many lewd cuſtomes.3Learned their works.
4. But which went beyond all, they learned to be Idolaters of them, 4Became Idolatrous.forſook God for the Devil.
1. They ſerved their Idols, which was a ſnare unto them; for, for that, they became their ſlaves, Judg. 2, &c.
2. Yea, they ſacrificed their ſons and daughters unto Devils; that is, to Moloch.5This polluted them, and the land.
3. With inhumane ſin, that the Prophet might aggravate, foreign, he comes over it again, And ſhed innocent blood; that is, the blood of innocent children, even the blood of their ſons and daughters, whom they ſacrificed to the Idols of Canaan.
The Conſequents of which were double: Firſt, a double pollution. Secondly, a heavy judgment.
1. Firſt, A pollution of the Land in which they dwelt: The land was defiled with blood.
2. A pollution of their own ſouls: Thus were they defiled in their own works: Polluted, as a Harlot, that pollutes her body, by the proſtitution of it; ſo they polluted, when they went a whoring after their own inventions. Eſpouſed they were to God their husband, but they left him, and followed Idols, they were to be accounted no better than Whores; which Idols, were properly their own inventions; For which they were puniſh'd, abominated.for they learned to proſtitute themſelves to them, neither from God, nor Moſes.
The judgment or puniſhment now followes, and a ſignification whence it proceeded; it came not by chance, nor meerly by the hand of man, it was by Gods Order and Anger.
1. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people: Therefore, for their Idolatry, Murder, Whoredom; ſo that he was not only angry, but his anger was kindled, it was in a flame.
2. Nay, he took ſo great diſlike to them, that abominatus eſt, inſomuch, That he abhorred his own inheritance. It muſt be a very foule offence, that will kindle the wrath of a mild King againſt his people, And juſtly given into the hand of the Heathen.and a ſtrange diſlike, for which a man will renounce and abhor his own inheritance; it ſhewes how heinous a ſin Idolatry is.
And the puniſhment he took upon them was very juſt.
1. He gave them into the hand, i. e. the power of the Heathen; and this, E Lege Taliouis: God had given the Heathen into their hands to deſtroy them, which becauſe they did not, but learned their works; therefore now God gave them into the hands of the Heathen.
2. Who were hard Lords over them.He made them their Lords, and hard Lords they were, as eaſily appears in the ſtory of the Book of Judges, and the firſt of Samuel; and no wonder, for they hated them; yea, even when they made Leagues and Contracts with them: Their caſe muſt be then very miſerable, when thoſe that hated them, ruled over them; from ſuch they were to expect little favour.
3. And little they had; for the Prophet in the next verſe acquaints us, that,
1. Their enemies alſo oppreſſed them; Tyrants, Oppreſſors they were, read the Book of Judges, &c. and very often, if they ſought to free themſelves.
2. They were brought into ſubjection under their hand; to wit, under the hand of the Philiſtines, Moabites, Ammonites, &c.
In which ſtate and condition yet God did not forget them; For many times did he deliver them: Not once, but often; as by Gideon, Jephtha, Deborah, Sampſon, and others.Yet God deliver'd them.
But O the ingratitude of a ſinful Nation; whereas being deliver'd, they ſhould have ſerved; But they provoked him again.being deliver'd, they provoked him with their Counſel; that is, by following the Counſels of their own hearts, and not the directions of God.
And ſo were very juſtly brought into the caſe they were before: And again, puniſhed.For they were brought low for their iniquity; that they might know that God that had humbled them, and deliver'd them; could, when they revolted, bring them into the ſame caſe they were before, Yet again receiv'd to grace; for God is moved by their affliction.as he often did.
And now the Prophet adds that, which indeed he drives at through the whole Pſalm, the wonderful and immutable good-will of God to them; though he forgave, and deliver'd them upon their Repentance, and in a ſhort time provoked him again, Nevertheleſs he received them to Grace, even after their Recidivations and Relapſes; and the Cauſes that moved him to this, were external, and internal.
1. The foreign, that outwardly and occaſionly moved him to it, was their affliction and cry: He regaraed their affliction, when he heard their cry.
2. But the foreign that inwardly ſway'd him, was, his word paſt to them, But more out of Mercy, and his Word.and his mercy.
1. His word and his promiſe was paſt to Abraham, to be their God, and he would not break it: And he remembred for them his Covenant.
2. His tender affection that he alwayes bear them; this cauſed him to repent and grieve, that they ſhould be in miſery: He repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
And the effect which all theſe Cauſes had, was beneficial to them, even in the time of their bondage and captivity; for even their very enemies hearts were often turn'd to do them good, as is evident in Jeremiah, David, Daniel, Ezra, Zerubbabel, Mordecai, and indeed the whole Nation under the Babylonian, Philiſtian, Aegyptian, Perſian Kings, which the Prophet hath ſet down, ver. 46.
He made them alſo to be pitied of all thoſe that carried them Captives: So this is that of the wiſe man; When a mans wayes pleaſe God, And cauſed their Oppreſſors to pity them.he will make his very enemies at peace with him, Prov. 16.7.
But it ſeems this verſe may be read otherwiſe, and it is by the Vulgar. Moller, Muſculus, Dedit eos in miſericordias, or miſerationes in conspectu omnium, quo caeperant eos; ſo that the ſenſe is not, as if all of them had from all that carried them away captive received mercy; but that God in their afflictions, put them into the boſom of his mercy, even they ſeeing and wondring at it, whoſe Bond-ſlaves they were; for beyond all hope, he freed his people from Aegypt, the Ammonites, Philiſtines, &c. ſo that they, under whoſe Captivity they were, muſt needs confeſs, that God in mercy did defend, and fight for them: And this ſenſe Bellarmine receives, as more probable; nor yet utterly rejecting the other.
4. And this ſenſe makes the way plainer to what followes, the Petition, The fourth part. This conſideration moves them.and the Doxology; for if God ſhew'd himſelf merciful in the time of his anger, and made it apparent, even to the very view of their enemies, encouragement they might have:
1. Firſt, To pray: Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the Heathen, to give thanks in thy holy Name, 1To pray.and to triumph in thy Praiſe.
2. Then to give thanks.
1. Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, 2To give thanks.from Generation to Generation.
2. And for it, let the people do their Duty, viz. the ſolemn and neceſſary Formes: Let all the people ſay, Amen. Allelujah.
The Prayer out of the One hundred and ſixth Pſalm.
O Lord God, which art great and fearful, Ver. 45 Who keepeſt Covenant and Mercy toward them that love thee, and keep thy Commandments; we have ſinned with our Fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. The children of Iſrael were not more rebellious at the red Sea, in the Wilderneſs, after thou hadſt brought them into the Land, than we have béen unto thée. We have forgotten thy wonders, and provoked thée, when beſet with a Sea of troubles; for we have ſoon forgot thy works, and not waited for thy counſels. We have envied, nay, murdered Moſes in the Camp, and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. A Calf indéed we have not made in Horeb, nor worſhipped the molten Image: But we worſhipped the Calf of our own brains, and fall'n down to our own imaginations; in Maozim we have put our truſt, and to this Idol of power we have cryed, Thou art our god, and thou ſhalt ſave us; Thou haſt promiſed to bring us to the celeſtial Canaan, but we have deſpiſed that pleaſant land; and as if we did not believe thy Word, we have murmured, and in our hearts turned back again into Aegypt, and ſet our affections on the Léeks and Onions, and Garlick thereof; though we vowed and profeſſed to honour thée, yet we have made it apparent, that Mammon is our God, and his Command is hearkned unto, and not thy voyce. We have provoked thée to anger with our inventions, we have learned the works of the Heathen, Ver. 38 and out-done them: We have ſhed innocent blood, even the blood of thy ſons and daughters, whom we ſacrificed to our ambition and cruelty, ſo that the Land is polluted with blood.
O Lord, we confeſs that we have done wickedly, and fouly, and unthankfully have revolted from thée, our Lord and God; as was the mother, ſo is the daughter; we are our mothers daughter, that hath loathed her husband, and committed fornication in the ſight of our God; yet we will not deſpair, when we conſider thy great mercy which thou ſhewedſt to a ſtiffe-necked people; whom, though enriched by thée with many Benefits, and yet unmindful and ungrateful as they were, ſet thée by, and worſhipped ſtocks and ſtones, and the inventions of their own brains; Thou yet didſt not deſtroy them, but after a fatherly correction didſt reſtore to thy favour, and didſt condeſcend to be reconciled to them.
Then thou wert pacified with the interceſſion of Moſes, and the atonement of Aaron; and when Phineas aroſe, and executed judgment, thy plague was ſtayed. There be yet leſt among thy people, thoſe who are zealous for thy Name, who day and night intercede for pardon and mercy. O Lord, hear their prayers, and let their cryes come unto thee, and ſpare thy people, whom thou haſt redéemed with thy precious blood. Though they have provoked thée with their Counſels, and are brought low for their iniquity, Nevertheleſs, regard their affliction, and hear their cryes that they ſend up unto thee; Remember for them thy Covenant, and repent according to the multitude of thy mercies: And ſo ſoften and mollifie the hearts of thoſe, who have led us into Captivity, that for cruelty, even from them we may find pity; and for the heavy burdens they have laid upon us, ſome eaſe and relaxation.
O merciful Lord, let not thy wrath for ever be kindled againſt thy people; neither let it procéed ſo far, That thou abhor thine inheritance: We confeſs, That it hath gone ill with Moſes for our ſakes, inſomuch, that he is denied an entrance into the land of Canaan, the lot of his inheritance: But remember him, O Lord, and his Exiles, with the favour thou beareſt unto thy people: O viſit him with thy ſalvation, that he may ſee the good of thy choſen, that he may rejoyce in the gladneſs of thy Nation, that he may glory in thee, and glorifie thee with thine inheritance.
Our Fathers have ſinn'd even from the firſt time of their Vocation, to the clearer and purer knowledge of the Goſpel, and thou didſt oftentimes ſharply rebuke them; and yet in the ſharpeſt of thoſe Viſitations, Thou remembring mercy, Ver. 10 and thy promiſe, didſt mitigate their puniſhments, and ſenteſt them deliverance: Thou ſavedſt them from the hand of them that hated them, and redeemedſt them from the hand of the enemy: Therefore now alſo, although we know and confeſs, that we have grievouſly offended thée with our ſins, and provoked thée to bring theſe heavy judgments upon us for our rebellions, yet make us examples of thy mercy, as thou haſt done our forefathers: Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from all lands, whether we are diſperſed; which we earneſtly beg at thy merciful hands; not that we are brought from a troubleſom, to a quiet; from a miſerable, to an eaſie; from a poor and néedy, to an opulent and a voluptuous life (which the many aim at in their prayers) but the end of this our Requeſt, is, That thanks may be given to thy holy Name, and that we may triumph in thy praiſe; that the purity of that Religion which thou haſt delivered and committed unto us, may be conſerved and propagated, and thy worſhip, now intermitted, may be reſtored, and thy praiſes, which by the ſadneſs of theſe times have béen ſilenced, may again with triumph be heard in the Congregation.
Then with joyful lips, we ſhall give thanks unto the Lord, and by experience make it known, That thou art good, and that thy mercy endureth for ever: Ver. 1 Not indéed as we ought, not as thou deſerveſt; for who can utter the mighty Acts of the Lord? or who can ſhew forth all his praiſe? But we will do what we can, exalt with our voyces, and honour thée with our lives. We will keep thy judgments, and do righteouſneſs at all times, that thy praiſes may be comely in our mouths, and our lives become thy Goſpel. Grant us this mercy, O Lord, and then the Prieſts ſhall ſound forth at thine Altar, Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, and all the people ſhall ſay with a chearful heart, Amen. Hallelujah.
The end of the fourth Book of the Pſalmes, according to the Hebrewes.