Divine Poems, Commandment 1
Commandment I.
I Thou ſhalt have none other Gods but me &c.
Pharoh, by great wonders wrought
To acknowledge God was brought,
And had Reaſons light to ſee
Who, his only God ſhould be.
Had he well that Guift employ'd,
Special Grace, had been enjoy'd;
But, no uſe thereof he made,
And ſo, loſt the gift he had;
Stubborn too, the Fool did grow,
And ran headlong to his woe.
Command. I.
Serve but one God, and let him be
That God who made and ranſom'd thee.
TO ſuch as love, our God of Love makes known
A Duty, and a benefit, beſtown;
That they might know the object of their Creed,
And, in the way of Righteouſneſs proceed.
For, by the Preface (of what follows here)
A freedom from a Bondage doth appear.
And by the Subſtance of this great Command,
A Duty we may likewiſe underſtand.
To them whom no kind uſage may perſwade
From ſinful Paths (till they afraid are made)
We here exhibit Pharoh, as a chief
Of thoſe, who ſuffered for an Unbelief
Join with contempt of God; that, ſuch from thence
Might moved be to faithful penitence,
To them that ſhall with Reverence and fear
Receive the holy precept which they hear,
We ſhew with love and mercy how they may
Obſerve the Streight, and Shun the crooked way.
There is one God alone; That God is he
By whom we formed and reformed be,
And they who ſerve another, or deny
His Attributes, commit impiety.
This God, (that's God indeed) though he might ſay,
My will and pleaſure is, you ſhall obey
Me only as your Lord, (and unto us
No reaſon render, why it ſhould be thus)
Proceeds not ſo; but hath declared why
We ſhould accept him for our Deity,
And peradventure this vouchſafed he
To teach them knowledge who his Viccars be;
And ſhew to us (by being meek and kind)
How from falſe Gods the true one we may find.
For to be God is to be good, and ſo
In Goodneſs infinite, to overflow,
That all may taſt thereof (excepting none)
Such is my God, and he is God alone.
The Egyptian Bondage, tipified all
The Race of Adam, in their native Thrall,
And as their temporal Saviour, Moſes than,
Left not behind one hoof, much leſs a man,
Inſlav'd to Pharoh, ſo the bleſſed Son
Of this Great God hath ranſom'd every one
From that ſad houſe of Bondage and of pain
Where we, without Redemption elſe had lain.
For which great favour, he from us doth crave,
That we no other God, but him ſhould have.
And that we love him with a Reverent awe,
Which is the whole fulfilling of this Law
This Gracious God, by many is rejected,
And as they underſtand, or ſtand affected,
They take, or make up New ones of ſuch things
As almoſt to contempt, the Godhead brings.
He of himſelf would make ſome Deity
Who his own power ſo much doth magnify,
As if by that he thought to gain acceſs
To preſent and to future happineſs.
He makes the World his God who thinketh fit
To love, to follow, ſerve, and honour it;
As many do, and they who much incline
To love this God, are enemies to mine.
He makes his Luſt a God who doth fulfil
In every thing his own unbridled Will:
This Tyrant many ſerve; Yea this is He
Who makes them Bondſlaves, whom God ſetteth free.
He makes the worſt men Gods who doth obey
Their Pleaſures, in an unapproved way,
Or their imperious threatning ſo much feareth
As think it from his Duty him deterreth.
He makes the Devil, God; who doth believe,
By evil means good bleſſings to receive;
Which very many (very often) doe
Whoſe words deny him, and defie him too.
But ſome of us not only Guilty ſtand
Of being breakers of this firſt Command,
By ſerving Gods beſide; (and more than) him,
Who from Death, Sin and Hell, did us redeem.
But, either we neglect him alſo quite,
Or, practiſe works to him ſo oppoſite,
That into worſe impieties we fall
Than ſuch, as yet, confeſs no God at all.
For, by diſtruſt, ſelf-love, backſliding fear,
Inconſtancy, Preſumption, fruitleſs Care,
Impatience, Grudging, Frowardneſs or Pride,
With other ſuch; our God we have deny'd
More oft than once, and oftner fear we ſhall
Into this error through our frailty fall.
This Law, (in ſome degree) is alſo broke,
Unleſs we, to our powers, due care have took
To Shun each cauſe of breaking it; The Chief
Is Ignorance, (the ground of misbelief.)
The next, is to be oft, and willingly
Among Profeſſors of Idolatry.
The Third is Servile fear, which many ways
The Heart unto Idolatry betrays.
The laſt (not leaſt) is when the ſway we give
To any Luſt or Sin: For (thus believe)
Such men, to gain the full of their delight,
Will change their God, or leave Religion quite.
Yea, they who hate at firſt ſo groſs a Sin,
Are by the Devil this way hooked in.
This Meditation here had found an end
But that there are, ſome others who offend
Againſt this Law, in ſuch a high Degree
As that they muſt not quite unmention'd be.
The trueſt God, confeſſed is by them
Their only God: They ſerve and honour him
In outward ſhew; and if believe we may,
What they themſelves have pleaſed been to ſay,
They love him too; But either they miſtake him,
Or, by their own Invention, ſo new Make him,
That though they ſpeak him, by a gracious Name,
The goodneſs of his nature, they defame
By making him the Authour to have bin
And cauſe original of every Sin:
For in affirming that the fall of Man,
And Sin, and Death from Gods meer will began,
They ſay no leſs, although they praiſe him much
For being good to them, and ſome few ſuch.
To ſay of theſe I am no whit afraid,
As of old Idol-Makers, hath been ſaid,
Their God and they are like, for on their Will
They ground their practices (which muſt be ſtill
Suppoſed Juſt) and ſome, perchance, of them
Would be as cruel as they fancy him
But that their Finite Natures cannot reach
The Tyranies which they of him do preach.
Let us of ſuch impieties beware,
What we conceive of God let us have care,
And not (with fooliſh Hereticks) ſuppoſe
By teaching common truths, and making ſhows
Of holy piety to keep Gods eye
From ſeeing when we wrong his Majeſty.
For, if he be diſpleas'd with ſuch as make
Good Creatures of his Godhead, to partake,
How much more cauſe have they his wrath to fear,
Who make him worſe than his worſt Creatures are?
And that prime Attribute have overthrown,
By which, he chiefly to be God is known?
For, none are bound to ſerve him (by this Law)
But ſuch as he did out of bondage draw.
For if he drew not all, then ſome there be
Who, though they have a God, ours is not he,
At leaſt in ſuch a manner as may give
Theſe Unbelievers courage to believe.
Their God they ſay did ſome unhappy make
To ſhew his power; and for his Glorys ſake;
My God is he, who pittied their Eſtates,
Whom theſe do fancy hopeleſs Reprobates
An Iſſue leaving out of that temptation,
In which they lying to their Juſt damnation,
And for the day of wrath no ſinners made
But ſuch as do abuſe the Grace they had.
Their God is he, who forc'd mankind to fall
And mine is he, who did Redeem us all.
My ſweet Redeemer, ſo my heart incline,
That, I may always keep this Law of thine
Amen.