FLY FROM EVEL DO GOOD DAVID'S tears By Sr John Hayward knight, Doc. of Law LONDON Printed by John Bill. 1623. TO THE READER. Having finished my SANCTVARIE, and finding it to have taken root and life for some continuance; I could not conceive any better employment of those hours, which I have resolved to sequester for exercises in this kind; then in making my conceptions legible upon those Psalms of DAVID, which lively describe, both the form and the force of true repentance. Partly in regard of the general dignity of the whole Book of Psalms, largely extolled by many; but chiefly in regard of the eminent excellency of these Penitential Psalms, which hereafter I intend particularly to declare. And herein I aim at no private end, but design, and resign my endeavours wholly to the Glory of the All-powerfull GOD: to whom Glory is so proper, that nothing is more repugnant to reason, then either not to attribute it to him, or to seek to draw it to ourselves. For albeit GOD, who is all fullness and perfection, cannot receive access or increase; yet by praising and blessing his exterior works, we enlarge and spread his glory to others. This praise and glory, because we cannot incorporate into his essence, whereto no addition can be made: we are said to attribute to his NAME. For the NAME of a thing is separate, and external from the thing which it serveth to signify; and neither a part nor of the substance thereof. But we on the other side, are inwardly hollow and empty, and always wanting some amendment. Wherefore we have enough to do to labour in repairing that. We must not play our part for exterior shows; but inwardly, within ourselves, where no eyes shine but our own. Otherwise we shallbe like to an Egg long covered with salt; the shell whereof willbe fair and sound, but the inward substance altogether consumed. Or like an unwise hunger-starved beggar; more desirous of a fair garment, then of necessary meat. He who seeks himself abroad; who regards more what he is to to others, then to himself; who doth honestly, because he would be so esteemed; shall never produce profitable effect. As the intention is vain, so willbe the event. But if constantly we pursue reason and piety, let approbation of others follow if it please: as neither vainly desired, so not rigidly to be contemned. Much less must they expect any benefit by their travails, who retire themselves to private studies. For they live not out of themselves, they study not other men's humours, they apply not their thoughts to the time. And this is the reason wherefore many well esteemed for sufficiency, whose virtue forbids them to be base, hang under the wheel, and cannot advance. Yea, sometimes it happeneth, that whilst they are most honestly busied, men of scornful and beggarly ignorance, separate from all imitable qualities or endeavours, will be nimble to nip from them such small matters as they have. I confess I have been bitten by some such Vipers; who think nothing sufficient that they have, nothing dishonest that they do. But I envy not the gravel in any man's throat. It sufficeth for me that I have attained a quiet contented life, free either from anguish in myself, or envy at others: free either from wishing great matters, or wanting some small: a life fit for serious cogitations. The rich compositions of Ancient times, I reverence and admire; they do not only satisfy, but astonish me. I see them not to the depth, but I see them so far, that I conceive the farthest reach of our age cannot nearly approach them. Of my own productions, never any did fully content me, and the approbation of others is no warrant to my own judgement; tender and severe in what I do. They may happily be somewhat sprinkled over, but throughly died, I conceive they are not. And in case any thing be excusable in them, it is not in regard of themselves, but in comparison of some other formless unsinewie writings; whereto notwithstanding I find good allowance to be given. Assuredly, knowing my own ignorance and defects, I wonder much at the constant assurance of many others. But modesty forbids us to speak good or ill of ourselves. I have here undertaken a difficult task, in writing upon these high parts of Scripture. I did put forth two of these psalms at the first, for an assay, as before I did the like in my Sanctuary. And finding some acceptation I have now added a third: and intent to proceed in some of the rest. And wherein I find no encouragement from others, I will remain satisfied with my own contentments For by entertaining my thoughts in these sweet retreits, how many tedious and frivolous cogitations have I avoided? How many indignities and discontentments have I therein buried? Let others hungerly hunt after favour and wealth, the common drudgery of the world: let them spend their spirit and honesty in uncivil undermine. I desire and pray, that this heavenly harmony may always ring in my ears; that I may close the last period of my life with one of these songs of Zion. Nunquid Zimri pax etc. HOM. Il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. TAM gravis ille mihi nigri quam limina ditis. o'er aliud qut fert, aliud sub pectore celat. AS dale of death, so do I hate that kind; whose tongue from thought, whose mouth dissents from mind. DAVID'S TEARS. PSALM VI. O LORD rebuke me not in thine indignation: neither chasten me in thy displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak: O LORD heal me, for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore troubled: but LORD how long wilt thou punish me? 4 Turn thee, O LORD, and deliver my soul: Oh save me for thy mercy's sake. 5 For in death no man remembreth thee: and who will give thee thanks in the pit? 6 I am weary of my groaning, every night wash I my bed, and water my couch with my tears. 7 My beauty is 〈◊〉 for very trouble: and worn away because of all mine enemies. 8 Away from me all ye that work vanity: for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my petition: the LORD will receive my prayer. 10 All mine enemies shall be confounded and sore vexed: they shall be turned back, and put to shame suddenly. Of the title and parts of this PSALM. 1 THE inscription of this Psalm. 2. The Author thereof. 3. Wherefore David watered his bed with tears. 4 Our conflicts in this life, and the weapons thereof. 5 Wherefore the just are said to flourish like a palm tree. 6 Wherefore this Psalm is entitled, To him that vanquisheth. 7. The parts of this Psalm. THis is the first of those Psalms which are called Penitential; and according to the version of Saint Hierome and of Felix, beareth this inscription or title, A Psalm of David to him that vanquisheth (pro octava) for an instrument of eight strings. For, that David was the Author of this Psalm, it is nothing doubted; not only because it hath been both anciently and generally so received, but because diverse passages of the Psalm do plainly seem to import no less. For therein is lively expressed a most exquisite sense of sorrow and grief; agreeable, as well to the greatness both of the person and sin of David, as to the large measure of grace, which afterward he did obtain. It maketh mention also of (stratum) a kind of couch used by men of eminent dignity; which as David had defiled with adulterous embracements, so did he there chiefly exercise his sorrow, so did he there plentifully pour forth his tears. Verily, as the sins of Princes are never small; so their great sins require a great and high degree of repentance. Now, in this life we are never at perfect peace, we are travailed with continual conflicts, wherein some armour is of necessary use. But in these spiritual combats, sorrow, sighs, groans, and tears are the only armour of defence, the only weapons of advantage; by which we achieve true victory and triumph. For this cause it is said, that the just shall flourish as a Palm tree. Psal. 92.11 For as the Palm tree doth flourish best under greatest weight; so under many difficulties and oppressions the just must mount to their highest hopes. And therefore because by these arms David did prevail, not only against his outward enemies, not only against his inward troubles and perplexities, but against the wrath and vengeance of Almighty GOD: because by these means his grief was turned into joy: because he began with bitter anguishes, and ended in exultation and triumph: this Psalm is entitled, To him that vanquisheth: therefore also it was appointed to be sung upon an instrument of eight strings, called Octava; upon which, as S. Hierome saith, Super paral. ca 15. In Ci●haris pro Octava, can●bant Epinition. they used to sing Psalms of triumph and joy. And so this Psalm falleth naturally into two principal parts, as in the Table following doth appear. In this Psalm of David is contained his sorrow and conflict, wherein is expressed a fearful apprehension of GOD'S justice, vers. 1. an humble petition for his mercy, & that under many reasons, whereof some are drawn from himself; & namely from his weakness, v. 2. troubles in body v. 2. soul, v. 3. GOD: and namely from his mercy, ver. 4. wisdom, ver. 5. justice, ver. 6. power, ver. 7. Victory and joy, in regard of his reconciliation with GOD, ver. 8. and 9 the confusion of his enemies, ver. 10. VERS. 1. O LORD rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chastise me in thy displeasure. 1 EVery sin is infinite, and wherefore. 2. Punishments in this life not to be feared, and wherefore. 3 Eternal wrath how fearful it is. 4 The pain of loss. 5 The pain of sense. 6 The fearful representations of a guilty conscience. 7 Which turneth the trembling soul to GOD. O Most glorious GOD! infinite in Majesty, to be both honoured and obeyed; infinite also in might, to be feared: The greater thy Majesty is, the greater are my offences against it to be esteemed; and the greater punishment may thy Almightiness inflict. As thy Majesty is infinite, so is every offence against it infinite; so is infinite punishment due to such offence. This infinite Majesty have I many ways most grievously offended; and therefore have just cause to fear thy grievous displeasure, thy grievous punishment: even equal to my sin, and that is infinite. I fear not thy reproof, I fear not thy corection; I daily expect it, I daily desire it; because daily I deserve it. For I know that daily I offend, and I know that thy divine justice will not suffer offences to remain unpunished. Verebar omnia opera mea sciens quod non parceres delinquenti. job. 9 If thy justice punisheth only in this life, then is it fatherly, then merciful, then is it justice tempered with mercy: but if it punisheth in the life to come, then is it extreme justice; then extreme rigour and revenge; then is it as a rod of iron, upon a potter's vessel. Psal▪ 2. The one is among men, and oftentimes by them; the other is in the company and by the office of Devils. Sicut erudit homo fi●ium suum, sic Dominus Deus crudit te, ut custodias mandata sua. Deut. 8.5. Heb. 12.6. The first is a gentle instruction, a chastisement, a correction; the last a severe and final execution. This rod of thy correction I kiss, I embrace thy chasticements upon my knees; If I were exempt from thy Fatherly chastisement, than were I exempt from being thy child, For thou scourgest every child whom thou receivest. But I fear thy fury, I tremble at thy extreme displeasure. I desire to feel thee as a loving Father, but not as an angry and inflexible judge. Rebuke me not, O LORD, with thy violent voice, let not thy angry arm beat stiffly upon me. It will consume me, as a flaming furnace; It will swallow me, as a devouring gulf; It will drive me as a torrent, into the headlong descent of eternal death & damnation. What strength can stand under thy Almighty arm? What courage can behold thy fierce bended brow, and not be astonished, not stroke down with terror? LORD, I now feel thy anger in a moderate measure, I now feel thy temporary and temperate wrath, which I am not able to endure; but hereby I am further led to esteem the full charge of thy fury, how unable I shall be to endure thy eternal indignation. How little a portion have we of him? job 26.14. but who can understand his fearful power? Assuredly, the general flood, the destruction of Sodom, all thy punishments which have been, shall be, or can be inflicted in this life, are to be deemed but as a few gentle drops, in regard of the full tempest of thy eternal wrath. In that day of thy wrath, when we shall stand forth at the bar of thy judgement; What soul can sustain thy angry eye; whose sight will pierce to the very centre of our hearts, and rip up every festered corner of our consciences? What other accusers? What other evidence will thy justice require? certainly if thy voice was terrible when thou gavest thy Law, if thy chosen people were then afraid; Exo. 20.13 how terrible will it be when thou shalt demand an account of thy Law? when thou shalt give sentence for the breach thereof against thine enemies? Depart from me ye cursed. Out alas! What a punishment of loss is this? to be banished from thy face, Poenadamni. whose beauty cannot be expressed, which the Angels insatiably desire to behold; the sight whereof is the full perfection of all pleasure and abundance, the true joy and rest of our souls. What death is so grievous as this departing? But whither (O LORD) dost thou command to depart? Into everlasting fire. Out alas! This is a cruel curse indeed. Whom will it not appal? whom will it not astonishwith fear? Poenasensus. Isa. 33. What? Into everlasting fire? without either intermission or end? Alas! Who can abide with the devouring fire? Who can dwell with the everlasting flames? This is the very habitation of thy wrath, in this place thy fury doth reign. Our abominable sins inflame thy wrath, and thy wrath inflameth this fire against us. here thou hast no presence of compassion, none of comfort; none but simply of indignation and wrath. here thy wrath will be so inexorable, that if all the Angels, if the whole court of heaven should entreat thee prostrate upon their faces, for one drop of water, to refresh one part of a tormented sinner, for a very short moment of time; they should not obtain, thou wouldst not be entreated. LORD, let me never hear this terrible voice, let me never feel this weight of thy wrath; albeit I have just cause to fear it. For I have been overcome, I have yielded to the sway of my sottish sensuality; I have disobeyed thee, I have rebelled against thee, I have deserved, I have provoked thy displeasure against me: And now my conscience quaketh, and formeth many fearful representations to my soul. Me thinks I see thee come furiously upon me; thy wrath (me thinks) is even now ready to strike. But stay, patient LORD, hold thy hand, forbear a while: give me leave to collect my astonished and dispersed thoughts; to erect my soul, and direct it to thee. Before thou comest in justice to overwhelm me with thy wrath, In justice hear what I have to say for myself. Regard the silent sobs which my feeble soul, surprised with fear, sendeth forth: regard the broken voice, which my trembling tongue addresseth to thee. VERS. II. Have mercy upon me O LORD, for I am weak: heal me LORD for my bones are troubled. 1 THe first weakness of a sinner. 2 Wherefore the fall of man repaired, and not of Angels. 3 A second weakness. 4 A third weakness. 5 When misery may sue to justice, when to Mercy. 6 The mind worketh bodily effects. 7 How the goodness of GOD is said to hurt. 8 A prayer. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, Have mercy upon me: Hold thy hand, O merciful LORD! Oh my GOD! What wilt thou do? What? Wilt thou make proof of thy prowess against my weakness? thinkest thou that I am come to combat with thee? to defy thy fury? to wrestle with thy wrath? LORD I am weak; I am wretchedly weak; because my weakness is inclinable to evil. 1. Weakness I am weak in resisting outward provocations, weak in resisting the pleasures of mine own appetites and desires. This weakness is miserable in me, but hath always been strong to move thee to mercy. For wherefore else hast thou repaired the sin of man, and not of Angels? Verily because man sinned through weakness of nature, but the sin of Angels proceeded merely from malice of will. For with the more frailty a sin is committed, the less doth it participate of will; and the less voluntary a sin is, the readier is thy mercy to relieve. And therefore seeing thou forgavest Adame, whose nature was entire; forgive me also I beseech thee, whose nature is corrupt and enclineable to evil: seeing also thou wert merciful to him who charged his fault upon another; be favouable, O LORD, to me who accuse and condemn only myself. Gen. 18.27. For this cause therefore I will speak unto my LORD, albeit I am but dust and ashes. LORD, thou hast, made me, and thou knowest of what temper I am made: For no man is ignorant of his proper work. Thou hast not made my nature of brass, my sinews are not of iron, nor my strength of steel; but thou hast made me of frail flesh, yeeldable to all occasions of evil. My soul thou hast placed in this case of clay, as in a boat, driven with the strong tide of sensual appetites; which cannot be carried against that stream, but by great labour, by strong striving with arms and with Oars. LORD, I do not lay forth this weakness of mine, to excuse my sin, but to incline thee to mercy. For the LORD is merciful to them that fear him; Psal. 103. because he knoweth whereof we be made, he remembreth that we are but dust. I have sinned indeed, but rather through weakness, than either malice or proud presumption: rather through a vicious and corrupt disposition infused as an inheritance from my ancestors, then through hellish either haughtiness or hate originally in my ●elfe. job 13.24 25. Wherefore then hidest thou thy face and takest me for thine enemy? Wilt thou use thy strength against a leaf? against dry stubble? Wilt thou pursue a smoke, a shadow, a thing of nothing? Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak. Not only to fall, 2. Weakness. but much more in rising from my fall; in repairing my state, in recovering thy love and favour again. Perditio tua ex te Israel, tantummodo in me auxilium tuum. Host 13. This I can no ways do by my natural strength, no ways without thy special power. I am able to offend thee, to fetter my feet in the snares of sin, to bring myself into danger of thy wrath; but to appease thee, to free & relieve myself, I am altogether unable. I can cast myself into the deep pit of perdition; but come forth and return back, by my own forces, I cannot. And therefore I still strain my voice unto thee: Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak. Weak in falling; weak in rising; but most weak I am, either to encounter or endure thy wrath. Gracious GOD, I prostrate myself at the feet of thy mercy, 3. Weakness. I creep under the wing of thy compassion. I deal not with thy justice, I tremble to think of it; It is with thy mercy and compassion that I have to do. Correct me in favour, but not in fury: to my instruction scourge me, but not to my destruction. Alas! my weakness hath made me sinful, and my sins have made me miserable; and my misery now sueth to thy mercy. If my misery were without sin, than I would plead it before thy justice, thy justice would then relieve my case; but for that it proceedeth from my sin, I lay my plea at the bar of thy mercy. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak●: I am not able to bear thy justice, I am not able to behold it; I am so far unable to endure the force of thy wrath, that the fear thereof hath almost undone me. It hath possessed every part of my body, It maketh my feeble flesh to tremble, it doth torment my very bones. For unfeigned fear and grief of mind, will soon work effects in the body; because the body and the soul are so firmly and familiarly knit together, that whatsoever joy or grief happeneth to the one, it is forthwith communicated to the other: Cor meum & caro mea exultanerunt in Deum vitium. even as in two rooms joined together, whatsoever motion or stir is in the one, it is easily sensible in the other. Blessed LORD, thou art always good; thou hurtest no man, unless himself be in the blame, unless it be through his own default. For as the Sun beam is clear and comfortable in itself, and so is it to the eye that is sound, yet to a sore eye it is very grievous: not through any default in the Sun, but by the diseased disposition of the eye: so albeit thou in thyself art perfectly good, and dost nothing but good, yet to a sinner thou art grievous; thy goodness can do no other than trouble and torment him: not through any evil influence from thee, but by reason of evil disposition in himself. And therefore, O gracious goodness! O merciful LORD! O lover of mankind! not only in pity pardon my weakness, but in power remove it; that I may be strong and able to enjoy thy goodness; that thy goodness be not grievous unto me. LORD! I resort unto thee, not only as to a judge for pardon, but as to a Physician for cure. My weakness hath taken a deep surfeit of sin, and it is now grown to a desperate disease. All the faculties of my soul are infected, and the poison is dispersed through all the members of my body. I can feel no strength, I can feel no quiet: not only my feeble parts, but they that are most strong are troubled alike. Have mercy upon me, and heal me. O GOD! Have mercy upon my imperfection, and heal my infection, I humbly entreat thee. Let thy mercy extend not only to pardon me, but to heal me: not only to pardon my sins that are past, but to make me strong and able against sins hereafter. For what good will pardon do me, if presently I return to my sin again? What will it avail that I be washed, if forthwith I plunge myself in the mire? LORD, I present myself unto thee in the lowest degree of humility and grief; my eyes charged with tears, my breast with sighs, my tongue with complaints, my whole body with disquiet: Let thine indignation now cease, look upon me with a more calm countenance. Help me up and I will rise, hold me up and I will stand: comfort and confirm my sin-oppressed senses. Have mercy upon me and heal me: give me thy health and strength, that under confidence of thy mercy I may boldly look thy justice in the face. VERS. III. My soul is also sore troubled; but LORD how long wilt thou delay. 1 THE torments of the soul how great they are. 2 The effects of unfeigned contrition. 3 A resort to GOD. 4 How offensive sin is to GOD. 5 Wherefore sin is the cause of trouble. 6 A prayer. 7 The cause of GOD'S delay. 8 The remedy. AND yet, the trouble of the body might be borne well enough: a man's courage may suffice to bear out any bodily grief; but who can bear the vexation of the soul? The pain of the body, is but the body of pain; the sorrow of the soul, is the soul of sorrow. Now thy terrors have also surprised my soul. Not only my body is cruelly crushed, both with the sense of my sin, and fear of thy wrath; but my soul also is very grievously afflicted with the one, and affrighted with the other. This soul which thou hast created to praise thee, is astonished to behold thee, astonished to think on thee: this soul which is the breath of thy mouth, is unable to endure the breath of thy displeasure: this soul which thou hast created to represent thy likeness, hath no liking, no power to sustain thy presence. The love thereof is extinguished with fear; it hath neither room nor respite to hope in thee. In thee it dares not rest assured, in any other thing it cannot. For assuredly, whensoever earnest and unfeigned contrition seizeth upon the soul, it disturbeth all joy, it taketh away pleasure in any thing but tears; it permitteth not to think on any thing but what is terrible. And as they who are in danger of shipwreck, cast over board their rich and best esteemed Merchandises, to save their lives: so they who are tossed with the tempest of GOD'S anger, Revertimini ad me in ieiunio▪ ●letu & planctu; s●indite corda vestra. etc. joel. 2. to save their souls, do not only abandon, but hate those things which formerly were either most delightful or dear unto them. Out alas! how am I oppressed? into what perplexities is my poor sorrow-beaten soul plunged? how is it abandoned? how are all the powers thereof laid waste? The understanding is darkened, the will dazzled, the memory confounded, the courage broken and beaten down: dread and amazement have dulled my senses. But above all, my conscience is gored with the sting of sin. It anguisheth, it lanceth, it stretcheth, it teareth, it crucifieth the very heart of my soul; It stirreth all upside down. Cor Impij quasi m●re feruens quiescere non potest. Verily, I find it to be very true, That the heart of a sinner is as the raging sea, which never hath rest: The waves whereof are always in motion, and one always dashing against another. I lead a life ever dying, and I feel a death never ending: all my choice is concluded in this; whether I will stand still without help, or stir any ways without hope. And as a fearful Dove shaketh at the roaring of thunder, and shrinketh into some obscure hole, supposing itself most safe when it is least seen: so my amazed soul, trembling at the dreadful sound of thy threats, looketh about for some place of retreat, either to defend or to hide it from thy furious face. It would fly from thee, but it knoweth not whither: it would be protected against thee, but it knoweth not by whom. O my GOD! I cannot fly from thee, but by flying to thee. And therefore I fly from thee offended, to thee appeased; I fly from thee through the gate of thy justice, and I fly to thee thorough the gate of thy mercy; I fly from a just revenging judge, to a merciful and indulgent father; whose goodness is infinite, whose mercy is a spring, a stream, an Ocean that cannot be exhausted: the goodness no less liberal, than the mercy is abundant. O sweetness of desi●e! O safety of souls! open to me, thy distressed suppliant; Let thy favour receive me, running from thy fury; Let thy pity protect me, against thy severity; comfort my troubled soul with one gentle cast of thy countenance: for I shall never recover again either my safety or my quiet, until I recover thy most loving and lovely look. For sin is so offensive, so odious unto thee, that wheresoever thou findest it, thou canst not afford a kind countenance; thou must needs turn away thine amiable eyes; thou wilt not display thy beauty upon so filthy a dunghill. And this is the cause why we are so troubled: For when thou turnest away thy face they shall be troubled. Auertente te faciem tuam turbabuntur. Assuredly, the vexation of my soul can have neither end nor ease, until thou turnest to me thy appeased countenance. All other appliancies are as the handling of ulcers and wounds; they do but draw more humours to my sore; they rather inflame then any ways assuage it. But how long, O LORD! how long will thine indignation? how long, O LORD! shall my anguish endure? how long wilt thou withhold thy comfort from me? Thou who hast always been slow to wrath, art thou slow now to lay down thy wrath? Thou who hast ever been patient, art thou now become inflexible? Is thine anger no less hard to quench now, then heretofore it hath been to kindle? O desire of my soul! thou knowest my tribulations, my thoughts lie naked in thy sight: thou seest how for thee my heart sorroweth, my breast sigheth, mine eye weepeth, my body fainteth, and my soul languisheth. And wherefore tarriest thou? wherefore dost thou prolong my longing? wherefore dost thou martyr me with delay? Why sufferest thou me thus long to be vexed? Is the cause hereof in thee? or is it in myself? Are thy mercies spent? is thy loving kindness at an end? wilt thou no more be entreated by sinners? or am I only canceled out of thy conceit? No, no: I do not so feelingly want thee, I do not so ardently desire thee as my case requires. Verily, the cause is in myself, and not in thee. There is some trespass in my tears, my sorrow is seasoned with some sin: thou seest some cause for which I cannot see thee: else wouldst thou not thus estrange thyself; else thus thou wouldst not give me over. I am rather unworthy to entertain thee, than thou unwilling to come unto me. Well then, I will still stir up the coals of my dull devotion; I will heap on more fuel; I will not cease blowing until it rise to a full and constant flame; I will not entreat only, but I will importune thee; I will wrestle with thee as jacob did with the Angel: I will not let thee go until thou bless me. VERS. FOUR Turn thee, O LORD, and deliver my soul: Oh save me for thy mercy's sake. 1 A Prayer. 2 The pleasures of this life how unprofitable they are. 3 The great distance between GOD and a sinner. 4 How brought together. 5 How grievous it is to be separate from GOD. 6 An earnest desire of the soul after GOD. 7 The absence of GOD worse than his anger. 8 How GOD is to be desired. 9 What moveth GOD to pity and relieve. 10 The great mercy of GOD. 11 To whom his mercy is properly due. 12 Mercy to sinners is a due. 13 GOD is most liberal, and wherefore. 14 How we should desire GOD to turn to us his face. O Come, merciful LORD! come and turn upon me thy favourable face; come exercise upon me the work of mercy. Regard me not as sinful, but as sorrowful for my sin: punish not my offences, but pity the weakness from whence they proceed; pity the distress whereinto they have cast me: pitifully regard my weakness and distress. For I feel my soul plunged in a vast sea of sin; I feel how fast it sinketh, how violently it is swallowed. I have greedily grasped at the floating comforts of this life; but I find no stay in them; I find they rather pester then relieve me. I find them like a flash of lightning in a dark stormy night; which serveth to show the present infelicity, and to increase the horror of ensuing darkness. And therefore do I now strain out my voice, and stretch forth my hand unto thee for help. Gladly would I turn to thee, but I am not able: for there is so great a distance between a sinner and thee, that by his own forces he cannot return and come near thee. Depart from thee, and adhere to evil of ourselves we may; but we cannot forsake evil and turn to thee, but by thy special power. No man by his proper virtue is able to save, and consequently to justify himself; thy grace must always prevent him; thou must first call him, before he be able to call upon thee. Convert me Domine & conuert●r. jere. 31. Cecidi in faciem meam, & ingresfus est in me spiritus, & & posuit me super pedes meos. Ezech. 3. The beginning of our conversion must be from thee, from thy preventing and inciting grace. And therefore turn to me, and then shall I be turned to thee: Turn unto me, not by any change in thyself, for thou art immutable: but turn to me by thy goodness and grace: and I will turn to thee by repentance and amendment of life. Oh! how grievous is it to be separated and estranged from thee? what good can comfort? what evil will not annoy when thou art turned away? Thou art the rock of my faint faith, Vide quantum malum & quantum amarum est dereliquisse te Dominum Deum tuum. jerem. 2. job. 13.24 the anchor of my wavering hope, the centre of my languishing desire and love. In thee I trust, upon thee I rely: I am so earnest in desiring thee, that I neither desire nor almost think upon any other thing. But where art thou? In what cloud dost thou hide thyself? what meanest thou to suspend thy comfort so long? to punish my desire so much with delay? Wherefore hidest thou thy face and takest me for thine enemy? Albeit thou art angry with me, yet would not I have thee depart from me: I had rather enjoy thee angry, than not at all; Deus de reliquit cum pe●sequimini & comprehendite, quia non est qui eripiat? Psal. 71.9. because thou art most extremely angry when thou turnest from us. When thou art angry and present, than dost thou instruct us, then reform us: but when thou turnest from us, than thou givest us over, than thou leavest us to innumerable and unavoidable evils. Albeit my friends forsake me, albeit my enemies persecute me, albeit all the societies of men and of Devil's tumult against me, yet do not thou forsake me, do not thou depart from me. Host 9.12. For woe to them from whom thou departest. But take heed, O troubled soul! and consider well what thou requirest of the LORD. Art not thou a sinner, job. 10.6. a grievous sinner? is not GOD a searcher of sins? a grievous punisher of grievous sins? Dost thou not pray to him to turn away his face from thy sins? Ps. 51. Vbi abscondam me a vultu irae tuae, quia peccavi ni mis. job. 13 Did not holy job say, where shall I hide me from thy countenance because I have sinned? And wouldst thou have him turn his face to thee, being a most heinous sinner? Yes, yes: I know well enough what I desire. I know that GOD hath more faces than one. Exo. 33.20 He hath a face of Majesty which no man can see and live. This face I cannot see. He hath a face of justice. Vultus Domini surefacientes mola, ut perdat de terra memoriam eo●um. ps. 23. Apoc. 1. jer. 33.5. This face I would not see. It is terrible to sinners: this face is upon them who do evil, to destroy their memorial from the earth. But he hath another face of compassion and mercy. And this face is like the Sun: exceeding full both of beauty and of virtue. This face he hideth from sinners. This face I desire to be displayed upon me, be it never so cloudy, never so angry: the anger of this face, is to make sinners pure. jer. 50.20. Num. 6.25 LORD make this face to shine upon me, and be merciful to me. LORD, this face do I seek: ps. 27.9.10. oh hide not thou thy face from me, nor cast away thy servant in displeasure. Come, come, gracious LORD: withhold no longer. O water of life! O shower of our salvation! distil into me one drop of thy dew. Seeing I am nothing without thee, let me taste the benefit of being thine. I desire thee, and not thine: for thyself, not for thy gifts. I desire thee only; not thee for any thing, nothing for thee, nothing with thee, nothing beside thee. Come, deliver my soul from the chains of sin, wherewith I am bound to satisfy the rigour of thy justice, by eternal death and damnation. Deliver me from long custom of sin: deliver me both from the pleasures and cares of this world; which are cables to tie me, fetters to hold me captive from turning to thee. Deliver my soul and save me. First, deliver my soul from present distress, then address me in the right way of thy salvation. It is true, that there is no desert, no goodness in me, that should any ways move thee to pity or relieve me. For I have loosely abandoned thee, I have traitorously conspired against thine honour, I am altogether unworthy, but in wrath and revenge to be regarded of thee. But I entreat thee by thine infinite goodness (which is sufficient to abolish all the sins in the world) even in the lowest descent of humility, for thy mercy's sake I beseech thee, to save me. LORD I cry to thee in the confidence of thy mercies, and not of my merits: whereto no salvation, but eternal death and destruction is due. And if thou wilt not absolutely be entreated, yet this word mercy is a main argument to move thee, or to assure me at the least that thou wilt save me. For thou art merciful, both inwardly in thyself, & outwardly to others. It is thy proper nature to beê merciful: it is more proper for thee to do good, Misericors & miserator Dominus. Psal. 115. to impart thyself to all things, than it is for the Sun to enlighten, then for the fire to give heat: thou canst not but exercise the actions of mercy. But upon whom? upon righteous persons? what needeth that? For they have no misery, because they have no sin, which only is misery, which only needeth mercy. Is it then upon small offenders? is it to a certain degree and measure of sin? Patiens & mu●tum misericors. ibid. Why, but thou art exceeding merciful; infinite in mercy; no less infinite in mercy, then in nature: for thou art mercy. Verily, as the rich man oweth his relief to the poor; and the greater his riches are, the greater is his debt: as also the more poor a man is, the more right he hath to demand relief: even so, the greater thy mercies are, the more must thou exercise the same upon miserable sinners; and the more miserable and sinful a man is, the more boldly may he come to thee for mercy. The miserable sinner, overcharged with sins, may confidently make his suit unto thee; to do thy duty, to exercise thy action, to take away his misery, to impart to him thy mercy: that where sin abounds, Vbi abundavit delictum superabundavit & gratia. grace also may more than abound. Men do therefore give sparingly, or at the least in some measure, because the more they give, the less they retain: but thy treasure cannot be either exhausted or diminished; thou departest with nothing by imparting to others; by giving abundantly, thou hast nothing the less. Thou art a fountain of pity and mercy, from whence innumerable streams proceed: the waters whereof are infinite, both in quantity and in virtue; as well to cure our wounds and infirmities, as to wash away our filthiness, and refresh our weakness. O infinite fountain! how canst thou be dried? O sweetness! O satiety of desires! what languishing soul came ever to thee, and was not both cured, and cleansed and fully refreshed? Doubtless O Lord! thou art exceeding merciful; and wilt both readily and largely distribute thy mercies among offenders. Thou wilt deliver them & save them, if they turn unto thee; if with penitent hearts they desire thy mercy. Thou art more liberal to give, than they can be either desirous or willing to receive. VERSE. V. For in death no man remembreth thee: and who will give thee thanks in the pit? THE wisdom of GOD bindeth our assurance. 2. To what end man was created. 3. The time of life limited for repentance. 4 Pain causeth forgetfulness of any thing but of itself. 5. As after death repentance is unprofitable, so at the instant of death it is very doubtful. 6. The discommodities of late repentance. AND it is not only thy mercy which bindeth my reason, but also thy wisdom. For I am thy creature, the work of thy hands; the work which thy wisdom hath framed to some end. Thy wisdom hath framed nothing in vain, nothing but to some end; without attaining which end it should not perish. But it is all one if I had been created for nothing and in vain, and if I should not attain to the end for which I was created. To what end then did thy Wisdom create me in this World? Certainly, that I should know thee, and that by knowing thee, I should love thee; and that in loving thee, I should never cease to remember thee, never cease to praise thee: never cease to sorrow when I offend thee. To this end I was created, and I am desirous to accomplish this end: I am desirous to be an instrument for extolling thy praise, and setting forth thy glory. But in case I die thus charged with sin, before thou turnest thy mercy to me, before I turn to thee by repentance; what honour will thereby rise to thee? what benefit to myself? How shall I then partake of thy goodness? How shall I publish and praise the same? For so long as we enjoy the benefit of life, We nay repent, we may leave our sins, we may return to the state of grace. But after death followeth judgement; when no error can be, either repent, or repaired; but every man shall suffer according as he hath done. In this li●e we may both dispose ourselves, and incite others to blazon thy praise; but in the dungeon of death, who will thank thee? who will think on thee? who will sing thy praises in the bosom of Hell? This is not a proper place for the sweet harmony of thy praise, for the joyful memorial of thy name. Thy praise consisteth in a thankful publication of thy grace, goodness and mercy. But this is the house of horror, here thy full fury and vengeance inhabit: here can be neither thankful nor joyful remembrance of thee. It is familiar to the pleasures of this life (if they be great) to cause us to forget both thee and ourselves. But we are far less sensible of pleasure then of pain; pains are more sharp to us, in a high degree, than pleasures are sweet. Sharp pains do so strongly affect the body, they do so viòlently possess the mind, that it cannot once think of any other thing. Who may then remember thee as he should, being under the hand of thy terrible wrath? Who shall either love thee or laud thee in the ugly den of death? where the eyes are possessed with hideous hurlements; the ears, with desperate & fruitless wail; all the faculties and parts, both with intolerable and endless torments. Where nothing is either suffered or done, but effects of thine implacable wrath. Assuredly, they are cursed by thee who are condemned to this place, and here again they curse and blaspheme thee. Conuertere ad Dominun & de relinque peccata tua, & precareante faciem domini. Eccles. 17. For this cause the wiseman exhorteth us, to turn to thee, to forsake our sins, and to make our prayers before thy face. But what is it to do all these things b●fore thy face? even in this life: in which time thy face shineth upon us, in which time we walk before thy face, and may easily obtain thy mercy. But the wicked after death are cast behind thy back, they are drowned in perpetual oblivion never to be remembered, either for pardon or forbearance. They are as the handful behind the back of the Mower, jer. 9.22. which no man gathereth. When hay falleth before the face of the Mower, it may be gathered up again: but when it falleth behind his back, it is not regarded, it is cast away and perisheth. During this life, whilst we are before thy face, we may easily be recovered and restored to mercy: but afterdeath, no hope of relief, no expectation but of judgement. Levit. 25. The LORD commanded that if any man had sold a house in a walled city, within a year he should have power to redeem it: But after the year his power to buy it again was cut off. Now, if for the pleasures of sin we have sold our eternal habitation, Domum habemus non manu factam eternam in coelis. 1. Cor. 5. Psal. 88 not made with hands: we have power to redeem it by repentance, during the year of our life: that term expired, we have no ability to recover it again. Then shall that of the Prophet take place, Dost thou show wonders among the dead? or shall the dead rise again and praise thee? shall thy loving kindness be showed in the grave, or thy faithfulness in destruction? shall thy wondrous works be shown in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten? Assuredly, as after death tears are fruitless, repentance unprofitable; as after death no mercy is to be expected, nothing but misery, nothing but wrath: so is it doubtful & very dangerous that our tears, sighs & groans, are of little force at the very near approach of death; whether by age, or by extremities of disease. For at that time, when our powers are either distracted or spent; when we lie either struggling, or panting under the arrest of death; when no part is free, either from the sense or fear of his cruel gripe; we may well be said to be in death; or at least wise in such a condition and state, as doth less participate of life then of death. And therefore it is doubtful at the least, lest at that time we shall not remember thee; lest our repentance at that time shallbe too late. A good husband will repair his house whilst the weather is fair, and not defer until Winter shall approach: a careful Pilot will furnish his ship whilst the seas are calm, and not stay till tempests are in rage; and a provident man will repent his sins in the seasonable time of health and strength, and not protract until he be in the very arms and embracements of death; when many occasions may cut from him, either his mind, or power, or time to repent. For we have just cause to fear, that if we would not when we might, we shall not be able when we would: that by our will to do evil, we may happily lose the power to do good: that in trouble and necessity we shall not find that help, which in prosperity and peace we did not endeavour to provide. This hath our Saviour declared by a familiar example: Luke 14. For that no king making war with one stronger than himself, but will endeavour to have peace whilst his enemy is far off; And not expect until the sword shall threaten his throat. Darest thou, then, O unfortunate worm! O improvident sinner! Who makest war against the omnipotent LORD, who hath all the powers in heaven earth and hell at his command; darest thou (I say) defer the making of thy peace with him, until the point of his furious approach? Until the very hour of his encounter? How vain is thy confidence? How sottish thy sense? Wherefore wilt not thou make thy peace in time, whilst he is far off? Wherefore wilt thou not entreat his mercy before thou comest to feel his power. Assuredly, 3. Paralip. 18.24. the day will come when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber (from one avoidance to another) to hide thee, and yet shalt find neither covert nor defence. Alas! who dares trust to the broken reed of extreme sickness or age? bruised by original, but altogether broken by our actual sins? Repentance is often unprofitable, even in the best time and state of our life, by reason of defect of a right intention: & therefore we have good cause not to trust to this late and last time of repentance. Heb. 12.17 For if Esau could not find repentance, albeit he sought it with Tears; how reasonable may we suspect our extreme late seeking for repentance? Not because true repentance is ever too late, but because late repentance is seldom true; as proceeding rather from fear, then from love; from necessity rather than from willingness and desire; rather outwardly pretended, then intended from the heart. LORD turn to me and deliver my soul; Enlighten my understanding from this gross darkness; free my desires from these massy iron fetters of ●inne. That I may turn to thee in the seasonable time of sanity and strength; and not defer the weighty work of my repentance, until either by long custom of sin, or by debility of body and mind, I shall not be able to think on thee. VERS. VI I am weary of my groaning, every night wash I my bed, and water my couch with my tears. 1. ASsurance from the justice and power of GOD. 2 justice requireth not a double condemnation. 3 The arraignment of a conscious soul. 4 When sins hurt us. 5 A true resolution. 6 The virtue of perseverance. 7 Repentance must be answerable to our fall. 8 Tears a precious liquor, and wherein chiefly to be bestowed. 9 An incitement for tears. 10 When tears are profitable. 11 A prayer addressed with tears. NOT only thy mercy and wisdom may move thee to save me, not only do I rely and rest upon them, but I have found a honey comb in the mouth of a Lion: thy justice and thy power, which were so terrible to me, afford me also great comfort and assurance. For tell me, if thy justice findeth a man condemned and under execution, what will it then do? Surely, it will prosecute no further: it will put up the sword and be at peace. Thy justice requireth not a double condemnation; it sufficeth that an offender hath judgement once: thou never judgest them, whom thou findest judged. But I am now judged already: Si nosmet ipsus dijudicarimus, nen utique dijudicaremur. I have prevented thy judgement by judging myself. Behold, O searcher of hearts, how my sinful soul hath been arraigned at the bar of mine own judgement; how by the evidence of my conscience it is found guilty of many grievous offences, against thee, against many men, and against itself. How it is committed close prisoner to sorrow. How by solemn sentence it is enjoined, never to cease groaning, never to cease weeping, In quacunque hora peccator ing●muerit saluus erit. until it hath procured thy pardon. Lo now I am come to thy presence, and put up my penitent petition to thee. O thou, who hast promised to save sinners, when they mourn and lament; save me now, speak comfortably to my sobbing soul, relieve and release my distressed state. Behold how I languish under this leaden load of grief! behold how I sink under this sad charge of sorrow! that as sin is caused by unlawful pleasures, so by true and unfeigned sorrow these pleasures may be extinguished, and the sins done away. For our sins never hurt us, if we remember them with like sorrow, as with pleasure we did commit them. Alas! my soul is torn in pieces with remembrance of my sins; my strength is broken both with the greatness and continuance of my grief. I am weary of my groaning: and yet will I not cease to redouble my groans. On the one side, these penitent pressures have vowed never to forsake me, until they have reconciled me to thee; On the other side, my earnest prayers have vowed never to leave thee, until they have reconciled thee to me. Many streams of tears have gushed also out of my eyes; and yet will I not close them in one dry sleep, until I have obtained thy favour. For in vain did I begin to repent, if I persevere not in a constant course: In vain did I attempt to knock at heaven gates, if I should give over before they be opened. Perseverance is so necessary a virtue to all penitents; that without it they never attain the fruits of their endeavours, they shall never have remission of their sins. This is the perfection of all virtues; Qui perseveraverit usque in fine, hic saluut erit. the justice of the righteous, the glory of their sufferings, the triumph of their troubles, the accomplishment of their hopes. Without this, neither he that sighteth shall have victory, nor the victorious glory: without this, no action is acceptable to GOD. For where the desire of perfection doth end, there doth the sin of defection begin: which not only defaceth, but depraveth all the good that went before: not only maketh it to be no good, but turneth it to odious evil. A debtor is not discharged by paying much, but by paying all: nor he crowned who runneth well, but he who holdeth out well to the end. They only shall attain the end of their endeavours, who turn not their feet back, like the children of Ephraim; Psal. 78.10 Gen. 19 who turn not their eyes back, like Lot's wife; who turn not their thoughts back, like the people of Israel, Num. 11. Quae retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea quae priora sunt extendens me ip. sum, addestinatum persequor branium. Phil. 3. when they departed out of Egypt. Only they shall be crowned, who with a constant courage pursue their designs, and neither fail nor faint until attainment. Well then; I will not remit, not intermit the labours of repentance; my weariness shall not cause me to give over my groaning; day and night I will not forbear to weep. Repentance is a baptism of tears; and the greater that our fall hath been, the greater must be the torrent of our tears. It is natural to men, that their lamentation be in some sort answerable to their loss. Quid prodest homini si mundum universum lucretur, animae vero suae detrimentum pattatur. Matth. Cautarizaetam habentes conscientiam. 1. Tim. 4 But my loss hath been so great, that no tears are sufficient to lament them. I have lost the grace and favour of GOD; I have lost his righteousness, I have lost both his fear and his love, I have lost GOD himself, I have lost mine own soul. Out wretch! What can I be said to have, when I have lost both GOD and myself. How obdurate is my heart? how dull, how dead is my soul? how is my conscience cauterised and seared, if for so great losses I cannot weep? The soul which is sensible of a needle's point? shall it not bleed at the strokes of lances and swords? I can weep for losses in my temporal estate, for loss of worldly kindred or friends I easily fall to immoderate weeping: and can I not open a vein of tears when I have lost the riches of heaven? when I have lost both GOD and myself? Assuredly, tears are so precious a liquor, that we should not spend them for ordinary matters. But if not for other things, if not for GOD, yet am I bound to bestow tears for myself. Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves. Luke 27. If for nothing else I may weep, yet it is lawful to weep for myself. For in all other matters tears are lost, in case they be not spent for ourselves. Oh! that I could weep an Ocean of tears; to drown my sorrow, to drown my shame. Oh! that I could resolve my bowels into tears. So, so: this is right. Sob, O my heart, until thou dost ache: shower down more plenty of tears, O my eyes! set yourselves on float in a full tide of tears. As unclean vessels must be first scoured, and then washed; so my impure soiled soul, must be first well rubbed with grief, then washed with tears; and so happily it will appear beautiful and fair. For tears are nothing worth, if they proceed from a softness and tenderness of nature, and not from a heart attached with grief. They must be the sweat of the soul, labouring in sorrow: they must be the blood of a wounded conscience: they must be drops from a heart, pierced with grief. Favourable LORD, receive the groans which my grief sendeth to thee; winged with sighs, and poised with tears. Tears which are able to quench hell fire, let them appease thy fiery fury; thou who art by terrors invincible, yield thyself to be vanquished with tears. Ah my GOD! thou hast oftentimes heard my groans, my tears have often prevailed with thee: hear now my groans, be again entreated with tears. Let not those faults seem foul unto thee, which I have so often washed with my tears. VERS. VII. My beauty is gone for very trouble: and worn away because of all mine enemies. 1 INSULTING enemies how grievous they are. 2. Pity in distress is naturally desired. 3. The malice of enemies moveth GOD to be merciful. 4. Sin is the first cause of hostility and hate. 5 Our sins stir up store of enemies both without and within us. 6 Which should draw us to humility. 7. A defiance to our flesh. 8 Our misery is a good assurance of GOD'S compassion. 9 A prayer to that end. Immortal and immutable GOD! Thou seest how I am cast down, how low I am fallen; even beneath the base condition of contempt. I am as a withered flower, without either beauty or sap; I am so consumed with grief, that there remaineth in me neither favour nor form. For I lie under the severe hand of thy wrath; I am assailed with outward calamities, I am disquieted with inward anguishes. And herewith my enemies multiply, and tumult against me; not so much to over bear me (for that is effected to their hands) as to insult over me. Their insolent insulting doth much increase the sense of my miseries; It is no less grievous to me, than my miseries themselves. Whatsoever either heart or hope my miseries have left, the same by the insolence of mine enemies is beaten down. To lie prostrate under thy heavy hand, is a heavy case; to be deprived of the poorest comfort of calamity, pity, is a very pitiful state indeed; naturally we desire, if we cannot be relieved, yet to be pitied: but to be despised and despited in our miseries, to see men so far from pity, that they take pleasure at our dejection, what can be said or suffered more? Assuredly, not calamities, not death itself, is so grievous to a free ingenuous mind, as is derision and despite. Now, this being the condition of my case, What rigour wilt thou further use? What sad severity will thy anger further execute upon me? What? wilt thou exercise thy strength against so dejected a person? Against a worm? against a leaf? against a shadow? against nothing? Will a Giant make proof of his prowess against a Gnat? Or if he do, shall he ever attain glory by his achievement? Consider, O LORD, first my troubles, than both the multitude and malice of mine enemies, and then see in what sort it may best beseem thy Almighty Majesty to deal with me. For, as generally sin is the first cause of hostility and hate; Gen. 3.15. as enmity is the curse of sinne● as by sin man hath lost, not only the obedience of other creatures, but amity both among themselves, and within their own bosoms: so my particular sins have stirred such s●ore of enemies against me, that I account myself of all men most forsaken and forlorn. I have offended the LORD and Creator of all things, and have thereby incurred the hostility of all creatures; all creatures in his quarrel are in Arms against me. Nothing doth take my part, nothing doth comfort me, all things are violently bend to oppress me. Mine ancient enemies have doubled, both in malice and in power; many do daily adjoin unto them; my kindred and kind friends grow strange. No man but either openly or secretly setteth himself to pursue me; some with despite, others with derision and scorn, the residue with forgetfulness or contempt. Yea, mine own conscience most sharply pursues me, my most secret thoughts mutiny within me; abroad and at home I can find no peace. For this cause I have composed my voice to the tunes of mourning, I have cast down my countenance with trembling and shame; all my behaviour is attired in the unlovely livery of sadness. I go as one unseen, or unknown, or unregarded; I walk as senseless of any thing but only of sorrow. I have not only neglected, but evil entreated my filthy flesh, for conspiring to betray my soul to the slavery of sin; for drawing my soul down into hell, which should have soared up with my flesh into heaven. Fleshy, thou corrupt case of flesh and blood; wherein my soul is penned, as a prisoner in a loathsome jail. Thou hast shamefully abused and abased that guest, which hath hitherto supported thee, hitherto preserved thee from putrefaction and stink. I have therefore challenged the combat of thee, I am fully resolved to beat thee down. I will also complain of thee to the omnipotent judge, in the high Court of his Star Chamber; I will prove thee a deceiver, a traitor; I will prove thee a combiner, a rioter with the world and the Devil: I will prove thee a forger of false assurances. Alas! there is left in me, neither beauty to be envied, nor strength to be feared. I am sunk so low, as there needeth now a strong hand to raise me, great power and goodness to restore me. What wilt thou do more against me? Will't thou also press me down with thine Almighty arm? But the noble nature of a Lion will not hurt the beast that falleth prostrate before him. And doubtless, the more a man is endued both with magnanimity and power; the more prone is he, not only to forbear, but to erect and relieve those that are dejected. For true valour and compassion are always chained together. And therefore thou who art most magnanimous, must also of necessity be most compassionate; Thou who art most powerful and most magnanimous; must also of necessity be most inclinable, most forward, most desirous to save. O my GOD! whose pity is equal to thy power; I am a most miserable forlorn creature: I know it right well, I acknowledge it to thee: Show now upon me thy pitiful power; not only in sparing, but in saving me. In this let thy power be known: for this let me glorify thy name. Deal with me as thou didst with those who did foolishly tempt thee; whom thou didst save for thy name, Et saluavit propter nomen suum, ut notam fatoret potentiam suam. that thy power might be known. For assuredly, thy power may now be shown more by relieving, then by further oppressing; thy power shall this way work to thy greatest praise. This will best beseem thy most excellent Majesty, this is most agreeable to the greatness of thy power; this is most agreeable to the goodness of thy will; this will best sort to the glory of thy Name. VERS. VIII. Away from me all ye that work vanity: for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 1. HOW GOD is changed and yet remains immutable. 2. Good drawn from the contrary evil. 3 Society of the wicked is to be avoided, and wherefore. 4. A resolution to avoid such society. 5. The hate of the wicked is empty of harm, and wherefore. 6. The force of Tears. 7. How beautiful they are. 8. A resolution not to give over weeping. BUT lo, this stiff storm is suddenly blown over: the tempest which did drive so bitterly in my face, is suddenly turned to a quiet calm: the clouds of displeasure which were wrapped about my head, are broken and dispersed; and the sweet Sunshine of mercy hath cleared her comfortable beams upon me. GOD is now appeased with me; he hath now changed his countenance towards me; and yet remaineth immutable in himself. For as natural causes work according to the disposition of the subject (as the same Sun hardeneth Clay, and melteth Wax; comforteth some bodies, and scorcheth others) So the cause of all causes, being always one, worketh diversly in us, accordingly as we are differently disposed towards him. Come hither now all ye that are oppressed with grief; I will tell you that which you will hardly believe. In a dark Dungeon I have found Paradise; in sorrow, joy; in trouble, tranquillity and rest; in want, abundance; in despair, hope; in trembling and fear, assurance and strength. All this you will hardly believe, yet all this hath the sweet hand of the LORD effected for me Lo, he that was once far off, is now present; I embrace him whom once I could not see; he that could not be found, is now discovered, hath now approached. He hath comforted me, he hath cured me, he hath ministered strength and courage to me. And therefore, Away from me all ye workers of iniquity: I will have nothing to do with you: your iniquity is contagious, it shall not come near me, I am now reconciled to GOD, I am restored to his friendship: I will no more be familiar with you, I can take no pleasure in your society. I am newly cleansed, I will not defile myself with your impure conversation; your wickedness shall have no opportunity to undermine my weakness. If a building be weak, and the walls decline, a small force is sufficient to prostrate it to the ground. But our weak nature detorted from original justice, and much impaired by frequency of sin, is always prone and enclinable to evil: the Imagination of man's heart is evil even from his youth. Gen. 8.21. And therefore I will avoid all outward occasions that may attract me to evil; among which, familiar conversing with evil men is the chief. Cum sancto sanctus eris, & cum perverso perverteris. Psa. 18.25. For if two contraries be applied together, the stronger must necessarily destroy the weaker. But as we are more enclinable to vice then to virtue; so vice is more strong in the wicked, than virtue in the good: whereby it followeth, that the society of evil men is most dangerous to the good; and that as an hundred sound men shall sooner take the plague from one infected person, Egredimini de Babylone, fugite a Chaldaeis. Es. 48. jer. 50. Recedite a Tabernaculu impi●●um, Num. 10. than he recover his health by them; so the good are more often perverted by the wicked, than the wicked converted by the good. For this cause GOD loveth nor to see his children among the wicked. For this cause he commanded his people that they should not join in marriage with the Gentiles. Exo. 34. For this cause also he commanded them to destroy the inhabitants of the country, which they were to possess; lest by society in their conversation, Num. 33. Psal. 105. they should be drawn into society of their sins; as afterwards they were indeed. Elihu marvelled at job; job 31. Phil. 2. and the Apostle at the Philippians, that among the wicked they could live well. Lot who lived in Sodom, Gen. 19 needed the hand of an Angel to draw him forth. Saint Peter being in the company of the other Apostles, confessed the LORD to be the Son of GOD: but denied him in Caiphas house, when he stood among the wicked by the fire. Matth. 26. GOD commanded that no man should touch any creature that was unclean; Deut. 15. and that whosoever touched a dead body, he should be unclean. But no creature is so unclean as a sinner: no death is like to the death of sin. And therefore I will avoid wicked men, as the most unclean of living creatures, and the most loathsome of those that are dead. I will not regard either kindred or kind acquaintance; Semper aliquid mali propter vicinum malum I will esteem all the wicked alike. I will cast off my near friends; I will pull out my eyes, I will cut off my hands, rather than they shall draw me to evil. I will rather live in deserts and caves, Matth. 26. rather with dragons and vipers, Qui tetigerit picem inquinabitur obea. Eccles. 13. then in the society of those that are evil. I will not touch these pitchy companions, I will not in the least matters have to deal with them. If a small rupture in a bank be not timely stopped, it will wear greater, and all the valley will be surrownded thereby. Esay 14. Of the seed of a serpent cometh the cockatrice: and of small beginnings dangerous effects may ensue. I will not therefore be negligent in smallest matters: I will not contemn any enemy: He that despiseth small things, by l●ttle and little shall decay. Eccles. 19 Esay 1. The wine (saith the Prophet) is mixed with water. Verily as wine mingled with water, looseth both sweetness & strength, so the good loose credit & virtue by society with the evil. But as a man who standeth upon firm ground will cast forth boards and lines to save such as are in danger of drowning, and yet will not approach so near as to be drowned with them: so I will afford the wicked what helps I can, for their safety; but will have an eye that they fasten not upon me, that they draw me not into their destruction. Away from me also all ye mine enemies, who intent any wickedness against me: take away your malice, for your mischief is at an end. The LORD is now at peace with me, he hath put up the sword of his justice, he hath given to me his merciful hand. In vain shall you now either attempt against me, or insult over me: It is not only vanity, but iniquity which now you shall contrive against me. You shall never effect your evil intentions. Hate me you may, but harm me you cannot. You shall never prevail against him, who hath prevailed against the Almighty. My tears have overcome the Omnipotent, the voice of my tears hath vanquished the invincible. These lukewarm drops have quenched GOD'S anger, qualified his justice, recovered his mercy, won his love. True tears are the language of heaven; they speak strongly to GOD, he heareth them well. No voice hath more free and familiar access to him; none is more acceptable, none better understood. He who often regardeth not the voice of the tongue, will always hear the voice of our tears. The voice of the tongue is framed in the mouth, but the voice of tears proceeds from a heart, surprised either with joy or with grief. He who regardeth only the heart, doth much regard this language of the heart. Therefore in all the anguishs of my soul, I will use few words hereafter, but power forth my sorrow in silent tears; whensoever I sin, I will write my supplication for pardon with tears: whensoever I would obtain any courtesy or favour from GOD, I will address my desire with tears. Tears are too mighty Orators to let any suit fall. When tears cry unto GOD, when he is importuned by tears, he will presently grow familiar with us. They have so persuading a silence, so conquering a complaint; that by entreating they command, by yielding they overcome. When they seem most pitiful, then are they most powerful: when they seem most forsaken, then are they most victorious. This dew of devotion never falleth, but it is an assured sign of a beautiful day; even of GOD'S favour to clear upon us. Upon what face soever it droppeth, it maketh the same amiable in the eyes of GOD. I will not therefore give over my weeping, my face must be still adorned with these liquid pearls, the Angels shall still bathe themselves in these streams of my eyes: until death dam up the springs they shall not cease running. But herein use some caution (O my soul) for, that thy tears may be profitable, that they may be more acceptable to GOD, they must not proceed from a softness and tenderness of nature: Pour out your hearts before him. Ps. 62.8. but thou must pour forth thy very heart in tears. They must not proceed from any worldly respect, not from fear of death or of hell, not absolutely from love of thyself: but from love towards GOD, and from grief for offending so good a Father, so great a Lord, so pure a perfection and glory. This love is the fire, wherewith these silver drops are melted in the furnace; wherewith the flowers of devotion and grace are distilled into tears. This love is the sun which resolveth dark pitchy clouds into rain, which resolveth thick foggy mists into dew, and maketh the air pleasant and clear. Without this love, tears are nothing but excremental water; they are nothing worth if they be not warmed and melted with this heat of love. For as water taken from pits and wells upon the earth, is not so fruitful to make herbs thrive, as rain water which falleth from heaven; Insomuch as some plants growing in the midst of waters, will wither and die for want of rain: so tears which proceed from terrene respects, make not the soul so flourishing and fruitful in grace, as tears which fall for the love of GOD. Such were the tears of the sinful woman, who watered her master's feet with her tears, who with the tears of her body cleansed her soul. For to her many sins were forgiven, not principally in regard of her tears, but because she loved much. VERS. IX. The LORD hath heard my petition: the LORD will receive my prayer. 1 HOW easy GOD is to hear and to pardon. 2. No sooner can we dispose ourselves to ask, but we receive from GOD some taste of his favour. 3. Wherefore sometimes GOD deferreth for a time. 4. Inequality between GOD'S disposition and ours. 6. The trophy of repentant Tears. 7. Our miseries turned to medicines. 8. The world how to be esteemed. 9 The experience of GOD'S liberality and love, what it worketh. 10. Experience surmounteth reason. 11 The condition of our assurance. 12. When GOD cannot be entreated. 13. What giveth wings to our prayers, what weigheth them down. O Incredible clemency and mercy! How cometh it, O LORD, that thou art so ready to hear us? so easy to pardon us? did my sorrow sit so near thy heart? wert thou so stricken with the wounds of my soul, by seeing them bleed so fast at mine eyes? Thou hast now finished my fears, assured my hopes, perfected my joys, satisfied my desires. Oh! how good is the LORD? Is any like unto the most high? who comforteth the afflicted, healeth the wounded, reuiueth the dead? Is any other like unto him? Learn, O ye feeble souls! how amiable the LORD is; how merciful, how mild; how he visiteth his servants, how he never disdaineth to impart himself to them. Scarce, O LORD, can we dispose ourselves to crave forgiveness, scarce open our lips, scarce address ourselves to sue to thee for mercy; but we receive some taste of thy favour. When we are coming to thee slowly and far off, thou runnest to meet us; thou embracest us in the arms of thy love, thou givest us the comfortable kisses of peace. Or if thou dost defer thy comfort and consolations for a time, it is to send them in greater abundance; it is that the long absence thereof, with little hope, and great desire, should make thy presence the more esteemed. O infinite inequality between my disposition and thine! I am rash in offending thee, and thou art ready to remit mine offences: I run apace to dishonour thee, and thou hastest more fast to receive me to grace. I have searched all places, even the bottom of the sea, even the bowels of the earth, to minister foment and food to my sensual desires: And when these pleasures had poisoned my soul, when I was in a maze of troubles, under a Mass of dangers; when I was at the very point to perish, in a moment thou didst pierce the heavens, and come down for my deliverance. Thou didst not only deliver me and set me free, but thou didst comfort and revive my languishing soul; even as a hot Bath refresheth the limbs of a poor tired traveller. Behold now the Trophy of my repentant tears; see how my sorrow triumpheth over my sins. My hope, which was weighed down with the leaden plumets of sin, is now at liberty, now full of lively courage and joy. The LORD hath heard my petition. I have not sorrowed and prayed in vain; I have obtained pardon, I have received grace; he hath not been strange of his favour, he hath not been sparing of his mercy towards me. All my former discomforts and miseries are turned to the nature of medicines. They have been like bitter Pills to purge superfluous and corrupt humours; they have been like Aloes and Wormwood, to wean me from the tea●es of this world. O world! which hast bewitched so many, blinded so many; Thou wert nothing at thy beginning, thy light is but a shadow, thou art but a smoke in thy greatest height; in show somewhat, but in substance nothing. Thou art sweet to fools, thou art either bitter, or without relish to wise men. Whosoever loveth thee, never knew thee; whosoever knoweth thee, doth either loath or contemn thee. And because now I have large experience both of the liberality and love of GOD; I will not hereafter be dismayed, I will not be discouraged: I will assume assurance, that whensoever I call upon him, the LORD will receive my prayer. Albeit, I see nothing but punishments, and the worst of punishments, fears: albeit I find no comfort, yet will I hope. I will rather think that all my senses are mistaken, then fail in hope; I will first let go my life, before I will let go my hope. My reason may be vanquished, but by experience is stronger than reason, my experience cannot be overcome. Approved experience will not be encountered by reason, it prescribeth rules and limits to reason, it is guided by no Law but by itself: It hath armed me against all despairs, discouragements, or distrusts. Albeit reason may discourse, that I have so often provoked the wrath of GOD, and wearied his patience, that he cannot but now reject my prayer; yet experience doth warrant mine infirmity, that the goodness of GOD is such, that whatsoever petitions and importunities I offer, he will never be weary to hear them, never unwilling to grant them: that the more we draw of this fountain, the fuller are the waters, and the sweeter their taste. All this is under one condition, if we abandon our sin. For only our sin, only our perseverance in sin doth hinder the approach of our prayers to GOD. GOD is never inexorable, but when man is incorrigible; when man will not be amended, then cannot GOD be entreated. We have sinned, Though you make many prayers, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood. Wash you clean, & though your sins were as crimson, they shall be white as snow. Esay 1.15. etc. and provoked thee to wrath; therefore thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayers should not pass through. Lam. 3. For when we come to entreat him, armed, with those weapons wherewith we did offend him; when our hearts are bathed in uncleanness, when our hands smoke with the blood of our sins; how should he hear our prayers? how should he not abhor them? So long as the broken Iron remaineth in a wound, it is but a vain labour to apply plasters to cure it. Of no greater force a●e our prayers, and all other religious actions or endeavours, so long as sin remaineth in the wounds of our will, so long as the pleasure of sin sticketh fast in our purposes and desires. For as we can never qualify our thirst with drink, whilst our stomach is stuffed with such bilious humours, as by drinking inflame the greater thirst; so our souls shall never be refreshed with the goodness and mercy of GOD, whilst it is full of the poisonous purpose of sin. Such a soul is a soil, which the more dew it receiveth, the more weeds it bringeth forth. But if we be grieved for our sins; If we groan under their weight, if we wrestle against their malice and power; albeit the clouds were of Iron, and the heavens of brass, our penitent prayers will pierce them. The LORD will receive our prayers. Verily, a religious life giveth spiritual wings to our prayers; It maketh them fly like lightning to the presence of GOD. But ●inne weigheth them down; and so much the more, by how much the more our life is reprooveable. VERS. X. All mine enemies shall be confounded and sore vexed: they shall be turned back, and put to shame suddenly. 1 OUR enemies shall be confounded, and how. 2. The wicked when chiefly vexed at the prosperity of the godly. 3. They shall be extremely confounded at the mercy of GOD, and wherefore. 4. Delay in sin, maketh the conversion to grace more hard. 5. GOD turneth to the wicked and to the godly in a different sort. 6. A short prayer. 7. How sinners must seek. 8. And what they shall find. 9 A resolution not to stay one hour in sin. AND what now shall mine enemies do? They shall be altogether confounded: First, with vexation at my happy estate; afterwards, with shame at their own repulse, at their sudden overthrow, at their perpetual dejection. They shall be anguished to see their hopes and expectations fail; to see my misery changed to felicity; to see their injury so much the more cruel, because unjust, turn to my honour; to see him whom they thought to ruinate, whom they had fully destined to death, more highly advanced then ever he was before. They are generally vexed with the prosperous condition of any man; but more especially if he be godly, but most grievously if they profess to prosecute him with open hate. The prosperity of such a man is more grievous to them, than their own calamity. But when they shall further see, that he hath not only avoided their attempts, but prevailed against them; that the omnipotent arm of the LORD dasheth them down; that mountains of misery do overwhelm them; the more apparent their fall shall be to all men, the more shameful will it be to themselves. And further, the exceeding mercy and goodness of GOD, shall extremely confound them. For the more gracious and merciful the LORD is, in hearing and receiving sinners, the more they shall be confounded, if they continue obstinate in their evil, if they will not repent and turn unto him. They shall be confounded (I say) because when they nothing doubt of the goodness of GOD, yet do they either not esteem it, or suppose to have it at pleasure and will. For nothing shall more confound sinners, then that knowing, as well the riches of GOD'S mercies, Accedite ad me & illuminamini, & facies vestrae non confundentur. Psal. 34. as his gracious goodness; which openeth to all, which inviteth all, which intreateth all to participate thereof; Yet they remain either altogether careless, or heavy and dull in coming to him: they either proudly contemn, or with false flatteries and hopes delay to repent; which the longer they defer, the more incapable are they made of Grace. For as a brand newly quenched, will readily take fire, but the longer it remaineth extinguished, the more hardly can it be kindled again; so in a sinner, the first decaying and dying of grace may easily be quickened; but the longer he continueth dead in sin, the harder will he be revived to Grace. Alas! they joyed at my grief, and jested at my groaning; they made themselves merry with my misery, and built the trophies of their victory upon my ruins and disgrace. They did swim in the delights of this world, whilst I bathed myself with tears, whilst I chastised and evil entreated my rebellious flesh: But now (Oh shame!) they shall be turned to another strain. Their joy shall be turned to smart and sorrow, their pride to contempt, their insolency to ignominy and reproach. And as the LORD hath suddenly turned his favour to me, so his fury shall suddenly be turned to them. The wrath of the LORD like a sudden tempest will strike in their faces; It will astonish them, it will cast them down, it will consume them. Before thunder goeth lightning (saith the wiseman) and no less truly may it be said, Eccles. 22.11. that after lightning cometh thunder. What is lightning but the flashes of pleasure in this life? beautiful, but short. The pleasures of this life are like the momentary flashes of lightning; suddenly gone, and serving for nothing but to increase the terror of ensuing darkness. And the more bright the lightning is, the more deep is the darkness, the more dreadful the thunder which is suddenly to ensue. Assuredly they shall be turned indeed. For if they will not turn unto thee, thou wilt turn them to confusion and shame. O most merciful, most just GOD! most powerful, most prone and ready to help. How loving a Father art thou to forsaken Orphans? how favourable a judge to distressed sinners? how sure a friend to those who love thee, to those who trust in thee? They shall find thee liberal above their deserts, above the highest of their desires: a measurer of thy gifts, not by their worthiness; but by thine own goodness. Come hither all feeble sinners, whose consciences are afraid of your own suspicions, who ever think you shall be damned: come learn of me what sinners may find, and how sinners must seek; learn by my affections to obtain the like effects. Rise early in the morning of thy good motions, let them not sleep too long in sloth: Search thine own soul diligently; let faith be thine eye, hope thy guide, love thy light; search whether thou canst find the LORD within thee. If thou findest him not there; If thou findest that thy sins have chased him away; lay thy soul upon the rack of repentance. Wring groans from thy heart, and tears from thine eyes; stretch it from heaven to earth, until perforce thou force it to cry, O GOD! Fear no encounters for GOD, out of GOD desire no comforts: let the desire of him either extinguish or overrule the desire of all other things. Whosoever cannot find GOD; he doth not thus seek him: whosoever hath not the like joy to mine, he never had the like sorrow and desire. As for me, who feel myself freed from this both pressing and piercing weight, from this loathsome load of sin; who feel myself cheered with the lively light of grace; I will not remain hereafter one hour in sin, one hour in the hatred of my Creator. I will forget all things, and among them myself▪ and think of him who thus hath saved me. As the highest heaven draweth all the inferior with the sway thereof, albeit they have naturally a contrary course; so my reason enabled by grace, shall draw all my appetites, the whole frame of my inward man; albeit they have properly a contrary inclination. Gracious GOD! address all the instruments of my voice to sing praises to thee; instruct all the faculties of my mind to love thee, to fear thee, to place my full felicity in the knowledge and obedience of thy will. Praise, and glory, and wisdom, and strength, dominion, riches, and power, be unto our GOD for evermore. A SUMMARY PRAYER. OMnipotent and eternal GOD! whose justice cannot suffer sins unpunished; whose mercy would not suffer sins unpardoned: I beseech thee, so to moderate thy scourges with mercy, that I may be able to abide them. For if thou openest the floodgates of thy fury upon me, the force thereof must needs ouer-beare me, and drive me down headlong to death. I know, O LORD, that thy chastisements are necessary for us in this life; I decline them not; I crave no forbearance at thy hand; I rather crave that thou wilt not forbear me. Deal herein according to thy wisdom, not to my will; not as shall be most for mine ease, but as thou esteemest best for my good. This only I desire; that in all thy punishments, I may not find thee an angry judge, but a most kind and careful Father; that thou wilt correct me, but not give me over to death; Ps. 118.18. That I may find both comfort and strength in thy stripes: and that as thy rod doth chastise me, Thy 〈◊〉 & thy staff comfort me. Ps. 23.4. so thy staff may sustain me. For I am weak, O Almighty GOD I am so weak that I am altogether unable either not to deserve thy wrath, or to endure it. My offences have proceeded from my weakness, and they again have made me more weak: they have made so many mortal wounds in my soul, that I approach near unto death. I languish under my imminent danger, my own putrefaction is loathsome to myself; and the very sight of thy frown doth terribly torment me. My weak soul is so overcharged, both with fear and with grief; that it can neither lift up itself, nor quietly lie still: neither lift up itself against the power of thy wrath, nor lie still under the weight thereof; more horribly heavy than the flaming Mountain Aetna. But have mercy upon me and heal me, O gracious LORD! O my GOD! open to me the overflowing Fountain of thy ever-flowing mercy; from whence always stream, both the safe, and present, and only remedy against the malice and maladies of sin. If thou do not this, I am undone; I must presently perish. I am so far from standing against thy wrath, that my own weakness will draw me down. Ah my GOD! wherefore dost thou so long hold back thy help? Wherefore hast thou cut off thy comforts from me? Wherefore art thou so angry? Wherefore so severe? Wilt thou turn away thy face forever? Return, O most merciful Father! for thy infinite mercy's sake, I beseech thee, return to thy accustomed clemency again. Turn to me the appeased eyes of thy mercy, let me again behold thy gracious & quiet countenance, which my offences have caused thee to turn away. Deliver my soul from these miseries; deliver it from the importable burden, both of thy severity and of my sins. Save me, for I lie quaking under the cruel gripes of destruction: Save me, LORD, or of necessity I must perish. Which if I do, if unseasonable death seize upon me; then shall I no more praise thy Name, then shall I never make a thankful memorial of thy blessed benefits. But give me, O good Father! time to repent: as thou hast given me a purpose to praise thee, so give me power and opportunity for the same. If needs thou wilt exercise the rigour of thy justice; why then do it upon those whose hearts are hardened with obstinate impiety, who willingly and wilfully persevere in their sins; who are nothing touched, either with reverence of thy Majesty, or with regard of their own safety. But I heavily labour under the load of my sins; I refuse not to undergo the hard task of repentance for them. It displeaseth me much, that ever I displeased thy Majesty by my sins: my grievous sins torment and tear the most inward senses of my soul: they are most grievous, most intolerable to me. This is not unknown to thee, who knowest our secrets better than ourselves. This appeareth by the sad groans which break from my pained soul: this appeareth by the plenty of tears, which my heart boiling in anguish and grief, doth evaporate and distil through the conduits of my eyes. But especially this appeareth, by the unlovely state of my body; which is become like a withered weed; so wasted with sorrow, that it hath neither beauty to please others, nor strength to sustain itself. But howsoever it is with me, I will never lay down my hope; I will never despair or distrust in thy mercies. I have always had so good trial of thy favourable hearing, of thy liberal relief; that in all my temptations, in all the anguishs of my soul, I will rest upon thy goodness and grace; with assured confidence, that thou wilt hear my prayer: if not so soon as I desire, yet at such time as shall be most expedient for me. For oftentimes it is more expedient that I should be exercised for a time, then presently eased. I will also rest assured, that my malicious enemies, who unjustly work or wish my destruction, shall never prevail against me. That their Counsels shall be confounded, their practices disappointed, and themselves turned to ignominy and reproach. Praise, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Strength, Dominion, Riches, and Power be unto our GOD for evermore. PSALM XXXII. DAVID'S TEARS. PSALM XXXII. BLessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven: and whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth no sin: and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 For while I held my tongue: my bones consumed away through my daily complaining. 4 For thy hand is heavy upon me day and night: and my moisture is like the drought in Summer. 5 I will acknowledge my sin unto thee: and mine unrighteousness have I not hid. 6 I said, I will confess my sins unto the LORD: and so thou forgivest the wickedness of my sin. 7 For this shall every one that is godly make his prayer unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: but in the great water floods they shall not come nigh him. 8 Thou art a place to hide me in, thou shalt preserve me from trouble: thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. 9 I will inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go: and I will guide thee with mine eye. 10 Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding: whose mouths must be holden with bit and bridle, lest they fall upon thee. 11 Great plagues remain for the ungodly: but who so putteth his trust in the LORD, mercy embraceth him on every side. 12 Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the LORD: and be joyful all ye that are true of heart. Of the title and parts of this PSALM. 1 THe title of this Psalm and the reason thereof. 2 All worldly knowledges are both troublesome and imperfect. 3 The excellency of the knowledge of GOD. 4 We are most ignorant of ourselves. 5 Wherefore this word know thyself, was written upon the gates of Apollo's Temple. 6 How excellent and difficult it is to know ourselves. 7 The good which GOD worketh out of our sins. 8 He that is sinful and secure is doubly miserable. 9 Some things are absoultely good, but nothing absolutely evil. 10 The LORD is said to be a hard man, and wherefore. 11 The appellation and parts of this Psalm. THIS is the second penitential Psalm, entitled by some, The understanding; by others, The instruction of David. Partly for that he instructed others thereby, but chiefllie, for that he declared that he had received instruction, and was brought to understand both GOD and himself: Which is the perfection of all other as well divine as humane knowledge. Other knowledges bring an endless labour to the mind; because the more we know, the more we are desirous to know: But they do not pacify the debates, they do not cure the diseases that are within us. They make a man learned, but not good; skilful, but not wise. I say more. They do but make a man know how little he knows; because all our knowledge consisteth in knowing our ignorance: and the most that a man can know of any Science in this world, is but the least part of that, whereof he is ignorant. But the knowledge of GOD, is the foundation of our Spiritual building; the first wheel of the clock; the first movable sphere, which causeth the motion of all the rest. We are created in this world, to the end that we should serve GOD: But we cannot serve him, unless we love him, unless also we fear him; and we can neither love nor fear him unless we know him▪ even as some rural people have not only not honoured, but rudely entreated their Prince, coming by adventure and unknown among them. But it is not sufficient to believe that there is a GOD, to have a confused knowledge of him; unless we know what he is to us, & what we are to him: unless we put of our shoes, that is all worldly affections, GOD will not manifest himself to us. But this done the knowledge of his goodness will make us to love him; of his justice, to fear him; of his Majesty, to honour him; of his Mercy, to hope in him; of his Wisdom, to obey him. My eye seeth thee (saith job) and therefore I repent in dust and ashes. job. 42. As the Philistines did first put out Sampsons' eyes, and then took him forth to sport with him: so the devil first laboureth, either to extinguish, or to shadow this our Spiritual fight, & then playeth at pleasure with us. And now again, Albeit nothing be so near us as ourselves; yet the knowledge of ourselves is furthest from us. There is nothing almost that we less understand, than ourselves. For as our bodily eyes behold other objects, but not themselves; so the eye of our mind, namely our understanding, is apt to apprehend other things, but not itself. It is nimble to discover, strong and bold to judge other matters; but is defective both in sight to discern, and in judgement to esteem itself: For this cause the ancient Philosophers affirm, that this voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Know thyself; was first sounded from heaven. For this cause it was written in golden letters, upon the door of Apollo's Temple; either because it is proper only to GOD; or because it is the highest wisdom whereto man can aspire; or because it is the only entrance to the knowledge and service of GOD. For albeit GOD may be seen in all his creatures, yet especially in ourselves who bear his Image. Thou seekest GOD abroad, but enter the secret chambers of thy soul, and there he may most readily be found. The better thou knowest thyself, the better thou knowest GOD; because the knowledge of thyself will lead thee to the knowledge of GOD. Assuredly no knowledge is more high, none more hard and hidden then the knowledge of ourselves: ●f I were perfect (saith job) yet know I not my own soul. job. 21. Man hath no brighter glass, no learneder book to look on then himself. The true study of man is man: All other knowledge without this is defective. He that spendeth his spirits to attain the knowledge of other things, and never collecteth them to search, know and judge himself, remains the most senseless Sot in the world. Other knowledge puffeth up: but this humbleth and pulleth down. For humility is nothing else but a true contempt of ourselves, which proceedeth from the knowledge of ourselves: so as the knowledge of ourselves is the form of humility, and consequently of all other virtues which are derived from humility. And this great benefit did the mercy of GOD bring to David, by reason of his sin; To understand his own weaknesses and wants; to understand by whom he must be supported in the one, and supplied in the other; To understand (I say) both GOD and himself. The fall of David did extinguish in him all puffie pride; it shaked up his sensual, or rather senseless security; it made him never to presume upon his own strength; but in all temptations and afflictions, to trust truly to the power and goodness of GOD; and to hope for no help, no stay, but only from his all-powerfull grace. He that is sinful and yet secure, is doubly miserable; miserable in his sin, but more miserable in his security. And thus GOD never suffereth evil but for some great and secret good; even as Moses had said: Vt sugeret mel de petra, & oleum de saxo durissimo. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hardest stone. O the infinite wisdom and power of GOD! out of the dry and ragged rock of our sins, Deut. 32.13. he draweth the sweet sap of humility from us, and of mercy from himself; to the sweet safety and felicity of our souls. Assuredly, some things may be so good, as that they have no mixture of evil: yet nothing can be so absolutely evil, but some good ariseth from it. And hence it is that the LORD calleth himself a hard-man; who reapeth where he did not sow, and gathereth where he did not disperse. But, Quiadurus homo sum, etc. Matth. 25 most righteous and upright LORD! How standeth this with the square of justice? It is hard indeed; but how is it just? to reap where thou didst not sow, & gather where thou didst not disperse? Verily, thou sowest not the seeds of our sins; our sins are the tares which the Devil soweth among the wheat: and yet thou reapest out of them, both good to thy servants, and glory to thyself. By our sins thou dost bring us to understand ourselves, and to search after thee: to know our own exceeding weakness and misery, and to acknowledge thine infinite goodness, wisdom and power: to abandon and renounce the one, & to trust entirely to the other. Now this Psalm is most fitly termed a Penitential Psalm: because it treateth chiefly of Repentance. The parts are set forth in the Table next adjoining. This Psalm declareth The power and dignity of repentance, in that it maketh a man blessed, ver. 1. The manner, namely, that it be without hypocrisy, ver. 2. with trouble, sorrow, and contrition, ver. 3. & 4. confession, ver. 5. & 6. The effects in regard of the godly: namely encouragement to call upon GOD, ver. 7. the penitents themselues, viz. safety ver. 8. joy ver. 8. the wicked viz. instruction to be guided by understanding ver. 9 & 10. to whom is also assured great plagues for sinners. ver. 11. mercy for the righteous. ver. 12. VERS. I. Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven: and whose sin is covered. 1 RIches, honour, power, etc. make not men happy by their own nature. 2 Because they do not satisfy. 3 Because they are deceitful. 4 Because they are inconstant. 5 They make not Blessed in regard of indisposition in ourselves. 6 How they are blessings, and to whom. 7 How and to whom they are heavy curses. 8 Worldly matters more often hinder then help for attaining felicity. 9 Who only is blessed in this life. 10 Whether it be not a greater Blessedness not to sin, then to have sin pardoned. 11 Wherefore happiness consists in forgiveness of sins. 12 Another reason. 13 The difference between the blessedness of Saints in heaven, and of repentant sinners upon earth. 14 Forgiveness of sin is no ordinary blessing, and wherefore. 15 It is a very great blessing to have our sins covered, and wherefore. 16 How hard it is to hide sin, and wherefore. 17 Only repentance covereth sin, and wherefore. WHom may we esteem blessed in this life? The rich? the honourable? the mighty? the politic and wise? Alas! miserable are they who esteem themselves happy, by being any or all of these. There is neither trust nor taste in these false felicities; whether we regard their own nature, or whether many indispositions in ourselves. In their proper nature, they do not satisfy, until they cloy; there is always somewhat wanting in them, until they overcharge us with boisterous abundance; and then they satisfy least of all. If any solid goodness were in them, than would they in some degree satisfy. All other things give some satisfaction; drink quencheth thirst, meat appeaseth hunger, apparel expelleth cold: but these are so far from quieting the desire, that they make it more unrestful and stirring. They are a dropsy; they are a dog's appetite; they may fill, but they never satisfy, until they have made us like drunkards the next day after a riotous feast; dull and heavy, unable to speak or think of our surfeit without loathing. Again, they are deceitful; fairer in show, then in substance they are found; they seem better to those who want them, then to those who enjoy them; they promise many pleasures, but they come clogged with innumerable cares. They make us live in wishing and in repenting; in wishing the future, and repenting somewhat that is past; in loathing what we have tasted, and longing for that which we desire; in vain remembering what is gone, and doubtful expecting what is to ensue. As for every present, it is like a wave, one always dashing and driving forth the other. Lastly, they are not constant; for they often leave us: they are not of continuance, for certainly we must leave them. Nothing is more certain, as that we shall leave them; nothing more uncertain, as whether they will not leave us first. In regard of indisposition of ourselves, if we be attached with sickness, if pained in body, Esther 3.5 if disquieted in mind; we can find no felicity in them. But especially, if we endure the combat of conscience; If our conscience be crushed with the weight, if stung with the malice of sin; they are so far from yielding either comfort or quiet, that they are like oil cast into the fire, to extinguish or abate the flame: They are like the drinking of hot wines, to qualify a burning fever; or like the eating of honey, to assuage the boiling of a choleric stomach: a little pleasing in the taste, but much increasing both the pain and danger of the disease. These are blessings indeed; but not in themselves, not for themselves, not indifferently to all. They are blessings in their right use, they are blessings to a higher end: they are blessings only to those who should have been blessed without them. If they be not rightly used, if not used to their true end, if so used that they draw or divert us from our true end; then are they heavy curses; then should we have been blessed, never to have known them. Art thou wicked and yet wise? But GOD taketh the wise in their craftiness, job 5.13. Psa. 33.10. and the counsel of the wicked is made foolish. Dost thou bear thyself proud upon confidence of thy power? Luke 1.51. and 52. GOD scattereth the proud, and putteth down the mighty. Art thou ungodly and yet honourable and rich? But the glory of the wicked turneth to their shame. Phil. 3.19. And what hope hath the hypocrite, when he hath heaped up riches, job 27.8. if GOD taketh away his soul? Doubtless, the riches of the wicked are racks and torments; their honours, heavy vanities; their power a tempestuous puff; their pleasures, sharp fevers of the mind; their serious exercises, children's plays. They dazzle ignorant eyes with exernal shows; but inwardly they endure many grievous gripes: they are attended and resorted to by many; but no otherwise then flies flock to honey, mice to corn, vultures to a carcase: The multitude pursue their own prey; they follow the fortunes of men, not their persons. Well then, let worldly matters go and come: They may help, and they may hinder; they do more often hinder than help us in attaining felicity. Often times we have no greater impediment to felicity in this world, than the world itself. He only is blessed in this life, whose wickedness is forgiven, and whose sin is buried in the tomb of oblivion. But stay (my soul) and pause here a while: gather a flower or two in thy way; pound these spices a little more. Is he only blessed, or is he chiefly blessed whose sins are forgiven? Is not he more blessed who sinneth not at all? Is it not a greater blessing never to sin, then to have sins pardoned? Yes verily. But this is beyond the nature of man: It is the cursed condition of man to offend. I will never esteem him blessed, I will never believe him who saith he hath no sin: jam. 3.2. For in many things we offend all. We deceive ourselves, we are senseless of our sins (and being senseless we are immoveable) we are desperately sinful if we say we have no sin. And therefore he only is blessed whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is covered. None other in this world can truly and directly be termed blessed. For this is a principal property of true happiness, to bring quiet and contentment to the soul; to set it above the region of wishing and of wants; to free it from the tyranny of fear or desire. Happy is heonly who in soul lives contented; and he most of all unhappy whom nothing doth content. But this quiet is never attained but by remission of sins: whosoever hath this mouthful, he is fully satisfied; he doth not hunger after other things; he no more regardeth either the favours or persecutions of this life, then doth a dead lump of flesh. This is both truly and aptly termed A stood of peace. I will send down upon him a flood of peace. Esay There is great peace to them who love thy Name. Psal. 119. A very flood, indeed; in regard both of the quality, and of the abundance. For it quencheth the flames of our appetites and desires; than which we have none more deadly enemies, none which more torture and tear our hearts; especially if they be of such things, as either possibly or easily we cannot attain. But these appetites are drowned and extinguished in this flood: they are either satisfied or silenced by the justice of this peace. This peace can no man understand, I will give hidden Manna: which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it Apoc. 2.17. but he that enjoyeth it; because it exceedeth whatsoever the understanding is able of itself to comprehend. Again, happiness and misery are perfect contraries: But sinners because they are upon their way to misery, are already miserable; they are already in hell, or rather have a hell within them: And therefore it followeth, that penitents, because they are upon their way to felicity, are already happy, already in heaven; or rather have a heaven within them. For there are two ways out of this world; one, through the pleasures of sin to eternal misery; the other, through the sorrows of repentance to eternal glory. Blessed are they who are in this sorrowful way, for only they travail to eternal happiness. They are blessed I say by faith, and by hope. For they have not the full fruition of felicity, but they enjoy it by faith and by hope; and therefore by faith and by hope they are blessed. This only is the difference between Saints in heaven, and sinners that repent upon earth: the one have their happiness in hand, the other in hope: they are at their journey's end, these are upon their way: they have their blessed estate in possession, these in election. Nevertheless they are truly blessed: even as a Bishop elect hath both the title and honour of a Bishop, albeit he be not stalled in his place. Verily, as sin is no small or ordinary matter, so is forgiveness of sin no ordinary blessing. Sin is so heinous a thing, that it is a less evil to destroy all the creatures in the world, then to commit one sin against GOD. Yet such is the power of repentance, that by means thereof, GOD will not only forgive our sins, but he will forget them; He will so deal with penitent sinners, either as if he had never seen their sins, or as if he had perpetually forgot them: He will never either behold or remember their sins to judge them. Marvelous is the mercy and goodness of GOD, towards sinners that repent: The more they remember their sins, the more doth he forget them; the readier they are to acknowledge their offences, the readier is he to cover and conceal them. It is a very great blessing to have our sins covered; because nothing is more hardly kept secret then sin. Sin is not covered by cunning contrivance, not with the vain veil of colourable excuses: the more we endeavour by these means to cover it, the more doth it manifest and bewray itself. Adam did hide himself, but his sin he could not hide: he covered his body with fig tree leaves, but could find no covering for his sin. The more he endeavoured to hide himself, the more did his transgression appear; the very hiding of himself did bewray his sin. For if he had not sinned, he would never have shrunk aside; he should never have been attached, either with shame, or with fear. For this cause also GOD said to Cain; Gen. 4.7. If thou dost evil, sin lieth at the door. For assuredly, sin will not keep house; It will not lie quiet in a corner; It will abroad, It will stand at the door; It will manifest itself to all that go by. At the first it is discovered by our own fears, and by our great diligence to conceal it: afterward, by our loose carelessness: Lastly, by our boldness and impudence in committing evil. Besides, it is of nature to multiply and increase; until it cannot be contained in secret; until it can no more be hidden then the Sun; until by the tumorous turpitude thereof, it doth first manifest, and then ruin and destroy itself. Only Repentance is of force to cover sins. First, because it cutteth off the increase, it drieth up the springs, from whence it swells and overflows, and whereby especially it betrays itself. Secondly, because it is always accompanied with love: for Love covereth the multitude of sins. 1. Pet. 4.8. Love maketh the penitent and the innocent of like condition. VERS. II. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no sin; and in whose spirit there is no guile. 1 IT seemeth that Repentance is a deity, and wherefore. 2 Wherefore Angels after sin, cannot be blessed. 3 Man may, and wherefore. 4 The greatest praise and power of Repentance. 5 without Repentance GOD cannot be merciful, and wherefore. 6 Wherefore GOD imputeth no sin to the penitent. 7 How a penitent sinner may expostulate with GOD. 8 In what sort we must judge ourselves. 9 Hypocrites the worst of all sinners. 10 Confession, how necessary it is. 11 GOD is merciful in forgiving, yet hard and severe in taking accounts. 12 Dissimulation doubleth our sin. 13 One sin sufficient to ensnare us. 14 A true account of our sins required. Divine Repentance! What shall I say of thee? How shall I worthily either extol or esteem thee? Shall I say thou art a virtue? or shall I term thee some Deity? Assuredly it seemeth that thou art a Deity, and that GOD hath imparted a part of his Dominion unto thee. It seemeth that thou art his Lieutenant upon earth, and that he hath invested thee with his own authority: because the same power which GOD exerciseth in heaven, the same dost thou exercise upon Earth. For as GOD maketh blessed in Heaven, Nisi p●nitentiam egeritis, omnes similiter peribitis. Luke 13.3 so doth Repentance upon Earth. Only GOD maketh the just blessed in Heaven, and Repentance maketh sinners blessed upon Earth: because after sin, no man is blessed, but by Repentance. And therefore the Angels that did sin, shall never be blessed; because they cannot repent. Their will is inflexible, they are immoveable from that which once they apprehend: job. 41.15 his heart is as strong as stone, and as the Smiths stithe: broken it may be, but it will never bend. That which death is to man, the very same is sin to Angels: As man after death cannot profitably repent, so cannot Angels repent after sin. But the hope of man's blessedness consisteth in this, that his will is flexible, that his mind may turn to abhor that which once with pleasure he did embrace; that he is capable of Repentance. This is a branch of chasticing justice; whereto we can attribute no greater, either praise or power; then that it worketh the same upon earth, which GOD himself worketh in heaven; by making men happy; by delivering them from eternal perdition; and by bringing them to unspeakable and endless joy. And herein it is singular, and eminently alone: herein all other virtues are but handmaids to attend it. For albeit love be exceeding powerful, Many sins are forgiven her for she loved much. Luke 7.47. albeit the fire of love be of marvellous force to consume sins; yet doth it never attain this effect, but by virtue of Repentance. In this action of love, Repentance is the principal worker; love is a testimony and declaration, not a proper cause of remission of sins. Remission of sins is rather the cause of love, To whom a little is forgiven he doth love a little. Luke 7.47. then love the cause of remission of sins. It is a very hard thing which GOD cannot do. But herein hath GOD restrained his power. GOD cannot be merciful, unless sinners repent: without repentance it is impossible that sinners should be pardoned, because it is impossible without repentance to abandon evil, and turn to GOD. For sin is nothing else but an aversion from GOD, and a conversion to creatures; an aversion from an inestimable and immutable good, and a conversion to a vain and variable evil. This sin is never pardoned, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, etc. diverte a malo & fac bonum. Psal. 33. but by forsaking creatures, and by applying ourselves again to GOD; by turning again from evil to good; by inward loathing the transitory evil, whereto by pleasure we did adhere; and by fixing our delight upon that infinite good, which will never either vary or fail. But this is a proper work of repentance, this is repentance itself. Whosoever is thus converted in soul, he is truly penitent; he is blessed in this life, the LORD will impute no sin unto him. And the reason is, because he imputeth sin to himself; he preventeth the imputation of the LORD, by imputing sin to himself: he chargeth, judgeth, condemneth himself; and therefore he shall never be, either condemned, or questioned by the LORD. For a superior judge will never examine that offence, which he knoweth to be both examined and iusticed by his commission. But GOD hath given to sinners, not only commission, but command, to examine and judge themselves: which if they will unpartially do, he hath promised that he will never judge them, that he will never impute sin to their charge. The justice of GOD requireth that sin should be examined, condemned and punished: but the great mercy of GOD hath made sinners their own judges, their own executioners and tormentors: It putteth them in choice, either to judge and condemn their sin, or to be judged and condemned for their sin: either to put sin to death in this world, or to die for sin in the world to come. But blessed is he who embraceth this mercy; who doth examine and condemn his sins; who doth impute sin to himself, that GOD may not impute his sins unto him. Blessed is he (I say) who having sincerely judged himself may boldly look GOD in the face, and say unto him: job. 10.2. Condemn me not: tell me wherefore dost thou thus judge me? Wilt thou proceed against thine own appointment? Wilt thou violate the direct rule of thy justice? Thy justice requireth but one condemnation; and thy mercy hath given me power to condemn myself. This I have already done; I did daily judge myself before thee, and now I did securely expect thee; I expect not now to be judged by thee. For fear of thy judgement, I have judged myself; I have not stayed for thy sentence, I have prevented it, in giving sentence against myself. Wherefore (then) dost thou thus judge me? Thou mayest judge my judgement, if thou thinkest meet, judica iudicium meum. how truly and triely I have examined my cause before thee, and thy causeagainst me; What good I have received from thee, and what evil I have returned to thee: judge my judgement (I say) if thou wilt, but do not judge (I pray thee) my sins. For herein especially we must be regardful, that we judge uprightly, that we give no false sentence, whether by negligence, or by partiality and self-love: that our judgement be not either muzzled by the one, or misled by the other. For he only is in this blessed estate, who maketh a serious search in his soul; who is not deceived in making his search, who dissembleth not what there he finds: Blessed is he, who deceiveth not himself, who dissembleth not with GOD. Who deceiveth not himself, in blinding or abusing his own judgement; either by a stupendious stupidity that he hath no sin, or by a negligent enquiry after them, or by a favourable estimation of them; or lastly, by a false conceit that he may at leisure and in good time repent. Who dissembleth not with GOD, either in concealing or extenuating any part of his evil; but humbling himself before his presence, layeth open to his view every unclean corner within him: and as a poor petitioner, as one who beggeth for a piece of bread, as one who sueth for his very life; rather aggravate than extenuate his wretched condition. For it is in singleness and sincerity of soul, It is by true sense and acknowledgement of our sins, that we must both invocate and obtain GOD'S mercy. If we flatter ourselves that we are innocent; If knowing our sins, we cancel or conceal them, as if we could deceive GOD, so easily as we can blind the world: If (to win opinion) we compose our behaviour to an outward fashion of piety, and not with the most inward senses of our soul, not with the very heart of our heart acknowledge and bewail our fault; If we do not rather seek after righteousness, then make show thereof: If we do not both promise and purpose and endeavour to amend; If our mind and our mouth and our outward actions do not agree; Malus ubi bonum esse simulat, tunc pessimus. we are but hypocrites, the worst of all sinners: We increase wrath, we shall never come to the presence of GOD. Wolves are never more wolves, then when they are apparelled like sheep: It is extreme wickedness to be empty of all goodness, The hypocrite shall not come before God. job 13.16. Nu. 5.6.7. Leu 5.5. Le. 18.18.22. and yet aspire to be esteemed good: GOD requireth in his Law confession of sin, before the sinner could be purged: He commanded also that the high Priest should confess his own sins and the sins of the people upon the head of a Gore, and then permit it to escape. For assuredly, albeit GOD be exceeding merciful in forgiving our debts, yet is he hard & severe in taking our accounts. Quia durus homo sum. That which in deed we cannot, in desire we are obliged to perform; we must by acknowledgement make tender of that debt, which otherwise we are unable to discharge. He that hideth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy. 1. joh. 1.9. If we dissemble our sins, we double our punishment, because we double our offence: Even as not only he that stealeth is an offender, but he also that concealeth a theft. If we dissemble part of our sins, if we keep back part, and say that we bring all; we lie to the holy Ghost: Act. 5.3. which is a most fearful and heavy sin. One hook sufficieth to take the fish; one snare to fetter the soul: But the Devil is a most cunning angler, a very expert fowler; he casteth many baits, he pitcheth many snares in our paths. If we remain entangled in any one, if by sincere repentance we free not ourselves from all, we shall be sure to be his prey. If we acknowledge not our sins, we acknowledge not GOD'S mercies in forgiving our sins: we we are unworthy to have that debt remitted, which we are unwilling to confess. So much as we conceal of our sins, so much do we add ingratitude to injury and despite: We double the wrong that we have done, if to disability for discharge, we add falsehood in our account. Let us first make our true account, & then we shall find GOD so easy, as rather to offer then to be entreated; not only to forbear what we are not ready, but to forgive what we are not able to discharge. VERS. III. Whilst I held my tongue, my bones consumed through my daily complaining. 1. WE cannot be ignorant of our sins. 2. Original sin the seed of all actual sin. 3. Dull sense of sin makes us slow and heavy to confess them. 4. Whereby the soul is more deeply soiled. 5. Too much sense of sin makes us either fearful or ashamed to confess them. 6. The sottery of sinners in concealing their sin. 7. Want of confession how dangerous it is. 8. It draweth variety of punishments upon us. 9 We often complain, but not as we should. 10. Punishments to what end they are sent. 11 Wherefore GOD called Adam, and not the Devil. 12. GOD'S violent voice in calling sinners. 13. Whereto sinners may be compared. 14. It is a great mercy of GOD to be travailed in this life, and wherefore. 15. Troubles are GOD'S husbandry, etc. I Myself have heretofore been either negligent, or ashamed to confess my sins. For I could not be altogether ignorant; the check of my own conscience did often advertise me, that my soul was drenched in two Stygian streams of corruption, original and actual: the one derived to me by descent, the other proceeding from my proper will. For, by reason of the fall of our first parent, his blood was attaint, and corruption was so fast fixed in his nature, that he transmitted that leprosy to all who ever descended from him. This is the seed of all actual sins, this is in power all sins in the world. Not only if we act the wicked motions thereof, but if we yield consent unto them, if without consent we take pleasure in thinking of them, than they turn to actual sins. But these delights have so swarmed in my soul, that I could not but feel the viperous brood within me; I have so often entertained them with consent▪ so often either in deed or by endeavour brought them forth into action, that I could not but see the hideous heap; And yet I always wanted either remembrance, or disposition to cast up my reckoning, and to confess them. Sometimes the Devil did stupefy and benumb my soul; and then I had little or no feeling of my sin, than sin lay concealed in me: then either I entertained no thought, or else was dull and careless to acknowledge my sins. But as how much the longer any filthy liquor standeth in a vessel, so much the more is the vessel fouled and stained, and so much the more hardly can the foul stains be rubbed clean: So the longer time that poisonous sin remained in my bosom, with a quiet and uncontrolled custom, the more was my unhappy soul soiled therewith; the more deep stains were printed therein, and the more hard to be defaced. Sometimes I was so sensible of my sins, so apprehensive both of the number & deformity of them, that I became thereby either ashamed or afraid to confess them to the LORD; to desplay them before those beautiful eyes, which are much offended with such impure objects. The shame and the fear which the Devil took away when I committed sin, he restored again when I should confess them. And as an expert captain who besiegeth a fort, doth first block up all passages by which it may receive any aid: so the Devil did in such sort beset and besot my soul, that he stopped all the ways by which repentance might relieve it. I was easily persuaded not to stir the unsavoury puddle, not to dig the filthy dunghill of my sins to the bottom. For who can answer the just charge? Who dares think upon the just punishment for his offences? In this life he may expect whole armies of evils; and death which is to others the port of their tempestuous navigation, to him will seem a gulf both of intolerable and eternal torments. So I sottishly sought to hide my sins in my own oblivion: I did foolishly flatter myself, that thou, O LORD, wouldst never remember what I did forget; that my offences locked up in my own silence, should be close shut from thy knowledge or regard: I vainly thought that by not speaking, or not thinking of my sins, I should most readily extinguish the memory of them. But as fire, the less vent it hath, the more furiously it burneth: And as a festered and rotten sore, not opened and cleansed, which the Patient doth not unfold to the Chirurgeon, and both desire and endure his help; putrefieth and inflameth the more, and the more doth the corruption both penetrate and spread: So my sins, whilst they were smothered within my own conscience, whilst they were not by confession laid open to thee, did not only more terribly anguish and torment me, but did deeply infect the very substance of my soul. The contagion of sin did spread like a leprosy over every part; the strongest virtues were infected therewith; all the faculties were drawn to a habit of evil. They did not only anguish me, but they did waste and consume me, they drew thy heavy judgements upon me; the dangers which they brought upon me, were no less than was the disquiet. For I felt in my soul, besides the sharp sting of my conscience, the heavy blows, and more heavy threats of thine indignation. Many calamities thou didst also cast upon my body, & upon the issue of my affairs. And so sharply didst thou visit me, both outwardly and within; that failing, or at least fainting in body and mind, I sunk down under the charge, and melted my languishing soul into moan. My calamities daily increased, and therewith also my complaints: I complained daily, but duly & rightly I did not complain. For I saw into what miseries I was dejected, I saw to what mischief I did bend my pace: but I neither endeavoured nor intended to cut off, either the cause of the one, or course of the other. I did not search into the state of my soul, I did not understand it, I did not lay it open before thee. I did not blame, I did not accuse myself unto thee. I did not return to thee, I did not put myself into thy hands for help. I complained for my calamities; but not for the cause of my calamities. I complained for the punishment of my sins; but I never thought of my sins themselves. I had only so much good left, as to see my present evil, and to languish in my distress: my consuming increased my complaints, and my complaints increased my consuming; but I could not spy any spark of comfort. These calamities didst thou execute upon me, to draw me to a higher, to drive me to a deeper consideration of myself. For as in diseases, the first degree to recovery, is the finding of the original cause; so in troubles and distresses, there is small hope of help, unless we discern from what fountain they flow. And therefore thou dost often press us with a heavy hand, that we should understand our rebellion against thee, that we should both know and confess our offences, that we should disburden our consciences of that loathsome load, which otherwise would poison our souls to death. This is the cause of our calamities; and from hence must begin our relief. So thou didst send fiery Serpents among thy people, in their passage through the deserts, Numb. 21. which ceased not to sling them to death, until they did confess their sins. And for this cause thou didst call Adam in Paradise; not for that thou knewest not where he was, but to give him occasion to acknowledge his transgression. The Devil thou didst not call, Thou gavest sentence against the Devil, uncalled, unheard; because his will was inflexible, he could not repent, he would not confess that he had done evil. But thou didst call man, because he could acknowledge his sin. Because man hath a power to repent his offences, and confess them to thee, it pleaseth thee still by diverse means and occasions to call us. But assuredly, the most powerful means, the most violent voice to call us to thee is by adversity: more sinners are turned to thee by adversity, then by prosperity; by fear, then by love; by shame, then by hope. Sinners, for the most part, I called upon the Lord in trouble, & he heard me at large. Ps. 118. are like to the spring of the Sun in Sicily, which at midday is very cold, & at midnight exceeding hot. We grow cold by prosperity; but by calamities our devotion is inflamed. As much feeding upon sweet meats, maketh the body drowsy and dull; so the mind pastured with pleasures, becometh pestered and heavy in the actions of understanding, and yeeldable to the command of sensuality and sloth. Hence it followeth, that it is a great mercy of GOD, to be travailed and even tired with labour in this life: It is a true token of his love, it is a sure sign that he hath not given us over, that he is desirous to convert us to him. Man is like the earth, which unless it be torn up with the plough, unless it be harrowed, digged and raked, bringeth forth wild weeds, and little else. Troubles are GOD'S husbandry upon us. To be spurned by all, to be a mark whereat all men aim their arrows, to be pressed with wants, to be oppressed with wrongs, to have our life perpetually run in a rugged way; are good assurances, or rather effects, both of his love and of his care. They are the whips which make mad sinners sober: they are the battery which enforce obstinate and rebellious hearts, to yield to the service and subjection of GOD: they are the arrows which GOD hath taken out of the quiver of his mercy, and winged with the fire of his Love.. To pierce and to warm our hard icy hearts, he hath tempered his arrows of tribulation with mercy, and inflamed them with his Love.. VERS. FOUR For thy hand is heavy upon me day and night: and my moisture is like the drought in Summer. 1 GOD'S heavy hand upon sinners. 2 Fear how terrible an enemy it is. 3 Her innumerable forces. 4 Her cruel charge. 5 The sinner vanquished and ready to yield. 6 But is relieved by Faith. 7 Her encouragements. 8 Fear not to be feared. 9 Hell fire created not only for punishment, but for terror. 10. Who have greatest cause to fear. 11 The number of the Elect not small. 12 Wherein the works of Mercy exceed the works of justice.. 13 The multitude and grievousness of sins, no cause to dismay us. 14 Mercy not only preserveth us from the harm of sin, but turneth the harm of sin to our good. 15 Sorrow expelleth fear, and begetteth joy. 16 A sinner overcharged with sorrow. 17 Her sad encounter. 18 Ingratitude an odious offence. 19 The sinner ready to sink under sorrow. 20 But is erected by Faith and by Hope. 21 Their comforts. 22 Contrition is the bruising of a soul between fear and grief. 23 The multitude of GOD'S benefits may much assure us. 24 We must not leave our repentance unperfect. 25 Sins are like a burning ague. TO this end didst thou bear a heavy hand over me; thy punishments did press me very sore; thou didst multiply many miseries without intermission upon me. Thou didst cast many rugged rubs in the smoothest passage of my affairs; thou didst beat upon my body with variety of infirmities; but especially thou didst lay an intolerable load upon my soul. My soul thou didst both charge and torment, with a mountainous heap of dolours and fears; whereof I was unable, either to sustain the weight or endure the grief. Before me were the multitude of my sins; behind me, the hideous horror of them; on the one side, fears approaching; on the other, hopes abandoning; above, justice threatening; beneath, vengeance expecting: within, agony and anguish of soul; without, terrors, disconsolation, dread, and almost a hellish darkness of despair. For thou didst not only environ and assail me with furious fears; but thou didst heap discomforts upon me: thou didst cut off the supply of thy sweet consolations; thou didst dry up or restrain the influence of thy grace, whereby I should have been both animated and aided in my distress; thou wouldst not afford me one beam of favour. Oh! what a cruel enemy is fear? She marcheth with innumerable troops in her train, ranged in order, armed at all points, and shaking their terrible instruments of death. justice carrieth the ensign before her; despair soundeth the loud alarm; disconsolation, trembling, distrust, with all the curses & threats of the Law, with all the examples of GOD'S weighty wrath, present the first charge. She marshalleth all creatures in squadrons against us; all our friends she draweth to her part; our secret thoughts she mustereth on her side: She hath a thousand treacherous intelligencies within our own bosom, which await but hour and occasion to surprise us. Thus advancing herself in the pride of her power, with a high and horrible voice she cried unto me; Come forth thou fugitive! Come thou dejected, thou rejected traitor! tell me, Wretch! Where now is thy assurance? Who shall defend thee? whither wilt thou retire? Go too now; Go seek for some mantle to veil thy obscene darkness: For thou canst not with any conscience (in case thou hast any) approach into the presence of the LORD. What? expectest thou to be relieved by him? Thinkest thou he will favour thee? Nay, Is it possible that he should forbear thee? Seest thou not that he also is set against thee? That his hand is rigorous upon thee? And how can it be otherwise? For GOD is just; a hard dealer; a severe exacter of accounts. Look into the examples of his justice: How he condemned his angels irrevocably, for one only sin; how for one only sin, not only Adam but all his posterity, and in a manner all creatures were cursed. If thou conceivest comfort by reason of some mercy which followed this justice; then compare this justice and mercy together, by the continual course of their effects. See how in all ages, both the greatest and most flourishing parts of the world, have lain buried in infidelity. See how in those few parts, over which the light of truth hath displayed her beams, many millions have been blinded, either by ignorance, or by superstition and error. See how many, yea how most of those, who have received true knowledge; either by delicacy, or other viciousness of life, reap no benefit thereby. So as it is apparently true, that many are called, and few are chosen: that the way to salvation is so difficult, and the gate so straight, that it is passable for very few. Few indeed: For how many were in the whole world, when it was overwhelmed with waters? How many in Sodom and the cities adjoining to it, when they perished with fire? How many among the chosen people of GOD, when Elias could not espy one? How many, when they were often captivated, and finally ruined, and dispersed? Yea, seest thou not the justice of GOD to be so implacable, that when flourishing nations are utterly rooted out, infants and innocents, who have not actually offended, are swallowed in the common calamity, for the offences of their progenitors? Compare (I say) these effects of justice and mercy together, and thou shalt plainly find, that the first hath far exceeded the last; that there are many vessels of the one, and few of the other. Now if thou hopest to be one of those few; then consult with thine own conscience, how clear and uncorrupt thou findest thy actions; how severely thou hast restrained thy evil inclinations; how strongly, how violently thou hast endeavoured to maintain a virtuous and religious life. No, no; thou art none of those few, who with perpetual strong striving shall wrestle through that narrow passage. Thou hast been unconstant, both in thy judgement, and in thy actions: like a loose tooth; not only useless, but troublesome and painful. Thou hast been a slander to the Church, and a stain to thy profession: Thou hast been a derision to the evil, a shame and sorrow to the good, an offensive example to the weak. The earth casteth thee up, heaven receiveth thee not; GOD is displeased with thee, and all creatures are bend to oppress thee. Go to then, abandon hope, and yield thyself captive to despair. Thou hast no other remedy against thy fears but to relinquish hope: Cease to hope, and fear will no longer torment thee; for whosoever hopeth for no good, he feareth no evil. These words she doubled with a terrible voice, and all the host cried aloud, Despair and Die. Woe is me! I am undone. Alas wretch that I am▪ Which way shall I turn me? Whither shall I fly? What shall I do? I am assailed with fears; by fears I am betrayed; my enemies are within and without. Who shall deliver? who shall defend me? I am as a naked tree in a wide plain, beaten with many bitter storms: I am as dry open ground parched with the burning beams of the Sun: I can find none to protect me, none to comfort me; and my own strength and courage utterly faileth. Out alas! who so liveth in fear, he is daily condemned, daily under the executioners hand: No man is assured, whom an evil conscience holdeth in fear. O! who is able to endure these confusions? Who can either resist, or rule the violence of these fears? Thus whilst I was ready to have yielded myself to the tyranny of despair; lo, Faith from heaven did suddenly cast a glorious beam of her beauty upon me; and, with a sober sweetness began in this sort, partly to reprove, and partly to instruct me. What? (said she) Art thou such a novice in my School? such a faint and raw soldier in spiritual combat? Hast thou no more dexterity in handling thy weapons? Come, stand up, take courage; I will teach thee both thy fence and thy fight. Come, (I say) and look thy terror in the face: It seemeth a Serpent to devour thee, but be not dismayed, step boldly to it, and take it by the tail, and it will forthwith turn to a rod of correction. What? Art thou so much afraid of fear? which is so highly commended a Ps. 103.13 & 128.1. prou 10.27. & 14 27. & 19.23 & 22 4. & 28.14. Ecclus. 1. & 2. & 3. & 40. ●6. 17. Gen 22. ? which is so straitely commanded to thee b I●os. 24.14. Deut. 4.10 & 14.23. Exod. 20.18, ●c. Phil. 2.12. 2. Pet. 1.17. ? God loveth fear c Deut. 5.29. ; He accepteth, d Deut. 17.8 19 Act. 10.35. Luk. 1.52 Exod. 9.10. he preserveth e Ecclus. 31.1 , he honoureth f Eccles. 19.20. , he blesseth g Ps. 112.1. , he never forsaketh h Ecclus. 2 11 them that fear him. Fear is the beginning of righteousness, the first step to wisdom i Ps. 111.10. Ecclus. 43.33 : It bringeth with it judgement and righteousness k Es 5.7. , It expelleth sins l Leu. 19.14. 1. Sam. 11.7. jer. 32.40. Ecclus. 21.6. Pro. 1.2. & 14 16. job. 1.1, 8. : It is the bridle of sins; it is the sword that cutteth in sunder, not only the sinews, but the very heartstrings of sin. What? deemest thou that GOD hath created hell fire only to punish damned sinners and the Devil? No verily: but rather to keep sinners from damnation; to raise them to repentance, and to restrain them from sin. For so much as a man feareth the punishment that he hath deserved, so much more carefully will he, both repent and avoid those faults which he hath committed. Non cito perjt ruina, qui ruinam timet. Senec. He that feareth ruin is neither easily nor often oppressed therewith. They have greatest cause of fear who fear least; who walk in their own ways with a sober security; who loosely and licentiously pursue vanities; who are flinty hearted, without trembling or touch of the threatenings of GOD; who persevere in sin, either boldly or sencelesly; and then say, What evil have I done? Let these fear: It is fearful for these to fall into the hands of the living GOD. Over the necks of these hangs a terrible sword, always shaking, always bend and ready to strike; the less they fear it, the more sure, the more sore and heavy will it fall. These are objects to GOD'S justice and wrath; these are abjects from his mercy and grace. But repentant sinners, who rise with fear, and run with grief to the LORD of mercy and say unto him; LORD be merciful to me a sinner: Let such be confident; For he who hath in mercy called them, will assuredly in mercy receive them. They are not a few only, who have been received; this is a false surmise of fear: let heaven, let earth, let hell be searched, and there shall not one be found, I confidently say, not any one, who returned to the LORD, and was not received. Never think that the justice of GOD is greater than his mercy. Nothing can be said in GOD greater or lesser; because whatsoever is in him, is his very self. There was never sinner in this world, who hath not had a sweet taste of his mercy; neither was there ever righteous person, who hath not been touched with his justice: His justice and his mercy are extended to all. For all the ways of the LORD are mercy and truth. Besides, mercy bestoweth so many and so great good things upon the righteous, that her works far exceed the works of justice. Never trouble thyself about the small number of the elect: Assuredly they are not a few, but almost innumerable, whom the LORD will receive to mercy. Mercy will be no less mild, than justice rigorous: mercy will no less find a means to save, than justice to condemn. As the number of the elect is known only to GOD, so both the time and manner of their calling must only be referred to him. But what moveth thee to doubt and distrust thine estate? the multitude and grievousness of thy sins? Trouble not thyself for the multitude and grievousness of thy sins; because the mercy of the LORD doth infinitely surmount them. Behold, how two contraries applied together, if the one far exceed the other, the greater must needs consume the less. But the mercies of GOD infinitely exceed all the sins in the world. All the sins of the world are more easily consumed by the mercy of GOD, then is a drop of water in a hot fiery furnace; then a spark of fire is extinguished in the sea. Do but apply now this mercy to thy sins; and the infiniteness of the one, must needs consume the multitude of the other. But lo, she hath already applied herself: She hasted to meet thee; she hath already kissed thee; she holdeth thee close in her embracements. Yea, when thou didst fall she was present with thee (albeit thou didst not discern so much) she laid her hand under thee, to keep thee from harm, and to raise thee again. Thou art a vessel both brittle and weak; thou must needs have been dashed to pieces, or much bruised with thy fall; unless mercy had laid under her hand. This is a great sign that thou art elect; but it is not all. For mercy hath not only preserved thee from the harm of sin, but she hath turned thy sin to thy good: For thereby she hath made both thee more humble in thy opinion, and more heedful in thy ways. The fall of the reprobate is like the fall of an elephant; they rise not again, but impudently make light esteem of their sins; and sometimes with a flinty forehead boast of them: But though the elect fall into the bottom of the sea, yet the same whale which swallowed them up, must again cast them upon the land. Arise therefore, and strengthen thy heart: thou hast found how weak thine own forces are; humble thyself under the Almighty arm of the LORD. For humility is the foundation of all virtues; the lowest groundwork of repentance. Humble thyself therefore with sorrow for thy sins past, and circumspection for thy life to come. If thou canst so humble thyself with sorrow, than never fear; this sorrow is the greatest joy to a godly mind that can be; the more of this sorrow thou findest within thee, the less cause thou hast to fear. And to this examination now I leave thee, to what degree of submiss sorrow thou canst descend; for assuredly, to the same pitch of assurance thou shalt be exalted. This said, she glanceth gloriously into heaven, leaving me well confirmed against fear; but altogether exposed to heaviness and grief. For when I presented to my remembrance, either the vain, or vile and base pleasure of my sins, the good which I did loose, the evil which thereby I did incur; how my most meek GOD, by the goodness of his own nature was moved, was provoked, was enforced by my ingratitude to be wroth; I was forth with overcharged with heaviness, which did trouble and torment me day and night; which bereaved me of all joy, and was extremely burdensome to me. She rushed upon me with her sad troops; she cried out most bitterly and said; How now! presumptuous wretch, Whither art thou carried? Into what vain hopes dost thou run? Supposest thou thyself to be rapt up into the third heaven? to be already placed in Abraham's bosom? Alas! deceived caitiff; thy faith is but a fantasy; thy hope a proud presumption of spirit; thy comforts but a dream of a deluded imagination. Thou conceivest that GOD is merciful: it is true; exceeding merciful; infinite in his mercies. But knowest thou not how odious an offence ingratitude is? How it stoppeth the streams? how it drieth up the dew of mercy? how no mercy hath influence where ingratitude abides. Ingratitude is the summary of all sins: no evil, no reproach is left unsaid, when a man is charged to be ungrateful. No beast is either so fierce or so dull, but hath some sense of gratitude, and will love those who are careful for them. The hands which feed the Lions, may safely touch their teeth and their paws: Elephants for their food, make both their courage and their strength servile to man. So natural is this virtue, that those creatures which want understanding, are both apprehensive and observant thereof. And so hateful is ingratitude to the most merciful GOD, that he hath threatened by his holy spirit, Pro. 17.13. that Evil shall never depart from his house, Sap. 16.19. who reward●th evil for good: And that the hope of the unthankful shall melt away as the winter ye. Consider then how ungraciously ungrateful thou hast been: consider this, I say, and if thy own heart shall condemn thee, think what he will do who is greater than thy heart, and who hath even already opened his mouth to pronounce his arrest. He hath created thee according to his own image: he hath placed thee in the paradise of his blessed Church: with the water of baptism he sanctified thee; he furnished thee with the knowledge of his truth, putting his word in thy mouth, and his will in thy mind: with many temporal benefits he did enrich thee; not only for necessity, but for an ornament and delight. But thou in the levity and vanity of thy brain, didst run headlong after thine unbridled lusts, and plunge thyself in many deep sins. Many outward callings he bestowed upon thee; with many sweet instructions he did advertise thee; but albeit all the floor was moistened with his heavenly dew, yet thou (like Gedeons' fleece) remainedst dry: thou didst keep thyself (like the river Nilus) within thy banks, when all other rivers did overflow. He invited thee, and thou didst excuse thyself; he sent to compel thee, but thou didst resist. At the last he called thee with a violent voice, and his unspeakable goodness broke open the gates of thy obstinacy. He raised thee from thy fall by his power; he instructed, he enlightened thee with his wisdom; he brought thee from the tempestuous sea of this world, to the port of a calm conscience, and planted thee in a land of religious conversation. Yet thou notwithstanding, either unmindful, or unkind, hast exalted thy heart, and thereby lost that wisdom, which should have made thy worship and service acceptable to the LORD. Thou knowing his will, hast been negligent in performing the same; albeit thou knowest, that, Cursed is he who doth the work of the LORD negligently. Yea, thou hast not done it at all; thou hast manifestly and manifoldly transgressed his will; and therefore art most worthy to be beaten with many stripes. Thou hast forsaken his service, who is so bountiful, that he rewards a cup of cold water with eternal life; and thou hast served sin, which giveth no wages but death, but eternal death. Oh woeful wages! it were far better to go unpaid and serve for nothing. O Lucifer! who saidst in thy heart, I will climb up into heaven: Thou must humble thyself so low as hell, or else never look to encounter mercy. Knowest thou not that rebellious ingratitude giveth limits to mercy? where else were justice? Who should receive judgement, if mercy did always wait upon sinners? Go to then deject thyself, abject wretch; creep among moths and worms; abase thyself to the very gates of despair, in regard of this thy obstinate unkindness. Open thy understanding; draw all pensive conceits greedily into thy soul, and pine away in a consuming langour. Sith thou hast lost thy joy, make much of thy sorrow; sith thou hast no comfort but in complaints, bestow them largely. Oh! what a heavy burden is heaviness to the soul? It is more ponderous than the whole mass of the earth; It is more poisonous than the breath of the Cockatrice. It murmureth against, GOD; It provoketh to blaspheme; It provoketh to despair; It turneth all matter of solace and joy into mountains of lead, to weigh us down; It admitteth neither contentment nor quiet. But as to many sick persons all sweet things seem bitter; so to those who are under the arrest of heaviness, all means, either of delight, or of comfort, are turned to matter of torment and disquiet. And verily my misery did so deeply drown my memory and whole mind in sorrow, that all the remembrance of Gods' promises lay overwhelmed with the thick throng of uncomfortable thoughts; and heaviness would have altogether overborne and beaten me down, had not Faith, and her sweet sister Hope come to my relief, and with most comfortable countenance and speech thus sustained me. So, so: this worketh kindly, and as it should: this working of the medicine giveth very good assurance of health. Alas, weak wretched sinners! how are ye deceived by your sottish sense? The poisonous pleasures of sin which bane the soul, you sweetly swallow without distaste; but you cannot relish fear and sorrow, the principal expellers of this poison. At these you make a sour face; you can no ways enforce them down. Whereas a soul once infected with sin, cannot possibly be recovered to the state of Grace, but it must first be bruised and broken between fear and grief, as a grain of corn is grinded between two millstones. And this moving of the soul between fear and grief, referred to GOD, maketh a broken and contrite heart, which he doth never despise. And this is that contrition which is the first part of true Repentance. O lovely fear! O sweet sorrow! O happy hand which was so heavy upon thee, Secundum duritiam tuam & cor impoeniteus thesaurisas tibi iram in die irae. & suffered thee not to lie senseless in thy sins, heaping to thyself wrath against the day of wrath. Let it be a comfort, a great joy unto thee, that this heavy hand hath raised and pulled thee out of the ordure of thy sins. If heretofore thou hast been unthankful, be thankful now, and thy former unthankfulness shall not be remembered. The multitude of his benefits is so far from dismaying, that it may much assure thee. For he who hath so loved thee, will not now leave thee; He who hath begun his work in thee, will in time expedient expedite the same. What is more usual in noble natures, then to follow their own favours? then to love those most, upon whom they have bestowed greatest benefits? to heap many honours upon such as have been first advanced by them? And hath not the most noble nature said, that, To them who have, more shall be given? Again, what natural cause beginneth a work, and leaveth the same unfinished? The virtue of seed ceaseth not in the leaf, not in the flower, until it hath brought forth seed to a perfect ripeness. The bird never forsaketh her young, until she see them able both to fly, and to provide for themselves. Doth nature compel inferior causes to perfect their effects, and shall not the cause of all causes be moved by his most infinite goodness and love, to finish the work which he hath begun? Are not all the works of the mighty GOD perfect? Dei perfecta sunt opera, Deut. 32.4. Hath not the same infinite goodness and love said? It is my work to do the will of him that sent me, that I should make perfect his work. Fear not then: he who hath begun to love thee, will never change, but will persist to love thee to the end: the same goodness that moved him to confer many gifts and blessings upon thee, will move him to perfect all by giving thee everlasting life. For wherefore did he turn thy heart from sin? wherefore did he provoke thee to Repentance? but because he purposed to make thee clean? But as thou dost expect, that GOD will not leave his work unfinished in thee; so break not off thy work in the midst with him. Thou hast attained to contrition in a moderate degree: but rest not there; proceed now to confess thy sins; which is the second part of true Repentance. For sins are like a burning agu●, which commonly breaketh forth at the lips. So long as the heat remaineth within, it searcheth and anguisheth all the entrailes; but when it breaketh forth at the lips, it is an assured sign of health. Go with us then, and we will bring thee before his presence. Acknowledge there thy sins; Hide none of thy transgressions from him. Leave fear behind; for mild and merciful is the LORD, he turneth to those who turn unto him: but take sorrow with thee, and season thy confession, therewith, Sorrow will make thy confession not only not offensive, but pleasing to him. VERSE. V. I will acknowledge my sin unto thee: and mine unrighteousness have I not hid. 1 The second form of Repentance. 2 The cause of GOD'S severity against us. 3 How we should present ourselves too GOD. 4 A Confession. 5 Between great and infinite there stands no proportion. 6 Faith and hope our guides and companions to GOD. 7 Whereto a sinner is like. 8 How offensive sin is to GOD. 9 How we must satisfy. 10 How we commonly extenuate our sins. 11 How we excuse them. 12 Temptations cannot excuse us, and wherefore. 13 To whom we are obliged to confess. 14 The conscience of man is GOD'S Kingdom and Consistory. 15 We should not be ashamed, that men take knowledge that we have sinned. 16 Pleasures of the body, what they are like. 17 Our confession must be entire. 18 Our lightest sins must be confessed. 19 Our sweetest sins must be confessed. 20 One sin sufficient to undo us. THen I advanced myself to the second form of repentance; From contrition I proceeded to acknowledgement and confession of my sins. Because I saw it was a childish weakness, rather to perish by the disease, then to empty the stomach of dangerous humours; to suffer sores rather to putrefy and spread, then to endure the cleansing and curing of them: rather to endure a perpetual toothache, then to have the tooth pulled forth. And seeing it was for this cause that GOD was so severe against me, namely for that I would not acknowledge my sins; seeing by no other means I could wrestle out of those difficulties, wherinto his displeasure had cast me; I forthwith resolved to turn to my GOD, and to turn forth my heart unto him; to pour out all the putrefaction of my soul before his pure eyes; to open my Conscience, and give a vent to those filthy fumes, which had almost stifled my soul; which were more loathsome, more infectious, then is the damp of dead putrified bodies: In a word, to say with holy job; If I have hid my sin, as Adam, concealing my iniquity within my bosom. job. 31.33 So I presented myself before his divine Majesty, with the same countenance, wherewith a poor distressed patient, full of impostumes, Fistulas, and ugly ulcers, presenteth himself to an expert Chirurgeon: And being prepared to endure, both the pain of the corosive, and point of the lance, I thus addressed my speech unto him. O LORD my GOD, most rich, most liberal, most merciful GOD! who sitting above the Seraphims, with thy eyes far brighter than the Sun, piercest all depths, and discoverest all things naked and open to thy view: Thou, O LORD, who art so powerful, and yet so pitiful to that which thou hast made, that thou hearest and regardest miserable sinners; Graciously behold, be favourably attentive to me, I beseech thee. Behold me thy miserable creature, not in anger, not in justice, but in compassion and mercy; not as a severe judge, but as a skilful and careful Physician; not to punish my infirmities, but graciously to cure them. O merciful GOD! no less infinite in Mercy then in Majesty; In goodness and in greatness unmeasurable alike; Behold, my exceeding great miseries; my exceeding great, but not infinite miseries: not such as can bear any proportion against thy mercies. For between great and infinite there standeth no proportion. O infinite goodness & mercy! I am in a most miserable estate, & yet how to better it cannot tell. My doubtful and perplexed thoughts do wildly wander in a maze of amazement: And this is nothing else in effect, but to beat out, with what torments I am likest to perish. Alas! O my GOD, wilt not thou relieve me in these extremities? wilt not thou release me? O infinite goodness! With all humility I entreat thy aid, not upon any confidence in myself, but faith & hope, two twins of thy breast (who never yet have either let fall, or been denied any suit) have guided me hither, and set me before thee: Lo, they remain still present with me. They encourage me, they assure me that the more miserable we feel ourselves to be, the more fit we are to receive thy mercies; and the more standeth it with thy justice to afford us the same. O thou who art both liberal and rich! relieve my poverty. O most merciful and powerful LORD, release my miseries. Hear my distressed soul, full of wretchedness, but fuller of guiltiness, groaning at thy gate of mercy: See how foully it is defiled with evil: how deeply corruption hath tainted the very substance thereof: how the stamps of sin, by reason of long custom, are so firmly imprinted therein, as it is a hard matter to deface them. I am like an unclean beast, that hath long wallowed in the proper dung; whereby both the beauty hath been defiled, and a loathsome taste is fixed in the flesh. Alas! I am plunged in sin as in a sea, wherein I neither see bank nor feel bottom; & wherein my vain soul at the same time both floateth with the levity, and is drawn down with the leaden weights of sin. O GOD of my salvation! my impure soul hath hitherto been much troubled, much endangered, and almost stifled by enclosing her corruptions, and not giving a free passage for them to break forth. But now I confess my sins, I confess how grievously I have offended thy majesty. I have broken all thy commandments, as if they had been cobwebs; and my very best thoughts have been poisoned with taste of things sensual. The poisonous breath of my thoughts, evaporated from my sensual soul, hath been more offensive and noisome to thee, than the damps that arise from bodies half putrefied in their graves. Of all thy debtors, I confess that my accounts are greatest, that thou hast most to reckon with me. but give me respite for repentance, and I will satisfy, if not thy justice, by payment, yet thy mercy by acknowledgement. Have patience a while, and by confession I will pay thee all. LORD, I will not hide my offences, for then wilt thou display them: I will lay them open that thou mayest hide them; I will acknowledge them that thou mayest take no knowledge of them: I will not conceal my miserable defects and defections from thee; lest thereby I lose, first thy pity, and then thy relief. I will never go about, either to abuse, or to avoid thee, by denying or suppressing my sins; I will no ways extenuate, no ways excuse them. I will not extenuate them, either by favourable comparing them with the sins of other men, or by undervaluing them in their own nature. I will not excuse them by casting the blame upon any other; upon the malice and power of the Devil; upon the witchcraft of the world; upon the soft flatteries of the flesh. These are the vain veils which our first parents used, The woman gave it me, the serpent deceived me: But they cannot suffice to shadow our sins. For they are not able to compel the will, they can no ways enforce the soul: Allure it they may; but enforce it they cannot: they may knock at our gates; but they cannot break in, unless we open to entertain them. And therefore I will never endeavour to excuse that, which my own conscience convinceth. I will sincerely acknowledge my sins; I will take the whole blame upon myself; I will not transfer any part thereof to any other. For my conscience is so torn with the bitings of sin, my soul is so stretched upon the rack of sorrow; that I am enforced to cry nothing else, but, O my sins! I charge, I accuse, I condemn only myself. O my GOD! I have grievously sinned; my sins have deeply provoked thy heavy wrath; I acknowledge them to thee with a free confession. LORD, I appear before thee no other than I am; even a most poor desolate and distressed sinner: I can neither boast nor take comfort in any goodness in myself; but I lay open before thee my sins. And it is unto thee that I will confess my sins; unto thee, against whom only I have sinned; unto thee, who only art able to forgive my sins; unto thee, who only art able to judge of my confession. For it is not always thy pleasure, that we blazon our own blame, that our sins be rung out to the ears of all men; that they be set forth upon the stage of the world. If penitently we confess our sins unto thee, thy compassion will cover them. It will cover them from thy justice, it will cover them both from the scandal and scorn of other men: thou wilt freely forgive both the sin and the shame. Assuredly the conscience of man is thy little kingdom: It is thy peculiar Consistory and Court. There thou sittest, there thou examinest, there thou judgest. With this kingdom thou wilt not depart, thou wilt not impart it to any other. None can know the secrets of the soul; none can absolutely, either discern or command the inward working thereof but thyself. Whosoever will presume, either to know, or command the working of the spirit; whosoever will determine of the last end and state of souls (further then thou hast plainly revealed) he usurpeth thy throne; he wresteth thy sceptre out of thy hand. As thou only art able to judge of our confession; as thou only both knowest and forgivest sins; so unto thee will I ever acknowledge my sins. Yet will I not be ashamed that the world also take knowledge, that men also think that I have done amiss. I will not forbear to abase myself by reason of my sins, even in open view; to sorrow, to lament, to be sour and severe against myself; to abhor the world and all her sorceries; to loath the poisonous pleasures of the body; which are like to moths, that consume the garment wherein they breed; to chastise and tame my filthy flesh, for rebelling against thee, by whose power it was made, by whole providence it doth consist; for conspiring the destruction of my soul, which keepeth it from stinking, from turning to most course and loathsome carrion. I will never bear the world in hand, that my offences are either few or light; I will by confession make them known to thee; I will by sorrow, and some measure of satisfaction, make them known to the world. No shamefastness shall retain me from mourning at any time, from making a sad and severe reckoning with my body, from holding a sharp hand upon it. For assuredly, either we must lament in this life with profitable tears for a time, or else with fruitless and endless tears in the life to come: either in this world we must tie ourselves to some moderate pain, or else be chained both to intolerable and eternal pains in the world to come. Neither will I acknowledge my offenees in part, but I will make an entire confession, and expose all my transgressions before thee. Not only my great sins, but my unrighteousness, which seem of lesser moment; not only the evil which I have done, but the good which in duty I should have done: I will discover all my unrighteousness unto thee. I will do as the lepers were commanded to do, when they came to be cleansed by the Priest; I will not only wash my garments, but will have all my hair; Leu. 14.8. even my lightest and losest offences. That thou who numbrest our hairs, when thou shalt take a view of my sins, shalt not find one hair of them, which I have not run over with the razor of confession. 1. Sam. 15. I will not do as Saul did, who being commanded to slay all the Amalekites, and all the cattle that pertained to them; destroyed all that was vile & nought worth, but saved the King, the great King Agag, and the fattest sheep and oxen alive. I will not make away my vulgar and unprofitable sins only, and save the principal and advantageable alive; but I will set the sword of confession to them all. I will not make reservation of some sweet sin, and then say with Naaman the Syrian; 2. Reg. 5.18. The LORD be merciful to me in this. But I will sweep the house clean, or else can it never be furnished and adorned with thy graces, and thereby made fit to entertain thee. I will cleanse my conscience of all defilements. One drop of poison tainteth a whole ton of wine; and one mortal sin infecteth all the faculties and virtues of the soul. One snare is sufficient to entrap the fowl; one hook to take the fish; one leak to sink a ship; one spark of fire to prostrate a whole City; and one sin sufficeth to draw both body and soul to destruction. I will therefore discharge myself by confession of all; Lam. 2.19 I will pour forth my heart as water before thee. VERS. VI I said, I will confess my sins unto the LORD: and so thou forgivest the wickedness of my sins. 1. PArticular enumeration of our sins is impossible. 2 How sharp sins are, and how heavy of digestion. 3 Secret sins are most dangerous, and wherefore. 4 The readiness of GOD to accept our confession. 5 GOD often accepts our purpose for performance. 6 Which maketh our want of repentance unexcusable. 7 Contrition joined with a will to confess is sufficient. 8 The necessity of a contrite heart, and wherefore. 9 For remission of sins, what is required from us, what from GOD. 10 Neither of which require any long trace of time. 11 How plentiful GOD is in mercy. 12 A thanksgiving for the same. 13 The soul cheereth by means of confession. 14 The joyful effects of sorrow and troubles to penitent sinners. 15 A life without adversities whereto it is like. 16 Many benefits that we receive by troubles. 17 How ready GOD is to receive to mercy. BUT what a maze do I begin to tread? How shall I ever wind myself out of this knotty labyrinth? Verily if I should make a particular rehearsal of all my sins, I should never be able to finish that task, I should never roll the stone over that hill: I should no sooner mount it a little, but it would always tumble again down to the bottom: I should ever find my work new to begin. I may well say with judas, I have sinned; but either number, or truly estimate my sins, I cannot. If I could number the stars of Heaven, or the sands of the earth, or the drops of water that are in the Sea, or the moments of time since time began; yet am I out of hope to enumerate my sins: because they are no fewer in variety than they are in number: in number equal to those which I have said, but far exceeding them in variety. The sum of them is, the manifold breach of every branch of thy Commandments; whereof many of the most heinous stick stiff in my conscience, like sharp stitches in a sick man's side; whereof the pleasure lieth heavy in my Soul, like sweet meats of extreme hard digestion. The most especial of these are, either blasphemous and profane, or light and vain using of thy most blessed Name: vile and vain behaviour and speech, unthankfulness, covetousness, cruelty, pride, ambition, anger, malice, envy, riot, sloth, violence, hypocrisy, flattery, etc. These particulars I unfold before thee; in every of these I have many times offended; yea, many times whereof I was never sensible: For what man knoweth how oft he offendeth. More also would I acknowledge to thee, if more I could call to my remembrance; and therefore, O cleanse thou me from my secret sins. Which assuredly are so much the more dangerous, in that they lurk within me secret and unseen; awaiting advantage always to entrap me, and finally to break forth to my destruction. But see the mild mercies of our GOD; see the greatness of his goodness towards us; see how prone he is to pardon our sins, how ready to reconcile us to his favour. For I did but say, I will confess my sins; and so he forgave the wickedness of my sin. I had scarce addressed my heart to confess my sins, scarce let one tear drop from my breast, but I obtained favour and forgiveness of him. I said I will confess my sins, and thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin. Oh! that we were such servants to thee, as thou art to us a LORD; so ready, so willing to confess our sins, as thou art favourable to forgive them. Thou regardest not the measure, but the truth of our repentance; not the extension, but the intention; not how ceremonious it is, but how sincere. Our purposes thou takest oftentimes for full performances: oftentimes thou acceptest our designments for deeds: thou who art a spirit, regardest only the spirit; the outward actions are many times supplied by thy grace. And this especially maketh us unexcusable, if we do not repent; because pardon may be so easily obtained; because it requireth so little pains. To obtain pardon of all our sins, a full confession is not always necessary, but a full and sufficient grief is required. If the grief be sufficient, it is of force to abolish sins. Such is the virtue of a true contrite heart, that if it be joined only with a will and endeavour to confess, it blotteth out, it wipeth away the guiltiness of sin; so as the sinner shall never be damned, if he return not to his wickedness again. But confession of sins, with all the works of satisfaction which a man can either effect or imagine, without a contrite heart; are nothing available, nothing worth. A contrite heart is so necessary for the remission of sins, that without it, no man hath ever been saved; no sins have been ever remitted. For as GOD is offended only with the heart, so with the heart only is he pleased; he desireth nothing but the heart: Son give me thy heart. Nothing offendeth GOD but the heart; take away the will and intention of the heart, and all our actions are indifferent: and therefore from the heart must satisfaction proceed. The medicine must be applied where the disease is settled; the sinner must use justice upon the same part where sin was first hatched, and where it reigns: Even as offenders are commonly punished, or branded upon the same parts of their bodies, wherewith they did offend. Because we sin with the heart, GOD requireth the punishment of the heart; which is done by full and true contrition. To obtain remission of our sins, something is required on our part, and something from GOD. From us, sorrow and detestation of our sins; and a lively Faith in our great SALVATION: from GOD, the imparting of his grace: neither of which require any long trace of time; both of them may be done in an instant. For the sorrow of contrition requireth no determinate continuance of time; but as a man is damned by one perverse act of his will, so by one contrary act of his will he is made fit on his part to be justified. Otherwise it would follow, (which the mercy of GOD will neither allow nor endure) that the way of salvation through shortness of time, should be blocked up against sorrowful sinners; In quacunque hora ingemueris peccator omnium iniquitatum cius amplius non recordabor. Ez●k. 18. and that at what time soever a sinner doth truly mourn, he should not be relieved. As for the grace which proceedeth from GOD, much less doth it either require or bear the very lest protraction of time. For, because his virtue is infinite, it is not included, it is not excluded by any compass or measure of time. If there be no defect of sorrow in us, there is never defect of grace in him; he doth justify a sinner, and restore him to his favour in a very instant, even whensoever he is rightly disposed by sorrow to receive his grace. GOD is so plentiful in mercies, and so prone to impart them to us, that we need but to open our hands, and they shall be filled; even as we need but to open our eyes to enjoy the bright beauty of the Sun. Aperi os tutum, etc. The Grace of GOD is so far from defect, Ecce ego fio ante ostium, & pulso, si quis au lierit vo●em me●m, & aperuerit, intrabo ad eum, & cae nabo cum illo & ipse mecum. that it preventeth our dull desires, it knocketh at our heavy hearts, it worketh in our sluggish spirits; we can never be so ready to entertain it, as that is to enter. When our sins expel GOD out of our souls, he will not go far, he will stand at the door; he will there knock, and hourly expect to be received again. Blessed be thou, O omnipotent GOD! who so aboundest in mercy and in love; who art so easy to be entreated for great offences, so ready to be received of those who did despitefully both drive, and for a long time keep thee out of their gates. Oh! how undue on thy part, how undeserved on our is thy goodness? how far beyond all expectation? all hope? Certainly we can never be left so dry and empty of thy grace, but out of thy plenty, or rather plenitude and fullness, we may easily again be stored. O searcher of souls! I have so far as my weakness sufficeth, confessed my sins unto thee; I have disgorged my stomach, stuffed with loathsome and dangerous humours; I have discovered those unseemly sores, which heretofore I endeavoured to conceal. And now (me think) I begin to revive; my fear now beginneth to change into hope. As heretofore I desired to avoid thee, as a sharp searcher, as a severe justicer of my offences; so now I run after thee, and cast myself into thy arms, as my only assured refuge and defence. Blessed be the hour wherein I was first enlightened, first emboldened to acknowledge my sins. In this hour have I received a singular testimony, a sweet taste, both of thy love, and care, and liberality towards me. Let others bless the time of their birth, the time wherein some prosperous adventure did befall, the time wherein either they achieved some great advantage, or else escaped some disastrous evil: But I will bless this happy hour, the most happy that possibly could happen to me. O my GOD! increase the pleasure which I have conceived, in being displeased with myself, for displeasing thee: Let me take so great contentment and delight in repentance, as ever I did in committing sin. So shall my felicity approach, if not equal the felicity of thine Angels: So shall I be advanced from the low condition of my grief, to the high and glorious state of thy grace. O eternal GOD! O true light of our eyes! If this be the effect of troubles and grief, if this be the worst of them; I will bow my back, and set my shoulder to the load: I will not only endure calamities, but I will rejoice in them. I will humbly entreat GOD, that I may never want these assurances both of his love, and of his care; I will earnestly invite them to come upon me, to afford me their help, either in returning, or retaining me to GOD. Assuredly a life without adversities is like a standing puddle, a dead sea: as tempests preserve water and air from putrefaction; so do troubles the mind. He that never tasted of troubles, knoweth not himself, and seemeth to be little regarded of GOD. He knoweth not himself, because he never made proof what he is able to do: he seemeth little regarded of GOD, as a person without courage and heart; unworthy of combat, unfit for trial. He that never knew adversity, is ignorant of the greatest part of the affairs of this life: He is exceeding miserable in this, that he never knew what misery meant. Great virtues delight in trouble, as valiant soldiers do in war. O most loving, most rich, most liberal LORD! How can we be able, I will not say to express; but to understand, to imagine thy sweet gentleness and love? I did no sooner think to return unto thee, but thou were upon the way to meet me: I did no sooner say that I would confess my offences, but thou didst open thine arms to receive me to mercy: I did no sooner call to mind the pains which my sins did merit, but thou didst accord to remit the same. I expected thy rebukes, and thy rods; but I received thy kisses: I looked that thou wouldst have thundered forth thy threats, that thy angry arm would have dashed me to dust; but thou didst encounter me with thy embracements, thou didst entertain me with a sumptuous feast. Thou didst more rejoice to do me good, than I (heavy beast) did to receive it. O favourable LORD! How much more ready art thou to pardon, then to punish? How much more ready to grant thy pardon, than we to desire it? Verily, no loving father can so graciously receive his child, cast down at his feet, and in the lowest descent of submission craving his favour; as thou hast graciously received me. VERS. VII. For this shall every one that is godly make his prayer unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: but in the great water floods they shall not come nigh him. 1 THE effect of Repentance in regard of the godly. 2 All creatures to be entreated to aid us in praising GOD. 3 Especially all the Saints in heaven, who have been sinners upon earth. 4 Also all the godly upon earth. 5 Who by examples of Mercy, shall be encouraged to resort to GOD. 6 Remission of sins, is a case reserved only to GOD. 7 Remission of the least sin, requires no less virtue, than the creation of the world. 8 Resort to GOD must be in a seasonable time. 9 The seasonable time in regard of GOD. 10 The great difference between the seasonable time, and the time ensuing. 11 The seasonable time in regard of ourselves. 12 The dangers which we incur by deferring repentance. 13 The doubtful estate of those who repent very late. 14 Late repentance little available, not by any change in GOD, but by defects in ourselves. 15 It is little better than desperation, to sin upon confidence of repentance. FOR this cause my heart hoppeth with in me for joy; my spirit is inflamed, and my blood boileth with a holy heat, both to extol and extend thy praise. My soul glorieth only in thy goodness and grace. It blameth, it accuseth nothing but itself; It complaineth, it crieth out against none but itself. It is my will, it is my actions, it is myself that I have lamented: But GOD hath been gracious to me, it is in his grace that I will rejoice. He hath opened mine eyes, to see my own deformities and defects; he hath touched my heart with shame and with grief; he hath unlocked my lips, both to confess my faults, and to crave compassion: if not so soon as it was requisite, yet before it was altogether too late. Although I have lost much time, yet hath he not suffered me to lose all; although I did not apprehend the first offers of occasion, yet did not he permit it wholly to slip away. Praise the LORD; O ●y soul! Psal. 146. whilst I live will I praise the LORD; yea so long as I have any being will I sing praises to my God, etc. But because I am not able sufficiently to praise thee, I will entreat the aid of all thy creatures; let them all join with me in the sweet harmony of thy praise. Let all thy wind instruments tune to this consort: Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Psal. 150. Especially I incite to this holy office, all thy blessed Saints in heaven; who did heretofore in like sort participate of thy grace, and now participate of thy glory. For so many Saints as are now in heaven, so many sinners have been upon earth; there never was, nor shall be any but one who may say, which of you can reprove me of sin? They all needed thy grace to repent, they all received thy gift to be forgiven. Let them all be examined, Let them answer freely, by whose power they are saved, they will all acknowledge; It was not our sword, and our bow, but thy hand and the strength of thy arm that hath gotten us the victory. Also all the godly upon earth shall praise thee, for this example of thy compassion and love: For that thou hast declared thyself so prone to pardon, so ready to relieve, so rich and plentiful in thy relief: For that thou art not only easily entreated to remit our sins, but prone and bountiful in heaping thy graces and favours upon us. They shall also be encouraged hereby, to fly unto thee, to pray unto thee. When their sins and offences lie heavy upon them, when they are environed and oppressed with distress; they shall never despair, never distrust to be both released and relieved by thee. Yea, even the most righteous and just shall for this cause address their prayers to thee. For there is not one among the sons of Adam, but his necessities require that he pray often to thee; both for pardon and relief. Ecce quiseruiunt ei non sunt stabiles & in Angelis suis reperis pravitatem, quant●m magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, & terrenum habens fundamentum. job. 40. Whosoever thinketh that he hath no need, deceiveth himself, and in very truth stands most in need. Then do we begin to be just, when we begin to see our own unrighteousness; and the further we proceed in the one, the more shall we increase in the other. And they shall pray unto thee, and only unto thee: because thou only forgivest sin. Remission of sins is so great a work, that it is a case reserved only to thee: thou only forgivest sin, who only art offended by sin. No creature whether in heaven or upon earth, Ego sum, Ego sum ipse qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me. Es. 43. hath privilege to pardon the least sin: the forgiveness of the least sin requireth no less virtue, than the creation of all the world. In creation nature is given, in justification grace; which in many degrees exceedeth nature. If no man be of power to give nature to things, Quis potest facera mundum de immundo conceptis semine monne much less is any man of ability to give grace. When the king of Syria sent Naaman his servant to the king of Israel, that he should cure him of his leprosy; the king of Israel tore his garments and said: Am I a GOD that I should cure a man of his leprosy? t● qui solus es? job. 14. But assuredly, if no power but of GOD was able to cure a bodily leprosy, no inferior power can cleanse the loathsome leprosy of the soul: For this cure must all men resort to GOD. But this they must do in a seasonable time; they must apprehend occasion, which no wise man, either fearing thee, or loving himself, will suffer to escape. For as opportunity at some times of our life, is fairly offered to all; so if it be not taken when it comes, it can never be overtaken when it is gone. This time is whilst thy treasures are opened, whilst thou mayst be approached, whilst thou mayest be found: whilst thou proclaymest thy pardon, whilst thou repellest no man, whilst thou invitest all: whilst thou almost entreatest sinners, loaden and perplexed with their heavy charge, to come to thee for relief. If in this time they pray unto thee, justitia tu● sicut gurgites maris Isai. 48. the flood of thy fury shall not involve them; they shall not be swallowed in the ravenous gulf of thine indignation. But if they suffer this time to slip; if they be so held down with sensual either pleasure or sloth, that they will not awake out of the slumber of sin; that they will not arise and pray unto thee: another time shall then succeed; when the full streams and storms of thy displeasure shall violently break forth, and suddenly enwrap all those, who either through negligence, which is ill; or through obstinacy, which is worse, persevere in their licentious life. And the longer it be before these floods come upon them, with the greater fury will they fall: Even as rivers, the greater distance they run from their springs, the more waters they gather, & with the greater violence they run. Or as the longer a man to be drawing a bow, the nearer he draws the arrow to the head, and with the greater strength it flieth from his hand. At that time, they who now may have easy access, shall not be able to approach thee; they shallbe driven away, they shall be commanded with a sad bitter curse, to depart from thee. Thou who now keepest open house, will then perpetually shut up doors: thou who now artful of pity, plentiful in relief; wilt then finally judge, and afterwards eternally punish. Pharaoh did hardly oppress and detain the people of Israel a long time; no entreaty, no punishment could move him to permit them to depart; he pursued them with an army even into the sea: But when he saw the waters coming upon him, he acknowledged the power of GOD, and said: Exod. 14. Let us fly, for the LORD fighteth for them. Then he repented, than he would have gone back; but it was too late. The water floods came upon him too fast; sentence of death had then passed against him; then GOD'S wrath and the waters came upon him together. When the floodgates of GOD'S fury are opened upon us, it will so violently drive us both from his favour and face, that it will be impossible for us to approach him. Again, they who let slip the time of their youth, of their health and of their strength; and with variety of delays drive off to reconcile themselves to GOD, until by age or by sickness they become weak; until they arrive to the last period of their lives: they are in danger to deceive themselves. They are in great danger, that either their hearts will be so hardened with long custom of sin, that true repentance cannot sink into them: or else that the feebleness of age, the pains of sickness, the dismaidnes of death, the horror of sin, the terror of justice, and a thousand like perplexities, as so many floodgates, will rush upon their souls, and altogether overwhelm them; so as they shall not be able to approach near to GOD. For being rolled in these streams, it cannot but be doubtful at the least; that they who in former times were forgetful of GOD, should then be forgetful of themselves; that they who had no will to repent, whilst they had power to sin; when they are unable to sin, should have a very weak either will or ability to repent: that GOD will then as little regard their cries, as they did formerly regard his callings. Not upon any change in him, but by reason of defect in themselves. Because their complaints and cries at that time; and happily their sobs, sighs, and tears, are not a voluntary motion of the will, but a violent enforcement upon necessity. They are rather effects of amazement, or of despair; then of any lively and powerful repentance. Verily, it is little better than desperation, to sin upon confidence of repentance in times to ensue. There is little, either proof or thank in the amendment of our will, when we are passed, either the pleasure or the power to proceed in sin. VERS. FOUR Thou art a place to hide me in, thou shalt preserve me from trouble: thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. 1. THe effects of repentance in regard of the penitents. 2 The protection of GOD'S Mercy. 3 The protection of his power. 4 The protection of his providence. 5 As GOD hath manifested himself to us, three of his attributes are most excellent, his goodness, his wisdom and his power. 6 And of these his goodness is most excellent and glorious. 7 GOD communicates his goodness, and wherefore. 8 A thanksgiving. 9 The goodness of GOD an assured defence. 10 The debility of humane forces. 11 How sustained▪ 12 The goodness of GOD not only defendeth, but maketh victorious. 13 A short prayer. 14 The godly are free from the delights of this world. 15 Free also from the dangers. 16 They cannot perish, and wherefore. BUT as for me I will speedily and in good time run unto thee, as unto my assured refuge; against outward fears, against inward weaknesses, against all dangers or disquiets. When I have offended thee, when I have stumbled, when fallen into any sin; I will not basely and beastly lie still; I will forthwith arise & run unto thee, as to a place to hide me in. To hide me under thy mercy, both from the stroke, and from the search of thy justice. When I am assailed by mine own evil inclinations, When my spiritual enemy doth either urge or allure me to sin; I will run to the protection of thy power, as to the only means to preserve me, against the furies and treacheries of these encounters. When humane hatred doth set upon me; when molestations, troubles, dangers, do beset me; when entrapments of all sorts are spread abroad, either particularly against myself, or more generally against others with me; I will run to the protection of thy providence and wisdom, where I shall be most assuredly preserved. Let others run whither they please. Let them trust to their friends, to their riches, to their wisdom, to their power, or to any other thing which in the view of the world seemeth able to defend them: I will shroud myself under thee. Thou art my refuge, thou art the place to hide and preserve me: In all my necessities thou art my retreat. When Satan assaulteth, when the world enticeth, when my own filthy flesh inclineth and betrayeth me; when temptations, when adversities and dangers environ and oppress me; this is my only comfort, that thou art good, and that I may have resort to thy goodness; which is the most excellent attribute and perfection that thou hast. True it is, that among all thy perfections, one is not greater or less than another: because every one comprehendeth the most high and simple nature of thy divinity, whereinto no comparison can fall. Yet as thou dost manifest thyself to us, three of them are most excellent: thy goodness, thy wisdom and thy omnipotent power. These are the three fingers which sustain the earth. Of these, thy goodness moveth thee to be bountiful to thy creatures; thy wisdom contriveth how this may most beneficially be done: thy power bringeth the work to effect. And albeit these are equal in thyself, comprised together in thy divine providence; yet as thou declarest thyself to us, thy goodness is most excellent and glorious, from whence thy mercy doth proceed. This thou most extollest in thyself; this thou most expressest in thy works, whereof always thy goodness is the cause. For thy goodness draweth thy infinite wisdom and power to concur with it, in bringing thy benefits to effect. And because it is the nature of Goodness to communicate and dilate itself; thou who art the original Goodness, hast imparted many good things to thy Creatures. Not for any necessity to thyself, not for any increase of thy glory: for neither art thou defective in any thing, neither can any thing enlarge thy glory: but because thou wilt not be good alone. Because thy goodness is of nature to extend itself, it hath made other creatures to participate thereof. Thy goodness and thy glory thou hast imparted to other creatures; that as thou enjoyest thine own essence and beauty, so they also should behold, love and enjoy the same: albeit not in the same degree with thyself: because they cannot comprehend thee, as thou comprehendest thyself. This is the felicity and glory which filleth the capacity of our souls, and maketh them happy. And to this end it pleased thy infinite goodness to create, not only Angels, but also men: That so abject a creature, in one part nearest to beasts, should sit at thy table, and feed of thine own dish. Blessed be this noble Goodness, which hath so freely and mercifully communicated itself to so base creatures. This Goodness is the contentment and delight of my heart; this only is able, not only to refresh, but to revive the soul with inward consolation: There is no solid, either comfort or assurance, but in this Goodness. And therefore whensoever I am environed and even oppressed with dangers; when infinite evils shall on every side assail my body or my soul; with humble haste I will run to thy Goodness: thy Goodness shall then be not only a buckler, but a bulwark to defend me. Under the defence of thy Goodness, I shall not only be safe, but secure: Not only safe from dangers, but secure also and free from fear. Although the earth tremble, and the mountains be carried into the bosom of the sea; yet under this protection I will not fear. For among other things, this is one of thy chief endeavours and cares, to deliver thy servants and friends from dangers; to appease their minds from disquiet; because thou knowest what we are, and whereof we are made. Thou knowest how feeble our forces are; feeble by nature, but by often transgressions altogether disabled from relieving ourselves; altogether unable either to resist, or to bear the calamities and dangers which press upon us. A man may destroy himself, Perditio tua ex te Israel, in me auxilium tuum. Host 13.9. he may cast himself into an Ocean of misery without thee; but save and relieve himself without thee he cannot; this is a special work of thy goodness and grace. In this work all power without thee is weak, with thee no weakness but is sufficient: Without thee life is dead, Pone me iuxta te & cuiusuis manus pugnet contra me. job. 17. with thee death itself is alive. All power is weak against him who is under thy power; If thou be at my hand, no hand is of force against me: my weakness shall be supported by thine omnipotent power. And I shall not only be defended under protection of thy goodness, I shall not only be delivered and preserved against mine enemies; but I shall prevail and be victorious against them. As I was before beset with dangers, so shall I be there environed with joy: I shall not only be free from fear, but filled with unspeakable joy. Oh happy souls! who are arrived in so sure custody; who in all the traverses of this life, are guarded by the puissant hand of GOD. What evil can either assail or approach you? What good do you not enjoy? No evil can approach you; because you always fly from evil: you enjoy all good, because you enjoy that goodness which makes you always doing of good. Fly from evil and do good. O good GOD! give me a taste of the plentiful pleasures wherewith their souls are satiated whom thou hast delivered, whom thou dost defend; from the strong chains, from the straight prison, wherein the Devil would hold them captive. Who being full of joy, full of blessed contentment and quiet, live like thyself: without perturbation, without fear or hope. O my GOD! how vilely do they esteem the voluptuousness of this life? How do they not only forbear to desire, but loath and abhor to quaff off that broken brewage, which the flesh with a harlot's hand presenteth to them, in the base and impure cup of this world? How little relish have they in those flashie unsinewie pleasures, which break the forces of the soul, and cast it into a drunken dream? They soar above the sphere of earthly delights; they never stoop upon so course carrion, but aspire to pray upon Angel's food. And they are no less free from the dangers of the world, then from the delights; no more troubled with the fear of the one, then with desire of the other. They may be hated, but harmed they cannot be; they may be persecuted, but they cannot perish. For nothing killeth the soul but sin; sin only is the sword that killeth the soul: that soul which sinneth shall die. Eze. 18.4. But nothing is sin unless it be voluntary; Take away the will and all actions are equal: and therefore a soul doth not perish, unless it will, unless voluntarily it committeth evil. So it followeth, that they cannot perish, because they will not: Because they will not return to their sins, they cannot incur the penalty of sin. And this they will not do, because their spirit is governed by thy grace; because their will is subject to thy will; because thy will and their will are twisted together, as it were into a fast twined thread. VERS. IX. I will inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go; and I will guide thee with mine eye. THE effects of Repentance in regard of the wicked. 2 GOD is most intelligible, yet hardest to be understood. 3 GOD directeth the understanding. 4 Correcteth the will. 5 Not only instructeth, but leadeth with his hand. 6 Enlighteneth and guideth with his eye. 7 To what end GOD fixeth his eyes upon the righteous. 8 The eyes of the LORD are working eyes. 9 They make a soul both beautiful and rich. 10 The incredible goodness of GOD. 11 The eyes of the LORD not only teach, but enable. 12 A heavenly voice. 13 Our eyes must also be firmly fixed upon GOD. 14 But first they must be made clean. COME hither now all ye who want understanding, the very form and essence of man, and I will instruct you: I will instruct you in that which is most intelligible, and yet hardest to be understood. For as nothing is more visible than GOD, yet nothing less seen, by reason of his exceeding brightness; so nothing is more intelligible than GOD, yet nothing less understood, by reason of his surpassing greatness. Come hither, I say, all ye, who know not the truth; all ye who wander out of the right way, come hither to me: come all ye who are desirous to attain a happy life, whereto all the passage of our life is nothing else but a toilsome travail. I will inform you in the pure truth, which experience of mine own errors hath taught me; I will direct you in the right way, which after long wand'ring I have beaten out; I will point unto you the clear Sun of Life, which after many stiff storms hath disclosed to me a most lovely light: whose bright beams have dispelled all dark pitchy clouds of despair, and reduced my thoughts to a quiet calm. All ye who would taste the great goodness of GOD, who would be made happy by remission of your sins; ye who would obtain his aid in your necessities, his comfort in your distress; hear me whom experience hath taught; Or rather hear the LORD himself: Listen well what he saith unto you, and lodge up his words carefully in your breasts. Come unto me, thou miserable man; If thou hast any care of thine own estate; If thou hast any love and desire of thine own safety, come unto me; and thou shalt see what I will do for thee. I will inform thy understanding, in what errors and in what dangers thou passest thy life; and how thou mayest in best manner amend the one, and avoid the other. I will instruct thee to know the evil which I hate, and the good which I require; the miseries which await the one, and the happiness which is prepared for the other. But because men do not commonly offend through want of understanding, but through perverseness of will: For that the knowledge may well be furnished, partly by the benefit of nature, and partly by instructions from other men; but both these are not of power to rectify the will and restrain the appetite. They may point out the way, but they cannot give either appetite or strength to travail therein: they may set good meat before thee, but they cannot give a stomach to eat: Come therefore unto me, and I will not only direct thy understanding, but I will correct the appetites and inclinations of thy will: I will not only inform thy judgement to discern what is best, but I will conform thy will to embrace and execute what thou dost discern. I will not only remove errors from thy knowledge, but disorders also and dulness from thy desires. And because the way which thou pacest is both difficult and dark; full of intricate turnings, full of rough and broken places, wherein thou mayest easily wander or fall; full of stops to impeach thee; full of snares to entangle thy feet; some of pride, some of avarice, some of riot, some of lust and other trumperies of the world; so as none can escape but by my illustration and aid: I will therefore lead thee upon my hand, I will both stay and direct thy steps: I will conduct thee to eternal felicity and life. I will not commit this charge to my Angels, but as I did lead my people of Israel, in the day by a pillar of a cloud, and in the night by a pillar of fire; so day and night I will be thy guide. In the day of prosperity, with my grace of moderation; in the night of adversity, with my grace of comfort: these two pillars shall never forsake thee. I will remove all impediments from before thee: I will make thy passage both straight and smooth. Let great persons of the world send their harbingers before them, Thou shalt make equal the righteous path of the just, Psal. 26.7. to make their journals both easy and safe. But I myself will level thy way; I will remove and avoid all hindrances, I will make thy walk both pleasant and plain. Anchor not thy mind to things of this world; Crooked things shall be made straight, and rough ways be made plain, Luk. 3.5. Let not thy thoughts be troubled either with hope or with fear; Arrest thyself wholly upon me, and I will take the charge into my hands: I will have a care over thee, as a father hath over his child. I will never turn my countenance from thee, thou shalt walk always in my sight, I will firmly fix mine eyes upon thee: I will watch over thee, so as nothing shall fail which may advance thee to a happy life. Mine eye shall enlighten thee, mine eye shall direct thee, mine eye shall furnish thee with all supplies; until thou arrive at the place, where thou shalt want nothing but what thou wouldst not have: where thy abundance shall equal thy desires. O sweet words! and what frozen heart can receive them, and not be melted into delight? and not be inflamed with the love of his creator? What? Wilt thou fix thine eyes upon us indeed? Yes verily; Psal. 34.14 Psal. 33.17 The eyes of the LORD are over the righteous: The eyes of the LORD are upon them that fear him, and put their trust in his mercy. But to what end? To deliver their souls from death, and to feed them in the time of dearth. Psal. 33.18 Good: And so it seemeth, that they shall neither perish nor want. For they shall be delivered from death, and fed in the time of dearth. Thine eye is so fixed upon them, that whosoever toucheth them to harm them, he toucheth the apple of thine eye. All sweet satiety is plentifully poured from thine eyes. Assuredly, the eyes of the LORD are working eyes; grace streameth from his eyes, as light and heat stream from the sun. The sun doth not so much both adorn and enrich the earth with his illustrious beams, as the eyes of the LORD by their influence both enrich and adorn the soul of man; as they make it radiant both in pure beauty, and in plenty of good works. O merciful GOD! how sweet is thy Spirit? What comforts and delights breathe hourly from thee? How art thou so enamoured with our sinful souls, that thou wilt not turn the eyes of thy Majesty from them? How come they so dear unto thee, that neither danger nor want can seize upon them? LORD, I am astonished at this unmeasurable goodness; my thoughts are so overwhelmed and confounded therewith, that I am enforced to cry unto thee; Ps. 141.3. What is man that thou hast such respect unto him? or the son of man that thou so regardest him? I did once go astray, over carried with the company of ordinary men. But since the LORD hath vouchsafed to cast his countenance upon me, since he hath turned to me his amiable eye of compassion and grace; I have not only been instructed what to do, but enabled to perform the same. New forces, new life hath been infused into me: I have not only been directed which way to walk, but I have been guided and supported in that way. And now (me think) this heavenly voice perpetually soundeth in mine ears. Fear not, behold, as I have infused a soul into thy body, so will I infuse my spirit into thy soul; to guide all the actions and motions thereof: that as thou hast a natural life by the one, so thou mayest have a spiritual life by the other. This spirit shall clear thy understanding, incline thy will, rule and moderate all thy steps. And further, mine eye shall not be off thee, my hand shall continually support thee: even as (yea much more then) a careful mother beareth a vigilant eye and hand over her tender child, going in places, where it is both easy and dangerous to receive a fall. When I hear this voice, I fix likewise mine eyes immoveablie upon my guide: even as a diligent pilot fixeth his eyes upon the star whereby he steereth the course of his navigation. As the moon receiveth her light from the sun, so shall my eyes receive both their light and their life from those gracious eyes. I will first make them clean, and then turn them like crystal glasses, to reflect the impression of those glorious lights. I will put myself into the conduct of him, who only both is able, and hath promised to guide me to eternal happiness. I will carefully observe those lovely and lively looks, which do so carefully preserve me. VERS. X. Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding: whose mouths must be holden with bit and bridle, lest they fall upon thee. 1 OUR nature requires, that we be guided by GOD. 2 Other creatures have some likeness of GOD, and wherein. 3 Man beareth his image, and how. 4 This should move us to apply ourselves too GOD. 5 Wherein we should declare a difference between us and bruit beasts. 6 To be a man to halves is the worst condition, and wherefore. 7 Four degrees of Sinne. 8 Contempt not pardonable, and wherefore. 9 The first motions of Grace to be embraced. 10 No creatures degenerate from their proper nature, but man. 11 The cause thereof. 12 Wherefore in the creation no mention is made of the goodness of man. 13 How man transformeth himself into a beast. 14 The deformity of Sin, in that it transformeth us into beasts. 15 What we are if we use not reason, and what if we abuse it. 16 How we may be best transformed. 17 The services which commonly we pursue. 18 The love of ourselves should move us to goodness. 19 The love of misery is worse than misery itself. BE ruled by me then, & do as I have done, (O my friend) take it from my experience for the best. Range thyself in order, and be guided by his Grace. Have recourse to him in due time, whilst he permitteth, whilst he inviteth, whilst he entreateth thee to come. Now he gently calleth thee into the right-way of salvation, now he courteously offereth both his direction and aid: Hear him, regard him, obey him. If thou wilt not do this in respect of him, do it at least in respect of thyself, in respect of thine own benefit, in respect of the condition of thine own nature. Do (I say) accordingly as thou art, and as the nature of thy being requires. Thou art a man, endued with reason and understanding, wherein GOD hath engraven his lively image. In other creatures there is some likeness of him, some footsteps of his divine nature; but in man, he hath stamped his image. Some things are like to GOD, in that they are; some, in that they live; some in their excellent property and working. But this is not the image of GOD. His image is only in that we understand: which is so near a resemblance of him, that nothing in all his creatures can so clearly express him. For as GOD doth understand and love himself; so man by his intellectual power, is both apt and inclinable to understand and love him. And the more perfectly man doth understand and love GOD, the more lively doth he express his image. Seeing then that thou art of so noble a nature, & that thou bearest in thine understanding the image of GOD; so govern thyself as is fit for a creature of understanding. Be not a man only in name, and in outward feature, but in conditions of mind a beast; plunging thyself in those brutish pleasures and desires, whereby the flesh vanquisheth and destroyeth the spirit. Be not like the brute beasts which want understanding; either wild and unruly, or else heavy and dull: the one whereof must always have the snaffle between their teeth, the other the spur upon their side. Be not stiff necked, be not slow paced; do not furiously fling after the pleasures, do not obstinately insist in the customs of a licentious life. Be not carried with the sway of thy appetites, with the tempestuous rage of thy sensuality, without any discourse, without any rule, or restraint of reason. Think that thou art a more excellent creature, then to be anchored like a beast, to earthly thoughts: Think that thou art bound to declare that difference which nature hath set between thee and bruit beasts, not in outward appearance and behaviour, but chiefly by the disposition of thy mind. Understand thy state, understand thy dangers; and then express some judgement, care, and industry, how to avoid them. For assuredly, thou wantest either faith, if thou dost not believe thy danger; or understanding, if with all care and diligence thou dost not endeavour to avoid it. Above all, be not half a man, be not careful and regular in thy life to halves: for such a one liveth most miserably, because he enjoyeth neither GOD nor the world. He enjoyeth not GOD, because he hath not grace enough to make him his own: The world he doth not enjoy; for that he hath so much taste of grace, as to discover the vanity and iniquity of his pleasures. Thou mayest happily observe four degrees of sin: the desire, the action, the custom, the obstinacy or contempt. Desire bringeth forth action; frequency of action, draweth on custom; custom runneth into habit; habit, into nature; from whence proceedeth obstinate contempt. Whensoever therefore thou fallest into any degree of sin, lie not still, beware of custom; for this will soon rise into contempt, which is not pardonable; because so long as contempt standeth, Insanabilis est fractura tua. jer. 30. it is not possible that the sin should be remitted. Obstinate impenitency is said to be impardonable, for that thereby a sinner disesteemeth and despiseth the mercy of GOD: which if he would entertain and embrace, then is he not obstinate, then are his sins both possible and easy to be forgiven. For no sin is unpardonable with GOD, when with sincerity and humility of heart, the sinner desireth mercy; which contempt will never permit him to do. And therefore at the very first summons that GOD shall make, range thyself readily under his obedience. Do not struggle against his directions, be not slow in performing his pleasure: Do not either by obstinate rebellion resist, or by cold dulness extinguish the good motions of his grace inspired into thee. Do not constrain him by afflictions to constrain thee to his service; as a beast is constrained by bridle and whips to be serviceable to man. Be not good only upon compulsion and fear, neither let compulsion and fear deter thee from goodness: But be like a sure blade, whereof albeit the point be bowed to the hilts, yet will it not so stand, but return forthwith to the straightness again. Weigh thine actions with understanding, do them with love, walk cheerfully in the ways of the LORD; be ready, be desirous and joyful to be guided by him. For GOD who is a spirit, respecteth the spirit; he desireth, he accepteth principally the heart: he is better pleased with the manner of our doing, then with that which we can possible do. Certainly, of all the creatures under heaven, which have received being from GOD, none degenerate, none forsake their natural dignity and being, but only man; Only man, abandoning the dignity of his proper nature, is changed like Proteus, into diverse forms. And this is occasioned by reason of the liberty of his will: which is a faculty that transformeth men into so many things, as with violent appetite it doth pursue. Hence it proceeded, that in the creation of other things, GOD approved them and saw that they were good; because he gave them a stable and permanent nature. But of the goodness of man no mention at all. Man's goodness was left unapprooved at the first; because GOD gave him liberty of will; either to embrace virtue, and be like unto GOD; or to adhere to sensuality, and be like unto beasts. And as every kind of beast is principally inclined to one sensuality more than to any other; so man transformeth himself into that beast, to whose sensuality he principally declines. For as the first matter is apt to receive the impression of any form, so man by reason of his affection and will, is apt to be transformed into any beast. This did the ancient wisemen shadow forth by their fables, of certain persons changed into such beasts, whole cruelty, or sottery, or other brutish nature they did express. And what else did others signify, by seeking for a man with a candle, in the greatest assemblies of a most populous city, but that all were degenerated into beasts? Cap. 5.1. Run to and fro (saith the Prophet jeremy) by the streets of jerusalem, and behold now, and know and inquire in the open places thereof, if ye can find a man. And again the same Prophet saith: Cap. 10. Cap. 21. Every man is a beast by his own knowledge. And again: The Pastors are become beasts, and have not sought the LORD; therefore have they no understanding. And hereby thou mayest discern (O man) the deformity of thy most seemly sins; which raseth the image of GOD out of thy soul, Psal. 18. alias 19 and transformeth it into the image of beasts. For Man being in honour, and without understanding, is compared to the foolish beasts, and is made like unto them. O sons of Adam! created after the image of GOD; adorned with many natural and supernatural gifts. Do not abandon yourselves, Do not abandon reason to embrace sensuality; do not cast off the dignity of your condition and state, to follow the base fashion of beasts. Every thing naturally loveth the life. You have no similitude with beasts; but GOD hath created you to his own image, to the end you should love him. GOD hath endued you with reason, to make you differ from beasts: use it, and use it well. If you do not use it, then are you beasts; If you use it not well, but abuse it, then are you worse than beasts; then are you devils. If it pleaseth you not to be as you are, I will tell you how you shall best transform yourselves: endeavour to resemble GOD, to transform yourselves into him, by imitation (so much as it is possible) of his sanctity and purity: Even as he hath said: be ye holy, as I am holy. This is a blessed change; this is the greatest perfection that can be either wrought or wished to a reasonable creature. What man will desire or endure to serve his enemy, his fellow, or his servant? The Devil is your enemy; the flesh your fellow; the world your servant. The first service is unprofitable, for it affordeth no wages but death: the second uncertain, for you are always menaced to be turned out of doors: the third is most base and vain: for suppose you could achieve all the world, what is it? A needle's point, a moat, a mite, a nothing. You are now in your passage through a wide and wild forest, wherein you may be easily lost, wherein easily you may lose the use of that sun, which should both enlighten and direct you to your journey's end. You are traversing through an intricate labyrinth, out of whose entaglements you can never wind, never free your feet, unless you follow that path which GOD hath lined forth unto you. You a●e sailingin a dangrous sea; beneath paved with shelves, on every side walled with rocks, above beaten with terrible tempests. You must be not only skilful, but careful of your course; you must always bear your hand on the helm, your eye on the compass; lest it come to pass that you never escape. If you do not this for the love of GOD, do it then for the love of yourselves; whereunto by all rules of reason and nature you are strongly bound. If you do not love or regard your good, at lest be not in love with your evil: The love of misery is far worse than misery itself. Assuredly, in case you continue in this careless course; in case you still bear yourselves, either desperate in running from GOD, or dull and heavy in coming to him; in case neither his benefits can allure, nor his chasticements enforce you to a change of life: he will cast his plagues upon you so thick as hail; which will make you more miserable than you can imagine. VERS. XI. Great plagues remain for the ungodly: but who so putteth his trust in the LORD, mercy embraceth him on every side. 1. GOD'S heavy hammers upon obstinate sinners. 2 The multitude of GOD'S punishments. 3 The severity of them. 4 It is most easy for GOD to pardon sins, and wherefore. 5 It is not possible but that penitent persons should be forgiven. 6 The confidence of true penitents. 7 Their satiety. 8 Their joy. 9 Albeit the contrary appears. 10 Penitents enjoy most perfect pleasure in this life, and wherefore. 11 The pleasures of the wicked are worse than brutish. 12 Penitents a●e blessed in their chasticements. 13 The first reason hereof. 14 The second reason. 15 The afflictions of this life are both momentany and light. 16 A short prayer. Certainly if you will not embrace this friendly advice; If you esteem these warnings to be of no weight; If blinded, either with dulness, or with malice, you persevere in your sins; If neither benefits nor scourges can hold you in obedience; If neither promises nor threats can any deal move you; If you can be retained in order, neither by hope nor by fear; If, like untamed beasts, you still wildlie run through the thorny thickets of all vices, and esteem every lustful thing lawful to be done: he hath heavier hammers to break your obstinacy, to bridle your boldness and pride, and to beat down your rebellion against him. Verily not the stars in the firmament, not the sands of the earth, not all the creatures in heaven and upon earth are so many in number, so unresistable in force, as are the punishments which the obstinate shall endure. Their infelicity hovereth over their heads; their curse traceth them step by step, until it shall overtake them in hell. Here the most pleasant retreits are full of hideous hurlements: nothing but terrors, torments and tears; without intermission or end. Here is grief without remedy, complaint without, pity, repentance without mercy. Here death always liveth, and life always dieth; death here & life are immortal together: life in dying and death in enduring. Here both body and soul shall eternally live in eternal death: they shall live together in a double death, and both eternal: the death of sin, and the death of punishment due to sin. On the other side, they who contemn the vanity of the world, and apply themselves only to GOD; they who repent them of their sins, be they never so great (if they do not despair) shall undoubtedly be received to pardon and mercy. For this is most easy for GOD to do, by reason of his goodness, and the greatness of his mercies; in comparison whereof, all the sins of the world are nothing so little, as a point in regard of the largest circumference; as one spark of fire in comparison of the vast Ocean. So as if the greatest sinner in the world be penitent, If he desire and sue for mercy; all the water in the sea cannot so easily extinguish one spark of fire, as the mercies of GOD will abolish his sins. Verily if a good man will be merciful to his beast; our good GOD will much more be merciful to his creature, to his servant, to his child. Yea, it is not possible but that mercy should be imparted to them that repent. For the infinite mercies of Almighty GOD abound in all places, they fill all things, if they be not excluded and locked forth. But nothing excludeth mercy but impenitency and hardness of heart. And therefore, if a man be penitent, mercy will forthwith enter, because the impediment is removed; because nothing then remaineth in the soul, which may resist or repel mercy. If the window be opened, the room will be light; and if the floudgates be unbarred, the streams will presently overflow. But they who have received mercy, who are under the protection and guard of grace, in what assurance do they stand? how boldly do they walk? with what confidence are they carried in all the passages of their life? Mercy increaseth confidence, and confidence again increaseth mercy: As guiltiness is the cause of fear, so from mercy proceedeth confidence: As all wickedness is full of fear; Sap. 5. Prou. 28.1 so the just is confident as a Lion. And whosoever receiveth mercy, they shall be filled therewith: They shall be so filled, as they shall overflow; they shallbe environed with mercy on every side. And being under the peace & protection of mercy, having firm trust that their sins are forgiven; O good GOD! to what felicity are they advanced? what treasures are there in heaven, which shall not be opened and imparted to them? They shallbe placed by the side of GOD; they shall be apparelled and adorned with so great glory; so great happiness shallbe heaped upon them, as the spirit of man is unable to apprehend, much less to express. The desire, the hope, the full faith and assurance hereof, cannot but work in them incredible joy, before they attain the full fruition; even whilst they are upon their passage to it. Oh! with what cheerfulness, with what delight do they either remove or surmount all difficulties which lie before them? Howsoever their travail seemeth troublesome and hard, yet the love of their journey's end maketh it, not only tolerable, but delightful: The only thought of the end of their travail, seasoneth all the means with sweetness, through which they are enforced to wrestle to that end. It may be conceived indeed, that the just are plagued, and that the wicked chiefly flourish in this life: It seemeth to be so, but it is not so. It is so only in appearance and show, but in very deed it is not so. They are either blinded with gross mists of ignorance, or abused with deceivable colours and shows, who think it so. It appeareth so only to those who are so rolled up in flesh and blood, that they esteem nothing good or evil, but that which appertaineth to the body. Assuredly, they whose sins are forgiven, enjoy the most perfect pleasure even in this life: which in this sort doth plainly appear. As the inward virtues and faculties of the soul are capable of greater pleasure than the outward; partly because they are more noble and divine, and partly because their object is more excellent; which is, GOD himself and all goodness: So the more perfect those powers and faculties are, the more perfect pleasure they apprehend in their proper objects; which is evident by all outward and bodily senses. But penitent persons whose sins are forgiven, have the inward capacity of their souls more perfect and clear then other men: Because nothing either defileth or defaceth the inward virtues of the soul, but only sin; neither is there any means to purge the one, or repair the other, but by repentance. herehence it followeth, that penitents only enjoy pure pleasure in this life; as proceeding from the purest and highest faculties of the soul; much cleansed by repentance from corruptions of sin. But the pleasures of the wicked proceed only from the outward senses, common to them with bruit beasts; and so much inferior to the pleasure of beasts, by how much they participate of sin. It is true indeed that their sensual appetites present to them a thousand pleasures; but the reckoning being cast, what pleasures are they? pleasures tempered with vice, which hold them still in a restless fever: pleasures sweet for a moment, but leaving a long and loathsome taste behind them: pleasures only to cover dangerous hooks: pleasures which carry their punishments with them. As for their inward virtues and powers, they are so dulled and dimmed, and sometimes stupefied and benumbed with custom of sin, that they afford no pleasure at all; But either lie as sottishly senseless, or else expres●● life only by upbraiding the polluted pleasures of the flesh. It cannot be denied, that many penitents are almost always under correction, that the scourge is almost always upon their backs; but herein also I esteem them blessed: For, Blessed is the man who is chastised of the LORD. job. 5.7. The reasons whereof are mainelie two. First, for that this correction proceedeth from the love of GOD; either as a gentle bridle, to restrain them from licentiousness of sin: or as a forge, hammer and file, to consume the consuming rust of sin. For as a man will file and scour that instrument or vessel which he regardeth, to make it bright; as beat and brush that garment which he affecteth, to make it clean: So GOD chastiseth that person whom he loveth; either to purge, or to preserve him from the soil of sin. Quem liligit Dominus, cast●gat, flagel las omn●m filium quem recipis. Heb. 12.6 If GOD scourgeth the just; if he debarreth, if he depriveth them of health, riches, honour, or any other favour of the world; it is only for love unto them: It is to make them only to love him. For GOD is a jealous GOD, & so loveth those that are his; that he will not endure them to love any thing but himself, unless it be for his sake. GOD esteemeth not himself loved enough, if the love of any other thing be joined with the love of him. The sense of this love of GOD doth so inflame their love towards him, as they become senseless of any worldly accidents or affairs. The second reason is, for that albeit they be never so much chastised, Tribulationem patimur, sed non destituimur, 2. Cor. 4.8. yet are they never forsaken: but in the midst of their miseries, mercy shall encompass them. They are never cast off, never cast away; but are always guarded by the mercies of GOD: the mercies of GOD will defend them for the present, and deliver them in very good time. For the present it doth enable them, not only willingly, but joyfully and desirously to suffer the momentany afflictions of this life: For the future it prepareth for them an eternal crown of glory; to which the short afflictions of this life, are an ordinary and almost necessary passage. The afflictions of this life, are both naturally momentany, and by grace light; Id enim quod in prae senti est momentaneum, & leave, aeternum gloriae pondus operatur. 2. Cor. 4.17 but the glory whereto they lead, is both eternal, and of exceeding weight. As the grace of GOD maketh the afflictions of this life light; so without that special grace, the nature of man is altogether unable, either to bear, or to behold the weight of glory which shall succeed. We have a natural inclination to it, but all our natural abilities & forces are insufficient, either to attain, or to sustain it. O LORD of this eternal weight of glory! Let me suffer corrosives, cauterizes, cuttings, lance, Hic ure, 〈◊〉 seca, bit non parcas, ut in aeternum parcas. Aug. and burnings in this life, so that I be both comforted and defended by thy mercy; so that I may be prepared and guided to thy glory; so that I may be delivered from the great plagues which the wicked shall endure. The more bitter the potion is, the more medicinable and healthful will it be: the more sharp the file is, the less rust will it leave behind. The more a garment be brushed and beaten with rods, the less it remains defiled with dust. VERS. XII. Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the LORD: and be joyful all ye that are true of heart. 1. TO whom it is proper to judge of the pleasure of the righteous. 2 A true judgement touching worldly pleasures. 3 Pleasures of the soul dilated often to the body. 4 They who have the favour of GOD, have GOD himself. 5 Who are invited to rejoice. 6 For what causes. 7 How gloriously the souls of them who love GOD, sort out of the miseries of this world. 8 Who are forbidden to rejoice. 9 The joy of the wicked no true joy, and wherefore. 10 The joy of the righteous must not be placed in worldly matters, and wherefore. 11 But it must be lodged only in GOD. 12 No limits to be prescribed to this joy. 13 Theological virtues consist not in a mediocrity, like Moral virtues. 14 The attaining worldly felicities is laboursome, the enjoying often loathsome. 15 We cannot joy in earthly, and in heavenly things together. 16 A short prayer. 17 Fear and joy, how combined. I Suppose there are not many, who have not often tasted the joy and pleasure of the soul, after some measure of repentance; but happily not sufficient to arrest a just judgement of them. For when two things are compared together, the difference is best understood by the judgement of those, who have had best experience of both. For as a sick man, whose palate is affected with vicious humours, cannot well judge of the taste and relish of meats; so wicked men, whose minds are infected with the poison of sin, cannot rightly judge of the pleasure of the righteous. This is proper to them whose souls have a true taste, not any ways depraved. Now, many have had good experience of the disposition and state of the soul, both in fruition of the world, and in a penitent life: But let them say, in which they took the greatest pleasure. The first is termed by some a mere Vanity; Et vili quod hoc quoque esset vanitas. Eccl. 1.2. by others no better than dung. All esteem the felicities of this world, not only vain, but exceeding vile and base, in regard of the joys which succeed and proceed from true repentance. Arbitror ut stercora. Phil. 3.8. Their thoughts being once acquainted with this real truth, they neither desire, nor regard the supply of shadows: They cannot but be strangers to worldly delights; I have taken greater pleasure in the ways of thy commandments, then in all manner of riches. Psal. 119. in which they see nothing but some scattered crumbs, and hungry morsels of the heavenly banquet. O LORD of hosts! how great are the pleasures which they enjoy, who are reconciled by repentance to thee? which albeit they be properly received into the soul, yet sometimes they are so great; that, as rivers increased by the fall of rain overflow their banks, so they cannot be contained within the soul, but are imparted also to the body. Anima mea, & caro mea exultaue●unt, etc. Psal. 83. I will therefore rejoice in the mercies of my GOD: I will place all my pleasure in the contemplation of those felicities, which he reserveth in his treasury of heaven, to enrich, to adorn, to crown the just. This shallbe the food of my thoughts; the ambition of my highest hopes and desires. Upon confidence that I am in the favour of GOD, I will account GOD himself to be mine; because his love is mine. For to whomsoever he giveth his love, he giveth himself; because love is no gift, unless the lover be given therewith. Yea, love is no love, unless he that loveth be no less liberal to impart that which he is, then that which he hath: unless I have the party, I can never have his love. To this joy I invite you all, who stand sworn to the service of the LORD; who love his goodness, who reverence his justice. All ye who are upright, both in action & in hear●, I invite you to two things; First, that you rejoice; Secondly, that you rejoice not in yourselves, Exulsaslo iusti in Domino. Ps. 32. not in any thing that the world affords, but only in the LORD. You (I say) who walk not in the crooked and craggy ways of sin, but in the right path of righteousness; who in this passage commit yourselves altogether to the power and goodness of GOD. All you I invite to rejoice, to power forth your spirits into joy; and that for two causes. First, because you enjoy a sweet quiet of conscience, which is to you, a perpetual feast. Secondly, Prou. 15. because you expect both an end, and a reward of all your travails. You expect that in short time you shall exchange the thorns and thistles of this wretched life, for the flowers of eternal felicity; that the sweat of afflictions shall be wiped from your faces; and that you shall be both clothed and crowned with heavenly honour. Assuredly, gold runneth not so pure out of the flames of the furnace, to be cast into the image of some great Prince, or to serve for the ornament of some rich jewel; as the soul of one who loveth GOD, doth beautifully sort out of the miseries of this world; to behold, to participate, to be fully satisfied with the glorious presence and majesty of GOD. But all the wicked I forbid to rejoice; Away hence▪ Noli latatari Israel quia fornicatus es a Deo tuo. Prou. 2.14. you may freely depart, because you have no part in this joy: you have time little enough to lament. For albeit sinners rejoice in doing ill, and take most delight in worst things; yet is not this the joy that I mean. This is no true joy, this is no joy at all; It is only a feigned and forced appearance of joy. It is as the joy of hypocrites, short and sour; It is but a flash to lighten them to their death. First, because it proceedeth from an evil conscience, which hath so many thorns as it hath thoughts: always pricking, Sub sentibus delicias esse computabunt. job. 30. sometimes tearing the soul, and crying out in the midst of their mirth. Oh impure pleasure! Oh unlawful joy! Oh just revenge that must ensue! Secondly, because it is both short, and the symptom of a deadly disease. For they joy at their sins, which will eternally ruin both their bodies and souls; they joy in that condition of life, for which they cannot sufficiently lament. Therefore the joy of sinners is like the witless laughter of fools, when they are lashed; like the senseless laughter of mad men, when they either do or suffer some mischief; like the sick laughter of some diseased persons, even when they lie at the point of death. When Dolphins leap and play in the sea, it is a sure sign of tempests approaching; and when the wicked sport and solace in their sins, it is an infallible argument of their ruin at hand. If Epicures rejoice, who deny that GOD doth either order or regard the affairs of this world; If Atheists rejoice, who are of opinion that the soul and body determine together; It may bear some appearance of joy: But when they rejoice in their sins, who believe the immortality of the soul, who know both the justice and power of GOD, who know how horrible it is to fall into his hands after separation from him by sin; It beareth no shadow of joy; It is a plain token of a mind, either senseless or mad. So then, it is proper to you onel●e (O ye righteous) to be glad; it is neither lawful nor possible for any other truly to rejoice. But because this your joy is the treasure of your souls, you must in any case be careful to place it well: As treasures must be safely laid up, so your joy must be lodged safe: and that cannot be but only in GOD. For if you place it in honour, riches, beauty, power, or any other fair favour of this world, it cannot be safe: because these things are transitory, and subject to variations and dangers; because they will pass away and perish in a moment. And therefore the joy that riseth from them is never durable, and many times less than the grief which they cause when they forsake us. As they who joy in GOD, need not fear any evil, because all their evils are converted to their good: so should they not hope for any good from the world; because the Devil, GOD'S professed enemy, is the great Prince of the world; and will endeavour to convert that good to their evil. Go too then, rejoice only in GOD, who forgiveth your iniquities, who doth tolerate and conceal your weaknesses, who liberally imparteth his mercies to you. Settle all your delights upon him, settle all your pleasures and wishes in the love of his goodness: For he embraceth you with a fatherly love; and will then chiefly stand by you, when all other comforts and supports will forsake you▪ join no partner with him in the small possession of your joy: joy only in him, whom you shall always find, above you powerful, beneath you plentiful, before you watchful, behind you careful, on this side bountiful, on that side merciful, on all sides wonderful. Rejoice not in your own worthiness, but in his infinite goodness, who driveth all dangers from your bodies and souls; who so provideth for you, that you want nothing necessary for this life, and do assuredly expect blessed abundance in the life to come. Rejoice only in him, who doth comfort and relieve you in your passage through this world, and will conduct you to the joy of his heavenly kingdom, whereof you shall never be dispossessed. Et gaudium vestrum nemo tollet a vobis. Rejoice I say, in him, who is the very Ocean of joy, from whom all joys of the soul are derived: who only giveth true joy, and full joy, and perfect joy; and joy which shall neither end nor abate. Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuae, & torrente volaptatis suae potabis cos. Psal. 36. Of which joy, the only hope is sufficient both to refresh and sustain us, in all the traverses of this life; which incomparably exceedeth, not only all humane joy that can be found, but whatsoever can be either guessed or imagined. And therefore I will not prescribe any limits to your joy, because it must not be moderate; it cannot be contained in any mean compass. If worldly joy exceed golden mean, then is it vicious; but it is not so in spiritual joy, no more than it is in love, from whence it proceeds. All moral virtues consist in a mediocrity, which is limited by prudence: But it is not so in love, or in any other divine virtue. As there is no mediocrity or mean in loving of GOD, so is there not in rejoicing in him. The more we love, the more we rejoice; and the more excessive our love and joy is, the more do they draw to their perfection. Wherefore then do we not with a holy scorn, cast behind us the base vanishing pleasures of this world, and bend all our endeavours after these heavenly felicities? Or rather wherefore do we, with a sleepy sensuality, cast behind us these heavenly felicities, and bend all our endeavours after the base vanishing pleasures of this world? Alas! Me dell querunt fontem aequae vivae, & foderunt sibi cisternas: cisternas dissipatas, quae no● valent tener● aquas, jere 2.13. Wherefore do we forsake the living springs, and dig broken pits that will hold no water? Is it out of opinion of safety? or is it for idle ease? Go we then to the dead sea of this world, let us draw of their muddy waters of honour, riches, authority, or any other witchery of the world: Certainly it will be with great pain, with great care, and many times with great danger. And than what followeth? the attaining of them is not so laboursome, Haurietis ●quas in gaudio de fontibus Saluatoris, Isa. 12.3. as they are loathsome (many times) when they are achieved. Only out of these living springs, out of these saving waters we may always draw, both with safety, and with joy. Away than ye painted pleasures of this world: mine eyes are dazzled with the blaze of too bright a Sun, to admit the beams of your pale light: I am wholly inherited by a higher joy, which hath taken so absolute a conquest over all my powers; that neither my sense can discern, nor my mind conceive any other object. As a man cannot look with one eye upon heaven, and another upon the earth; so can he not divide his mind to joy both in earthly and in heavenly things at once: he must die to the one, if he intent to live in the other. Lord, take from me all pleasure, take away all patience in the flashie felicities of this life. Let nothing stop, let nothing hinder me from entering into thy house; to behold thy bright and pure beauty, to bewail the deformity of my sins, which have banished me so far from thy favour; to deplore my weakness, and to implore thy grace; to compose my behaviour, and d●spose all my abilities to do thee service. O my GOD! marshal my unruly appetites, train them in thy discipline, bind them under the command of reason and grace. Let not my soul be chained in me, but let it aspire to thee: For in me it is but in a prison, in thee it is in paradise. Reconcile and combine in me two contrary affections; fear and joy. That as a tired traveller, ranging in a wild desert, rejoiceth to see the first crack of day; and yet is not altogether free from fear of the darkness and dangers of the night: so, albeit my errors passed be fearful to me, yet let me entertain a sweet hope, to enjoy those approaching joys, whereof there is neither satiety nor end. Thus cleansed by thy mercy, and furnished with thy grace, I renounce my will, I offer it a sacrifice to thee; I yield myself wholly to thy obedience. O my GOD! do not refuse me. Praise, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Strength, Dominion, Riches, and Power be unto our GOD for evermore. A SUMMARY PRAYER. O Omnipotent GOD! most manifest and yet most secret and hid: O bountiful Giver! and yet severe exacter! Thou, O LORD, who sitting above the Seraphims seest all things, and in all things mayest be seen: Thou who art most powerful, and yet so pitiful, that thou releevest miserable and vile sinners: O most glorious & incomprehensible GOD! incline thine eye favourably to my distress; favourably regard my poor petition, which breaking from a broken soul, must needs make an untunable sound. There is nothing, O LORD, which my soul more desires: nothing is more due and delightful to thee, then that I should Love thee. Thou hast created me to love thee, thou hast commanded me to love thee; in this love thou hast placed my felicity and my peace: In this love consist all good things, which we enjoy upon earth, and the greatest part of those which we hope for in heaven. But no man can love thee unless he know thee: the knowledge of thee is necessary to beget this love; because we cannot truly love thee, unless we understand that all causes of love are perfectly in thee. O true delight of our hearts! I cannot live, unless I love thee: and I cannot love thee unless I know thee. What then shall I do to attain this knowledge. The knowledge that we have comes by our senses; which are as gates, through which the representation of things sensible enter into our understanding. But neither can thy greatness enter through so narrow passages, neither can we imagine any representation, whereby our understanding may apprehend thee. Thou hast form all creatures, in number, weight, and measure; their nature and virtues are limited; thou hast given them their bounds which they cannot exceed: and therefore our understanding is able to embrace them. But thou art infinite: thy being is boundless. Nothing is above thee, nothing beyond thee, nothing wide of thee, nothing without thee: our understanding cannot comprehend the confines of thy being. As thou art infinite in power, so art thou in nature: thy nature is no less infinite in extent, then eternal in continuance. No man hath hitherto been able to understand the essence and nature of his own soul, whose offices and operations he daily discerns: and this is because it beareth thy Image. And how then shall I be able to understand thee? If my ignorance be so dull and heavy in myself, how shall I be of capacity to know thee? O noble nature! O infinite essence! O incomprehensible Majesty! How shall I know thee? For I cannot see thee. My sight is dim, and thou art a light which canst not be approached. Thou art most high, and so must he be whosoever shall attain thee. Who then will give me the eyes of an Eagle, that I may behold this Sun? Who will give me wings, that as a Dove I may approach this height? But yet will I not thus give over the chase: the more hard it is, the more hardly will I pursue it. There is no wisdom but in knowledge of thee: there is no rest but in loving thee: there is no joy but from beholding thy beauty. I will not live without this knowledge, which is the original both of love and of joy. My eyes are dim, yea dark and blind: but grace will enlighten me, Grace will effect that which Nature cannot. And albeit I know thee very little and obscurely at the first, yet is it better so to know thee, then perfectly to know all things beside. Albeit I cannot fully know thee, yet will I aspire to such measure as I may, and this will I love, and herewith my soul shall rest content: even as a bird is content with the water which she taketh in her bill, albeit she be not able to take the whole fountain. Yea, thy grace will assist me, that if I shall but begin to love thee a little, thou wilt discover thyself more plainly to my knowledge, even as thou hast said, He that loveth me, shall be loved of the Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself unto him. And to this end thou hast opened two books, to the two eyes of my understanding: Faith and Reason. To the eye of my Faith thou hast opened the book of the sacred Scriptures; wherein thou dost manifest thy marvels, and unfold thy mysteries; to beget in us a love and reverence of thy Majesty. To the eye of my Reason thou hast opened the book of thy creatures; which in their perfections manifest thy beauty, and thy goodness in their use. For this visible world, this fabricature of creatures is a fair Book, wherein all men may read, and thereby learn, what thou art; every creature being so many letters, to declare the excellency of their maker. Some declare thy beauty, some thy greatness, some thy power, some thy wisdom, some thy providence; all with different sweet sounds, in a well tuned harmony, set forth thy goodness and glory. They are as a bright glass, wherein we may behold thee: that as thou art a glass in heaven, wherein all thy creatures are seen, so are thy creatures a glass upon earth, wherein we may behold and know thee. They are trumpets of thy honour, witnesses of thy worth; bellowes of our love, spurs to our dulness, and judges of our unthankfulness. They always beat at our understanding, to instruct us some part of thy perfections: and shall we be so senseless, that we cannot behold in them the Majesty of their Creator? Shall we be like witless children, who turn over books to please their fantasy, in viewing pictures and colours; but neither can read one letter, nor understand what the pictures represent? O wasters of time! we take pleasure only in beholding thy signs, but nothing regard what is signified and taught. Assuredly, we have good cause to fear, that which the Wise man threateneth: that all creatures shall rise in arms against them who will not understand. Sap. 5. O Father of light! suffer not, I beseech thee, such an Egyptian mist to enwrap my head, that in neither of these books; that neither by Faith, nor by Reason I can discern thee. Enlighten my eyes that I may see thee; enlarge my heart that I may know thee, love thee and adore thee: not only by Faith, as thou hast revealed thy ●elfe in thy word; but by evidence of nature, by plain invincible demonstration of Reason, as thou art declared by thy works. That I may praise thee, not only for the use of thy creatures, but for attaining by them to some knowledge of thee. We cannot now see thee, but covered with the veil of thy greatness: The dampy fogs of my sins wherein hitherto I have lived, do altogether obscure thee. No less than it happeneth upon the first eruptions of fire from the mountain Aetna; the smoke whereof so darkeneth the confining countries, that one man cannot see another. But O fountain of light! dispel these filthy fumes, with a gracious cast of thy countenance; and then I shall be both able and desirous to behold thee. Make me blessed by forgiveness of my offences; Cover my ●innes, O LORD, and thereby thou shalt Discover thyself. To this end remove both from my tongue, and from the most secret retreats of my soul, all odious hypocrisy; that by thy grace I may sincerely, without feigning or fainting in spirit, repent my sins: that I may apply myself to thy worship and service; not in outward show of piety only, but with all the most inward senses and forces of my soul: that I may not wilfully endeavour, either to cover my sins by dissimulation, or to extenuate them by excuse; whence intolerable anguishs, tortures, gripes of conscience will certainly ensue. But that casting away both unseasoned pride, and unseasonable shame (two great impediments to repentance) I may freely lay open the very bowels of my soul, and truly touch every vntuned string of my heart before thee: knowing right well, that the more ready we are to confess our offences, the more ready thou wilt be to forgive them; and the more diligent we are to conceal our sins, the more powerful thou wilt declare thyself, both openly to publish, and sharply to punish them. In all temptations, inward or outward (wherewith my soul is daily travailed) defend me with thy invincible aid; especially when furiously they assail me, when tempestuously they break upon me. Then O LORD, stand firmly by me, then cover me with thy mighty arm; lest overflowing the banks of thy protection, they ragingly oppress me, and drive me, like water-floods, from all sight and sense of thee. For thou LORD, art my relief in all my necessities: in all my dangers thou only art able, both powerfully to deliver, and safely to place me. And therefore so season my soul with thy heavenly Grace, that it settle neither confidence nor delight in any of thy creatures; but that it be fixed only upon thee; in whom it shall perpetually find both secure rest, and perfect joy. Inform my understanding to know thee; Conform my will to obey thee; Confirm my steps in the way of thy Commandments, which will lead me to eternal blessedness. Set thy eye of favour upon me; that by the gracious influence thereof, I may be both directed & strengthened in that way; and neither turn aside, nor make stay upon any desires or delights of the world; like bruit beasts, empty of understanding. Have mercy upon all miserable men, who stiffly stick in the mire, either of ignorance, or of false opinions, or else of worldly pleasures or cares; thinking very seldom and little, either of thee, or of their own deplorable estate; and stopping their ears to all advice, which soundeth against their sensuality. If they will not be guided by thy gentle hand, If thy fatherly benefits or promises can nothing avail, use some severity upon them. Put a sharp bit between their teeth; bind their jaws with iron hooks; lay the whips of chastisement upon their backs: Tame their unbridled wantonness, break their obstinate either fury or dulness; that by repentance they may turn unto thee. Deliver me from the innumerable & insupportable plagues, which thy justice hath addressed for the wicked; partly in this life, but most especially in the life to ensue. And because I have reposed my confidence in thee, environ me with thy mercies: that being free both from dangers and fears, I may rejoice only in thee; and with purity and integrity of heart, adore and praise thee all the days of my life. Praise, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Strength, Dominion, Riches, and Power be unto our GOD for evermore. PSALM C. XXX. DAVID'S TEARS. PSALM CXXX. Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O LORD: LORD hear my voice. 2 Oh let thine ears consider well: the voice of my complaint. 3 If thou LORD wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss: O LORD, who may abide it? 4 For there is mercy with thee: therefore shalt thou be feared. 5 I looked for the LORD, my soul doth wait for him: in his word is my trust. 6 My soul fleeth unto the LORD: before the morning watch, I say, before the morning watch. 7 O Israel trust in the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy: and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel: from all his sins. Of the title and parts of this PSALM. 1 THe title given to this Psalm is common to fifteen Psalms together. 2 Wherefore these fifteen Psalms are entitled Psalms of degrees. 3 The most followed opinion. 4 What was figured by the steps of the Temple, and consequently by these Psalms of degrees. 5 Many excellencies of this Psalm. 6 The more deep we are sunk into sin, the more forceably we must cry. 7 The degrees or steps of a sinner falling and sinking from GOD. 8 This Psalm containeth a plain prophecy of the Messias. 9 It is a Penitential Psalm and wherefore. 10 The parts thereof. THis Psalm is entitled a Psalm of degrees, or of ascending. A title not proper to this Psalm alone, but common to fifteen together: whereof the first is the 120. the last the 134. But wherefore they are termed Psalms of degrees, as writers do much vary in their opinions, so all agree that it is not much material to know: for that it pertaineth not to any point of doctrine, but to some ceremony in singing them, whatsoever it was. Some are of opinion that they are so entiled, because the Leuits or Priests did sing them in some conspicuous place, whereto the ascent was by steps or degrees. Others, that because they are very short, they are compared to so many degrees. Others, that they took that name from the tunes wherewith they were appointed to be sung; which might be in a kind of gradual ascending. Others, that they served to distinguish the parts of the divine service used by the jews; and to bring the same as it were by steps to an end. But the most followed opinion is; that they were so called, because they were sung upon the fifteen steps of the ascent to the Temple, at such time as the high Priest entered the Sanctum Sanctorum. Now, because (as Saint Paul saith) all things happened to the jews in figures: 1. Cor. 10. these steps of the Temple, and consequently these Psalms of degrees, are a type and shadow of our ascending to the eternal Temple and habitation of GOD: which is not by a start, but by many degrees; rising always from one virtue to another, until we arrive at the happy end of our hope; even to the vision of Almighty GOD. The same also was figured by the ascent to the glorious seat of Solomon, which consisted of six steps or degrees. 3. Reg. 10. And likewise by the ladder which the strong wrestler jacob saw in a vision, extending from earth to heaven, Gen. 28. which could not but consist of very many steps: whereby we are given to understand, that no man can attain this happy height, no man can climb the ladder, at the top whereof the LORD doth stand; but by degrees of many virtues, whereof every one hath many steps. But hereof more shall be said upon the sixth verse of this Psalm. This is an excellent Psalm for any man who is charged with crosses and calamities of this life. For it leadeth us to the true cause of our calamities; namely our sins. And thereby directeth us to the true remedy; by crying to GOD. Not upon trust of any worthiness or worth in ourselves; but upon humble acknowledgement of our miserable weakness; & trusting only in the mercy of GOD (whereof he hath made many liberal promises) and in the unmeasurable merits of our Redemption. It further teacheth us, to expect the LORD patiently; never to suspect him, never to respect any other thing. And albeit he defer his relief, yet we must still prefer our complaints, and both early and earnestly address ourselves to him: nothing doubting, but that with him is mercy, that his redemption is plenteous, and largely sufficient for all our sins. But the more deep we are sunk in sin, the more forceably must we cry: even as the more inveterate a disease is, the more strong must be the medicine. For assuredly, as the righteous approaching daily to GOD advance into heaven by degrees; so sinners falling from GOD, since downward by degrees, into many deep dangers: and the deeper he sinketh in sin, the deeper he diues into danger, until at last he plung into the horrible pit of hell. The first step of his deep falling, is a deliberate consent to motives of sin. Next ensueth his busy endeavour in searching time and opportunity to accomplish the sin. And then it is time to cry unto GOD. After this the act followeth; and that requireth a greater cry. Then frequency of acts draweth into custom; and the longer the custom hath been, the deeper is the descension (albeit the sinner be not always sensible thereof) and the harder is he to be raised again: even as a beast lying in the mire, although it seemeth to lie at ease, yet the longer it lieth, the deeper it sinketh, and the more hardly can it struggle forth: And therefore this degree cryeth for a vehement cry. Now beneath this another followeth, when the sinner rejoiceth and boasteth of his sin; and then he is sunk exceeding deep, beyond the bounds of fear and of shame: two strong reins against disordered desires. When the Devil hath gained this point of a sinner, he hath then brought him into a sad and senseless security, he is then so far from crying to GOD, that scarce any cry will stir him. The next ensueth, when the sinner will defend his sin, and endeavour to make others to be of his manner; and whosoever falleth into this profundity, he falleth thereby into contempt. He contemneth GOD; Impius cum in profunc● malorum venerit, contemnit. Pro. 18. he contemneth his own soul, he contemneth all remedies, he contemneth all means of his safety: he will not suffer on any condition the grievous sores of his soul to be touched. This sinner the Devil claspeth close in his arms; he holdeth him fast locked in his power, imprisoned under his straight arrest. This sin requireth a hideous cry. Out of this depth the next fall is into despair. This is not only a very deep pit, but a great stone rolled over the mouth; Non credit quod de tenel●is riversi possit in lucem, circum●pectans undique glatium. so as any cry can hardly be heard. Of all sins this maketh us most of the condition of Devils, who ever despair to be forgiven. This is the very mouth of hell: from hence there is no fall but into the inward entrailes of hell, out of which no cry shall ever be heard. This Psalm containeth an evident prophecy of the Messias; in setting forth his plentiful redemption, and that he should redeem Israel, that is the Church, from all their sins. Which words in full sense were used by an Angel to joseph in telling him, Math. 1. that the child's name should be JESUS: because he shoul● save his people from their sins. It is rightly ranged among the penitentials; and is fit to be seriously said by such, as weakly sink under the weight of their sins, as are feeble spirited against the terror o● GOD'S justice, as are either inwardly or outwardly lashed for their evil, and are ready to faint vnde●●he sad charge of grief and of fear. Because these can find neither comfort nor hope in rigid and severe judgement; let them out of the depth of their miseries, out of the depth of their sins, and from the depth of their hea●ts implore GOD'S mercy; without any confidence's in themselves▪ but only in his goodness, and in his plentiful redemption. For albeit the Psalm begins with extreme anguish and anxiety of mind, yet it endeth with cheerful assurance and trust. The whole Psalm falleth into two principal parts, and those again into others, as in the Table following appeareth. In this Psalm is contained a deep sinking under the charge of sin whence are drawn crying complaints to GOD, ver. 1. & 2. Reasons which should move GOD to hear and those taken 1. From the general weakness and corruption of man, ver. 3. 2. From the mercy which is with GOD, ver. 4. a rising into confidence and trust; whereby occasioned in the complainant patient awaiting with trust in GOD'S promise, ver. 5. timely and swift resort to GOD, ver. 6. to others an exhortation to trust in GOD, with reasons for the same viz. his mercy, v. 7. his plenteous redemption v. 7. A promise to be delivered from sin, v. 8. VERS. I. Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O LORD: LORD hear my voice. 1 THE depth of sin. 2 By impure thoughts. 3 By wicked words. 4 By sinful actions. 5 What holdeth us in the depth of sin. 6 The depth of afflictions and miseries. 7 The depth of astonishment and fear. 8 The depth of humility and sorrow. 9 The depth of the heart. 10 The depths out of which a sinner must cry. 11 The comforts of the world. 12 To whom we must call for comfort. 13 A sinner offendeth GOD. 14 He offendeth other men. 15 He offendeth the Angels and Saints. 16 He offendeth against Hell. 17 He offendeth all creatures. 18 Especially he offendeth his own soul. 19 A prayer. 20 The loss that a sinner incurs. 21 A complaint for the same. 22 An incitement to tears. 23 Godly tears how esteemed by GOD. 24 When we must give over weeping. O Just GOD! no less terrible in thy justice, then unresistible in thy power and will: when I descend into the secrets of my conscience, and call my memory to an account; I find myself plunged very deep in sin, and the yoke of the Devil so heavy upon me, that I am not able to lift up my loaden head; scarce able to advance my voice unto thee. LORD, I have grievously sinned against thee; I have grievously provoked thy wrath against me. I have not only foolishly disobeyed thee, but proudly rebelled against thee. I have forsaken thee, and delighted to live among bruit and savage beasts; I made myself a bed of thorns; I slept among hornets and scorpions: amidst these torments and dangers I expected rest. I am as one most wretchedly wrecked; who having lost all his rich loading, hath hardly escaped naked to the shore. My sottish soul poisoned with taste of things sensual, hath taken pleasure to wallow in impure thoughts day and night, as swine take pleasure to wallow in mire, or dogs in carrion: insomuch as nothing else hath been delightful; nothing else easy for me to do. But I have found this liquerice liquor to resemble milk; which is sweet in taste, but soon groweth sour, and readily converteth into hurtful humours. These beginnings were neglected, and happily contemned at the first; but since they have proved the sparks of that flame wherein I consume, the seeds of all my huge harvest of sin. As for my words, I will not say with the Prophet, Woe is me that I have been silent: Vae mihi quia tacui. Es. 6. but woe is me that I have spoken; because I am a man of unclean lips. But oh! that a coal, or rather a ball of fire would flame from thy Altar, to scour the rotten rust which hath deeply overgrown all the instruments of my speech. Alas! how many vain and foolish, how many false, how many foul things have I belched forth of this unsavoury mouth, wherewith I now offer to speak unto thee? How hath my tongue galloped to destruction, even upon credit? even for company and fellowship of others? without any sensible pleasure or profit to myself? O my GOD! who will endure the breath from a man, whose stomach hath been stuffed with onions or garlic? or if it were possible the fountain were pure, yet the poisonous passage must infect the waters. I know not how to speak unto thee, either pleasinglie or without offence; but (me thinks) I hear thee hourly thundering against me: Wherefore dost thou presume to assume my Name within thy leprous lips. Psal. 50. Touching actual sins, I have so heaped them together; I have so run like a blind man, stumbling and tumbling from sin to sin; I have so descended the steps of sin, from one degree to another; from foolishness and levity, to carelessness; from carelessness, to boldness; from boldness, to contempt; from contempt, to a bravery and boasting in my sin: I am so fallen from frequency of actions, to custom; from custom to habit; from habit, to nature: that I am now plunged in the deep gulf of sin, which hath no bottom, but the bottomless pit of hell. Out of this gulf it is impossible for me by the force of my own arms to wrestle. Flattering Dalilah, even the whorish dalliancies and pleasures of this life, have cut away the hairs of my strength. And now the infernal Philistines have made me captive; they have put out the eyes of my understanding, they have fettered me with many cords and chains of wilful transgressions; they have thrown me into the dungeon of habit and nature; Insomuch as I have not more naturally desired to eat drink and rest, then to sin: they have made me scornful and odious to all the world. This depth of sin hath drawn upon me another depth; and that is of afflictions and calamities, the attendants of sin: For sin only provoketh thy wrath, and thy wrath draweth many punishments upon us. As sin is the only cause, so are punishments the effects of thy wrath. Impiety and impunity go seldom together; thy wrath will not permit them quietly to concur in one subject. Punishment is so natural for sin, that if sin be not smitten with the sword of chastisement in this life, it is in danger to be smitten in the life to come, with the sword which guardeth the passage into paradise. For this cause thy hand hath been exceeding heavy upon me. My indignity hath stirred thine indignation: I have sinned and thou hast smi●●en. I am involved in troubles, as in a deluge; the storms of disquiet beat stiffly upon me. I am so deeply drowned in adversities and miseries, that I am scarce either bold or able to look towards thee. Psal. 42. And yet One depth calleth another. For these depths of sin and of calamities, have drawn upon me another depth of astonishment and trembling. For when I call to my consideration thy infinite hate against sin, the extreme severity of thy justice and rage of thy wrath; never incensed but by sin; and the greater the sin is the more incensed. Terror seizeth upon my soul, and it faintly sinketh into the dark and deep caverns of anguish, dread and almost despair. It is no ordinary matter that doth perplex me, not the crosses and traverses of this world; but being oppressed with my own guiltiness, and sharply assaulted with the terror of despair; I have just cause to fear, that thou hast utterly forsaken me, that thou hatest and abhorrest me for my sin. These troubles are most terrible, these touch not my external affairs, but the internal and eternal state of my soul. Against external calamities some remedies may be found; but against internal biting of unjust sins, and expectation of thy just and eternal revenge, there can be found neither remedy nor rest. This wound is incurable but by thy hand. And now again these depths have called another depth. For it is not with a lofty look, not with a careless & negligent conceit, but out of the depth of humility; & sorrow that I cry unto thee. A little sorrow is not sufficient for me, my sorrow must be great; so great as it may make a great sound in thy ears Whosoever cryeth to thee with great sorrow & grief, may well be said to cry, Out of the depth. But this cry must be soft, without noise of words; it must be in the secret retreits of the heart; no voice, no sound in any wise added. Contrition is an inward grief, seated in the heart, it never breaketh forth before confession; confession must open a passage for it. This sorrow hath depressed my sinking soul down so low, as it seems to be led through all the torments which unrepentant sinners must endure: So as out of this depth also I cry unto thee. Oh! that I could meet thine Angel in this fiery valley, as the children of Israel did in the valley of weeping; I●dic. 2. that I might extinguish these flames with my tears, that I might turn them into rivers of tears. Lastly, not only from the outward gates of my lips, not only from the unstable wagging messenger of my tongue, apt upon every sudden passion to riot (for I am not one of those who honour thee with their lips but their heart is far from thee) but out of the depth of my heart, Es. 22. from the very bottom of a troubled soul I cry unto thee. Assuredly, Profundum est cor hominus. LORD purge me from my secret sins. Psal. 25. the heart of man is exceeding deep, it hath many hidden rooms and retreits. It containeth many secret matters, whereto the understanding can never approach; it chambreth many secret sins: whosoever cryeth from this depth unto thee, he fetcheth his cry far; he cannot but make a forceable battery against thine ears. Out of these depths, of sin, of afflictions, of astonishment and fear; out of the depth of humility and sorrow; and out of the very depth of my heart, I cry unto thee. As jonas cried to thee, not only out of the depth of the sea, but out of the depth of the whales belly; so out of all these depths I stretch forth my voice to thee for help. I cry not for help to the world, I want no external comforts; and none can give internal but thou. Alas! who will ask an alms of a beggar? what comfort from confusion; what comfort from them who no more understand one another, than did the builders of Babel? Itis the world which hath betrayed me, it is the world which hath undone me. It setteth us to gather straws, as Pharaoh did the children of Israel; and scourgeth us when we have done. I will not cast the Anchor of my rest in the stormy unstable sea of the world. It is like a beautiful flower, but stinking: like a fair reed, but of no strength. It is rightly termed an hypocrite: without fair, but within full of corruption and vanity: In sensual matters it seemeth good, but all is nothing but painting and lies. Cain who was the first builder of a city upon earth, was the first man who lost his habitation in heaven. But only unto thee do I call, who art both enclinable to hear, and able to help. Being buried and lost in these bottomless depths, I find nothing in the world, but terrors and despair of relief; nothing in myself, but trembling and dismay: no hope of help but only from thee. And therefore with all dejection of soul I address my spirit to call upon thee. I beseech thee most gentle Father, hear my voice: Let my humble prayer ascend, from the low vale of misery and tears, to thy high throne of majesty and glory: let the secret groans of my soul, and the open cries of my voice have access to thy presence: hear (I say) the inward sorrow and grief of my heart, and the outward confession of my mouth. I have grievously offended thee; by shaking off thy subjection, and bearing myself rebellious against thee: by exposing myself to all evil, and opposing myself against any good. When thou wert to me as the sun is to the earth, infusing heat light and life into it; I was to thee as the earth is to the sun, sending up gross vapours, whereby tempests are raised and the sun obscured. I have offended other men, either positively by wronging some in their estates or estimations, and by wring and inclining others by my example to evil; or else privativelie, in not affording them that good, which both by actions and examples I might and should. I have offended the blessed Angels and Saints; who are no less grieved at sin, than they joy at conversion from sin: who as they joy at the conversion of sinners, so are they sorrowful at their conversation in sin. I have (which is strange) offended hell. For the more the multitude of the damned are, the more do their torments increase. For which cause the rich man entreated Abraham to send Lazarus to convert his brethren: Luke 16. not for any love to them, but that his own torments by their damnation should not be enlarged. I have offended all creatures, by diverting them from their proper end. For when man by sin is turned from GOD, whilst other creatures serve him, they are also turned with him from GOD. For they were created for the service of them who should serve GOD: but they are diverted from this their proper end, when they are serviceable to them who serve not GOD. For which cause the Apostle saith; that all creatures expect when the sons of GOD shall be revealed: and that they groan with us and travail in pain. But especially I have offended against my own soul: which being despoiled by sin of the grace and favour of GOD, remaineth blind, naked, wounded, poor, pitiless and miserable. Assuredly, it is true that no man is hurt but by himself. For only sin (our own viperous brood) is properly evil; take away sin, and all external evils produce good effects. Because when sin is away, GOD is present: but when the soul is possessed with sin, all good things perish, all evils flourish and overgrow. And as sin is an offence against GOD and against all his creatures, so by sin we incur the hostility of GOD and of all his creatures: whereof Ishmael was a type, of whom it is said: that his hand was against all, and the hands of all against him. Gen. 16. Therefore O LORD, sweet and gentle to all them who call upon thee, I have great cause to call to thee aloud: but in vain shall I call unless thou hear me; unless thou incline thy merciful ear. Hear me O LORD, Exo. 22.23. 2. Sam. 22.7. Who hearest the afflicted and troubled calling upon thee; hear my voice; give me strength so to cry to thee, that my voice may be heard. For as all the drops of rain which fall upon the earth, are originally drawn out of the sea, which is both the fountain and receipt of all waters: so all the goodness which is in man is derived from thee; who art the foundation and receipt of all goodness. O Infinite goodness, infuse thyself into me: Breath forth thy spirit, and the waters will flow. LORD, the desiring of thy graces is the beginning of obtaining them: and therefore with fiery and inflamed sighs I entreat thee. Breath forth thy spirit, to move me to send to thee a full flood of boiling tears; and to cry to thee with unspeakable groans. Alas! It is the most bitter part of my misery, that I know how infinite the loss is that maketh me miserable. I have lost the beauty of the world; the highest mark of a good man's ambition. I have not only lost him, but incurred his hostility, without whom there is no joy; the breath of whose favour is the breath of life: whose presence is the greatest felicity in Heaven, Depart from me ye cursed, etc. whose departure is the most grievous punishment in Hell. And now, mine eyes tell me, that every thing is attired in sorrow; mine ears persuade me, that all sounds are tuned to mournful notes: all things seem to invite me to weep. If I see any thing that beareth some resemblance of joy; it is to me like the spoils of a vanquished kingdom, in the eye of a captive prince; scorns of his misery, and whetstones of his sorrow. O my LORD! I cannot hide me from thee, but I have hid thee from me. Thou seest me, but I see not thee. Thou seest all my actions, both light, and yet dark; but I see no beam of thy beauty; no spark of thy favour appeareth to me. O my GOD! Why dost thou leave me in this distressed case? In how wild a chase do my perplexed thoughts wander? My understanding is dark; my will either crooked or weak; my imagination, unquiet; my appetite, disordered. I feel so many deaths, as I live days. For daily, yea hourly, my oppressed conscience enditeth me for many grievous offences; and my own knowledge enforceth the evidence to be true: whereupon my judgement condemneth me to eternal death, unless a pardon can be obtained. To this end my eyes are enjoined to a fresh shower of tears; my breast to a new storm of sighs; and my soul to remain in the most deep dungeon of sorrow and grief; and out of this depth (like a most miserable prisoner) never to cease calling upon thee, never to cease crying and craving for thy pardon. O my soul! weep bloody tears, if it be possible: fill heaven and earth with cries, groans and sighs: plunge thyself into a sea of tears; to wash thy sins, and to extinguish the wrath of GOD against them: for what anger is so fiery, that tears cannot quench? as Pharaoh and all his host was drowned in the waters, so may the Devil and all thy sins be stifled with tears. Qui dolet delet. The weeping for sin is the wiping them away. Dry earth bringeth forth unprofitable weeds and hurtful Serpents: and a soul never watered with tears, bringeth forth much vanity and uncleanness. As rain fructifieth the earth, so tears make a barren soul fruitful. Godly tears are of two sorts: some proceed from grief for our sins; others from love, joy, and desire of GOD. Both which he so highly esteemeth, that he will not suffer one of them to be lost: he preserveth them in his treasury with great regard, to water therewith the garden of our good purposes and endeavours. For as good seeds and plants without rain, so are good thoughts and endeavours without this heavenly dew of devotion. But be not satisfied, O my soul, with once or twice weeping; Be not weary of bewailing thy sins, cease not to weep, Io. 16. Hier. 31. until GOD shall wipe away tears from thy eyes. O happy eyes which shall be wiped with that heavenly hand. Not only their tears shall be perpetually dried, but their sorrow shall be turned into joy. And according to the multitude of their sorrows, his comforts will refresh their souls. Ps. 93. Go too then, unfruitful soul! write all thy sins with tears, in the large volume of thy heart, read them over again, and again: wash them with a few more drops of devotion: let thy words be watered with tears, and warmed with sighs: and again address to thy suit, and say. VERS. II. Oh let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. 1 INgemination of our prayers often requisite, and wherefore. 2 A complaint. 3 A most cruel combat. 4 How a sinner flattereth himself. 5 Until he be able to break loose. 6 A confession. 7 The most miserable state of a sinner. 8 It nothing availeth that our sins are known only to ourselves. 9 In what sense a man may be said a greater sinner than the Devil. 10 The sinner deeply dejected. 11 He resumeth hope in the LORD. 12 The despair of Cain was a greater sin than the murder of his brother. 13 An unreasonable reasoning with GOD. 14 An objection answered. 15 The cry of our sins is the greatest obstacle against the cry of our complaint. 16 The condition whereon we may be heard. 17 An humble complaint and confession. 18 No distance can hinder the hearing of GOD, and wherefore. 19 A resolution to persevere. 20 How pleasing petitions of sinners are to GOD. LORD, I do often ingeminate this petition, because no plenty, no weight of words is sufficient to express the anguish of my soul. For it is no light either sorrow or danger that is lighted upon me. I complain not of the malice or fraud of my enemies, not of any worldly loss or evil; which happily may be either avoided or well endured. I complain not also of sins esteemed of inferior nature: not of the slips of youth, not of imperfections of age, not of errors and escapes either ordinary or vnknowe to myself: against which appliances are easily entertained. But my soul being a nest of sin and gored with the sting of conscience, is now oppressed with such heavy cogitations, with such mortal wounds, and with such terrible assaults of despair, that I feel that (as it seemeth to me) which no man feeleth but myself: that I can see nothing▪ but that thou hast not only covered thy countenance, but cast me off, and away for ever. Great are my external oppressions, but these are the terrors which thunder upon me; this is the load under which I labour, this is the labour wherein I sweat: even the threats of thy Law, and guiltiness of my grievous sins. Alas! I have lost myself in a labyrinth of doubts. I am in such extreme misery, that I have not wherewith to foster my famished soul. The violence of my grief hath so oppressed me, that hope can now do no more; It hath done enough, in keeping my heart from breaking. And herein I sustain the more cruel combat, because my quarrel is against myself: because I have no challenge but against my own soul. Oh! that I could so hate it, as the love of thee requires. Oh! that I were so angry therewith, as thou mightest be appeased with me. Sometimes I have been desirous to run away, but then (vain thought) I must run from myself: my disease is fast fixed in my bones. I have linked together the chain of my own miseries: I have voluntarily run into the awaitments of death. The enemy pitched snares in my paths: but I despised them, and walked secure: I was violently swayed with the inclination of my appetites. I flattered myself, that in youth it was a fault to be without fault: I said with myself; why thinkest thou upon the end, before thou approachest the midst? Every part of our age, hath both errors and amendments proper to it. GOD seeth it well, but he doth not regard it: he is most easy to forgive, and I may hereafter convert when I will. Thus I thought, until custom challenged me for her slave. I struggled to break from her, but she held me fast: I could not shake off the yoke, which had been long buckled about my neck: I could not be rid of the bridle, which I had willingly taken between my teeth: I willingly consented, and therefore am I worthily lost. Whither then shall I fly? for I am fast bound, and my refuge is far off. How shall I free myself from the jaws of death? from the gripes of hell? For, alas! I find, that there is no sin which I have not both seriously and savourly committed. All my faculties both inward and outward I have defiled; all my senses I have feasted, I have surfeited with pleasure: All thy benefits I have either buried, or else abused to thy dishonour; even as thou didst complain by thy Prophet, Ezek. 16. The silver and gold which I have given thee, thou didst convert to serve Baal. What hath been all the course of my life, but a net of errors, a confused Babylonian building of treasons, pride, avarice, riot, lust, swearing, lying, hate, envy, murmuring, flattering, detracting, disobedience, blasphemy, and other innumerable evils. I have been overborne with the violent storm of my passions, which I have let loose without any limits: never endeavouring either to abate or divert their fury. I have been laced and buckled in the snares of the Devil. I have pursued my inordinate appetites in all things like a beast, without respect to the Law of justice or of reason. I have lived worse than an Ethnic; as if I were persuaded either that there is no GOD, or that he neither regardeth us in this present life, nor reckoneth with us in the life to come. My travailing fantasies have made a long voyage in ways both dangerous and unknown. Before me hath gone my adverse will to that which is good; behind a pleasing remembrance of that which was evil: On this side want of patience in adversity: on that side too much haughtiness in prosperity: On every side, wounds and scars stamped into the substance of my soul by custom of sin. I have often worn a burdened conscience, and yet felt no tortures within me; and therein was I miserable indeed: For therein I was either stupid or dead, I carried a senseless soul in a living body; even as it must needs be a dead and senseless hand, which can hold fire without feeling any sting of heat. None are more dead than they who can bear fire in their hand or sin in their conscience without sense of smart. But out wretches! the hour will come, when the remembrance of sin will so much the more sharply tear, by how much it was less grievous before. Assuredly, if we could conceive the terror of our general account, we would not fail to account every day. O dead senseless soul! where are thy complaining cries? where are thy tears, to bathe the bruises which thy sins have made? wherefore doth not thy leaden heart melt? wherefore doth not thy iron eyes break forth into rivers of tears, as did the rock which Moses smote with his rod? O LORD GOD! sweet and gentle to all those who call upon thee. Remember that I am but dust, and supply (I beseech thee) my dry defects. Psal. 147.18. Breath forth thy spirit that the waters may flow: that tears of true contrition, accompanied with the saddest groans of my soul, may plentifully breathe forth. Or if by thy just judgement I can find no passage for tears of my eyes; let me not be deprived of groans of my heart, let my heart sweat bloody tears. Or if I be unworthy of that; yet let me love groans and tears; let me earnestly desire them; let me ardently sue to thee in my prayers for them. Alas! what availeth it that many of my sins are not known to others, when they are well known to myself. Miserable that I am, if I lightly regard this bosom witness: this witness that cannot keep counsel long, but will discover my secrets to all the world. The longer time I have lived the more I find my life covered and overgrown with sin; even as a river, the further it runneth from the head, the more waters it gathereth and the greater doth the stream increase: or as a man riding in dusty ways, the further he rideth the more dust he gathereth upon him. I can find in myself no light of goodness no calm of righteousness. I have been so loaden with the iron yoke of the Devil, the troops of my sins so muster upon me; that out of the depth of my miserable estate I am enforced with sighs groans and tears to cry unto thee. Oh! I am a most grievous sinner. I think myself the most grievous sinner in the world: I think myself (which I tremble to speak) a more grievous sinner than the Devil himself. For albeit the Devil participateth of all sins whereto he draweth miserable men; yet of his own nature he is not a glutton, not a drunkard, not slothful, not libidinous not covetous of riches or honours, or any other worldly thing. For because nothing is affected with that which is not agreeable to the nature thereof, it followeth, that a spiritual substance cannot be affected with goods properly corporal; but only with those which are spiritual. But in affecting spiritual goods there can be no sin, unless the rule of a superior be thereby transgressed: and this is by the sin of pride, in being disobedient to a superior, and in affecting a singular excellency. But consequently envy may ensue, by envying the good of others, whether in GOD or in man, as a hindrance to their proper ends. But so envy must not be taken for a passion, but for a will wrestling against another's good. And hereby it appeareth, that the Devil properly and in his own nature sinneth only in pride and in envy; which only are pure spiritual sins. But besides these, I have committed so many other sins, that I am both unable and unworthy particularly to confess them; much more unworthy to receive pardon for them. I have made so great ruin and waste in all the faculties of my soul, that it seemeth impossible they should be repaired. Oh wretch! what have I done? what did I intend to have done: The law accounted those beasts unclean which did not chew the cud: not less unclean clean are they who will not ruminate and consider, either the condition of their present state, or what in future is either necessary or in adventure to ensue. But alas! I never thought on my danger, until all hope of remedy was passed: I never regarded my steps, until I was in the snares of hell. And now, what death can I fear, when I have lost the life of my soul? without which any other life is death? and which maketh death a pleasant passage to life? Being deeply wounded with the greatest grief, what sense can I have of ordinary evil? my deep miseries have drowned both my mind and my memory in so deep sorrow, that all hope of relief is overwhelmed with the thick throng of present discomforts. And yet I will not cast down my hope in the LORD, I will not despair of his gracious help. For he hath not cast me down to cast me away: he hath not thus terrified me, to the end I should abandon all hope, to the end I should be swallowed up in the monstrous mouth of despair; but rather he calleth me to him, to the end that I should call upon him. The first work that the LORD did in the conversion of Saint Paul, was the casting of him to the ground; Act. 9 whereby thou dost instruct us (O LORD) that our dejection in ourselves, is the first step of our advancing to thee. And assuredly, thou wouldst never have given me this grace to be sorrowful, if thou hadst not therewith intended to give me life. And therefore albeit I be cast down to the very gates of hell, yet will I call upon thee to raise me again: albeit I be crushed and broken to pieces, yet will I call upon thee to heal me: I can never be so low driven, never so overcharged with sorrow or with fear, but still I will call upon thee for comfort. For what other remedy have we feeble wretches? tossed in the vast gusty sea of this world; beaten with most raging tempests; driven among so many rocks and shelves, so many infernal monsters gaping to devour us; what other remedy have we I say, but to call and cry to thee with the distressed disciples? awake LORD lest we perish. Assuredly, if out of these depths of danger and distress we cry not out to thee for help, then are we near the greatest depth that can be; then are we slipping into the depth wherein Cain was eternally swallowed: then are we ready to roar out his cursed complaint: my sins are greater than can be forgiven. It is true, Cain, indeed thy sin in itself was very great: but in comparison of the infinite goodness of GOD it was not great. Thy sin might have been pardoned well enough, but thy opinion and conceit that it did exceed the mercies of GOD; that impious opinion, so long as it stood, could not be forgiven. Thy despair was a greater sin than the murder of thy brother: thy despair was the cause wherefore the murder of thy brother could not be forgiven. Thy damnable repentance left no place for repentance to life. The same trace followed they whom the Prophet described to speak in this manner; Our sins are upon us, Ezek. 33. and in them we consume, how then should we live? But O Omnipotent GOD! is this a good reasoning with thy goodness? My sins are upon me how then shall I live? Desirest thou then the death of a sinner? desirest not thou rather that sinners should live? I know rightwell that my sins are upon me: But I expect again thy mercy upon my sins. My iniquities, I know, are gone over my head: but they have not overgone thy goodness. Pal. 38. Come to me all ye that are loaden, & I will ease you. They are a burden too heavy for me to bear: and therefore I resort to thee, who hast promised to ease me. My sins shall never drive me to despair, but rather to repair to thee for relief. But is it not usual that GOD listeneth not to sinners? that he turneth away his ear, and will not hear them? Yes verily. But this is by reason of the cry of their sins; this is when the cry of their sins drowneth the cry of their complaints. Favourable LORD! stop thine ear, I beseech thee, against the cry of my sins; but graciously incline it to the cry of my complaint. Silence my sins, LORD, for a while; bid them stand aside until I have fully confessed them to thee; until I have manifested my contrition for them: and then let them appear again if they will; for than they shall not appear alone. They shall be then accompanied with my tears and my grief, which will abate if not abolish their cry. They shall not then provoke thy justice, but help to invoke thy mercies for me. Assuredly, O my soul! the cry of thy complaint hath no greater obstacle than the cry of thy sins, until by repentance the bar be removed. And therefore if thou wouldst have the LORD to hear the voice of thy complaint, first drown thy sins with tears of repentance, than cast away their dead carcases from thee. Away with all the trumperies of the world; away with the vanities of pride, avarice, surfeit, revenge; away with all impediments of sin. For unless thou abandon thy vanities, thou shalt vainly implore the Omnipotent to hear thee. He cannot hear a voice proceeding from a heart and lips loaden with iniquities: he cannot be merciful unless thou repent. Hear the condition whereupon thou mayest be heard. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the ungodly man his cogitations, and turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him. Why so then favourable LORD, So now I here present myself before thee; not proudly standing upon my iustifications; but with a sad broken spirit, from a low dejected heart, I humbly turn, and breath forth my complaints before thee. Hitherto my days have I unprofitably wasted; I have hitherto spent my time in purposing, but never beginning to pursue. But now I turn and come unto thee, stooping and staggering under the importable fardage of my flesh: every where I find enemies, I am grievous to myself both within and without. I have many complaints to present to thee, and now sue for a favouble hearing. Shut not thine ears, neither hold them as indifferent, but inclineable and favourable to my petitions. LORD I acknowledge to thee all my impurities, and earnestly entreat both thy comfort & cure. Behold how the necessity of my miserable estate draweth sighs from my heart, tears from my eyes, and complaints from my tongue, Yield LORD, a favourable ear; declare thyself so far from despising, as attentively to listen to the voice of my complaint. And albeit thou be'st in the highest seat of glory, and I in the lowest centre of sin, yet be pleased to hear; for no distance can hinder thy hearing, who by thy goodness in all places art present. The prayers of those who call upon thee with their heart, shall never resolve into wind, by reason of any distance of place; because thou art near to all those who call upon thee faithfully. And if my sins still thrust themselves between thy hearing and my complaint; If still they step forth to stop thy ears against my voice; if they still make a hideous cry, to awake thy justice, to quicken thy wrath, to make my prayers not only unacceptable, but hateful to thee; chase them awhile with one glorious glance of thy eye; close a little thy eye of justice, until I have once again confessed them to thee, and presented to thy gentle hearing my petition for grace. For I know rightwell, that the petitions and confessions of penitent sinners upon earth, are no less pleasing and delightful to thee, then are the praises of thy blessed Angels in heaven. VERS. III. If thou LORD wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss: O LORD, who may abide it? 1. GOD is in all places present, and how. 2 How after a singular manner he is present. 3 The cords which hold us captive to Hell. 4 A confession. 5 The torments of Hell not sufficient to punish all our sins. 6 GOD is not only a Father, but a LORD: and what kind of LORD. 7 The sinner addresseth himself to mercy. 8 To the Father of mercy. 9 All reasonable creatures may sin, and the reason why▪ 10 Wherefore some Angels did not sin. 11 Wherefore all men are obnoxious to sin. 12 Wherefore man was redeemed rather than Angels. 13 All men are sinners by nature. 14 GOD'S court of mercy is higher than his court of justice.. 15 Wherefore a sinner is said to be unprofitable. 16 Two ways to attain felicity. 17 Our Saviour only hath gone the way of justice.. 18 No man can pass but by the way of mercy. 19 GOD delighteth to spare sinners. 20 We are enjoined to imitate GOD in his mercy. 21 The readiest way to attain mercy. 22 A petition for mercy. Heavenly LORD! Albeit my oppressed soul lieth buried in the deep loathsome den of sin, yet is there no centre so deep, but thou mayest easily afford thy hearing. For thou fillest heaven and earth; in all places thou art present; not only in regard of thy power, but in regard of thy true and real essence. For wheresoever any thing is, that hath a being, there art thou also, who art the cause of that being: for the cause and the effect are necessarily together; they do necessarily cohere: the cause doth necessarily support the effect. But after a more singular manner thou art present with those who pray unto thee: even as the great Prophet Moses doth in these words assure: What nation is so great, to whom the GOD'S come so near, Deut. 4.7. as the LORD our GOD is near unto us, in whatsoever we call for to him. What then shall I say now I am in so near distance before thee? Alas! I am come to speak for myself; but I can speak nothing but that which is against me. If the holy Patriarch Abraham in speaking to thee, did call to mind that he was but dust and ashes; If he was so humble, If he bore such awful reverence to thy Majesty when he entreated for others; what shall I poor miserable sinner do, when I am about to entreat for myself? what? Dust and Ashes? Nay, a bottomless depth of sins and of miseries: to whom delight in sin, the power of the devil and the violence of custom, have been in stead of three cords, or rather cables, to hold me captive to hell. O most high and powerful Creator! when I turn my eyes into myself, when I make a privy search in my own conscience, I find the multitude and variety of my sins to be such; that I esteem myself utterly unworthy, whom thou shouldest not only help, but hear: because in comparison of my sins, the miseries are nothing which I endure. I have so deeply offended thee, that in reason I can expect no favour from thee. For what day? what hour hath passed in all my life, wherein I have not deserved a world of torments? Insomuch as albeit thou shouldest discharge upon me all the horrors of hell, yet should the greatest part of my offences remain unpunished. Thou hast spared me, but I have not spared thee: thou hast spared to strike me with the sword of justice, but I have not spared to smite thee with the fist of iniquity. Thou hast showed thyself a Father to me; but I have not behaved myself as a child. How shall I look so good a Father in the face, being so lewd a child as would disthrone and destroy that good Father if I could? Suppose the Father will be content to forgive; yet it is doubtful that the LORD will not. He that forbeareth his unruly child, will he also forbear his ungracious servant? But thou art not only a LORD but a LORD of Majesty. A LORD must be feared, Majesty must be reverenced, both obeyed. If he who contemneth humane majesty be guilty of treason, what shall be done to him who despiseth and dishonoureth the divine omnipotent Majesty, always jealous of derision and neglect; whose frone no creature is able to endure? Dare vile dust, subiest to dispersion by every puff, presume to provoke a LORD of such terrible Majesty? Therefore seeing I have displeased so good a Father, so great a LORD, seeing I have so lewdly wasted all the parts of my life, so notably ruined all the powers of my soul, that I am no ways able either to recover the one, or to repair the other: Whither shall I turn me? What shall I say? If I look upon Mercy I think myself unworthy of the least of her favours: If upon upon justice, I condemn myself to the most severe sentence that it can pronounce. But then again I return to Mercy, and prostrating myself at haet feet, with sorrow in my heart and tears in my eyes, I thus address my desires unto her. O mild mercy! I acknowledge myself unworthy of thee; unworthy either to enjoy, or to behold thee. But because I have judged and condemned myself, protect me that I be not arraigned at the bar of justice; answer thou the charge of her accusation, cover me with thy shield against her blow; stand between her and me, I beseech thee. O gentle mercy! my sorrow-beaten soul applieth itself to thee, hoping in despair and persevering in hope. My sins are such as for number can not, for nature should not be rehearsed: all my tears are not sufficient to cleanse one spot of them, or to quench one spark of the fury which they have kindled: Paralip. 2. ult. Alas! I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My iniquities are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold the height of heaven, by reason of the multitude of my iniquities. And thou, O Father of Mercy, and LORD of justice; whose goodness can never be either exhausted or diminished: I do not intend to contend with thee in judgement; but I lay hold upon the horn of thy Altar of grace. Here I rest, here only I repose my assurance. For if thou shouldest keep a true registry of our sins, If thou shouldest exactly examine them according to the severe law of thy justice; If thou shouldest perpetually retain in mind the offences for which we are sorrowful, and which thy goodness hath promised to forgive: If thou shouldest cast them into the balance of thy justice, and weigh them to a grain; or if thou shouldest heap them together against the trial of thy inflexible judgement: What then shall become of us? Who can stand before thee? Who can endure thy heavy charge? For assuredly, all reasonable creatures, as well Angels as men, considered in their proper nature, may sin: Whatsoever creature participating of reason doth not sin, it is not by condition of nature, but by a special gift of grace. The reason is, because sin is nothing else but a declination from the straight rule whereby an act is to be performed: and that as well in natural acts, as in artificial, and also in moral. But there is no act which is not subject to such deflection, unless the rule thereof depends upon the will of the Agent. And therefore, because the will of GOD only is the rule of what he doth, as not ordained to any higher end; only in the will of GOD there can be no sin. In other inferior wills there may be; because they give not the rule to their acts, but are to be directed by the will of GOD; whereon they should depend, as upon their last and highest end. Now in that some Angels never sinned, they had therein supportance by grace; and beside, they drew no original either weakness or corruption from those which fell. But the nature of man is so depraved by disobedience of our first parents, that original sin inherent in our very substance, makes us not only inclineable, but headlong to all actual sin. Insomuch as albeit many are preserved by grace from offences of highest quality; yet all are so obnoxious to infinite infirmities, that we daily slip, we daily fall; that nothing is more natural to us then daily to fall; that the Just fall seven times a day. Yea, if the best of our actions should be exactly examined, they will appear so full, either of stains or of defects, that we rather merit reproof and punishment thereby, than either courtesy or reward. All our actions are evil, and the best seem better than they are. And this was a principal cause, wherefore man was redeemed rather than Angels. For all Angels perished not by the fall of some; the fall of some Angels was no impeachment to those which stood; because no natural imperfection or infection was derived from the one to the other. But by the fall of our first parents all mankind was involved in destruction; as being Scions of that corrupted tree, Runnells flowing from that poisonous spring. If man had not been redeemed, the whole stock, race and kind of man must have been damned. And again; The Angels fell merely by malice of their will; but the first man was tempted and provoked, and his posterity daily fall by inclination of their Nature. Nothing is imputed to Angels but their proper sin: but to man is imputed the sin of another. And therefore O LORD of infinite goodness! Let these reasons which moved thee to redeem me, move thee also to hear me; let sin no more hinder thee from hearing, than it did from redeeming. For if sin be an impediment that prayers cannot be heard, never shall any man's prayer approach thine ear. For we are all born sinners, we live and we shall die sinners, we cannot contend with thee in judgement, we cannot dispute our righteousness against thee. If thou wilt be only a judge to observe and examine our actions, if thou wilt call us to trial at the bar of thy justice, of necessity we must perish: none can stand before thee and say, I am innocent. Wherefore we decline from thy court of justice, and desire to be heard in thy court of mercy: we stand before thy mercy: for if mercy were not with thee, sinners could hope for nothing from thee, which is a higher court than thy court of justice. For otherwise we could not appeal from justice to mercy, because no appeal can be made but to a higher court. LORD, we appear before thy high court of mercy; we acknowledge that all of us are sinners, and that if mercy were not with thee, we could not hope for anything from thee. We humbly acknowledge, that we have done nothing perfectly well; and our imperfect doing of any thing well, is no thank to us, it is thy free gift: but if thou close not thy eyes against our offences, we must despair, we cannot be saved. For our life resteth in remission of our sins; that thou hast covered or rather buried them; that thou wilt never object them against us. All have gone out of the way, we are all become unprofitable: Inutiles facti sunt. ps. 13. there is none that doth good, no not one. But wherefore is a sinner said to be unprofitable? Verily all things are unprofitable which serve not to the end for which they were created. Now man was created to the glory of GOD: but a sinner so long as he remaineth in sin, is altogether unprofitable for that end. And how should man be pure, who springeth from a rotten root? How should there not be sin in man, apparelled with filthy flesh, when his servants were not stable, and when he charged his Angels with folly. job. 4. All the ways of the LORD are mercy and justice.. No other way hath hitherto been known to attain felicity. By the way of justice our great Saviour only hath gone: none other but he could ever say, Which of you could reprove me of sin? By the way of justice he hath merited for himself and for us: for himself the glory of his humanity; for us, Grace here, and hereafter Glory. But by the way of mercy all we must walk; because we have walked in the ways of sin; because by nature we are children of wrath. Without mercy and justifying Grace we cannot be saved. The door of the entrance to the Oracle in Salomon's temple, ●. Reg. 6. was made of wood of the Olive tree: which being a type of mercy, did shadow to us, that no man can enter the holiest place, but thorough the door of mercy. And albeit GOD holdeth in his hand both justice and mercy, yet by his antecedent will, he desireth all men to be saved. His judgement is exalted by his mercy; Indulsisti genti Domine, indulsisti: nunquid glorificatus es? Es. 26. Ps. 145.9. he delighteth to spare sinners, he rejoiceth at occasions to show his mercy; he esteemeth himself more glorious by showing mercy, then by exercising his power. In his mercy (if I may so speak) he seemeth to go beyond himself, for his mercy is over all his works. In mercy he would have us like unto him. Be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful. He enjoins us not to imitate his power, whereto Lucifer proudly aspiring was dejected into hell. Nor his wisdom; Luc. 6.36. which Adam vainly affecting, was elected out of Paradise: but his mercy, which we humbly practising may be erected into heaven. As it is mercy whereof we stand most in need, so is mercy chiefly required of us. But the readiest way to attain mercy, is by acknowledgement of our sins. He that acknowledgeth not his sins, acknowledgeth himself unworthy of mercy, unworthy to be acknowledged of GOD He who hideth or excuseth his sins, struggleth against the streams of Grace; and debarreth himself of all hope of pardon: he doth vainly search after GOD, who will not search into himself, and freely confess what there he finds. Alas! How many are held in the iron chains of sin and the devil, who neither bewail, nor confess, nor see their misery? who, ignorant of their own estate, suppose they walk a full pace the right way to heaven? Such were the Israelites whom the Prophet thus reproved for like affected ignorance. Hier. 2.23. How canst thou say that I am not polluted? neither have I followed Baalim? Behold thy ways in the valley, and know what thou hast done. O blind and foolish man! who wilt endeavour to justify thyself? open thy eyes which the devil hath closed; and behold thy ways in the valley of thy life. Assuredly thou shalt find it full, of contempt against GOD, of injuries against others, of impurities and vanities in thyself. Thou shalt espy many grievous sins, which others happily have espied before: thou shalt find many Monsters lurking in thy bosom, which await opportunity, sharply to assail thee. Verily, it is a greater fault to conceal or defend a fault, than it is to commit it. And now, (O holy GOD) now I have confessed to thee my own sins in particular, and generally the sinfulness of all: what wilt thou do? how is it thy pleasure to deal with me? Shall thy wrath still contend with thy mercy against me? shall my sins surmount thy goodness? shall my sins be stronger to condemn me, than thy mercies to save me? O my hope! Are thy benefits become so chargeable to thee? dost thou lose any thing by giving to me? Wherefore then withholdest thou thy mercy in displeasure? or tell me: what else requirest thou from me? Requirest thou grief? why, that is such, that I would I had died when I did displease thee. Requirest thou punishment? Lo here my poor perplexed body: bind it, scourge it, satisfy thy indignation thereon: but so, as thou forbearest not to afford thy mercy. LORD! I desire not honour, not authority, not riches, not any thing created: all these cannot satiate my desire; without thy mercy all is poverty. I desire only thy mercy; give me thy mercy and I shall be satisfied. VERSE FOUR For there is mercy with thee: therefore shalt thou be feared. 1 THe greatness of GOD'S mercy. 2 He is desirous to pardon. 3 The very thought of mercy hath a powerful operation. 4 The power of hope. 5 Her encouragement to the sinner. 6 The sinners dulness. 7 Hope giveth assurance of mercy. 8 Three things most like to hinder mercy. 9 Sins can be no impediment. 10 justice can be no impediment. 11 The ordinance of the Law is no hindrance to mercy. 12 The goodness of GOD assureth his mercy. 13 The same is assured by his Love.. 14 His promise doth bind him to be merciful. 15 His power doth also assure his mercy. 16 Albeit we often sin, yet GOD is bound by his promise to be merciful. 17 By reason of our sins, we are rather capable, then unworthy of mercy. 18 Wherefore GOD hath commanded us to trust in him. 19 A praise of GOD for his mercies. 20 One caution to be respected, if we expect mercy. 21 A second caution. 22 Wherefore GOD is to be feared. 23 Hope and fear how conjoined. 24 Fear a temperature between despair and presumption. 25 A prayer for fear. O Mild Father! how sweet is thy spirit? who will not love? who will not laud thee? Albeit thy displeasure be daily provoked; yet it is thy pleasure, it is thy glory, not only to forbear but to forgive sinners: thy mercy is so great, that thou never desirest the death of a sinner. Thou knowing how weak we are, how inclineable to evil, wilt not try all our actions by the try touch of thy justice; but like a gracious Father wilt dissemble many of our imperfections, and pour forth large streams from the ever-flowing and overflowing fountain of thy mercy, both to cleanse and to cure them. Thy nature is goodness; thy property is to have mercy; thou art easy, thou art ready, thou art desirous to pardon. No man is so ready to entreat thee, as thou art easy to be entreated. Thou art always ready to give and to forgive; to give us thy goodness, and forgive us our evil. Thou canst not deny us thy mercy, whensoever we repent and turn to thee. This Ocean of mercy hath neither bottom nor bound; it cannot be fathomed, it cannot be surmounted. No sooner can a sinner call mercy to his mind, but he is sensible of the working thereof. For it breaketh and disperseth the hell of remorse, which did i'll his heart with astonishment and fear: the damps of pensiveness vanish away; the punishment which hung over his head, is chased far off. Or if any punishment be inflicted, it is not the punishment of a judge, but the chastisement of a Father; it is both temporal, and tempered with mercy; which maketh it not only tolerable, but easy and sweet. In this Ocean of mercy I will cast the anchor of my hope, & ride securely against all rage of whether; here hope will hold me firm and immoveable against all approaches. O heavenly hope! whose face heaviness cannot endure: how wonderful is thy sweetness and thy power? What lovely looks dost thou cast upon those whom thou encountrest? what unspeakable joys dost thou kindle in their hearts, who entertain thee? Lo, she came unto me attended with many comforts, and with a divine countenance and voice used these speeches. Come feeble wretch, I will lead thee into the Sanctuary of the LORD, and place thee before his mercy-seat. Come, I say, enter boldly, I will excuse thee. Thou shalt find him alone expecting thy coming. Away with all worldly comforts; it is no less dangerous for a soul to be pestered with them in time of troubles, than it is for a ship to be ouerburthened with rich merchandise in a tempestuous sea. It is he only who knoweth how to deliver thee, how to save thee: cast thyself on him, and he will help thee. Thus she said: but finding me heavy and little moved, her sacred lips began again in this manner to infuse herself into my dull earthy spirit. What? said he: dost thou any thing doubt of the great mercies of GOD? wilt thou still suck sorrow out of every vain surmise? why, search the Scripture, and thou shalt there find mercy so much extolled, so faithfully promised, and so often and strangely practised upon sinners; that he seemeth too obstinate, who will not submit himself lowly to embrace sure confidence therein. But go too. I see I must take a little more pains: I will therefore descend to particulars with thee. Three things (if any thing) are most like to withhold GOD from exercising his mercy. 1. The greatness of sins. 2. His righteousness and justice. 3 The institution and ordinance of his law. But neither any nor all these are able to hinder the forgiveness of sins: needs must GOD be merciful notwithstanding these impediments, to such as are sorrowful for their misse-living. 1. For thy wickedness cannot either extinguish or abate his mercy, in case thou be penitent, and bear a constant mind to amend. Otherwise the condition of all men were dangerous. For when men offend, if GOD were not merciful, if he were hard and unwilling to exercise his mercy, what should they do? how should they order themselves to avoid despair? For despair is nothing else but want of true trust in the mercy of GOD to remit sins. But doubtless it is not so: he is merciful, and always ready to forgive. Sunes are so far from being an impediment to mercy, that they are the proper object thereof, without which mercy hath no action: for take away sins, and where then is pardoning mercy. Omnes peccaverunt & eguerunt gratia & miseri●ordia jon. 4.2. Many glorious Saints in heaven are witnesses hereof, who were once grievous sinners upon earth. This also did jonas know rightwell; and for this cause he was unwilling to be a messenger from GOD of his wrath against the Ninevites. For I knew (said he) that thou art a gracious GOD and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. And observe, weak sinner, whosoever thou art, who for the greatness of thy sins art carried down to the gates of despair; observe how GOD dealt with these condemned Ninevites. He suspended his sentence of condemnation, and could not proceed to execution thereof, so soon as they manifested their repentance. Fear not then the greatness of thy sins, for they are not near so great as his mercy: his mercy is far above thy need. 2. The justice of GOD can be no impediment. For justice requires no more than a recompense for a trespass; and forthwith the offence to be forgiven. But thy redemption is made, thy reckoning is abundantly paid, there remaineth nothing for thee to discharge. This redemption is of such power and grace that it not only satisfieth GOD'S justice, but winneth him to great favour and love. Do but remember who is the priest and what is the sacrifice, and thou shalt find the justice of GOD easily answered: for it was more that GOD died, than all mankind had perpetually perished. This is such an offering, as if every hour, every minute it were newly offered. And therefore it is called an eternal redemption; Epist ad Heb. because by it all true penitents are redeemed for ever. All therefore who are penitent, and have a full purpose never to offend, Ipse est propitiatio pro peecatis nostris, non pro nostris tantum, sed & totius mundi. Io. Epist. 1. and a trust by GOD'S grace to continue in that purpose; may be assured that by this redemption they shallbe forgiven. This redemption is the very strength of repentance: hereby the justice of GOD is no obstacle to his mercy. 3. Now touching his ordinance of the law: Of a troth the law was fearful and severe; and therefore is termed the law of death: every soul that sinneth shall die. But this severity is past and done. A new law is made; the law of grace, the law of mercy and of life. Repent and the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is a mild law; but in any case the condition must be performed. Thou must apply thyself to repentance in any case: GOD will not be merciful, unless sinners repent. Notwithstanding, if at any time through weakness thou offend, do not fall from him into despair; but trust in him: stick stiffly and constantly to him: and so shall thy trust support his mercy in thee, and again his mercy shall support thy trust: even like a prop against a wall, which holdeth up the wall, and is again sustained by the wall. The impediments of mercy being thus removed, it remaineth plain, that mercy may easily be obtained, and that for diverse respects; and especially these: First, for that the goodness of GOD assureth his mercy. For to one who is good, nothing is more natural then to do good; which is the proper action of goodness. But because no greater good can be done to another, then to make him good, it followeth, that it is most proper to one who is good, to make others good: to communicate his goodness to others, until he hath made them so good as himself. And this is so far true, that the more goodness any one hath, the more is he inflamed with this desire, and the greater difficulties will he undertake to achieve it: even as the greater a fire is, the greater heat it casteth forth, and the more matter it is able to consume. But GOD is so good, that in comparison of him, none other can be said to be good: Why callest thou me good, etc. all goodness is attributed only to him. And therefore the more he exceedeth in goodness, the more desirous is he to communicate himself. As he hath made himself like unto thee, so will he make thee like unto him: he will not cease to inform, to reform, conform, transform thee daily, until he hath united thee to him. He communicateth himself to all creatures in their degree, but in most especial manner to man. Assuredly, it is not so natural for light things to mount upwards, for heavy things to draw downward, for the heavens to move round; as it is for the goodness of GOD to do good. For the property of all creatures is accidentally in them; but the property to good is essentially in GOD. GOD is an essential goodness. So simple, pure and immutable is his substance, that no accident can adhere unto it: whatsoever is in GOD, is GOD. Again, his love may persuade thee that he will be merciful. For he did not begin to love thee when first thou wert borne, not when the world was created: but thou didst sleep in his bosom even from eternity. In charitate perpetua dilexite, ideo attraxi te miserans. His love to thee is no less ancient, than the ancient of days; even than himself: Who as he is from eternity, so from eternity hath he loved his elect. When his natural Son was begotten, than wert thou adopted for his Son; and ever since he hath cast upon thee a fatherly eye; always remembering what glory he hath appointed for thee. The Scriptures much commend an ancient friend. Lo here is an ancient Friend indeed: a friend who hath loved thee from all eternity. Verily if immemorial possession maketh a right, thou hast now a good title to his love; thou hast now prescribed it for thine own: and hereby thou hast a good claim to his mercy. And because likeness is not only a sign, but a cause of liking and love; he hath form thy soul according to his Image: for as nothing upon earth resembleth him more, by nothing he can more easily be known. And hence it is that the substance or essence of the soul cannot be understood; because it is like the divine substance, which no man in this life can understand. Hence also proceedeth the admirable capacity thereof, which all the creatures and riches of this world can no more fill, than a grain of mustard can fill the world. And further, he hath bound himself by his promise and word, Conuertimini & agite poeni. temiam ab om●i●us iniquitatibus vestris, & non erit vobis in ruinam iniquitas. that in case thou convert and repent; thou shalt never be ruined by thy sin. And therefore seeing GOD hath made so large a promise, seeing he is now become a debtor of mercy, seeing he hath made his gift his debt; Dare any sinner despair? Say, I pray thee: What is the worst that a sinner can fear? Eternal damnation. By whose appointment? By the authority and command of Almighty GOD. But the same GOD who inflicteth this pain, hath given a supersedeas; he hath given thee his warrant, that if thou repent, thou shalt not be damned. Take heed; they be his words; they are spoken to all sinners, be they never so great. Wilt thou not believe them? wilt thou not give credit to Almighty GOD? verily thou must: Fidelis Dominus us ●mnious 〈◊〉 sui●. For GOD is faithf●ll in all his words. By these three: by the goodness, by the love, and by the promise of GOD, thou mayest rest assured of his will to show mercy. Add hereto that he is omnipotent, that his will is his power, Quis resistit voluntati eius. that no man can resist his w●ll, that he can as easily do as will; and there can be nothing added to thy assurance. Men do often fail in their word, because they either change in will, or are defective in power: but because GOD can be neither changed nor resisted, he will assuredly make good his word. Sc●o ●ui credidi, & certus sum quia potens est, depositum meurn setuar●. But happily thou wilt say: I know well that GOD is both mighty and true: and I nothing doubt of the performance of his word. But when he hath once forgiven a sinner, it seemeth to be a discharge of his promise: In case the sinner fall again, is GOD bound again to forgive him? Verily yes. For GOD hath commanded us to forgive our brother so often as he shall offend: and hath further added, that If we forgive, we shall be forgiven. Whereby it followeth, Remittite & remitetur vobis, that if we be not weary to forgive others, GOD will never be weary in forgiving us: that by enjoining revengeful man to forgive others, he hath therereby enjoined himself to forgive them. What? Dost thou think that GOD will not be more merciful than man? Shall man forgive sooner and oftener than GOD? It cannot be. For, because mercy proceedeth from goodness, and goodness is originally in GOD; who can be so merciful as he? He who forgave 10000 talents, what may we think he will not forgive? And therefore, Albeit thou hast sinned never so grievously, never so often; forgive others, and ask forgiveness meekly, and mercy will follow. For wherefore is remission of sins promised, if sinners may not enjoy it? Do sins make thee unworthy of mercy? No. But rather by reason of thy sins, mercy pertaineth to thee. Wherefore never distrust, but turn to the LORD, who hath promised mercy, and who hath commanded thee to trust in his promise. O the great virtue of hope! As the sun spreadeth light and heat to all the earth, so grace streameth from her countenance to all who behold her. O sacred hope! to whose presence heaviness dares not approach. Although the weight of sin doth grievously oppress me, yet will I trust in the mercy of the LORD, because hope hath emboldened me, and because he hath commanded me so to do. But wherefore hath he so commanded! Verily because he desireth to save me; for so he hath said: Because he trusted in me, I will deliver him. Saluabit eos quia sperauerun● in eo. Psal. 37. in fine. O most merciful LORD! With what words shall I praise thee for thy exceeding mercies, who dost deliver us for no other reason but because we trust in thee. LORD, thou art in greatness infinite, in virtue Omnipotent, in goodness chief; in wisdom inestimable, in counsels terrible, in judgements just; in cogitations secret, in word true, in works holy; in mercy plentiful, patient towards sinners, and pitiful when they repent. For such I confess thee, for such I praise and glorify thy Name. Pour, I beseech thee, thy light into my heart, and thy words into my mouth; that my thoughts may always meditate on thy mercies, and that my tongue may ouerslow with praises for the same. That I may not only in myself be fruitful of thanks, but stir up others to do the like. O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious, and his mercy endureth for ever. Ps. Vid. O give thanks unto the GOD of all GOD'S, for his mercy endureth for ever. O thank the LORD of all LORDS, for his mercy endureth for ever: wh●ch only doth great wonders, for his mercy endureth for ever. etc. Ps. 136. But take heed, O my soul! For reverence of the dreadful majesty of GOD, beware of two things, whereof hope hath not forgotten to give thee warning. One is, that thou expect mercy only from the LORD: for with him is mercy. Trust not in any worthiness in thyself, who art a dunghill covered with snow; a filthy vessel, which corrupteth all liquors that are poured into it; a bark set in the gusty sea of this world, beaten with all storms and incursions of weather. Trust not in any trumperies of the world: for no quiet can be expected from that which is always in motion and change; which is always busied like the spider, in making artificial nets to take flies. If thou pursuest the comforts of the world, thou art one of those of whom the Prophet jeremy speaketh, Ser●ietis dijs a●ienis qui nec nocte nec interdi● pati●●tur te qui●scere. that they should serve strange gods, who would not suffer them to rest day nor night. Assuredly, the conscience shall never find comfort nor rest, but when altogether stripped of all other confidence, it committeth itself naked to the mercy of GOD. The other is, that hereby thou be'st not emboldened to sin, but rather held in bridle by fear. Upon any condition be not bold to sin, because the mercy of GOD is ready to forgive: If thereby thou be'st emboldened, thy transgressions are the greater. Fear always to offend such invincible mercy; fear the justice which will punish the contempt of that mercy. Fear to offend thy judge: fear to offend him who only is able to pardon thy offence. Prostrate thyself, and live in awe of ●hat majesty, in whose mercy thou hast placed thy hope; respect him with duty, from whom thou expectest all thy good. As thy desires are guided by hope, so let them be followed with fear. The more thou hopest, fear the more; both at one time, and without measure in both. Neither fear abating hope, nor hope enfeebling fear: But maugre all fear, let thy hope mount to the highest pitch; and maugre all hope, let fear stoop to the lowest down come. If any other could forgive sins, than thou mightest happlyappeale to him, and the more lightly esteem the majesty of GOD: Qui● potest facere mundum de immundo? tu quisolus 〈◊〉? Io●. 14. but because this judiciary power resteth only in GOD, because he hath shut up all within mercy; thou must needs fear him, and tremble to offend him. If a soldier hath offended one captain, he may serve under the colours of another: He who hath lost the favour of his king, may live under protection of another, even as when the Gentiles conceived that one of their gods was offended with them, they endeavoured to reconcile the favour of others. But when thou shalt offend thy only omnipotent GOD, to whom wilt thou resort for relief? Who will not fear the king of nations? who, Hier. 10. albeit he aboundeth with mercy, yet is not he disarmed of justice. Albeit grace reigneth with him, Ego sum, ego sum ipse qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me. Es. 53. yet is not the law abolished. Thou must live in fear not to offend the Law, but to trust to be saved only by mercy. The Law must continue for a holy obedience, to those who believe to be saved by mercy. By this means hope is always accompanied with fear; hope apprehendeth mercy in the end, fear bridleth offence in the passage to the end. Of the righteousness of the Law, nothing can follow but either despair or presumption; in the first whereof the devil was plunged, but the nature of man is most inclineable to the second: fear is a temperature between them both. To this virtue despair is contrary on the one side, and presumption on the other. Despair hath too much fear, presumption too little: take away both, and fear will remain, accompanied with hope. If thou fearest without hope, thou sinckest into despair; and art like some miserable worldling, who forsaking some part of his estate, departeth with his life. If thou hopest without fear, thou mountest like Icarus to thy deadly downfall. To fear GOD is to reverence and worship him: to acknowledge that he is plentiful in mercy and goodness. Take away mercy, and take away fear: for he that expecteth not good, feareth no evil. O LORD of all mecy! Grant I beseech thee, that my soul may fear thee; because thou art no less worthy of fear then of love. For as thou art a GOD of mercy, so thou art a GOD of majesty; as thou art infinitely merciful, so art thou infinitely just: as thy works of mercy are innumerable, so is there no number of thy works of justice: And (which is most fearful) the vessels of wrath do far exceed the vessels of mercy. And therefore (O LORD) so work in my heart, that I may fear thee; for the height of thy justice, for the depth of thy judgements, for the glory of thy majesty, for the immensity of thy greatness and power; for the multitude of my sins, for my inconsiderate boldness in sinning; and above all, for my rebellion in resisting thy holy inspirations. VERS. V. I look for the LORD, my soul doth wait for him: in his word is my trust. 1 THe hungry desire of a penitent sinner. 2 A bridle upon that violent desire. 3 Sudden repentance not always sincere. 4 The causes wherefore GOD deferreth to hear us. 5 We are often deceived in thinking GOD slow. 6 How strongly GOD knocketh and calleth. 7 Wherefore he is not heard. 8 How he may be heard. 9 How GOD feasteth those who entertain him. 10 We must patiently look and wait for the LORD. 11 To the very last end of our life. 12 Injuries to be quietly taken. 13 Troubles to be contemned. 14 A short praise of patience. 15 It must be joined with trust. 16 Trust must be accompanied with faith, and then is it most assured. 17 Whereon this Trust must be grounded. 18 That the word of GOD cannot fail nor deceive. 19 A Caution what to do that we may boldly trust. 20 An assured laying hold upon GOD'S word. 21 A prayer and resolution for patience and trust. But how long wilt thou suspend thy mercy and grace? How long shall I be as if I were, either not remembered, or little regarded? how long shall this hungry appetite torment my soul? look upon me, O LORD, and let me have some sense of thy mercy. LORD, I desire not the abundance and dainties of thy children, but will remain satisfied with a few cast crumbs from thy table. Behold LORD I come to thee, as a poor hungry whelp, to a rich man's table: I see what thou eatest, and how richly thou feedest thy children. I look thee in the face, I observe thy countenance, I manifest my desires by all the gestures and behaviours I can; I use many provocations to move thee to bestow some mean morsel upon me. But when, O LORD, when wilt thou regard me? Now, gracious GOD, even now I pray thee, to favour me with some crumbs of thy love, whereto with all my soul I aspire. But stay, impatient soul, be not so violent in thy desire: GOD hath long expected thy repentance, and canst thou not a while expect his mercy? As he hath delayed his anger, so it is reason thou shouldest await, albeit he delay his favour. He was slow to wrath, and wouldst thou have him sudden in mercy? He did not presently strike when thou didst offend, he did not make payment over the nail: and must he needs at the very first presenting thyself apply himself to thee? He hath a long time been calling thee to repentance, and thinkest to thou have his mercy at the very first call? How often hath his justice taken the whip in hand, to chastise thy sins? but mercy hath met her, and wrested away the scourge. If justice had continued her course, no house of Egypt, no habitation of sinners, but had rung with loud lamentation for their dead: and wouldst thou have all his graces at pleasure and command? justice hath proceeded slowly, that sinners might have time to repent; and must mercy foortwith gallop to them? Nay, soft; sudden repentance is not always sincere; if it be sincere, it will be of continuance: show the sincerity of thy repentance by thy perseverance: persevere, and doubtless thou shalt obtain. In case GOD deferreth to hear thee, it is for one of these three causes. Hope deferred is a fainting to the soul, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. Pro. 13.12. Either to make his gifts more highly esteemed: or else because he delighteth in thy company; because he taketh pleasure, that thou shouldest converse with him, talk with him, sue to him; because he so delighteth in thy resort to him, as he will not lose it by a speedy dispatch. Or else it is because he intendeth to give to thee in a larger measure. He stoppeth the streams that the waters may swell: but in the end he will pour them forth; not as it is fit for thee to ask, but as it is fit for him to give. Or happily thou art deceived (O blind soul) he seemeth to delay, when he doth but expect the most convenient time; when he doth but await, until thou be'st ready to receive. Assuredly, GOD is so merciful, that he doth not only hear sinners who wait for him; but he calleth upon them, he awaiteth to be entreated by them. Observe what he saith, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; If any man hear my voice and open the gate unto me, I will enter into him and sup with him, and he with me. Listen, I pray thee, how strongly he knocketh, how loud he calleth. Run; open to him the gates of consent of thy will; open thy doors which the love of this world hath barred against him. Away for shame. What? wouldst thou suffer any mean friend to stand thus long waiting at thy door? List: list. Out upon thee! there is such a hideous noise within thee, that thou canst not hear. Avarice, ambition, pride, envy, hate and a thousand worldly cares, keep such a yeelping with their monstrous mouths, that the sweet voice of the LORD cannot be heard; thy hearing is stopped by their horrible howl, as if it were with a ring of bells at thy ears. But if thou wilt hear his calm calling, silence these hags, quiet thy disordered desires, banish the choking cares of this world; resign thy will, keep silence and peace within doors; and then thou mayest say with holy job: Vocabis me & ego resp●ndebo tibi. job. 15 Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee. Never fear that he will prove a chargeable guest; he bringeth all his provision with him; he will richly feed and feast thee of his own. When thou hast but once tasted of his fare, thou shalt never hunger more after the course services of this world: his banquet only, as well for daintiness, as for plenty will largely suffice: Open thy mouth wide, and he will fill it. Not the mouth of thy body, for a small thing may fill that: but the mouth of thy soul, namely thy desire; which nothing can fill but GOD. When GOD had created man according to his Image, the Scripture saith, that he rested from his work; having finished his perfectest piece: in whom it seemeth that heaven and earth were knit together. And certainly, a reasonable soul created after the image of GOD, hath no rest but in GOD; Who filleth thy mouth with good things, Ps. 103. the appetite thereof will never rest in any other thing. The vessel which is capable of GOD cannot be filled with any other substance. A soul is no more satisfied with bodily matters, than a body can be satisfied with wind: because there is no conveniency between the one & the other. O my soul! be content patiently to look and wait for the LORD, as he hath looked and waited for thee. 4. Reg. 2. Do not as Heliseus did, when he smote the waters with the mantle of Elias: and because they divided not at the very first stroke, he began to distrust and said, Where is the GOD of Elias? Be not like the Leopard, which if it taketh not his prey at two or three leaps, giveth over the pursuit. This is a common disease of the sons of Adam, if they have not relief presently from GOD, they resort to the world, and sometimes (with Saul) to the Devil for help. But thou, O my soul, persevere with patience: fasten thy thoughts upon the end, Si moram fecerit expecto cum, quoniam veniens veniet, & non tardabit, Habbac. 2. without regard what happeneth by the way. What availeth it to have a goodly hope of harvest in the blade, if it be blasted or otherwise destroyed in the ear? What profit is it that trees blossom fairly, if they never attain perfection in the fruit? The Crab is easily taken, because it creepeth forward, and backward, and every way: so they who sometimes sin, sometime repent, than sin again, are easily made a prey to the Devil. But they who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as Eagles: they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint. Esay 40. in fi. Wait therefore, and look for the LORD, with constancy and fortitude, to the end of thy life, to thy very last breath. Wisdom is the eye of life, patience the staff. Take this staff in thy hand and walk on thy way; thou shalt never give over, never be weary, but cheerfully look towards heaven, and say: As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress: even so our eyes wait upon the LORD our GOD, until he have mercy upon us. Ps. 123. If any man wrong thee, swallow it with patience, for vengeance is the LORDS: In case thou revenge, Rom. 12. the LORD shall find nothing to chastise. When Mary Magdalene was uniustly reproved by a censorious pharisee; she held silence; but what lost she thereby? The LORD took her part, and answered for her. If trifling troubles be cast in thy way, never regard them: they are but tokens of love which GOD disperseth amongst his friends. Pitch be it never so black, beat it to powder and it will turn white: there is no sinner so Aethiopian black, but by the blows of adversity will change his hue. What? knowest thou not that holy men, the ancient worthies of the world, sailed for the most part with the wind in their face? And hadst thou rather be ever without GOD, then with adversity to attain him? A good rider will exercise his horse daily, to keep him in breath, and to hold him able to perform good service: and so GOD dealeth with those whom he hath converted to his service: A Be drowned in honey, put into vinegar reuiueth a-againe: and so GOD dealeth with those whom he intends to convert. Their souls stifled in the pleasures of this world, must with sharp medicines be reduced to life. Both those must patiently look and wait for the LORD. Patience is a great part of discretion; An impatient sick man maketh a cruel Physician. It is a preservative of other virtues: as ashes preserve fire from extinguishing, so patience preserveth other virtues from languishing and decay. Other virtues without patience are like desolate and friendless widows. Patience is a hid treasure, deeply covered with silence; It is a most acceptable sacrifice to GOD. Heb. 10.36. without patience we shall not enjoy the promises of GOD: without patience we enjoy not ourselves: Ye have need of patience, that ye may enjoy the promise. Luke. 21.19 For without it we have neither dominion nor possession in our own souls: because by patience we possess our souls. But patience must be coupled with trust: which rightly laid upon GOD hath ever been in stead of merit. For it giveth both understanding in this present life * Wisd. 3.9. ; and the holy mountain of GOD, * Esa. 57.13 even eternal life in the world to come. But this trust is not a naked expectation of somewhat to ensue, it resteth not only upon the verity of the promises of GOD, but upon the interest that we have in them; and so it is accompanied with faith. For as Amber hath no smell of itself, but mingled with musk smelleth most sweetly; so trust of itself is altogether unsavoury, but put faith to it, and nothing is either more pleasant or more assured. Who soever is well acquainted with this trust, the more violent tempests beat upon him, the more will he trust: Even as the more strokes are set with a hammer upon a nail, the more stiffly doth it stick. Albeit he were with Daniel in the Lion's den; albeit with jonas in the Whale's belly; yet would he trust. Of this trust the Wise man hath made a kind of general Proclamation in these words: Be it known to all nations and people, that no man ever trusted in GOD, Respicite filij, nationes hominum, & scitote, etc. and was confounded. O GOD! most faithful in thy promise. O most merciful LORD! was never man hitherto confounded who trusted in thee? And shall I (most meek GOD) be the first? It cannot be. Peradventure I am not so sorrowful for my sins, as others have been; peradventure I am not so assured in trust: yet my desire is to be no less sorrowful, no less assured than they. My will is good; I would fain be an unfeigned penitent. Blessed LORD! If neither my sorrow, nor my trust be so perfect as they should be, thy goodness may easily either increase them, or supply their defect. Humiliatu● sum & liberavit me. And therefore most lowly I entreat thee, to sink my soul more deep into sorrow, that thereby I may more strongly rise into true trust: and then I shall not be confounded. Now this trust must not be grounded upon any imaginary or seeming power; not upon riches, honour or any other vanishing vanity of the world; but upon the word of GOD, which abideth for ever. All things under the Moon are like the Moon itself, Esa. 40. inconstant and changing every day: yea, heaven and earth shall pass, but the word of the LORD shall never pass. Luk. 20. And therefore O distressed soul! forsake not the verity to follow vanity. Trust not to the course comforts of the world, more bitter than the waters of Hiericho. Such bitter waters make barren land, the ground will never be fruitful that is watered with them. Fidelis Deus in verbis su●s, & sanctus in omu●bus operibus suis. Ps. 44. But trust in his word; even in the infallible promises of GOD, which will never deceive. So surely as thou findest sanctity in his wo●kes, so surely shalt thou find verity in his words. If GOD'S word could deceive, than could GOD lie: but this is repugnant to his nature, this he cannot do. As he cannot die, as he cannot err, so he cannot lie. But haply thou wilt say, that GOD is Omnipotent, and may do whatsoever he will. It is true: GOD is Omnipotent: But I will tell thee what GOD cannot do. GOD cannot lie, either by himself or by his messengers. If GOD could lie by himself, than were he not GOD: for GOD is truth. Neither is he thereby the less Omnipotent: it i● impotency and not Omnipotency to lie. If he could lie by his messengers, than some contrariety might be espied in the holy Scriptures, which hitherto could not be found. Assuredly, the word of the LORD is more immoveable than the poles of heaven, than the centre of the earth. Let the heavens be folded together, let the earth dissipate into dust, let the nature of all things dissolve: the word of the LORD shall constantly remain. O infallible! O unresistable verity! without either active or passive deceit? O true GOD! O essential verity! who canst no less cease to be true, then to be: whose divine words can never fall without effect. As they give the wound, so also the salve to cure it, be it never so deadly. LORD thou hast promised remission of sins, if unfeignedly we abhor them: thou hast promised thy grace, if by grief and sorrow we be truly disposed to receive it. I have thy word, and that is thyself. GOD is the word. Io. 1. I here arrest thy gracious word, and therewith thyself. I will never release this debt; I will never discharge thee without performance. Wherefore, O redeemed soul! approach with trust to the throne of grace: approach without fear, albeit thou hast offended, albeit thy sins have provoked wrath. He hath obliged himself by his word; he hath made himself thy debtor by his promise: never doubt but he will truly discharge his credit; but he will faithfully perform, whatsoever he hath mercifully promised. Trust in his word, hope in hi● mercy: but take this with thee. Unless thou repent thy sins, unless thou cleanse thy heart, unless thou wash it with tears of contrition; thy trust will deceive thee, thy hope will fail, thou shalt never attain thy expected desire. In vain doth he trust in the promise of GOD, who doth not repent and forsake his sins. The trust of an obstinate sinner, who pastureth in his sins, and thinks to be saved without repentance; is no true trust, but proud presumption. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put thy trust in the LORD. Psa. 4. First offer the sacrifice of righteousness; which cannot be done so long as thou continuest in sin; and then put thy trust in the LORD. But what is this sacrifice of righteousness? It is thus described by the Apostle. Rom. 12. I beseech you brethren, that you give up your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto GOD: which is your reasonable serving of GOD. Many persisting in sin do pray, fast, give alms, and exercise other works of devotion. But those are dead offerings, they want the life of grace. These men prefer matters of devotion, before those which pertain to obedience and band: a most dangerous and frequent error in religion. First, offer thyself a living sacrifice of righteousness, then mayest thou safely trust in the LORD. I will speak this plainly in a word: sacrifice thy will, and trust in the LORD. The will is a most inward faculty of the soul: a mistress, a Queen. Whosoever offereth this, he offereth the best and highest thing in his kingdom. He sacrificeth his son Isaac; even that which he most dear loveth. This doth the Chaldee paraphrase, in these words declare: Tame your concupiscences, and it shall be reputed to you as a sacrifice of righteousness. Dost thou trust in GOD? expectest thou salvation by him? Tame thy concupiscencies, and then thy trust is pure, and truly grounded: then fear nothing, hope then in the great mercies of GOD: this trust will then procure thee present grace and glory in the end. Otherwise, thou hast no true ground of thy trust; otherwise thy trust is a dangerous security: even as job saith: The hope of the wicked is an abomination of the soul. job. 11 O GOD! faithful in thy promise, and fearful in thy revenge; My soul fixeth the eyes of her faith upon thy word, never so soon spoken, as sure to be performed. Howsoever external matters fall, I will never be pulled from assurance in thy word: my soul shall always confidently expect performance of thy promise: albeit thou seemest slow; albeit thou seemest altogether to abandon me. The mountains of my misdeeds have tumbled upon me, drawing after them thy importable wrath; which is also followed with many sad afflictions. I groan under my sins, I pant and tremble under thy wrath; help LORD with thy powerful hand, for I am unable to stand under this heavy charge. But touching my afflictions, according to the measure of stripes which storm upon my back, I will look back always to thee, and say; O most merciful, most Just GOD! in whom mercy and justice is one! I humbly bow, I prostrate myself wholly to thy holy will. But equal my forces to my afflictions; give me patience, proportionable to my pains; as my troubles increase, increase therewith also my courage and my trust. Gentle LORD! I quietly endure thy heavy hand, I patiently expect thy favourable forbearance: I expect until, like an expert Physician, thou shalt wholly remove the cause, that is, my sins and thy wrath; and then the effects, which are my miseries, will suddenly vanish. I call to my consideration thy word, I fix thy promises both liberal and sweet before the eye of my understanding. This is the prop whereto I lean, this is the pillar whereon I stand; by this all the forces of my soul are sustained. All the forces of my soul embrace thy word, even as the ivy embraceth a tree, by fastening roots into the body thereof. From hence I will assuredly expect, to be released from all these evils. I have no trust but in thy goodness and truth. So long as this anchor holdeth, I shall be safe from shipwreck, in all the tempests of temptations in this life. All the reasons which bind me to love thee, compel me also to trust in thee. For in whom should I trust, but in him, who so loved me? in him who hath heaped so many benefits upon me? in him who hath suffered so grievously for me? In him who hath so often called, so long expected, so carefully persuaded me? In him who is so merciful, pitiful, loving, gentle, patient, and ready to forgive,? In him who is a Father, an Almighty Father? A Father to love me, Almighty to help me? A Father that he will, Almighty that he can do good unto me? A Father that hath greater care and providence over his spiritual children, than any Father can have over his carnal? Lastly, in whom should I trust but in him, who hath commanded me to approach to him, to trust in him? And hath promised me many favoures and rewards, if I will so do? VERS. VI My soul flieth to the LORD before the morning watch, I say before the morning watch. 1 TWO lights of our understanding. 2 Our weakness not so great as we pretend. 3 Our own endeavour must be added to the working of the LORD, and that in two points. 4 In swiftness. 5 In timeliness. 6 We are not perfect at the first, and wherefore. 7 A prayer. 8 Wherefore we are to resort to GOD. 9 joy answereth desire, as rest answereth motion. 10 In afflictions we must especially address ourselves to GOD, and wherefore. 11 Also whensoever we sin, and wherefore. 12 How dangerous it is to persevere in sin. 13 Examples and reasons proving the same. 14 A sinner upon hope is little better than a sinner upon despair. 15 Times not well employed are often shortened. 16 Deferring of repentance will hearden our hearts. 17 How GOD may answer late repenting sinners. 18 How fearful it is to trust to late repentance. 19 It is a long walk to happiness, and by many steps. 20 The cause of the fall of Angels. 21 We find rest only in GOD, and wherefore. BUT do not so look for the LORD, O my soul, that thou remain without motion in thyself; stand not looking like a senseless statue, but apply the forces wherewith GOD hath originally endowed thee: for he that made thee without thyself, without thyself will not save thee. Thou hast two lights, two eyes of thy understanding, faith and reason. Faith is wrought in thee by his word; reason is naturally planted in thee: as he worketh extraordinarily by his word, so nature is his ordinary power. But nothing is more comfortable & contenting, then when both concur & agree together. Thou dost often complain of weakness: but examine thyself well, and thou shalt not find so great cause to complain of thy weakness, as of thy will; thy weakness will not appear so great, if thy endeavour be answerable to thy power. And therefore, O my soul, as thou lookest for the LORD, so look that thou add thy own endeavour. Especially look that thou be diligent, and that in two points: in swiftness, Fly to the LORD: and in timeliness, before the morning watch. It was commanded in the Law that the Paschall Lamb should be eaten in haste. Whereby is signified, with what fervour of spirit, with what hungry haste, we must apply our desires to our heavenly repast: otherwise it will never either fill or content us. Do not linger lazily as Lot did in Sodom: be not slow paced to forsake the world; which is no better than a den of thieves, a stable of beasts, a puddle with swine, a dunghill with snakes; yea, a part of Hell: be not heavy and dull to resort to GOD. Break off all dangerous delays, whereby the Devil endeavoureth to devour all thy time: but as a Dove hasteth her flight from the pursuit of an Eagle; so early and in good time begin to take wing, and dispatch thyself from the world, to fly to the LORD. Be not taken sleeping, as was the slothful servant; but address thyself to the LORD. As GOD doth help right early, so right early seek for his help: even before the morning watch: Psa. 46.5. I say before the morning watch. All effects convert to their cause, to receive from thence their last perfections. The chicken so soon as it creepeth forth of the shell, will resort under the wings of the hen. The Lamb so soon as it is brought forth, will apply itself to the teats of the dam; it will know her, it will follow her among all the flock. But tell me, reasonable man; what reason hast thou not to do that, which thou seest unreasonable beasts perform? Thou art not perfect; thou wantest many things. This doth the restless appetite of thy nature convince; always desiring somewhat, and never fully content. GOD would not make thee perfect at the first: not because he was sparing, but because he knew it fittest for thy good; not as denying, but as suspending his plenty; not to make thee poor, but humble; not because thou shouldest always want, but because thou shouldest always depend upon him. LORD, thy works are perfect, and I am the work of thy hands: I am fearfully and wonderfully, but not perfectly made. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: but stay not here, gracious LORD, Psal. 119. proceed still to perfect thy work; O give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. I was created unperfect, like a blind whelp; but open thou the eyes of my soul, and therewith infuse thy light; that I may discern my defects, and resort to thee daily, to add something toward perfecting thy work. For of whom should I desire that which I want, but of him who hath given me that which I have? There is no doubt, but he who hath given the beginning, will also knit up and finish the end. LORD, If thou be'st my beginning and my end, whom else should I desire? If all the good which I either have or expect floweth from thy most liberal hand, upon whom else should I depend? if thou be'st my Father, my king, my Lord, my creator, my preserver, my governor, my redeemer; if I daily receive, not my preservation only, but some part of perfection from thee; to whom else should I hastily fly? Servants follow their masters for a small reward; and wherefore am not I diligent and ready both to serve and observe thee, who hast deserved so much, and reserved far greater matters for me? O my LORD! since I have so just causes and reasons, to resort unto thee, wherefore is not my soul and all the abilities thereof inflamed with desire of thee? wherefore do I not take the wings of the morning and fly unto thee? O my hope! my glory! my delight! O my beginning! my perfection! my end! O my GOD! when shall I truly long after thee? when shall I hasten to approach thee? when shall I find all impediments removed which hold me from thee? when shall I find all that dead in me, which is not delightful to thee? when will the hour come, wherein nothing shall live in me but thyself? when wilt thou violently ravish me? When inebriate me with desire of thee? when shall I be wholly thine? when wilt thou transform me wholly into thee? when shall I see the day, wherein I shall be one spirit with thee, and never after be divided from thee? I beseech thee, O my GOD! give me wherewith to pay that which I owe thee; that albeit I cannot thus enjoy thee, yet with all my heart I desire thee, and with all my endeavours aspire unto thee: because, as in no other thing there is perfect joy, so our desires and endeavours should aim at nothing else. For joy answereth desire, as rest answereth motion; as rest is when motion ceaseth, so then is joy when nothing is desired. But because in matters of this world desire hath no perfect rest, Sa●●abor cum apparueris gloria tuae. Ps. 16. it followeth, that it hath in them no perfect joy: but as thou only fillest our desires, so in thee only is perfect joy. And therefore grant to my soul, I humbly entreat thee, such large proportion of joy in thee, that my joy may inflame my desire to be with thee, and my desire may draw my endeavours to fly unto thee. That my joy in thee may be such, that I propound nothing interially to my desires, nothing exterially to my endeavoures, but only to enjoy thee. Especially, O my soul, when thou art whipped with any affliction, address thyself foorthwih to the LORD. So soon as thou feelest his stripes on thy back, make no stay, (for this may procure thee a dreadful, if not a deadly blow) but presently start up and fly unto him. For assuredly, at these times he worketh upon thee, to advance thee towards thy perfection; at these times he contriveth thee to some special end for himself. 1. Pet. 2.5 The godly are termed lively stones for a spiritual building, but a stone must be squared and hewn, and by many sad strokes made fit, or else will not serve for a beautiful building. No doubt is made of the salvation of David, who lived always under the road; but of the salvation of Solomon, who lived always in prosperity and peace, much question is made. For doubtless as it is more dangerous sailing in fresh waters then in salt, so a prosperous life is more obnoxious to perils, than a life traversed with many troubles. The more the people of Israel were oppressed, the more they increased: the more the waters of the deluge swollen, the nearer was the Ark elevated towards heaven: and calamities of this life are not only sure signs of the favour of GOD, but means also to procure the same. Tribul●tionem & dolorem inveni, & invocavinomen Domini, Psal. 114. De tribulatione invocani Dominum, & ex audivit me. Ps. 117 For they stir men to resort to GOD, and never to give over their swift pursuit, until the dawning of divine comforts open upon them; aswell to dispel the thick damps and mists of their miseries, as both to enlighten and refresh their souls, overclouded with heaviness, and to erect them by hope to secure quiet and joy. Also whensoever thou fallest into any sin, do not lie still, either pleasuring or sleeping therein, but early arise and fly to the LORD: haste thee presently; rather cut the knot, then stay to untie it. Seek the LORD whilst he may be found, Es. 55.6. call upon him whilst he is near. But when is he more near then at the present Now? When may he more easily be found? when better called upon, then at the very Now even Now when he calleth to thee. Now is the acceptable time, Now is the day of Salvation. 2. Cor. 6.2. All agree, that after sin there is no hope of felicity; no hope of eternal life but by repentance. Herein all are agreed, but wherein then lieth the difference? Not in the sum of the debt, but in the days of payment. All agree that repentance is due; but most persuade themselves that the payment may be made at leisure. But assuredly there is no time so fit as the present. For what stupendious stupidity is it, to defer the most weighty work of repentance to a future time? whereby, beside that the time may be taken from thee, thou shalt daily grow more unfit to repent. For by reason of long continuance and frequency of acts, custom will grow strong and invincible; whereby, nature is corrupted, grace estranged, and the power and tyranny of the Devil much confirmed. Observe hereof a familiar example. If a child be brought from a distant country, he will perfectly pronounce our language in a very short time: If he be a man of years, he will hardly or never rightly pronounce it. What is the cause? confirmed custom, which can hardly be broken: we are hardly drawn either to forget or forsake that, whereto of long time we have been enured. And assuredly, change of life is no less uneasy than change of language: and therefore repentance must needs be so much the harder, by how much it is later. Oh! how many would gladly forsake their wicked lives? but being fast locked and chained in the prison of evil custom, they are not able to break from themselves. He who hath a great estate may well endure some waste expense: but he who oweth more than he is worth, had need be a good husband of that which he hath. Thou art not well assured to live one hour, and darest thou make to thyself a prodigal promise of many years? Repromissio nequissima mulr●s perdidit. Eccles. 29. Such promises have been ●he destruction of many: a sinner upon such hope is little better than a sinner upon despair: for both sin alike upon different reasons. The desperate sinneth because he thinketh he must be damned; the presumptuous because he hopeth he may at pleasure repent: he sinneth, because he despaireth; this hopeth because he will sin. Woe to this hope, woe to that presumption; both are fearful and dangerous alike. GOD hath promised pardon to repentance; but he hath not promised either time, or ability, or mind to repent. He hath already given thee a fair time to repent: but he hath put times and seasons in his own power; Act. 1.7. and will assuredly shorten them if they be not well employed. For so in the days of Noah he gave 120. years for man to repent; which because they did abuse, he struck off 20 years, and raised the deluge in the hundreth year. Thou art careful to cure the least hurts of thy body forthwith: and wilt thou neglect or defer to remedy the mortal and immortal wounds of thy soul? When every day thy miserable soul is hewn, burnt, poisoned, precipitated, torn in pieces; when every day it perisheth a thousand ways; wilt thou be nothing sensible thereof? Exod. 8.10. wilt thou be like Pharaoh, who when all Egypt, as well in the fields, as in the houses, swarmed with frogs, yet would have prayer deferred until to morrow. O mad delay! nay verily, To day hear his voice, and harden not your hearts. Defer not repentance until to morrow: Psa. 2. for this will harden your hearts indeed. Et ficus mercenarij dies eius. job 14. Our life is compared by job, to the day of a hireling. A labourer worketh from morning until night, and then taketh his rest. So thou, O sinner, labour hard in the works of repentance whilst thy day lasteth; suffer not the darkness of death, the night of nature to steal upon thee: Veniet nex quando nemo potest operari. Io. but early in the morning of thy health, strength and age, fly to the LORD: attend seriously thy work and do not loiter, for the night will come when no man can labour. If the world calleth thee aside, to riches, honour, pleasures, or any other of her enticing harlotries, tell her thou canst not come; thou hast a great important business in hand, and but a small time to perform it: thou hast neither leisure nor lust to listen to her. When joab had defeated Abner, 2. Sam. 2. and chased his army with a long execution, Abner cried to him; Shall the sword devour for ever? to whom joab answered: As GOD liveth, if thou hadst spoken in the morning, the people had gone away, every one from following his brother. The like may GOD answer to sinners, who all the day of their life bear arms against him, and at the night of their death desire to be at peace. As I live, if you had spoke to me in the morning, if in seasonable time you had desired mercy, I would have spared you: but now execution is in the heat, you come somewhat late: you must never stand to the courtesy of justice, you come now upon inevitable necessity, upon base servile fear, which never justifieth. Your repentance now is not from the heart. You are now like merchants, who when their ship is in danger, throw their riches overboard; but when the tempest is over, search every shore to find them again. Your apprehension of present danger hath persuaded you against your wills to disgorge your consciences, and cast up your pleasures: but if the fear blow over, if you recover your former estate, you will forthwith return to your former life. Thus may GOD say, and thus for the most part it happeneth. We never examine our great account, we never address ourselves to be at peace with GOD, so long as we have one vanity unspent. But when time hath beaten from us both youth, pleasure and health; when it hath made us both insociable to others, and burdensome to ourselves; when our attendants are variable sicknesses and pains; when the soul loathes her ruinous and excremental lodging: then looking into our consciences, which pleasure and sloth had locked before, we behold therein the fearful images of our actions past, and withal this terrible sentence engraven: that, GOD will bring every work to judgement. Eccl. 12.14. But how dare we trust to our repentance at that time, when the will by long custom is stiff, and almost inflexible; when the understanding partly weakened, partly amazed, is unable to behold diverse objects perfectly. Assuredly, to neglect GOD, to offend him willingly, casting our hopes on the peace which we trust to make at our parting, is a high presumption, or (which is worse) a scornful con●●mpt. Of all things that can be desired, eternal felicity is the chief. No man but doth naturally desire it. No man with deliberate reason would lose it for the empire of all the world; no merchant is so foolish, who would exchange the hope thereof, for any advantage that can be set forth: no man upon any condition would be quite cast out of that hope. Now the ordinary way which GOD hath appointed to attain felicity, is a long and laboursome walk, a great journey, from virtue to virtue, from strength to strength, until we appear before GOD in Zion. This was figured by the ladder which jacob saw in a vision; extending from earth to heaven, and consisting (doubtless) of many steps. Signifying, that no man can attain that happy height, no man can approach him who standeth at the top, but by many degrees of virtues, whereof every one also hath many steps. Consider with me but a few of these, and namely the mortifying of all affections, either vicious or impertinent and vain: then the treading in all the steps of humility, patience, meekness, mercifulness, temperance, obedience, fear, fortitude, true discretion, pure intention, sobriety, modesty, external composition, sweetness to others, severity against ourselves, and all other virtues required; and verily thou shalt find it a long ladder indeed, and that which will require a long time to climb. This climbing or walking is otherwise termed an edification or building. For as a great building cannot be mowlded up in an instant; but first the foundation must be laid, than the walls erected, and lastly the roof and floors framed: so in this spiritual building, a sure foundation must be laid upon earth, if we intent to raise it to reach into heaven. And therefore it is a point of extreme either blindness or madness, to aim at this end, this happy end, this last end, and not to observe the means appointed to attain it. This is thought to be the cause of the fall of Angels; Bernh. su●er Psal. Qui habitat in adiut●●io. even because they aspired to their highest end, without due observing the means. For as sparks struck from a flint, if they fly upward, they extinguish; but if they be carried downward, they take fire and burn: so those Angels which humbled themselves and embraced the means, attained to glory; but they who proudly presumed by their own abilities suddenly to attain it, not only failed thereof, but were dejected into hell. In like manner we all desire happiness, there is not any who would not be happy: but we regard not the means appointed for that end. We will not work, we will not walk; we will not address our forces to the works, nor our feet to the ways which bring to happiness. We will not take either time or pains; but think to mount to heaven, at a leap, at a jump; at the last time of our age, at the last minute of our life; by a few short wishes rather than prayers. But blessed is the man (O LORD) whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are thy ways. They shall go from strength to strength, and unto the GOD of gods appeareth every one of them in Zion. Wherefore, O my soul! howsoever others either linger or give over; betake thou thyself speedily to the LORD. For to whom else shouldest thou resort? he is thy prefection, thy last end, the rest and satisfaction of all thy desires. Thou dost naturally desire nothing but him; the desire of worldly things is but a disease. Go too then, tumble upon the bed of honour, riches, or pleasure; thou shalt never find rest, GOD form man, and breathed into him the breath of life. because thou carriest thy disease within thee: rid thee of thy sickness, and thou shalt find rest only in GOD. The reason is plain. GOD made thee only for himself; and therefore being thy last end, thou canst not find quiet, but only in him. Again, GOD only is agreeable to thy nature: Gen. 2.7. thou art his image, thou art breathed from him. No worldly thing hath any proportion with thy nature, and therefore can not give thee true satisfaction. A horse is not satisfied with flesh, nor a Lion with grass; because such food agreeth not with the nature of those beasts. No less can a spirit be satisfied with corporal things, because they are not conformable thereto. The gifts and graces of GOD are conformable to thy nature, they only give thee both nourishment and delight. Pride and envy are spiritual things; but they no more nourish a soul, than poison nourisheth a body. God only is agreeable to thy Nature, GOD only filleth thy desire. And yet neither by filling thy desire he doth extinguish it; neither by enflaming thy desire he ceaseth to fill it. Wherefore (O my soul) Lose not time, but since he hath created thee: Remember thy maker in the days of thy youth. Since thou hast no satisfaction but from him, take the wings of the morning, and fly unto him. VERS. VII. O Israel trust in the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 1. THe invincible force of hope. 2 GOD useth to lay adversities on his servants and seemeth little to regard them, and wherefore. 3 It is a fearful slate to live free from troubles. 4 The secret thoughts of diverse princes. 5 Worldly things are like shadows, and wherefore. 6 Whereon our trust must be grounded. 7 How the mercies of GOD may be esteemed. 8 In two respects, mercy in GOD is preferred before justice.. 9 GOD is most rich in his works of mercy. 10 Wherefore mercy is said to be natural and proper to GOD. 11 What we shall do that we may not fear. 12 To whom there is nothing but mercy from GOD. 13 How ready GOD is to impart himself to sinners. 14 The plenty and riches of our redemption. 15 The treasure and ransom of sinners. 16 In whom is the default that sinners are damned. 17 The benefits of our redemption. 18 An example of our right to these benefits. 19 What our Saviour is to us. 20 Our title to the merits of our redeemer. O Heavenly hope! there is no labour, no calamity, albeit daily storming, daily increasing, but by thee is made tolerable? Without thee, many would faint and fall under their heavy burdens: but thou suppliest, not only strength to endure, but courage to bear over all extremity. This was figured by the window in Noah's Ark, which was made above towards heaven; signifying, that in that cruel calamity, relief was to be expected only from thence. Death triumpheth over all earthly things, but thou triumphest over death; thou art more victorious than death. And therefore albeit jacob was dying, yet his hope died not when he said: Expectabo tuum salutar● domine I will look for thy salvation, O LORD. Here hence holy job also in his greatest extremities said: Gen. 40. job 19.25 26. I know that my Redeemer liveth: and though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see GOD. Wherefore, O my soul! do not only fly to the LORD upon the wings of thy hope, do not thou only rest assured upon confidence in his word, but persuade all others to do the like. O my friends, O all ye of the house and Church of GOD! Trust in the LORD. Attend for succours only from him: for he is both ready and most assured. Albeit your distress be great and fearful; albeit you be not presently heard, albeit you seem to be forsaken, yet trust in the LORD. Against all hope, hope in him: even when your case seemeth desperate and forlorn, even unto death stand steady as a rock, and trust in the LORD. It is a familiar fashion with our LORD, to suffer his friends and faithful servants to sweat under the sad burdens of adversities, and to seem as if he neither heard their prayers, nor regarded their griefs. And this he doth only to exercise them; that their faith, patience, constancy, and other virtues may more gloriously appear: for that which the file is to iron, and fire to gold; the same is trouble to the friends of GOD. He loadeth them with labours, because thereby ariseth their reward; which in no case he will suffer them to lose. If GOD hath not hitherto thus dealt with some, it is because he knoweth their weakness, he knoweth their cowardice, he knoweth how unfit they are to be his soldiers; he will not take them into his pay. they who never tasted troubles, have great cause to fear, that they are under no favourable hand. For it is a property of the devil to blind men by living in prosperity, as men are blinded by walking in the snow. He leadeth his servants like a hangman, by the broad and fair way of false pleasures and comforts, to the place of their execution: he mounteth them upon high scaffolds, to the end to dispatch them with the greater grief and shame. So was the rich man advanced, when he boasted of his wealth: but the same night he lost both his riches and his soul. When the devil most flattereth, than he hunteth; than you are most in danger of his snares. And therefore (O my friends) In all your troubles trust in the LORD; for this is one of the principal conditions of obtaining your desires. So soon as he heareth the faithful cry of his faithful servants, so soon as he perceiveth their true intention; so soon shall they find their deliverance at hand. Turn not from the LORD to put your trust in Princes, or in the sons of men. And good cause why? Ps. 146. For when the breath of man goeth forth, all his thoughts perish. Oh! that we could discern the secret thoughts of diverse princes, what stately towers they build in the wind; what walls, what palaces they frame, as it were by art of Incantation. Such kingdoms they will overcome; such cities they will beat down; such spoils their soldiers shall have; such treasures shall rise to themselves: all which is puffed away with a breath. Even as when Pharaoh said: I will pursue, I will overtake, Exod. 15. I will divide the spoil, I will draw my sword, my hand shall consume them: the wind blew, and the sea covered them. Trustnot also in worldly things, of which the wise man saith; that they pass away like a shadow. A shadow is the counterfeit of a body, it representeth a body in every point. It seemeth to have head, arms, legs; to move, to rest: when in very truth it is nothing. So all matters of the world are full of deceit. They are somewhat in appearance, but in truth nothing: nothing in the world but a mere aperie. They are presented to our eyes, but they do not continue: they are carried as a ship under sail, which hath not one moment of rest: as the world turneth round, so are all who trust in it, turned as in a wheel. This raiseth in them a spirit of giddiness or error, Es. 10.14 which tosseth them forward, and backward, and turning, as a man rapt with a whirlwind; or as a drunken man in a dance. It is a proper name of GOD, to be: He that is (saith Moses) hath sent me: but nothing is more strange to worldly things then to be. Exod. 3. And therefore Cursed is he that trusteth in man, Hier. 17. or any worldly means. But, Blessed is he who trusteth in the LORD. Ps. 84. & 146. Never conceive that you cannot trust in him, because you are sinners, because you are obnoxious to many infirmities, because you have not performed obedience to him: Verily, you are most unworthy to be regarded of GOD, when you most respect your own worthiness and merits. What? would you ground your trust upon such a false foundation? Nay, it must have a more firm footing then so. It must rest upon two steady stays. One is, the goodness and mercy of GOD: the Other is, the plentiful merits of our redemption. These are the immoveable pillars whereon our trust must be grounded. For with thee there is mercy, and plenteous redemption. And therefore be not dismayed at your own unworthiness, but direct your thoughts to his unmeasurable mercies, & to his plentiful redemption; and therein advance your hope to him and say; we have sinned and done wickedly, Dan. 9 we have rebelled and departed from thy judgements. O LORD, Righteousness belongeth to thee, and unto us open shame. O LORD, unto us pertaineth open shame, because we have sinned against thee: yet compassion and forgiveness is with thee, O LORD our GOD; albeit we have rebelled against thee. If you will settle a true judgement upon his mercy, you may make the estimate by the immensity of his divine substance: For, as his greatness is, Eccl. 2.21 so is his mercy. And therefore as he is infinitely great, so is he infinitely merciful: and as he hath infinite riches to be distributed, so is he infinitely liberal to distribute the same. Otherwise there shall be a defect and disproportion in the divine substance; If having infinite goods to be distributed, he should not have an infinite mind and will for distribution. This great mercy of GOD was not unknown to the idolatrous Philistims; 1. Chr. 6.3 who upon presenting their offerings to him, assured themselves that they should be healed. O the bowels of his mercy! he so loveth his creatures, that it grieveth him to see them perish: scarce do his eyes behold their miseries, but he is forthwith moved to mercy. LORD, they who know thy Name will trust in thee: for thou hast never failed them who seek thee. Psal. 9.10. There are two perfections in GOD, Mercy and justice, both cut by the same measure and compass: neither can be greater nor less than the other, because both are infinite. Yet in two points they differ; in two points mercy is preferred before justice. First because GOD by his own nature is more inclinable to mercy. Indignatio non est mihi. Es. 27.4. For his essential goodness leadeth him to mercy: but he proceedeth not to vengeance unless he be provoked by our sins. And therefore when he scourged sinners out of the temple, he brought no whip with him, but made it of cords which he found amongst them: he taketh both the cause and the matter of the scourge only from ourselves. The second is because he offereth his mercy generally to all: but his punitive justice remaineth only for those who contemn his mercy. All they who embrace his mercy, shall never taste the smart of his justice. Again, albeit all the divine perfections are not only equal, but one in GOD; yet he is most rich in the works of mercy, and hath done greater things to demonstrate his goodness and mercy, than his other virtues and perfections beside. To manifest his wisdom and power, he created the world; to declare his justice, he drowned it: but to show his mercy, he died for it. Oh! how inestimable greater is the work, that GOD suffered for the world, then that he created it? that GOD died for man, then that all men should have perished. Exod. 34.6 O! the LORD, the LORD; strong, merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth: reserving mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity and sin. And therefore (O distressed men!) whensoever you approach to GOD for mercy, never distrust: never think your importunity displeasing, or the opportunity not fit. Never think that you offer him a matter, which either he will be unwilling, or hath been unaccustomed to do; but rather that you present him with occasion of acquiring praise, and to do that which is most agreeable, both to his glory and to his nature. It is his nature and property to have mercy. Not that other perfections are not also proper to him: but this he hath in greatest estimation, for this especially he will be praised. Assuredly if his mercy were not infinite, if it were little and limited, which might receive diminution or increase, than were something imperfect in GOD: but nothing in him can be imperfect; therefore his mercy is infinite, without either measure or end. Go unto him, any person, at any time, you shall always find that with him is mercy: The fountain of his mercy and grace which springeth from his fatherly heart, can never be either stopped or spent: the waters thereof are of singular virtue, not only to cleanse the filthiness of sin, but to enrich souls with heavenly beauty. Never fear that you cannot be refreshed with these streams. I will tell you what you shall do, and you need not fear. Detest your sins and trust in the LORD, and his mercies will overflow, he will be infinitely succourable to you. His goodness will wipe away all sorrow that you have been ●●●ners, and make you rejoice that ever you fell: as having made trial that as your offences surmount all measure, so his mercies and grace exceed your offences: yea, it is not possible that GOD should deny his mercy to penitent sinners, who trust in him; for than he should not make good his word, than he should deny himself, which is not possible for him to do. But if they trust without repentance, they do not then trust, but presume. But as I have told you (O ye servants of the LORD) repent your sins and trust in him: and then persuade yourselves that with GOD is no anger: nothing but mercy and love: because he cannot but love those who believe in him. And therefore if any calamity fall upon you, it is in mercy; endure it patiently, and hope to be delivered when GOD shall think fit. If you have committed any sin, yet, with GOD is mercy; trust to this mercy, and you shall never be endamaged by your sins. Albeit to your sense he appeareth to be angry, regard not your sense, but steadfastly believe, that in heaven and upon earth, there is nothing but mercy: if you should die for it, never suffer this trust to be wrested from you. Believe not your sense, but believe the word which hath said, that with the LORD is mercy, for those who trust in him. Write this promise in your heart; that if you truly trust in his mercy, you shall not perish, albeit all sense, reason and experience should persuade the contrary. In yourselves you shall find nothing but wrath, in the Devil nothing but malice, in the world nothing ●ut either dulness or madness: but firmly believe that with thy LORD there is nothing but mercy. O merciful GOD! be sinners never so ungentle, never so graceless; thou art grieved to see them perish. And if at any time they turn towards thee; thy mercy is ready to meet them, thou art ready to impart thyself unto them, Quis inuoca●●t eum & dispexit illum. thou didst never despise any who called upon thee. O comfortable words! Give me grace (gracious GOD) to taste once again the sweetness of them. Never did any call upon him and was despised. Blessed LORD! is not this thy word? wilt thou not make it good? wilt thou not do as thou hast said? LORD, thou hast made us of nothing, we are feeble flesh. We daily sin, we daily ask pardon. Shall we now be despised, and never any despised before? Our sins indeed are great; but thy mercies exceed all greatness and measure. Our sins are many: but there is no number of thy mercies. Our sins after forgiveness are many times renewed: but thy mercies are not limited either to number or time. For with the LORD IS mercy. At all time's mercy; nothing but mercy; mercy never either exhausted or with held. The second foundation of your trust must be upon the merits of our Redeemer. For with GOD there is not only mercy, but plenteous redemption. The plenty and riches of this redemption is the innocent and precious blood of JESUS CHRIST: which as it maketh a treasure of innumerable riches, so can we not doubt, either of his power or of his will to distribute the same: His power dependeth upon his will; and his will is guided by his love, wherewith he offered his blood for our redemption. This love enforceth his will; and his will is always followed by his power. So as being largely assured of his love, we must nothing doubt, either of his will, or of his power. And the better to assure us hereof, he was not sparing, but rather seemed prodigal, in expense of his most blessed blood. Physicians prescribe bleeding in a moderate measure; but our redeemer out of his unmeasurable love made a profuse effusion of all that he had. One drop of his blood in regard of the inestimable value thereof, might have sufficed for redeeming many worlds: but to make our redemption plentiful, he did not reserve one drop to himself. His blood, his precious blood, every drop of his precious blood, was poured forth for our redemption. After that his external parts were emptied of blood, by sweeting, scourging, crowning and nailing: His internal and vital parts were also drained by the stroke of a spear. For in that water flowed forth, without any tincture of blood, it was an evident proof that all the blood was spent. A little blood will give colour to much water: and therefore if any little blood had remained, the water must have been somewhat coloured thereby. This is the treasure, this the ransom wherewith sinners are redeemed. This most precious blood was shed without measure: to the end, that be our sins never so grievous, so many, so often repeated, we should here find a plenteous redemption: whensoever with penitent minds we crave benefit thereof. Who will despair? who can doubt of his deliverance? When GOD of his own will hath so plentifully redeemed us. Who can suspect that he will be less willing to distribute this treasure, than he was to amass it? Assuredly there is no default in GOD if sinners be damned, for he desireth not the death of a sinner: there is no default in GOD for not giving, but there may be default in sinners, for not desiring. GOD desireth that his mercy be magnified above his justice; but sinners desire rather to provoke his justice, then to invoke his mercy. By this redemption we are not only delivered both from the guilt, and eternal punishment of our sins; but we are also enriched with the righteousness of our Redeemer. All the merits of his penury, travails, watchings, groan, sweat, tears, and blood, are our rich treasure. All his innocence and righteousness is ours. For the righteousness of the second Adam is no less ours, than was the transgression of the first Adam: we no less participate of the innocence and sanctity of the one, for our salvation, then of the disobedience of the other for our damnation. And therefore as jacob being apparelled with the garments of his elder brother Esau, procured a blessing which by right of birth was not his due; so if we be clothed with the righteousness of our Redeemer, we shall obtain a blessing, whereto we can otherwise pretend no right. In offering this sacrifice, and in presenting these merits, what can we fear? GOD is our Redeemer: it is GOD who justifieth, who can condemn? Rom. 8.31. & 33. GOD is our patron and Advocate: If GOD be on our side who can be against us? This is he to whom all the Prophet's witness: Act. 10. That through his name all that believe in him should receive remission of sins. Destroy this Temple, etc. john 2.19. Their sacrifices I will accept upon my Altar. This is the true living Temple of GOD; of whom the Temple of Solomon was but a figure. This is the Altar, whereon all the prayers which we offer to GOD are acceptable to him. This is our only Priest, our only Sacrifice, our only Temple, our only Altar whereby we are made acceptable to GOD. I will make this which I have said a little more familiar by an example. Albeit a man hath deserved nothing of his Prince whereby he may claim either respect or reward; yet if his father have performed great services, If he hath spent his travails, his estate, his life in his Prince's employment; the son may no less both boldly and justly sue for reward, then if in his own person he had deserved it. Our case is not unlike; for all who are in the state of grace, are the adoptive sons of JESUS CHRIST, he is their Father, their second Adam; they are his sons, Filius? ergo Heres. and consequently his lawful heirs. Not as if he had died intestate; but by his last will and testament, which he made the evening before his death, at his last supper, and soon after confirmed it with his blood. Hic est sanguis meus qui pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum. Matth. 26. By this testament he gave us his blood: and thereby hath made us heirs of all the merits for shedding his blood. Hereby we have good right to demand the reward due to all his labours, and to the loss of his blood, and that with full assurance; not only in regard of mercy, which drew him so liberally to lay forth his blood; but also of justice, which thereby is largely satisfied. For whatsoever he either did or endured in this world, all the sharp stony steps which he trod, was in no part for himself, but altogether for us. For us he was incarnate and borne; for us he sustained many contemptible both indignities and wants; for us he fasted, watched and prayed; for us he did groan, weep and bleed: Lastly, for us he died, Consummatum est. 10.19.30. which was the accomplishment of our redemption. Of all this he hath made us heirs in his last will and testament; and that by his free goodness and grace. For he was innocent, and needed not to discharge any thing for himself: neither had he any need of us, to increase by that means either his greatness or his glory. VERS. VIII. And he shall redeem Israel from all his sins. 1 A contemplation of GOD in his divine Majesty. 2 A contemplation of him in his humane abasement. 3 How pleasing the obedience of our Redeemer was to the Father, and for what cause. 4 Two sacrifices observable in our Redeemer, and which was most acceptable. 5 The merit of these oblations pertain to us, and wherefore. 6 Of the Priesthood and intercession of our Redeemer. 7 Of the narrow capacity of our hearts, and GOD'S inestimable abundance. 8 Our redemption extendeth to all people, and to all sins. 9 How this is true. 10 How sins are said to be impardonable. 11 How GOD is said to blind men. 12 GOD confineth sinners within certain limits. 13 How notwithstanding our sins, we may be assured of pardon. 14 To whom the rich treasure of redemption pertaineth. 15 Our redemption dischargeth not only from sin and eternal punishment; but from miseries of this life. 16 GOD converteth our miseries to good. 17 How calamities may be broken and a glorious conquest obtained. 18 He who commands his will is more powerful than many kings, and wherefore. 19 We cannot justly complain of external accidents, and wherefore. 20 A Prayer. 21 An oblation. 22 A thanksgiving. COme with me then, and I will carry you to the top of a high watchtower, where you may behold marvelous things. Here with great humility & reverence of your souls lift up your eyes above the clouds, and above all the heavens, surmount all the companies of Cherubin and Seraphin, and advance to the highest throne of Majesty. There fasten your thoughts upon the most pure divine substance, which there keepeth state: that beautiful light, that unapproachable light, which no mortal eye did ever behold. That glorious LORD, in whom are the beauties and perfections of all creatures, in far greater excellency then in themselves: Him who with the bare inclination of his will created all things: Him whose bright Majesty as we are unable to behold, so without the light thereof we are blind: Him whose wisdom, power, beauty, Majesty, greatness, cannot be expressed, cannot be comprehended. Who remaining unmoveable giveth motion to all things; who governeth all things, yet applieth himself to nothing; who useth all things, and needeth nothing; who changeth his works, and yet remaineth constant in his counsels: whom all the stars, all the Saints and Angels praise and adore. At whose presence the pillars of heaven tremble, Quis appendit iti bus digitis molem terra? Es. 40. who poiseth the whole mass of the earth with three fingers; and in whose sight all nations are as if they were not. Him whose happiness is such, that it cannot be either increased or diminished: Insomuch as his glory will be nothing the more, if all men should be saved and praise him: nor any deal the less, if all should be damned and curse him. When thou hast stayed there awhile, and feasted thy desires upon this high substance; descend again by the same steps (as if it were upon Jacob's ladder) and behold the same substance covered and disguised, not only with humane flesh, but with all the miseries incident to humane flesh: not only as a servant, the basest sort of men; but as a most contemptible servant, suffering both such miseries, and such indignities as greater could not be endured; and offering himself in love to us, and obedience to his father, even to death; even to the most painful and ignominious death of the cross. This obedience of the Son, was far more pleasing to the Father, than the disobedience of the first man was offensive: his glory by this obedience, is far above the offence by the sins of all men: the odour of this sacrifice, offered with the fire of love, upon the altar of the cross, was more sweet, than the fume of all the sins of the world was noisome. To understand this we must conceive, that as nothing is so hateful to GOD as vice, so nothing is so precious as virtue and sanctity. How acceptable then may we think this sacrifice to be, wherein so many virtues were conspicuous in the highest degree of perfection? Here was most perfect obedience. Here was most earnest zeal of the glory of the Father, to satisfy the offence and contempt against his divine Majesty. What need I speak of his high humility; by which he would be accounted worse than Barrabas? what of his most perfect patience, both in injuries and in torments? what of his admirable fortitude and perseverance, wherewith as a giant without stop or stay he performed his enterprise? But above all his love was most illustrious; his love, I say, both of the salvation of man, & of his Father's glory. This love made his will so ready & his desire so great; that he was prepared to endure not only the cross, but a thousand deaths beside, in case the justice of his Father had so required. He loved much more than he suffered; and was ready to have suffered much more than he did, if it had been so appointed. Wherefore if we consider a part, what he suffered, & what he was prepared in desire to have suffered; we may discern two most acceptable sacrifices: one, partly seen, in that which he suffered: another, altogether invisible, which was his will to have suffered more than he did. And there is no doubt, but that the holy Father who principally respecteth the heart, did more accept the inward sacrifice of his will, than he did the sacrifice of the passion which he did outwardly both act & endure. And seeing it is necessary that so great oblations merit a reward, it followeth that the father must reward the son: Otherwise he should be either unable or unjust, both which are impossible. But there can be no recompense, but either in giving that which one hath not, or in forgiving that which he oweth; neither of which could be done to our redeemer. For what could be given to him who wanted nothing? what forgiven him who never offended? Therefore it is necessary, seeing a reward is due, and seeing it could not be given to himself; that it be given to some other for him, to some other for whom he will require it. But for whom should he require it; if not for those for whom he merited it? and to whom he hath made himself an example? wherefore hath he commanded them to imitate his righteousness, if they shall not be partakers of his reward? whom should he more justly appoint for his heirs, than his parents, his brethren, his children; who are grievous debtors, and for whom he hath undertaken payment? Assuredly, the father will drive no man from him, who cometh to him in the glori●● name of this redeemer: he shall always find redemption far above his debt. Our redeemer so loveth 〈◊〉, that he maketh perpetual intercession for us: the father so loveth him, that he is never wearied, never molested with his intercession. This is he to whom the LORD swore and will not repent, thou art a Priest for ever. But stay a while, & pound these spices somewhat more O my soul; dwell a little upon perusal of this rich piece▪ what business is this which is done with so great solemnity? wherefore did the LORD swear? was it not sufficient for him who is truth, to have given his word? wherefore also doth he add that he will not repent? can the LORD repent of any thing that he saith or doth? Assuredly no. But all this is to confirm our confidence: that whatsoever petitions and importunities are offered in that sacred name, the eternal Father will never be weary to hear them, never unwilling to grant them. Men do often repent of their promises, when the performance of them is either above their power, or to their disadvantage. But the high wisdom of the father cannot be overtaken with such oversight: he will never repent him of his promise; as knowing right well, both what he promised, and for whose sake. He hath consecrated his son to be a Priest for ever. He is always in his sight, he always showeth that holy humanity, those deep and wide wounds which he received for our sake. This is his perpetual representation, this the perpetual intercession which he maketh for us: LORD open my mouth to praise thee, who hast opened so many mouths as thou hast received wounds, to pray to thy father for me. Blessed be such a redeemer, blessed be such an intercessor; blessed be such providence and such power, either to prevent our miseries, or to prevail against them. Cursed be our distrust, cursed our negligence whereby the benefit of our redemption is often lost. The father hath delivered the keys of his infinite treasure to his son, and our brother; to our flesh and blood. He hath opened them, he hath power to dispose them so largely as he please, and is pleased to do it so largely as he can: but we often fail, either in will to desire, or in capacity to receive them. Indeed the capacity of our hearts is so narrow and straight, that it seemeth a small thing would satisfy our desires. For when we pray, we so pray, that it seemeth a little would content us: our heaviness is such, that we know neither how nor what to desire. So they who are in heaviness, would be content with a little comfort: they who are in poverty, would be glad but of a little relief. But GOD thinketh not this enough: For he giveth above all that we can ask or receive: no man either can or dare ask so much, as he is both willing and ready to give. As we slenderly believe, so we slenderly ask; but GOD raineth plentifully upon the little poor sparks of our prayers; and if we can await the time, will recompense our stay with inestimable abundance. GOD is the first who loveth, and the last who leaveth: he never forsaketh us, unless we ●●rst give over to trust in him, and pray unto him. This it is to be GOD; even to redeem and deliver: and that with greater Majesty and glory than can be conceived. GOD is plenteous in all his works; but in none so plenteous as in his great work of redemption. It was a marvellous redemption whereby the people of Israel was freed from the severe servitude of Egypt: but it was not like this whereof I speak, it was but a type and figure thereof. This redemption is universal; it hath discharged not one people alone, but all the world: There is no sin, not only committed, but possible to be committed, which by this redemption is not discharged. And this is true in regard of sufficiency; but in regard of efficacy it pertaineth only to the elect; who are the Church, the true house and family of Israel. But there can be no offences, either for number so great, or for quality so grievous, but this redemption is sufficient for them. Can this redemption which is of infinite value, be restrained to any limits of offences? Shall not he whose arm is never shortened, be always able to forgive? Shall not he who forgave to one debtor 10000 talents, be always willing to forgive? verily in case that debtor had owed more talents, upon his submission more had been forgiven. Such is the pity of almighty GOD towards miserable men; that he never rejecteth their unfeigned repentance: albeit a sinner be at the height of evil, let him in singleness and sincerity of soul turn to the LORD, and he shall be embraced. If you find in the Scriptures any sins termed unpardonable; as the sin against the holy Ghost: the sin unto death: 1. john 5. for which we are forbidden to pray: you must not understand it as if they could not be pardoned, Sect. in 2. d. q. 3. in case the sinner did unfeignedly repent; for this were no better then bitter blasphemy. Psal. 65. v. 24. & 28. But such sins are said to be unpardonable, because they deserve blindness and hardness of heart, and to be deprived of the effectual aid of Grace: because the sinner never either turneth or stoppeth, but always runneth forward, from bad to worse. Psa. 69.24.28. Let their eyes be blinded that they see not, and ever bow down their backs. Let them fall from one wickedness to another, and not come into thy righteousness. Not that GOD doth positively blind any man, or bow down their backs; but privativelie; in that he doth not enlighten and direct them. His sufficient aid he denieth to none; but by reason of some, e●ther heinousness, or obstinacy in sin, he denyeth his most special and effectual aid to some. Hereupon their sins are said to be unpardonable; because, albeit they might repent, yet they did not. Wherefore, O man! to bridle thy broad boldness in sin, Aug. de vita Christi. c. 3. & 4 understand that there are certain periods and bounds, which when sinners exceed, GOD leaveth them destitute; sometimes by denying his effectual aid, sometimes by abridging the term of their life: Psal. 55. For the bloody and deceitful man shall not live out half their days. When the number of sins prefixed by GOD are once exceeded, when the measure runneth over, super tribus sceleribus Dam●sci, & super quatu●r non convertam eum. when the sinner hath digged his own pit; Death shall come hastily upon him, and take from him both the present and future life at once. Verily he that hath appointed bars for the proud waves of the sea, hath also set limits and terms to thy sins: he hath prefixed limits for his effectual grace, but his abundant redemption is always sufficient. And therefore (O feeble sinner) albeit thou hast offended the most High, and conspired against his Majesty; albeit thou hast forsaken his Law, and forgotten his benefits; albeit thou hast harlotted with thy own humours, and fouled his honour under thy feet; in a word, albeit thou hast merited more torments than hell can afford, yet never despair, never be terrified by thy weak suspicions. But abstain from thy sins, let thy will abhor them; and then approach with trust to the throne of mercy: and assuredly thou shalt find grace, not only sufficient but effectual for all thy sins. For than thy Redeemer by his invaluable blood will free thee from the servitude of sin, whereto thou hadst voluntary sold thyself; then will he take upon him the pain which thou hadst incurred; then discharge the obligation which thou hadst forfeited. But herewith thou must be incorporate into the family of Israel, namely the Church of GOD; thou must with Nathaniel be an Israelite indeed, Io. 1. in whom is no guile: for to these only this redemption pertaineth. Thou must earnestly endeavour first to bridle thy sensual appetites, and by degrees to mortify them. Thou must serve GOD in righteousness, and both constantly and closely adhere to him by love. So shalt thou be rightly disposed to participate of thy redemption: so shall rivers of heavenly riches flow into thy soul. But whosoever is a stranger to this house of GOD, or living therein is no part thereof: whosoever (I say) doth either obstinately or carelessly persever in sin, and never regard to disengage himself by repentance; he shall never participate of the infinite treasure of this redemption; the floods of GOD'S mercies and of the merits of his Redeemer, shall never enter or approach his soul; they are sufficient, but not effectual for his discharge. And further, so ample and abundant is this redemption, that thereby the LORD will deliver his people, not only from their sins and from eternal punishments due to their sins; but he will finally free them, from the miseries and calamities which in this life drive in their faces. Or if he defer this deliverance for a time, yea, if he stay until he deliver them at once, from the calamities of the world and from the world itself; yet is he present with them all the mean time; he refresheth them with his spirit, he sprinkleth the divine dew of his Grace upon them: which maketh aswell their life, as the calamities of their life, not only tolerable, but sweet. For they who believe, although they be faint and feeble hearted; yet they know, that neither death nor the devil shall prevail against them; because GOD is their Redeemer. This is the office of GOD, thus will he have to do with sinners: to abolish their sins, to abolish either their miseries, or the sense of their miseries; and to create in them righteousness and life. And further the LORD doth not only either end or ease our miseries, but he doth more: he converteth them to our good. It is a property of the greatest goodness to change the nature of evil, and to convert it into good. If a vine be not pruned, it runneth out into superfluous stems and branches; and grows feeble and fruitless in the end. Be content therefore, that thy desires be pruned with afflictions: It is painful to bleed, but it is mortal to wither. In this life (pascimur & patimur) we are so nourished with the blessings of GOD, that therewith also we are nurtured with his crosses. And shall I tell thee, O my friend? shall I acquaint thee with an infallible experience, how all the calamities of this life may not only be endured, but utterly broken? how thou mayest obtain a most glorious conquest? This is worth the knowing, and by assistance of grace not uneasy to be done. The Apostle findeth in one man two: the spirit and the flesh; the mind and the members; the soul and the body. These are so chained together as they make but one; and yet so contrary, as they make two. They are so contrary, as the life of the one, is the death of the other; the raising up of the one, is the ruin of the other: whereupon the Scripture saith; that he who loseth his life shall save it. That is, he who loseth his sensual life, shall save his spiritual life. Between these two men there is such a perpetual combat, that thereupon the life of man is termed a warfare: between these two men, all the main business of this life consists. Now then, beat down this mortal and bodily man, break thy unbridled appetites, set aside thy carnal pleasures and desires; and thou shalt live peaceably and at sweet content: no worldly troubles shall molest thee. Thou complainest of external oppositions; but thy enemies are within, thy proper passions make war against thee: Vanquish these enemies, and thy complaints will cease. He is a great LORD who commands himself; he who commands, his own will, is more powerful than many great kings. Many great kings cannot make their enemies to be friends; but this is done by commanding thy will. For wherefore are injuries and adversities troublesome to thee? because thou canst not endure them: thou esteemest them thy enemies, therefore they perplex thee. But be friends with them, and love them, and then they will not molest thee; then they will be pleasant to thy taste, thou wilt be glad then and glory in them. If worldly troubles be grievous to thee, the fault is in thyself, it is in thy power to love them: do but cut off the desires of the world, and thou wilt never complain of any worldly thing. Complain of thy inward desires thou mayest; but of external accidents thou canst not justly complain, because they cannot hurt thee unless thou wilt. If any thing seems grievous to thee, take thyself in hand; chastise thy inward enemies, and thou shalt be quiet. As moths consume the cloth, and worms the wood wherein they breed; So thy own concupiscences consume thy heart. They gnaw thy bowels like the viper's brood, and work out their birth by thy torment and death. It is most infallible, that no man is wronged but by himself. Thou art thine own enemy. Master thyself, and thou shalt have calm quiet and joy of spirit. As swine will not wallow in dry clay; so distempered passions will not tumult in a mortified mind. Open my lips, O LORD my GOD, that my voice may vent forth those praises to thee, which the boiling desire of my heart can possibly frame: that it may exhaust the very spirit of my soul in praising thee for this inestimable benefit of my redemption. Abase me to the knowledge of myself, abase me in the knowledge of myself; to the end that I may advance to the knowledge of this great misery. LORD, I have nothing in myself to offer to thee; either in recompense of all the good which thou hast done unto me, or in satisfaction of all the evil which I have done against thee: Whatsoever I have is already thine, as flowing from thy plentiful hand▪ wherefore I offer them wholly to thee, to be directed to thy service. And not only all that I have, but I offer myself to be thy perpetual servant. That hereafter I no more bend or bind myself to accomplish my will, but thine: that I seek not my own pleasure or advantage, but what is pleasing and acceptable to thee. LORD, I prostrate myself before thy feet, I yield myself wholly into thy holy hands: deal with me as a Lord deals with his vassal or slave, dispose of me even as thou wilt. But because all this is no more than nothing, I approach with trust to thy throne of grace, and present to thee the most precious oblation, the most rich treasure that can be found in heaven or in earth; namely, the life, death, blood, labours, virtues, and merits of my Redeemer: which albeit they were proper to him, in regard of his passion; yet in regard of his satisfaction, they are more mine than his. I offer to thee, I say, his base birth, his extreme poverty, his travails and banishment, his precious tears, his blessed blood, his baptism, his temptation, all the contradictions and rude revile of his enemies, all the sour sorrows and torments of his passion: the whips, the crown of thorns, the nails, the spear, the cross and the tomb. I offer to thee his infinite zeal of thy glory, his perfect obedience to thy will, his ardent love towards us. I offer to thee, his incredible humility, his invincible patience and gentleness, and all other glorious virtues which sparkled in him, as stars in the firmament, as precious stones in a prince's crown. I offer to thee all his merits; not as a treasure of others, but as my own riches by inheritance. His works were finite, but the merits of his works are infinite. I offer him wholly to thee; he is wholly mine, in that his love is mine. For when he gave me his love, he gave me himself: sith love is no gift unless the giver be given with it: yea it is no love unless it be as liberal of that which it is, as of that which it hath. O holy CHRIST! the repairer of our life, the sweetness of our soul, the refuge against our calamities; what flinty heart regarding what thou hast suffered, will not be inflamed with the fire of thy love? will not advance into hope of thy mercy? And blessed be thou, O All-powerfull, and All-mercifull GOD! who hast given us such right and interest in him, that we may make this oblation to thee, both in thankfulness for ALL thy benefits, and in full satisfaction for ALL our sins. I beseech thee, O LORD, for his sake, forgive ALL my sins, who for our sake endured ALL the punishments of my sins. I will not inquire into the depth of this mystery, but I will embrace it with the love of my will. The more incomprehensible it is, the more worthy is it the LORD who is incomprehensible; not only in himself, but in his works. He hath so loved us, that he hath done many things for us, which far exceed the faculty of our understanding: by which he hath much more deserved our love, then by those things which we are able to understand. Praise, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Strength, Dominion, Riches, and Power be unto our GOD for evermore. A SUMMARY PRAYER. O Almighty GOD! the beginning & the end; in whom the beginning and the end are one: when thou didst fashion and create man, his soul thou didst frame as of a most divine matter; He breathed in his face breath of life. Gen. 2.7. thy proper breath; so in a most divine form; even in thy own Image. For this glorious guest, thou didst prepare the palace of his body, Gen 1.27. not only commodious for use, but curiously both framed, and furnished for delight. But afterwards by reason of his transgression, this palace was turned to a prison: whereby it was much changed in condition. For as if a man for some offence be committed prisoner to his own house, he becometh soon weary of the place, wherein he took much pleasure before; especially if not only in regard of himself, but in the proper nature his house be turned to a prison: so albeit the body of man was once a pleasant habitation, yet when by sin it was turned to a prison; the soul findeth therein, many miserable molestations. A prison is a place horrid and unclean; wherein the companions are thieves, murderers, and other malefactors: the place commonly a sink, whither all the filth of a city doth drain. And albeit a child born● and brought up in a prison, and never acquainted with other life, will laugh and disport, and not only take contentment, but delight in that place; yet if an honest man who knoweth liberty, chance to come there, how is he annoyed with the filth? How with the vile society which he is constrained to endure? What friends, what suit will he make for his discharge? So they who never looked out of their body, are well pleased with the evil qualities thereof. But they who have conversed in a heavenly life, and yet are gayled in this prison of mud, and tied to the society of a thousand disordered appetites, as so many malefactors, how unquiet are they? how wary? how desirous to be at liberty? Hereupon one cried, Psalm. 142 ult. Bring my soul out of prison, and I will praise thy name. Philip. 1 And another: I desire to be dissolved. Rom. 7. And again: Who shall deliver me from this body of death. Out of the deepest dungeon of this prison (O LORD) I cry unto thee: deeply covered with natural corruption, deeply overwhelmed with actual transgressions, deeply charged both with sense and fear of thy wrath, I strain forth my voice unto thee. LORD, thou art always far distant from sinners, and now out of this deep distance, I do not weakly desire thee, but with deep sighs and groans from the depth of my heart, I call unto thee. I have sinned, and thou hast punished: I have displeased thee, and thou hast disquieted me; according to the greatness of my sins, thy punishments have been great upon me. Out of this depth both of infirmities and of calamities, with an inflamed spirit, I lift up my voice, hands, eyes, and soul unto thee. Hear me (O LORD) who dost no sooner hear then help: Oh! let the complaint of my sobbing soul have access to thy gentle audience. Look not upon my sins and upon thy justice; but look upon my miseries, and upon thy mercies: turn away thy face from me, as I am sinful, but regard me as I am sorrowful for my sins. Despise not (O LORD!) the work of thy hands. For thou knowest of what mettle we are made, thou knowest the bad temper thereof; thou knowest, not only our weakness, but our prone inclination to evil. Insomuch as if thou shouldest examine our actions by the exact balance, and then smite them by the severe sword of thy justice; all must despair; we must all be damned. For there is none so innocent under heaven, who can either answer thy justice or endure it. Not one can stand before thee in judgement; not one can answer one for a thousand. But thou wilt not be so rigid and severe against thy feeble creatures. For with thee abideth not only justice, but also Mercy; not only justice, for obstinate sinners, but Mercy for the penitent. Thou art above measure mild and favourable to all that repent; thou canst not deny thy Mercy from any who desire it from an humble heart. And therefore albeit my sins press heavy upon me, albeit they trouble my soul with many terrors; yet will I worship thee, with a dutiful and obedient fear. I will hope in thee, but not cease to fear: I will hope, but not presume, and therefore must I fear. I will hope, in regard of thy goodness; I will fear, in regard of my own evil: I will hope in thee for thy mercies, and I will fear thee for thy justice. Upon these two wings will I fly unto thee; with these two eyes will I look for thee: but my trust addresseth itself especially to thy mercy. ●f this mercy thy word hath given assurance: thy word expresseth much fatherly affection; thy word is full of many sweet promises of remission of sins: and therefore my trust layeth hold upon thy word. For were it not a dishonour to a King? would not people speak shrewdly of him, if having promised his pardon, he would execute men for the same offence? Assuredly, whatsoever some Kings may do, thou canst not: thou canst not deny thy word, because thou canst not deny thyself. Thy justice will not suffer thee, either to revoke, or lightly to regard the promises of thy mercy, in case we apprehend them in seasonable time. And therefore I will not be either betrayed by pleasures, or benumbed by sluggish sloth: I will not suffer time to pass, until time shall be altogether past: When there cannot possibly be any harm in haste, I will not adventure upon the dangers of delay. O LORD my maker! Quicken me with thy inciting grace, that I may with all speed address myself both to entreat and to embrace thy mercy; that I may timely begin to attend upon thee. For albeit no part of my life should be either shortened or misspent; Albeit I should be most covetously careful to employ every minute thereof: yet is man too mortal to attain performance of the least part of his duty to thee. And although I be not presently relieved, although for a long time thou withholdest thy help; let not my hope be wearied in waiting for thee; let me both patiently and constantly expect thy pleasure. And so must all do who sincerely serve thee; who put their trust in thy word: and so they shall never be disappointed of their hope. For not only thy Mercy is most faithfully assured by thy word; but thy justice also is plentifully satisfied, by the invaluable blood of our Redeemer: which is so noble and precious in thy sight, that there neither are, nor can be any sins, for expiation of which it doth not suffice. It openeth the gate of grace to all that repent; it excludeth none, it sufficeth for all. Let no man fear the multitude of his sins; this Mercy and this Redemption do infinitely surmount them: they infinitely overballance the sins of all men, in case they repent. LORD! thou art a great Physician; thou knowest all our sicknesses, and art most expert in all sorts of remedies. Whatsoever our diseases are, never so grievous, never so desperate; thou hast variety of remedies in store, and knowest right well how to apply them: thy Mercy and thy Redemption thou hast always at hand. Wherefore with all fear and reverence which my weakness is able to apprehend, I resort now to thy throne of Grace; most humbly entreating thy Mercy, and the benefit of thy plentiful redemption. Repel me not from thy presence, I beseech thee; until I be reconciled to thy favour. For I am no stranger to thy house; I am one of thy people, a citizen and member of that Church, which thou hast so abundantly redeemed. Grant me (O gracious GOD!) a longing desire to be with thee; for whosoever desireth to be with thee, shall be welcome to thee; whosoever desireth not to be with thee, shall never approach thee. Deliver me from all my sins; deliver me from all the calamities which I suffer in this life: and enrol me for the life to come, among thy blessed elect Citizens of Heaven. That as here with sinners I pray unto thee, so there with thy Saints I may eternally praise thee. AMEN. Praise, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Strength, Dominion, Riches, and Power be unto our GOD for evermore. Amen. LONDON, ¶ Printed by JOHN BILL. M. DC. XXIII.