the ASCENTS of the SOLDIER ASSENTS. Psalmodia Colloss. 3.16.17. 1 Chron 16 Cap Design Psalm. 3. 7. 10. 12. 4. ●. ●…. 18. 20. 4.5. 4.6. 4.7. 4.8 2. 11. 13.14. 29. 30. 31. 33. 23. 32. 34. 35. 8. 24. 44. 50 16. 25. 26. ●… 15. 27. 17. 22. 52. 6. 38. 51. 28. 37. 49 21. 39 43 36. 41. 12. 40. 42 LA SCALA SANTA: OR, A Scale of Devotions MUSICAL and GRADUAL: BEING DESCANTS ON THE Fifteen Psalms of Degrees, IN METRE; With Contemplations and Collects upon them, IN PROSE, 1670. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Epictet. in Arrian. Dissert. lib. 1. cap. 17. LONDON, Printed by A. Godbid and J. Playford, Anno Dom. 1681. THE MIND OF THE FRONTISPIECE. GReatness and Piety combine To make the Psalmodist Divine; (Good Actions following pure Intents) His Soul ASCENDS, his God ASSENTS. TO THE Right Honourable THE LEARNED AUTHOR. A PINDARIQVE ODE. I. Rouse up dull Quill, and never Dormant lie Upon thy Cotton Pillow, stiff and dry; Useless, and void of all Activity. I'll not disturb thy Rest To travel long, in quest Of some impertinent Romance, To Ape the fond or sighing Lover: No; for by chance I lately did discover, In a fair view upon the Prospect-Land, Greatness and Goodness walking hand in hand. II. By the safe Conduct of a gentle Muse I traced a Royal Court, Which led me to the Sacred Fort, Where Strength and Beauty might amuse, Fifteen Ascents of fair and precious Stone, (Not such as here are found) Did mount me from the lower Ground, To view a large and wondrous Throne; Whereon I spied a David, and a Jonathan. III. A Jonathan, who whilom did employ His Quill, to imp his Dart; Whereby not to annoy Young Jesse's Heart: But Love, and needful Secrets to impart. One who is able to engage With the Goliahs of the Age: Those Debauchees, who compliment A Cloud; and labour to entice The very Principles of Virtue into Vice, With gaudy and profane Embellishment. Now, for the wanton Fancy's sake, Their Souls lie cankered in the Rust Of Ease ill-managed; now they make Greatness a Pander unto Lust. If ever Prophecy did neck the Times, David foresaw their * Seurrilis Cant. de Davide & Bath. non ita pridem compos. Dytherambique Rhimes; For when he counts his Injuries and Wrongs, He adds, * Psal. 69.12. On me the Drunkards make their Songs. iv Oft have I seen the Sun's declining Light Drowsily nod down to the Lap of Night; But when (next Morn) the Champion wakes, (For 'tis not long he Dreams) About the Globe's wide Lists a gallant Ring he takes, (Brandishing his Lance of Beams:) And when he manages a well-dressed Ray, The Nightmare Sleep (as frighted) starts away. Old Darkness is dismounted by the brisk young Day: The World's called up again, and Men revive With a more strong assurance that they live. Thus when the shades of Drollery possessed The Seat, where Virgin Muse's once did rest: When we despaired that pious Lays, Or useful Rhimes should e'er more gild our Days; A Star strangely propitious did appear, Darting its Splendours from the wise Men's Hemisphere; They'd much of Goodness, much of heavenly Grace, As far as that can mix with humane Race; And did portend the overthrow Of fordid Wit, (if that be Wit that some called so.) V Their low-born Muse, armed with Poetic Rage, And Licence, basely congeed to the Stage; They trod mean Paths, whose whole Design and Wit Can reach no farther than the Neighbouring Pit. When as your towering Soul, Leaving us beneath, All humane Passions doth control, And mount into those Regions, where Is nought but pure and subtle Air, Where common Mortals cannot breathe. VI Go on, thou noble Hero, who dost know The Paths of Honour, and of Virtue too; A Soul so Skilful! so inur'd to Good! Never proud Greek or Roman understood: They only built a gaudy Theatre Sacred to Virtue; thou hast raised thyself to her: Such a clean Lodging every Soul may boast, Who bears the Temple of the Holy-Ghost. Others for Pomp or Safety may provide Against their fatal Day, A costly Dungeon, or a Memphian Pyramid (T' enclose their Souls too with their mouldering Clay;) While by the Virtue of thy sacred Fire, (Decreed not to expire) Your Honour shall (surviving Fame) Live in a heavenly Cone of Flame. VII. When I peruse the Comment, and the Text, Nothing I find so dubious, or perplexed, * Tit. 1.14. By Jewish Fables, or Conceits of Men; But your unerring Pen Dictator doth Commence, And reconcile King David's sense, With such Illustrations there, As if thou wert his Privy-Counsellor: Your Version modest, and yet faithful too, Shows what thou dost, and able art to do. VIII. My Numbers must fall short, of what is due To such pure Zeal, and depth of Judgement too: Fifteen Degrees! Henceforth shall every Psalm Boast, that it can Receive the Honour of thy skilful Name, THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. Then, Pardon Sir, if I aspire To kiss the lowest Step of your advanced Quire. S. H. AD NOBILISSIMUM AUTHOREM. JActitet immensi Salomonem Machina Templi Structorem, Graduum te Chorus ipse canit: * Stantia non poterant tecta probare Deos: Mart. utpote Christus Templi Excidium praesagivit. Illius obruitur moles operosa ruinâ, Vim frustra his infers Vespasiane tuam. Ficta Poetarum torpescant Numina, quorum Gleba Sepulchralis Frigida Membra tegit: Musanum Lymphis incassùm labra retingunt, Ni prunam Linguis praebeat Ara suis. Vestris aspirat caeptis Deus ille Deorum, Et sic Divino jure Pocta cluis: Te merito canimus; cujus conscendere Scalam Laurea subrepens ambitiosa cupit: Te miseret Plantae; quoties tremebunda precatur Ut Paradisiacis insita, vivat, Agris. O Dilecte Deo! pergas tibi ut Orbis Honore Agnoscat nullum, nec Pietate, parem: Oro, ut dignêris Triviae Tentamina Musae Quâ placidâ semper Fronte videre soles: Forsitan insolitum videar compingere Carmen; Scilicet appositè scribere causa vetat. Honoris vestri obsequio deditissimus, S. H. TO THE Most Illustrious And Serenest STELLA. MADAM, AS soon as Nature had awaked my Duty in the tender of its Devotion to Lucinda, I was prompted by Justice, as well as Love, to lay my next Offering at Your Feet, because I must avow to all the World, that nothing hath that Ascendant over my Soul as Ye Two have, who make my Passions high, yet honest; Ye are Twin-Stars of the first Magnitude, so that I cannot show Ye my Respects, without advancing my Religion, Your Piety encouraging that unto some nobler Effort, while it instructs these in the most decent and humble ways of submitting my Desires to Heaven's acceptance first, and then to Your Graces. Madam, You know I never yet approached You but with a Prayer, or with Music, (admiring the Divinity which still arrays Your Person;) the Imitation of your Holy and Harmonious Mind, I think, is Work for the most Excellent upon Earth, as the Admiration of it is my chiefest pleasure, and hath been the cause of publishing these the Essays of my younger time, (began about twenty years ago at my entrance into Your Service) when I aimed at nothing but God's Grace, and Yours. Madam, The intent of my first Affections would palliate their weaker Actings, since (as the strength of Zeal may still excuse some Errors) the Daughter of Time is here with a Gift, though the Daughter of Tyre be not in her Robes: Here is no gentile Vanity, or curious Texture of Wit; no Colours of Rhetoric, nor modish Points of Courtship, to inveigle Your Opinion of the present. Yet, Madam, here is that, may well become Your Grace, The most Angelic Dress, in fashion upon Earth; The way to pierce the Skies, with Orisons and Praise; The way to pass our Lives, in truest Ease, and Mirth. I wish You like the making up of this Suit (as it is) with the truth of his Devotion and Service, who is ready to wait upon You (in his Holiday habit) both to Your Closet, and to Our Church, as MADAM, The humblest and faithfullest of your Ministers. THE PREFACE TO THE READER. HAVING with much admiration and delight been long conversant with the Psalter, I find, as it is wisely appointed for the first Book that we read or study, so it may fitly be used to the last minute of our Life and Breathing; Luke 23.46. Psal. 30.6. since our blessed Lord himself handed his Soul unto his Father in these words of the Psalmist. And I never knew any condition, how sad soever, that might not receive some Entertainment, Mat. 21. 16.21.42.2●.46.22.44.13.35. some Company and Discourse (as well as Music), and so some ease and relief from that glorious Book of the Psalms; which is not only beautified by our Saviour his frequent use of it (both living and dying,) but by the continual Services, John 2.17.6.32.10.34.13.18.15.25.19.24. and best Devotion of all the Saints and Children of God: For (to say nothing of the Esteem it hath, even in the Mahometan Religion) there hath been no Church, either of Jews or Christians, nay, scarce one eminent Person in either of those Churches, Sixty Proofs cited out of the Psalms in the N. T. who hath not only allowed much time and attention, but likewise shown the greatest remarks of Piety and Zeal, in the studious perusal thereof. Psal. 1.2. For these Spiritual Songs (as all sacred Worship was of old wrapped up in Metre) do, with their most charming Melody, and sweetness of Expression, both set forth the Law of the Lord, and the love of his Servants, (as on Mount Zion, not on Sinai, viz.) in so lofty and taking a way, as that surely they contain not only the Body and Substance, but the Spirit and Quintessence, the pleasant Tastes, and best Relishes of our holiest Religion! Besides the variety of Subjects, and richness of each Theme, serving (as the Treasures of several Mines) for the furnishing and rewarding both our fancies and labours with Materials, sufficient to please, to profit, to enrich our Meditations. So that truly 'tis a ravishing, and no less than Heavenly delight, to hear the holy Persons of all Times and Ages (like Birds in the Spring) descanting on the selfsame Subject; but with such different Notes, Melody, and Accent, as it is wonderful to observe (while every one doth well in doing his best,) what rare Divisions are run by the joining of so full a Consort: Whilst the Music becomes more excellent by the admirable variety thereof. This hath often set on work, and satisfied my Thoughts with the Contemplation of our Eternal employ, the praising of God in Heaven, perhaps too in the Songs of David, (as well as of Moses, since these were the Songs of the Lamb while he was here on Zion) according to our best Capacities and Visions: So that as the Angels envy not the Cherub for sitting higher, or seeing more than they; nor the Seraphim despise the Angels, because these cannot reach the others Pitch in their mighty Raptures and heavenly Addresses (for they are all in the same way, though concerned in several degrees of Duty;) It is my opinion, that no true Christian should be discouraged, either by his own weakness, or others greater Abilities, from turning Psalmodist, and helping the Choir with his Notes, though they be of a harsher kind, and flatter Key, than many others which are used there; because both in the Church here, and that above, he must sing the same which others do, though (it may be) not with the same Elegance; yet if his Heart be right, and his Desires sincere, though his Place and Parts may be inferior to many, his good Will and Intent shall afford joy, satisfaction, and bliss, and secure him from the Censure of all others. Nay, he may suppose the Music and the Mirth of Saints to arise like the Flame from those lowest Coals of the Altar, which lie obscurely in their Ashes; and thence to ascend by the Degrees of the Sons of Fire to the top of their lofty Pyramid, the Deity; and from that Central Point again stream forth such Harmony and Delight, as may reach and fill, inflame and enlighten, array and gild the whole Circumference of the Blessed Eternity. Therefore since he which hath the lowest Voice may bear a Part in Music, we should neither contemn nor hinder their singing, who cannot reach so high a strain as ourselves; but bear with, or encourage, rather than silence and disturb the Devotions of the weakest, who may be more acceptable to God in their wellmeaning, than we are to Men in our finer expressions. Upon this account I have often judged it expedient, that Censure should be shut out of the Church Doors, when any one's Verse or Music is brought within them; and though we might be able to mend that which is there allowed, yet we are rather to use than blame it, because it is prescribed by such, whom we must yield best able to discern what is fit for the public Worship, which certainly differs from each Man's private Devotions, more than doth his Night-dress from the Habit he must wear at Noonday. So that though I might plead for Hopkin's and Sternhold's, for the meanest Translation of the Psalms in our Parish Churches, (as Men do for some Customs and Fashions) because countenanced by Authority and long Usage; yet I would not from thence conclude, that they are the best, or that I must keep them in my own Closet, or particular Devotions: But as I will not refuse them publicly whilst commanded, so I will not reproach them privately; much less censure or deter others in their singular Industry, who have not only designed, but attempted, both to do better than the weakest Age of English Poetry; and withal, equal the strongest Reach of Sense and Expression that is found in the best Translators of the Psalms. Amongst whom I would count two very late Authors, Mr. S. W. Mr. M. S. (who might be fancied the two Poles, including a World of our Rithmical Paraphrasts, and pretending something above them) but that the one seems to be in the excess of Gaudiness, and liberty of Fancy, while the other is in the worse extreme of meanness of Verse, and want of plainness; so that as the former will be thought by some too Luxuriant and Copious, (both in Measure and Conceit) the latter will be found incurious, and fallen short of expectation; since he forgets the Poet, while he stoops to accommodate the People, and can neither afford Rhyme to half his Lines, (which is easy enough to be had in our tinkling Tongue) nor clearness to his Verse, which might have excused the other defect, (and is but needful for the vulgar way of reading, and then singing) because the Sentence of his Verse too frequently outruns the Measures, and so leaves that unfinished at the end of these; which surely is a fault that myself (as most others) may be guilty of sometimes in those short Caesura's we make use of, but should be avoided with all possible care; for when the Stops reach farther than the Lines, the Breaks of these must needs be as unpleasant to the Ear, as it is commonly injurious to the Sense: And so are the big-bellyed Epithets (the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) wherewith some Versions abound, which are Pedantic Charms, conjuring Ignorance into Admiration, pleasing or employing those most of all, who least understand their use and meaning: Whereas the words of Truth and Soberness, Acts 26.25. Gen. 34. Gen. 38.14. such as were dictated by God's own Spirit, want (no Bombast) neither the Dress of Dinah, nor of Thamar, to make them seem wanton, and then alluring. The Heathens indeed set out their Fables, like Prostitutes, to put them off, and made them cried up by the mistakes of too many; but to trick up the most Sacred Poems in the mode of the Idolatrous Ethnic, is a Licence no Man hath a Patent for from Holy Writ: And though, with Politian and Bonamy, some have preferred Pindar, I think there are as many genuine Beauties, excellent Parts and Proportions in David, as in any uncircumcised Philistine, any monstrous Pagan, 1 Sam. 16.12. we can meet with: And as he appeared to Samuel, when God himself said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he; so when I look upon him in his Psalms, I guess surely the Anointed of the Lord is before me. How frequent, full, and admirable, are his Metaphors, Similes, Figures, and Enrichments of Phrase! All which ought to have right done them, (being the Daughters to so great a King) and to be clothed according to their Quality and Excellency; 2 King. 9.34. and that is not with Babylonish Garments, with the Thread of Egypt, or the Garb of Aliens, but, like the Silkworm, only with Robes, spun out of their own Bowels; for they are rich enough to furnish themselves (as the Israelites did their Tabernable) both with Cover and Ornaments: And as the Armour of Saul did not fit David's Person, no more doth extravagant Words or Conceits become his Poems, 1 Sam. 16.18. who is said to be as prudent in his Speech, as skilful in his Music. And seeing there are such apposite Allusions and Relations in each part of these Divine Poems to the other Portions of holy Writ, which (as the Rays of the Sun do to the World) dart Light and Beauty from one corner of the Bible to the other; we need repair to no other Wardrobe than the Book of God, for the trimming out any part of it, with sufficient elegancy, fullness, and embellishment. Therefore I endeavour in these Essays, not only to have as much of the sense of the Psalm, but likewise of such other Scriptures as it may seem to relate to, (whereby it may be unfolded and adorned) that they might be composed in the plainest English, and easiest manner of Verse; yet with as much of holy Writ as can be put into them, studying for Congruity between them and the Original, more than Curiosity in the Texture; and to be full, though not prolix; and useful to some, if not pleasant. St. Hillary shows us from the Revelations who it is that holds the Key of David: Rev. 3.7. It is too hard for any Mortal to open the Door of this vast Palace. Humane Fancy may peep in, only to see it, might go far, rather than venture therein to lose itself. And if the adventurous Poet draw Stanza's of an extraordinary length (like a Body on the Wrack) the Coherence of the Parts is often loosened, distorted, or undiscerned; and the Musician discouraged from setting or composing such tedious Numbers into Anthems, since these are usually not long. And if it be so, (as I have heard) that the Hebrew Meter through the Book of Psalms is generally very short, surely we are more obliged to conform to the Original, and measure our Feet (as near as may be) by that Model, or else by the Standard Measures of our Age, which have been allowed, known, and directed, even to the vulgar: Therefore as I have somewhat observed the manner of the Jewish Music in these Psalms of Degrees, (by frequent Repetitions and Responses) so I have confined myself, perhaps without too much straitness, to the Staffs, our ordinary Church Tunes do lean upon, that they may be made useful to many by the common Notes, as they may become grateful to others by their being capable of various better Compositions, (they being designed for Anthems and Hymns, as well as Psalms.) Yet would I not have them humorously set up, nor sent forth strangely dressed, Judg. 17.5.19.29. like the Mistress of the Levite, or the Idol of the young Man; but modestly and gravely accoutred like the Mother of Solomon, Prov. 31. like our Church of England, that the Graces in these Spiritual Songs may be more charming, as more conspicuous, by being suited to the benefit and conversation of all, even of the lowest, as well as of the sublimer Capacities: Since by these I wish as general a good as is possible, without any undeserved Praise to myself, or any Detraction from another Person. For though I have pointed at two modern Men, as the Herculean Pillars, between whom I take my way; yet I have no great occasion to find fault with them, because the one stands on this side, and the other on that, of the Course I steer, whilst both serve to my safer Convoy into those straits whither I am bound. 'Tis true, the kinds of Verse I make use of, are neither grateful nor fashionable (in this Licentious and Dytherambique Time); but they are the best known of any, and have no small interest in the common Approbation; and, as the old Maxim told me, The more common the better, of what is good: So the late excellent Bishop of Chichester (Dr. H. King) induced me, rather (by his Example) to redress and amend the Vulgar, than to deride their lame and feeble Sense; especially if (by the boldest attempts of Wit and Learning) we cannot come near the Majesty and Excellency of the first Penman, it is more reasonable that we should submit our Endeavours (as Publicola did his Fasces) to the use and benefit of the most and meanest, rather than make them Trophies of our own Arrogance, and our Brethren's weakness. Our continual work is, Mark 9.49, 50. to have about us that Salt of Charity, which may season our Offerings both to God and Man, while we thank the one, or assist the other. It it not double Superstition, and worse than Folly, to court the Prayers of Men in Heaven, and the Praises of Men on Earth? 'Tis enough to have an Interest quite otherwise in Religion, and to forward Man's Good with God's Glory, (more than with our own); or God's Blessing with our own good Deeds, rather than with others good Words. So that I would not be thought Censorious nor Singular; nor any other ways Pharisaical in my Entertainments here. Though I bring several Courses of Devotion, they are not worthy to be compared to the good piece of Flesh, and Flagon of Wine, wherewith our great Exemplar once treated the People; yet (let these be never such course Far) they are really designed for a Blessing to all, as David's Banquet was, in 1 Chron. 16.34. and I can conclude with his Royal word, As for me, 1 Chron. 29.17, 18. in the uprightness of my Heart I have willingly offered all these things. Noli altum sapere, sed time. More Erratas in the First Part. PAg. 11. l. 34. read off. l. 42. r. holiest. p. 14. l. 3. insert thou. p. 15. l. 30. insert is the wickedness of Folly, Eccles. 7.25. l. 41. deal from p. 16. l. 2. for from them, read for Women. In Margin Psal. 92.13. l. 32. r. my. p. 21. l. 14. deal the. l. 20. r. were. p. 25. l. 43. r. they will. p. 27. l. 19 r. weep thus, deal this. l. 34. insert and thine, deal and. p. 28. l. 28. r. thou. p. 32. in Margin insert Dan. 4.31.32. Jer. 51.9. p. 38. l. 30. deal a. p. 40. l. 42. in Margin Deut. 32.4. l. 45. deal the. p. 43. l. 32. insert for. p. 48. l. 12. in Margin 2 King. 6.16, 23. to l. 46. in Margin Dan. 4. 12, 13. p. 50. l. 25. for secured, read soured. p. 53. l. 38. read we may be. ERRATA in the Second Part. PAg. 10. in Gloria Patri, read To God, to Father, Son. p. 21. l. 22. insert are given us. p. 24. l. 20. deal as thou didst the Prophet, which is twice repeated. p. 26. l. 14. for O Lord, read O God. remove the * from l. 24. to l. 20. p. 35. l. 16. read establish his Kingdom. p. 41. l. 32. read and a fruitful. p. 45. l. 16. in Margin Isa. 36.10. p. 48. l. 2. in Margin Ruth 2.4. p. 49. l. 17. read the Rods. l. 33. read preserved it. p. 50. l. 4. read thou. p. 55. l. 32. read Jewish. l. 33. in Margin Jer. 38.12, 13. p. 56. l. 2. in Margin Ionas 2.5, 6. l. 17. read this present state. p. 60. l. 6. for Loving, read Leaving the Breast. p. 61. l. 6. read Root. p. 62. l. 3. read Uzzah. l. 23. read Rearward. p. 64. in Margin, read Clarius. in l. 23. read sedem innuit Aris. p. 68 in Marg. † read nictaturus sim. p. 79. l. 13. read but to the people who watched there. p. 84. l. 17. read Songs of Elevation. And note: This whole 84th Page should have been the first. IN Psalmorum Laudem. CHORUS. 1. Angelorum, &, 2. Hominum. CHORUS. THE PSALMS are Paradises Spring; Streaming Refreshments every way. They, 1. Wine, 2. Oil, 1. Milk, 2. And Honey bring, 1. To Cheer, 2. To Cure, 1. To Feed, 2. T' Allay. 1. When we are merry, Psalms we sing, 2. When we're afflicted, Psalms we say. 1. They heavens, 2. And Earth's Devotions wing, 1. While Angels Praise, 2. Or Men do Pray. CHORUS. The PSALMS are Paradises Spring, Streaming Refreshments every way, etc. THE FIRST Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXX. PSALM. It is a Complaint, and Prayer against the falseness, fraud, and impious Designs, rather than the force, of inhuman Adversaries: Because their Strength and Power may (at least for a Time) be from God's Will and Permission; but Deceit and Perfidiousness own their Birth to Men's Prevarications, and the subtle Temptations of the Evil One: And therefore ought the rather to be deprecated. The Author of this Psalm is not known, but supposed to be David, and made by him upon the like occasion that the 7th, the 34th, and the 52d were Composed, when he fled to Gath, ob Aethiopem Jeminiensem, (as * In Psal. 7. Castalio phraseth it) or upon the implacable Fury of Saul; truly and civilly, as well as elegantly styled, A melancholy terrible Man: Or else upon the malicious Information of a Cushite or Edomite against an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile; which seems very probable from his Description of the Parties, who were after the way of Mesech (as the Aethiopians Cushites were) and allied to the sordid Tents of Kedar, or Arabia; of which Country Doeg was a Native. This Psalm likewise looks Prophetically at the sworn Enemies of Jerusalem 's Peace; such as were the confederate Arabians and asiatics at the building the Temple, and afterwards with Antiochus, at the defacing of the same: All which cruel and cunning Foes are expressed by * Ezek. 38.2. God and Magog. For S. Steven's day, or some time of Trial. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. IN my di— stress and fear, I cried unto the Lord; who soon did help, as hear, when I this wish did word; From Lips, made foul by guile and wrongs, and from false Tongues, Lord save my Soul. What Praise? Quid tibi dabit? aut quid addet tibi? Spoken as to Saul (perhaps) by the Psalmist, upon the account of Doeg. what Profit shall The treachérous Tongue bring thee? Poor Soul! 'twill scorch and Gall Thyself, as well as me. Having been straightened in my Verse, I desire to observe in Prose the rare Elegancy of the Psalmist here; who speaking of a desert state and place among the Sons of Ishmael, (the great Archer) he tells his savage Foes, (though Companions) that they shall be struck with their own Weapons, as Saul was; and burnt with the Coals of the Wilderness, where Juniper most abounds, which was the most desolate and grievous Fire, from the nature of the Wood; and so proper fuel for the black Tents of Kedar, and for Mesech; (the asiatics) if taken for a People wild, and wandering about in Wagons, or living in Tents covered with Skins: But if it refers to a place, it is well rendered by the LXXII. whom I follow, with Symachus and Aquila, &c, 'Twill doubly harm, By Fire; and Shot Like Darts made hot From some strong Arm. Why then? O why so long Do I protract my Woes? By wandering still among War's Friends, and Peace's Foes: I'm in a Tent Who are on Theft, Of Arabs left, And Murder bend. At me their Bows are bend, Their Malice doth increase; They say no good I meant, When I did seek their Peace: When I speak fair, And strait the Swarm I them alarm, Their Stings prepare. Corollarium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Which may be used, or omitted; It being another Repetition Return Recollection of the Sense Music Psalm. Ver. 3, 4. BUT though the Sland'rers sting, Like Lightning, pierced and burned: The Stones which he did sling, Heaven in his Face returned. Live Coals from Hell, By his bad Tongue, And Javelins fling On his Head fell. Ver. 2, 7. Therefore no more will I Be of such Bruits afraid; No more I'll sigh, Ver. 5, 6. or cry, Though I'm in Deserts stayed: In all my Ways Who dost afford I'll Bless Thee, Ver. 1, 2. Lord, Such cause of Praise. Though I'm in Deserts stayed, No more I'll sigh, or cry: Or be of Bruits afraid, No longer now will I. Such cause of Praise We'll Bless Thee, Lord, Thou dost afford; In all our Ways. Gloria Patri, etc. Glory be to our King, Who shall be, was, and is; Loud Hallelujahs sing To God, the God of Peace: The Lord of Hosts; The Father, Son, The Three in One, And Holy Ghost. AMEN. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE First PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXX. PSALM. O Lord, our Redeemer! a very present help in trouble, as I have found thee heretofore, blessed be thy powerful Compassion, so I desire to approve thee whensoever, as at this time, I cry unto thee to deliver my Soul. O God I see that I am fallen into a dangerous Condition, by the Lies of the Serpent, the Treacheries of my own Flesh, and the Falsehoods of the World, which I have sought and served, listened and trusted to, and so am justly apayed with Cozenage and Disgrace, with Calumnies and Accusation. For what can be had from the Accuser of the Brethren, from the deceitfulness of Riches, and from the Cheats of all things here below, but disappointments, and vexation for such as follow lying Vanities; forsaking thy Mercies, and their own? Alas! then woe is me! that I have heaped up such Coals of Vengeance on my own Head, and pierced my Heart through with so many Darts of Sorrow, by not delighting in the Tents of the Righteous, nor in the Tabernacles of thy Holiness, but in the Dwellings of Ungodliness, and in the House of the Accursed; so that I have deserved indeed to be made a Vagabond like Cain, and a Slave like Cham, in a perpetual Banishment from Comfort, and in a Captivity unto Sin, by having my Conversation according to the evil fashion of this Age. But, Lord! how long; how long shall I sojourn, either amongst the Enemies of thy Grace, or of my Peace? Amongst the Superstitious or Idolatrous? Amongst those who are after the way of Mesech? Or those who dwell in the black abodes of Kedar? O! prolong not my Danger and Unhappiness any more among them, nor protract my Wander with a backsliding People; for I seek Peace, Peace with Thee, with my own Conscience, and with all the World. But can the Egyptian change his Skin? Had Zimri Peace, who slew his Master? No lord There is no Peace (thou hast said it) to the Wicked, who are at defiance with thee, and with themselves, and make War in the face of Heaven. Therefore that I may find Peace, I seek thy Pardon, and my Soul's Purity, and desire thee to preserve me from the Pollutions and Snares of a perverse Generation, that dissemble as strange Children, that so (having no fellowship with the workers of Iniquity) I might live in the sweet Communion of thy Saints, and to be furthered by their Examples and Conversation in the way of Peace and Holiness. For, Lord! I would be a pacific Jacob, and dwell under the shadow of thy Wings, there accounting myself secure though I have no other Covering. Thou art the best place to hid me in, and 'tis not my Sword or Bow shall settle or secure me, but thy Mercy, thy Grace, and thy Spirit. No strange Arms here can give me a certain or safe Abode, unless thou be on my side. Therefore, dear God whilst many rise up against me to trouble me, in saying, Where is thy God? (seeking to destroy me with their own quiet) be thou a God nigh at hand to deliver me from Treachery, Malice, Turbulence, and Hypocrisy. And while my Foes heap Coals of Fire on their own Heads by unjust Actions, and hard Speeches, let my Mouth be touched with a Coal from thine Altar, that I may know how to keep the Door of my Lips from all Cursing and Bitterness, Lying and Blasphemies, fraudulent and filthy Communication, and how to open it in Praying to thee, that I may find the Blessings of Peace within, above, abroad, about me, by Repentance of my Sins, Reformation of my Life, Regeneration of my Nature, and Reconciliation to thy Love. O! let it suffice that I have stayed so long in their Habitations, where the Instruments of Cruelty remain, where I might have been drawn either unto base Earthly Sorrow and Distraction, or to foul Hellish Gild and Desperation, and so to inevitable Destruction both of Soul and Body. Let it pity thee to see my poor Soul in such a Sink, such a Gaol and Mill, in such a nasty, vile, and slavish State as it hath endured. And do thou cover my Head while my Foes make them ready to Battle. Then shall I be guarded from the strife of Tongues, from the contradiction of Sinners, from the reproach that I fear, and from Satan that is come forth against me with great wrath, because I have called on thy Name; while thou art not angry that I cry unto thee, Our Father, etc. THE SECOND Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXI. PSALMS, Is an Act of Acquiescence and Trust in God's Power and Presence, made by David (as it is thought) when hunted like a Partridge on the Mountains; and pursued by Saul, when he made the 54th, 55th, and 57th Psalm: And this, being much used by the Jews in Babylon, (as most suitable for times of Persecution or Sickness) was at their going up from thence appointed to be one of their Psalms of Ascents, and therefore to be sung frequently, loudly, and by Responses; which occasioned this Composing it like an Anthem, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: The Stanza's being so pointed and divided as to answer alternately by Distiches (if it may better suit the Music.) The Title of it hath a difference from the rest, (as the Rabbins observe) being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not as in others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: It may be styled David's March, made by him (or some other considerable Person) while he kept the Field, either for the safety of his Flocks (as Jacob did), or of his Friends (as Abram): Thus did the Royal Shepherd, and sweet Singer of Israel exercise, and employ his Mind in the grateful Memory of the Divine Goodness. Well might he then here pray and hope like a Soldier, that God would be his Shade (as well as his Shield) as near to him as his shadow; that the Sun might not hurt him by Day, nor the Moon by Night, (as Absalon, and Achitophel, the one by Day, and the other by Night, intended to have done.) And if we look on David, as he went up the Ascent of Mount Olivet: This Psalm was very proper for his Condition then, as it is for any Person's now, in the interval of War; the Phrases being throughout the whole Psalm Military; and allusive to Soldiers besieged, as in the first Verse; relieved, as in the second; alarmed, as in the third; secured, watched, and guarded, as in the fourth; shielded and surrounded, as in the fifth and sixth; in the seventh and eighth hemmed in, and convoyed out for Victory and Triumph. For the Second of September and October. Here shall I seek for aid? where shall I set mine Eyes? mine Eyes and Prayers, like Birds afraid, up to the Hills would rise. But whither would they rise? un— to some dangerous height? O no, this Quarry thither flies, whence springs our help, and light. Nor hath our Health and Light From things below their Birth: But from the highest Rock of Might, Who made both Heaven and Earth. Therefore, though false foul Earth Thy Soul with Foes surround: Shall it be moved from holy Mirth? Shall Cares run it on Ground? Gen. 8.11. Christ is the Ark to ground Thy Heart on, when distressed: From head to foot he'll make thee sound; Gen. 28.11. On him did Jacob rest. Non dormitabit, multo minù● dormiet, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: quamvis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & ex impatientiâ lugentis Deus obdormire dicitut. Psal. 44.24. But he doth never rest From doing good, nor sleeps: Gen. 32.2. That with such Guards thou may'st be blest, As he his Israel keeps. Psal. 22.1, 4. Good Shepherd he doth keep His Flock, even in Death's shade: See then (if thou art of his Sheep) How on thy side he's laid. Though Dangers have waylaid Thy going out, or in: See how thy Husband's Arm's displayed, Isa. 54.5. To save thy very Skin. Dan. 3.27. Like the three Child's Skin, Thine shall be scorched by none: Whatever Heat thou may'st be in, Whatever Star hath shown. Nor shall the Moon, nor Sun Hurt thee, by Night or Day: No Mischief seen, nor closely done, Shall touch thee any way. God shall preserve thy Ways And Mind, from all that's ill In Youth: And when thy Life decays, Blessed thou shalt be still. Then trust and bless him still, Who endless Safety sends: God through this Vale of Sorrows, will Guide us to joyful ends. The Entrance, Progress, Ends, Public and private Powers; Labours, and Studies of his Friends, God blesses at all hours. Then trust and bless him still, Who still did us defend: God doth, and ever will, Antistrophe. Give Blessings without end: (Give Blessings without end,) God doth and ever will; He still did us defend, Then trust and bless him still. The Entrance, Progress, Ends, Public and private Powers: And Works of all his Friends, God blesses: Lord bless Ours. Gloria Patri, etc. To God the Father, and the Son, And to the Holy-Ghost, Be Glory: And let every one Strive who shall praise God most. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Second PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXI. PSALM. I Will lift up my Heart to thee, O Lord! And though it be cast down with the dangers and diffidence I am in, while mine Afflictions and mine Enemies have cast a Mount about me, to hinder me from the sight and hope of Succour, yet have I God's Hill to fly unto; and from thy House I can survey the end of the Wicked, the Redemption of thy Captives, and the height of thy Power, that is higher than the highest. But O the depth of thy Love! What a pleasant Vale is this under it? How doth this smile and sing, and stand full of Corn, that strengthens Man's Heart? So that although I remain in the Valley of the shadow of Death, if I can but look up to the Rock that is higher than I, to Christ (the Shecinah) the true Mercy Seat, that is placed above the Cherubims, all Types and Symbols of his Presence, I shall neither lose my Faith, nor my Life; I shall not be discomfitted, nor enslaved like a surprised Zedekiah, I shall not be famished, nor broken up like a long besieged Jerusalem. Though mine Enemies him me in on every side, and carnal Fear cause me to cry out (as the Prophet's Servant) What shall we do? Yet if I can but lift up mine Eyes to thee, which indeed are naturally as heavy as Moses his Hand, I shall perceive somewhat else besides Perils and Foes on every side, I shall find the Mountains full of Chariots of Fire, and more for me than can be against me. For an Host of Angels shall pitch their Tents about me to secure me, and those mighty Ministers of thy good pleasure shall keep me like Daniel from the power of the Lyon. So that my most Savage Enemies shall lack and suffer hunger, while I want nothing that is good. For though my way be hedged up that I cannot pass which way I would, nor follow the Lusts of my Heart, and the desires of mine Eyes, as many do, yet I may look up with joy and confidence (as I trust I shall) at the last day, because my Salvation is drawing nigh. My Hope, my Help, cometh from the Lord, not from the Angels in his Presence, but from the Angel of his Presence, and of his Covenant, the Blessed JESUS, who having taken our Nature that he might be sensible of our Infirmities, ever abides with Humanity, at thy right Hand making Intercession for us. And as he made the Heavens and the Earth for us, so he makes a new Heaven and a new Earth of us, by justifying and sanctifying both our Souls and Bodies, through the mighty Work of his Spirit, in his Word and Sacraments: For these are the Mountains of the Lord, wherein he is apparently seen, Glorious in Holiness, Fearful in Praises, doing Wonders, and abounding in Goodness and Truth. If we Worship him (as our Fathers did) in these Mountains, in the heights of Sincerity and Devotion, we may expect to hear God promising us graciously, as he did Abraham, that he will be a God to us, and to our Seed after us: And we may hope to see him, as Manoah and his Wife did, in the Zealous performances of his holy Worship, in the Flame arising from the Altar of our Hearts; from whence God would not accept a Service, if he desired the Death of Sinners. Therefore we may be assured, that if we keep in his ways he will keep us in ours, as he did his Israel, both by the Pillar of Fire, and by the Pillar of a Cloud; by the flame of Affliction, as well as by the light of Prosperity. And while we lay hold on these, (as Samson did on the two Columns) let us invoke thy help, O Lord; saying, O Lord! Though thou mayest call to Baldness, to Weeping, to Weakness, or to Want; though thou mayest touch the Sinew, and make it shrink; or strive with me as thou didst with Israel, and begin to afflict me, or seem to departed from me, so that my Flesh and my Heart may fail, yet O suffer not my Soul to slip, let not my Foot my Foundation be removed, but let it rest with thy Dove upon the Ark of thy Covenant, and be fixed on the Rock Christ Jesus, that thou mayest order all my go. O! do thou go out and in before me, that my going out and coming in may be ever blessed. If thou go not out with us, carry us not abroad, nor let us stay at home without thee. Let not the Vanities of the Day, nor the Visions of the Night, disturb our Senses, or abuse our Souls. O Lord, prevent the Midday Devils, and the Arrows that fly by Noon, from blasting or hurting of us; nor let Nocturnal Evils, or any mischief in the dark, have Power to smite us: But be thou a Succour, a Second, a God, not a far off, to preserve and prosper us in all our Actions, public and private, in our Labours, in our Studies, in our Rest, in our Retirements, in our weak Beginnings, in our happier Progresses, and in our best Conclusions. O Lord, be with us in our entrance on the Stage of this World, in our Parts here, in our Exit hence, even now and for evermore. Amen. THE THIRD Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXII. PSALMS, Describeth David's Joy, which is expressed in the 30th Psalm, at the bringing of the Ark, and Offering for the Temple, and Dedication of his House to God's Service: And it is a Preparative Hymn for the Devout, in their going up to the Places of Religion and Solemn Worship; containing their Thanks, Praise, and Pleasure, in the return of the Comfort and Company, which they enjoyed in the public Adoration of God; and their Prayers for the longer continuance of such signal Blessings: Made by David (as it is thought) upon his return to Jerusalem, after his slight from Absalon; and solemnly sung by the Levites at their coming out of Captivity. Jerusalem in general (as the Temple more especially) being the Type of God's Church, both Militant and Triumphant, that is built with the precious Stones of the Apostles and Prophets, CHRIST himself being the Rock, Caput Anguli, & Caput Angelorum; to whom when many come, there is much Joy. The Poem is Dramatic, (like the 118th Psalm) in which the King, Priest, and People, seem to bear their Parts of Rejoicing at the public Festivals (which were thrice every Year to be solemnised at Jerusalem) according to the Command of God; which occasioned the great Beautifying, Enlarging, and Fortifying of the City, intimated in the 2d, 3d, 6th, and 7th Verses; as well as the other reason of its Happiness and Amplitude, (from the Temple of God, and Throne of David) mentioned in the 1st, 5th, 8th, and 9th Verses: To which may be added this reason, because there was the great Senate of the LXXII. or Sanhedrim. The King beginneth the Psalm in the 1st Verse, the Priests follow in the 2d, the People in the 3d, and they go on in the 4th. Then the King takes it again in the 5th, the Priests in the 6th, and the People go on in the 7th (as in a Procession, and good order): The Priests take it again in the 8th, and the the King concludes in the best, (though last place) with a fixed and pious Resolution. This may properly be set for the 29th of May. Bless— sed be God for the good News, and Freedom, which he doth afford: From th'House of Bondage, like glad Jews, we come un— to thy House, O Lord. Our Woes and Wand'ring now shall cease, While rooted fast, like Trees, we stand Within thy Courts; who dost with Peace Plant us again in our own Land. Our Joys shoot up with fresh increase, While rooted fast, like Trees, we stand Within thy Courts; who dost with Peace Plant us again in our own Land. See, Hierosolyma optime instituta concors, & ideo duratura. see, how comely! how compact! Peace makes this Gyant-City seem: Our Union makes her Form exact, Like th' Heavenly New Jerusalem. Whither, to an Eternal Feast All the Lord's Tribes at last shall go; And on his Hill above find rest, As we do in his House below. Here now, (as at a Passover) Our Tribes (like Streams) i' th' Ocean meet; To serve thee, as thy Laws aver: And Praise thy Name, that is so great. Here now, (as at a Passover) Our Tribes (like Streams) i' th' Ocean meet; To serve thee, as thy Statutes are: And Praise thy Name, that is so great. Here is God's Temple, David's Throne, The Bench of Justice, Mercy's Seat: Here Princes, Prophets, Priests make known How good our Church! our State how great! Here's the Blessed Type of Heaven above, Pray then for Salem; here for Peace: Since they who love this Place, do prove Happy, and blest with much Increase. Lord, bless us, and this Place, with Peace, With Plenty, and with Piety: For thy Name's sake, let ours increase, Our King's, and Friends Prosperity. All Ties, both Humane, and Divine; Our Love for Men, our Zeal for God, What we can do, or wish, Fiat Pax Antemurali tuo, & Abundantia, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. in Palatiis, Turriam ad instar structis. combine To seek the Bliss of this abode. Gloria Patri, etc. In the Lord's Praise let none be Dumb, But Father, Son, and Ghost adore; Who was, and is, and is to come, Thrice Blessed God for evermore. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Third PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXII. PSALM. O Glorious God to whom Praise and Worship is due, to whom Vengeance and Holiness belongs; accept the Joys, and Adorations of our Souls and Bodies, for that we have not only Freedom in our own Persons, but also Encouragement from our Relations to come along with them, and many more of thy People, to the most proper place, and by the appointed way, of public Worshipping and Praising of thee. Oh! how glad (as if we had found great Spoils) may we be to find, not only that we can, but also that others will plant themselves within thy Courts, and not stand in the way of Sinners, that we may prosper together like Trees by the Water side, and bring forth Fruit, and that in due season? Dear, and gracious Lord! when we go hence, and shall be called away by Death, how happy should we be, could we come to thee as easily as we now can come to the Church, and bring this Olive-branch in our Mouths into thy Ark! Let us go up into the House of the Lord, let us ascend unto his holy Hill; let us be transplanted from the Gates of Death, to be rooted in the Porches of the New Jerusalem; for one day in thy Courts is better than a thousand in any other. I had rather be a Doorkeeper in thy Tabernacle, than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness. Help us then to join with the blessed Choir, both of the Church Militant and Triumphant, in a Lesson of the best Service, even Love and Charity, which is the compleatest Religion, the fulfiller of the Law, the filler full of Heaven. For see the Jerusalem that comes down thence, as well as that which is above, agrees in all its Parts and Graces, and by its lovely Symmetry makes up the sweetest Harmony of Heaven and Earth, declaring Charity the bond of Peace, as Peace the breeder of Felicity. Therefore while we see the present Concord and Conformity thou hast afforded our Nation, we look with joy upon an Emblem of that glorious Day, when thou shalt gather thy Children from the four Winds, and bring then together in the Clouds, to meet the Lord in the Air, and to live with him for ever. Lord! till that time come, preserve thy Church among us from Rent and Spot, from Breach and Blemish, and meet with us graciously (as thou didst with Elijah) in the soft mild Voice of thy Gospel, in the savoury Breath of thy Spirit, in the sweet Airs of our pious and public Services; wherein make us to consent to Pray for the Peace of our Souls, and of thy People; as also for the Plenty of our Land, for the Piety of our Governors, for the Prosperity of their Government and Persons; for the Purity of Religion, for the Perpetuity of thy Church among us; as also for Unanimity, and Uniformity in the way of thy Worship, that we may endeavour, as well as desire, the most durable Good here, and an eternal Good hereafter, to ourselves, and ours, and all thine. Which we beseech thee grant for Jesus Christ 's sake, who is of the Stock and Lineage of David, to whom belongs the Seat of Judgement for ever and ever. Amen. THE FOURTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIII. PSALMS, Is agreeable to the condition of David in the third Psalm; as also to the sad State of the Israelites: Composed (perhaps) by Ezra at Babylon, and from that time frequent in use; being Calculated for the Times of Trouble and Tyranny. Wherein the Church (as under Antiochus, or some such insulting Oppressor) prayeth, complaineth, and trusts to God. The Priest beginning (as it were with an Oremus) to the People in the first Verse; and then the whole Congregation joining and going on with him to the end of the Psalm. TO thee, who dost a— bide, a— 'bove the Starry Spheres, yet hast our Griefs with Pi— tie eyed; to thee we send our Tears. To Heaven this Spring of Tears From hence doth bubbling rise; Psal. 121.1. Which from low Grounds our Passion rears To thee, that hast our Eyes. By Hand in the Text is understood help, strength, or protection; by those who take the words of this Verse to imply the Servant's repairing to his Lord for succour and defence from Foreign injuries. It also signifies bounty, direction, and correction, to those who take the meaning as I apprehend it. Nor do we need an Eye, But to observe thy Hands: Which way for Blessing us they lie; By Chast'ning, or Commands. Since oft, Gen. 48.14, 19 like Israel's Hands, Thine, as , are spread; For God (not Man) best understands How to Crown Ephraim's Head. Therefore we raise our Heads, Not to repine, but pray; To mark how our chief Joshua leads, And how we him obey. As Soldiers still obey Their Leader's Staff, and Rod, And at their Becks do go or stay; So wait we on our God. Thy Smile or Frowns, O God, Like humblest Handmaids, we Do bear; and from our Lord's abode Gen. 21.14. Do not (like Hagar) flee. Jon. 1.3. No Ionas here will fly From thee; Jon. 4.8. (though Chastened) thus We, 2 King. 5.2. as meek Servants, carefully Stay, till thou pity us. Thy Mercy we implore, Multum saturata est Anima subsannatione: As if played upon, and scossed at, by the Soldiery, while led in Triumph; according to the expression in Psal. 137.3. Thy speedy Mercy, Lord: For now our Lives are scorned; nay more, Our very Souls abhorred. By those we are abhorred, (As we do loath their Pride) Who can with Insolence afford To wrong us, and deride. But God shall them deride, Whose Scorns o're-charge our Hearts; When these are full, and can abide No more, God takes our parts. And since God takes our parts, To him our Tears shall glide: To him we'll lift our Looks and Hearts, Who doth in Heaven abide. Now since God takes our part, To him our Tears shall glide: To him we'll lift our Looks and Hearts, Who doth in Heaven abide. Gloria Patri, etc. All Glory, Praise, and Bliss, To th' Three, in Unity; Who (as at first) was God, now is, And evermore shall be. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXIII. PSALM. O Thou great Lord and King, that dwellest in the Heavens! David hath taught me to lift up mine Eyes to thee, and the Son of David hath better instructed me to call thee by thy Spirit, Abba, Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, etc. That gracious Name of Our Father, invites us, Lord, to call upon thee in the needful time of Trouble. For though thou dwellest in the highest Heavens, thou art not contained by them; but from that thy Throne, vouchsafest to look down upon what is done and suffered upon Earth. So that in the deepest evils of our Sufferance, as in all the good of our Enjoyment here, we may still look up, and see thy doing, and be satisfied in the Wonder that thou dost so much for our advantage. Ah! how marvellous is it in our Eyes, that when Hope and Help both fail on Earth, we can seek much higher for them, and even then too, when we are justly corrected; because thou art a merciful King, and behold we are thy Servants for all that thou hast afforded us. We submit to thee with humble Fear, and wait on thee with Thanksgiving, and Praise thee for smiting and subduing us thy People under thee. For thou dost as the King of Israel did to Benhadad; thou beatest, that thou mayest bring us to thyself; thou conquerest, that thou mayest be kind; taking away a little, that thou mightest give a better Kingdom. Wherefore we beg, and trust, that when thou hast convinced us how worthy we all are of Hate, Death, and Disgrace, that then thou wilt restore us to Life, Favour, and Prosperity. Well may we be watchful Suppliants and Expectants for some Token of thy Pity, when thy left Hand, some sinister Providence is laid upon us, because thou hast still thy right Hand, the Man of thy right Hand to embrace thy Spouse, when thy afflicting Hand is never so heavy upon her, either by the Tyranny of Oppressors, or by the Rod of Tribulation. Let us rightly hearken to this Rod, and see the Hand which hath appointed it, and not look awry by Pride, Uncharitableness, Impenitence, or Impatience, on what thou dost; because as thy provoked Justice is the Author, so our Provocations are the just Original of our Sorrows, and the Springs of our Sufferings. And it is well for us in our Calamities when we are not thrown out, but fall into the Hands of God, who is no less pitiful, than powerful, to deliver us with David out of the Hands of all our Enemies, and out of the Hands of Saul too: From all our wicked Foes, (I mean) and from our most wicked selves also; from our own Unrighteousness, as well as others, which fills our Souls with Shame, our State with Contempt, and our Lives with Sorrow. For is not proud Lucifer, as it were, at ease, when we tumble ourselves down by diffidence in God, or self-deceit? And vile Oppressors, like the Devils themselves, are in their proper and pleasant work, when they are Lording it over thine Heritage. Wherefore preserve us, we beseech thee, from our own Baseness and Falsehood, as well as from the Tyranny and Treachery of thine other Enemies. And plead thou our Cause for us with others, and with ourselves, for thy Son's, and for our Soul's sake. And when we are driven by the Insolence of others, or by the Demerits of our own Actings, to implore thy Mercy, and thy Pity, with all the prostitute Submission, humble Confidence, and absolute Resignation of Obedient Servants. O! let us not be slothful in our Duties, or doubtful of thy Providence, but diligent in all the Labour that thou callest us to, thanking ourselves for deserving Correction, as thee our Lord for correcting us so Fatherlike, and trusting by thy Chastisements to prove in us more of thy Love, and of our Adoption. THE FIFTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIV. PSALMS, Is entitled David's, according to the Tenor of that in Samuel, Cap. 2. v. 22. being a Commemoration of his wonderful deliverance from great and many Dangers; together with a thankful acknowledgement to God, the sole Author of Safety and Success, properly used at any time of eminent Preservation; (as on the Fifth of November, or Third of June.) It may be called, David's Triumphs for more than one Victory, by God's special assistance, as may be gathered from the repetition of the first words, (nisi quod Dominus) which imply the iteration of God's Goodness, and Man's gratitude; for when he is pleased to manifest the largeness of Lovingkindness to us, then especially ought we to make our return of Gratitude with a Non nobis. This Divine Io Paean was composed (probably) after the Conquest of the Ammonites, who had beset David on every side, according to that expression of their force and inhuman Rage, Tunc homines (Adham per contemptum) vivos deglutiissent nos; or (as the word Adham seems to hint to me) upon his subduing of the Edomites, when he made the 60th Psalm; or (as others think) after most of his Victories over the Philistines, etc. in Chron. when the Snare was broke by the Death of his Enemies, as (in the Prophecy) the Jews Bondage was, by the Persians breaking the Chaldean Monarchy. And so the late and former, the many and wonderful Deliverances of our Nation, are to own the immediate effect of God's gracious interposition; and as a signal Evidence of His all-swaying Power, (as the first Creation of the World was) that we might not Sacrifice to our Nets and Bulwarks, nor value ourselves upon the store of deeper Waters (like once Proud, but now Desolate, Tyre;) but that our Trust, Succour, and Defence, may be founded on him, the Supreme of all Being's, on whom depends the whole Creation. HAd not the Lord been on our side, now may the wrestling Is— rael say, when E-sau did his Troops provide; our Flocks had been the — on's prey. Had not the Lord been on our side, When Men against us risen (like Waves); The Surges of their Rage, and Pride, Had snatched us quick into our Graves. Ionas. Like Whales upon Amittay's Son, Death's Jaws on us they opened wide: Dathan's strange End, Numb. 16.29. how could we shun? Had not the Lord been on our side. When Seas of Rage swelled to that height, As on our Souls to whelm their Tide; Those Torrents had destroyed us quite, Had not the Lord been on our side! Then had the Streams our strength o're-pow'red, But we through Floods, through Foes did wade: And were not, as a Prey, devoured; Nor of their cursed Teeth afraid. Blessed be God our Life's got free From all the Toils, their Mischief set: As Birds out of a Snare, so we Escape strangely through the Fowler's Net. Hell Snares are broke, our Souls are freed, For on God's help our Hearts are stayed: God's Word speaks Heaven, and Earth his Deed; His Hands preserve the Works they made. God keep us all, as all he made; From him the Heavens and Earth proceed: Upon his Truth our Trust is stayed; Hell's Snares are broke, and we are freed. Gloria Patri, etc. Glory be to the Father, Son, And Holy-Ghost, whom we adore: In Persons three, in Essence one, Who was, is, shall be evermore. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXIV. PSALM. O Thou Lion of the Tribe of Judah, thou Shepherd of Israel, that leadest thy People like a Flock, while we with thankfulness look up to thy strength for us, to thy stay of us, and thy staff over us, let us look down with Humility on our own unworthiness. We deserve not the least part of that care and watchfulness of thine, which defends us daily from the ravenous Bear of this World's Temptations, from the Uncircumcised Philistine our own Flesh, and from the roaring Lion of the Abyss, that goes about seeking to devour, to swallow us up quick, as it were, at a Morsel: And yet, blessed be the Lord, he hath not given us up for a Prey to these Destroyer's; and if we give not up ourselves by our sinful fears, and easy submissions, though Satan's rage be like his Hell inflamed, he cannot have his will of us. That Lion may come out against us with great wrath, and fright us by his vain Noises, but cannot fall upon us at once, as he desires. He hath no part, no power of us, till we give it to him. If therefore, O Lord, we are on thy side; or thou on ours, we need not fear what Devils, or what Man can do unto us, even when they rise never so proudly, never so powerfully against us. Let us but set the Lord our Righteousness at our right hands; let us but have righteous Hands, and innocent Hearts, and we shall not be so greatly moved or terrified, as to let the Enemy triumph over our Souls; though yet we must confess with Grief, that many Waters have gone over them. The swelling Torrents of sinful Passions and Prosperity, the mighty Floods of worldly Cares and Vanities, the superfluities of naughty sensual Pleasures, have not only tossed and endangered, but even overwhelmed and swallowed up our Lives. So that we have been sinking into destruction, like those that are howling in the Pit. Alas! the bitter Streams of our vile imaginations and transgressions, have, like a deadly draught or Poison, been sucked in greedily, and sent to our very Hearts; so that we had been past all means of escape, or hope of succour, if thou hadst not stood by us, as thou didst by thy Servant Paul, and not only strengthened, but saved us, as thou didst the Prophet, by drawing us forth as thou didst the Prophet of the dangerous Gulf of estrangement and infidelity, into which our triple Enemies would have thrown us. Their Power would be great, like their Malice: Didst not thou take our part, O holy Spirit! and plead our Cause. O sweetest Jesus! Blessed be thy omnipotent, and most glorious Mercy, that hath made our Souls as a Bird that may fly up to Heaven and be secure. We praise, and thank thee, dearest Father! for those Wings of Faith, Prayer, Love, and Devotion, whereby we can escape the Snare of the cunning Fowler, and all his noisome Plagues and Temptations. O! still cover us, both with thy gracious Protection, and with the lovely Wings of the Holy of Holies, so that we may break the Bands of Satan asunder, and cast away his Cords from us, and neither have the Eyes of our Faith held from seeing thee, nor the Feet of our Affections from seeking thee, but like thy beloved and most loving Disciples, Peter and John, leave our Nets whereby we take others, and all those Entanglements whereby we are so caught ourselves, and throw off every Impediment for the better, following of our Master Christ, under the Patronage of whose Love and Power we would roost and nestle our Being's for ever: For it is he that hath made Heaven and Earth for us, for our Habitation, and will make a new Heaven and Earth about us for our Regeneration. And since this is a greater Blessing than the first Creation of Man, let our delivery from the Jaws of Hell bring him more Honour than all his other Deal with us, even Glory for evermore. Amen. THE SIXTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXV. PSALMS, Like the 11th Psalm, showeth David 's Trust and Recourse to God, not like Saul to the Witch of Endor, or Wealth of Amalek, but where Believers are established and secured in the Presence of the Almighty, and perpetuity of the Church, whereby they find the goodness of their Portion, and the evil Lot of the Wicked, whatsoever he be, whether Hypocritical, Profane, or Backsliding. It is applied by the Rabbins to the Days of the Messiah; and so by us it may be appositely used on Sacramental Days, or any such time of greater manifestation and experience of God's Integrity, and the Faith of Man. For S. John's day. WHO on the Lord do build their Trust, like Si— on they command; up in— to Heaven their Heads they thrust, their Feet un— mo-ved stand. Right safe, high, strong, they always stand, Like God's most Holy ground; The Rock of Ages on each hand Doth shade them, and surround. As Hills Jerusalem surround To deck her, and defend; So God encircles, and hath crowned His folk, World without end. As Hill, etc. For least in Sin their Sufferings end, Though an Egyptian * For the Rod or Sceptre of Wickedness is the Tyranny of a Pharaonick Oppression over the lot of the Righteous, that is, the Church of God; which he may lay on, but will not leave, nor suffer to lie still, God having the Rod of their Portion in his hand, (alluding to the old way of Sortition by Staves, whereof see Numb. 17. and Josh. 18.) For the Reasons mentioned, observe how aptly the Portions of the Wicked (let them be never so fat or fair, like Esau's here) are termed Rods to plague ofttimes both themselves and others, as Divers' Portion did: But the Portion of the Godly is styled a Lot and a pleasant one, as David's 16 Psal. 6. or a Cup of Blessing indeed, like Jacob's; and of abundance, like Benjamin's Gin. 33.11. Gen. 44.2. Rod To th' Goshen of the good extend; 'Tis thence removed by God. Do good still to the Good, O Lord, To him whose Heart and Line bend not to wrong; whose Feet ne'er trod Ways which to Hell incline. Since such, as crooked ways incline To do, or cherish ill, God shall drive from him; but design Peace to his Israel. For such, etc. Gloria Patri, etc. To Father, Son, and * The sudden change in the expression of God, from the second Person to the third: As it is an elegancy in the Original, so it may note, such shall not know God (in the second Person of the Trinity) as a Saviour, but at a far greater distance as a Judge; Hib. 10.38, 39 who draw back, and turn aside (perverting their way which is already crooked, Prov. 14.2.) to more depraved Obliquities, and desperate Apostasy, after a profession of the right way: But they shall be tortured with Hypocrites and Unbelievers, while he shall be kept (like Israel, Gen. 32.) in perfect Peace, whose Mind is stayed on God, Isa. 26.3. to the greater vexation of those Edomites, who perhaps sometime persecuted him. Ghost, we bow, One glorious God w' adore: As in beginning was, is now, And shall be evermore. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Sixth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXV. PSALM. O Thou immutable Lord God, most faithful Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter, I desire not only to believe of thee in the world, to credit what thou art in thyself; but to trust to what thou sayest in thy Gospel, to rely on thee for what thou dost at present, and acquiesce in thee for what thou wilt do hereafter, and stay myself on thee through thine everlasting good pleasure: For thou art the Lord that dost not change, and therefore we are not consumed, but are converted from Creatures to thy Children, confirmed from our weaknesses by thy Spirit, and continued in thy service with thyself. Ah the safety! the assurance, the steadiness, the solace, the sole and supernatural satisfaction that is in fullness of Faith upon thee the Messiah, the Lamb of God, who makest us thereby the Temples of the living God, the City of the Lamb, the New Jerusalem that shall ascend up above, and be made illustrious with all the Jewels of the concord, regularity, and brightness of Spiritual Graces, as with the eternal Riches of ineffable Love, and heavenly Glory: So that we shall never be removed from our Abode in Jesus Christ (thou hast made our Rock so strong), and if we believe surely we shall be established for ever, for the foundation of God stands sure. As we shall here be surrounded with the munition of Rocks, (the Rock of Ages, and all his Angels) like Jerusalem the holy City; so also we shall be wholly blest, and saved to the very uttermost: For neither the blasts of Temptation (the Spirit that rules in the Children of Disobedience) shall attack the corners of our Dwellings, as he did Job's Sons; nor from the Wilderness assault us (as he did our Saviour) to spoil our Labours, or our hopes. Nor shall the storms of Tribulation be able to beat upon our House, so as to make it shake or totter: For though our building of Faith be raised high, even unto the Heavens; yet it is no Babel, it is no Jericho, but a Fabric that the Lord will bless and defend, and because it stands upright, it shall stand fast for ever. The strength of our confidence in God shall put to flight the Armies of those Aliens that would enter and destroy its strong holds; for there are Mountains of Horses, and Chariots of Fire, round about the Faithful to secure them; so that they cannot be immured or shut up, when never so closely begirt by Adversaries. They can still look up, nay, go up to the Hill of Zion, from whence comes their help, even to Jesus, the Author and finisher of their Faith, who not only pitched the forces of his Word and Miracles, but the red Standard of his Cross, and the first Camp of his Martyrs and Apostles upon the Hills of Jerusalem, to Convoy all Comers to the City of our God, and to draw all to him from the Centre of the World. Oh therefore! let neither the Rod, nor the Staff of the Wicked, be laid or left upon my score or part, lest I do or suffer the evil of Sinners; but let thy Rod, and thy Shepherd's Staff, both thy Cross and mine, dear Jesus, comfort and fill up my Cup, and make mine Heritage and Lot like thine: For than it shall be good, and thou that art so, ever wilt do good to me, making and keeping me upright in Heart, clean in my Hands, single in mine Eye of Faith, and sound in the Feet of mine Affections, steady in the ways of thy Commandments. Lord! if thy hand be not graciously (when most heavily) upon me, how soon may I put forth my hand unto wickedness, like Cain, Pharaoh, Balaam, Achan, and Jeroboam, and like Judas, Ananias, and Simon Magus. This makes me yet pray more earnestly, that Christ may still pray for me, since he that Christ prays for shall believe aright; and he that so believes, shall not find upon his lot the Sceptre of Unrighteousness, the Rule of Satan, the Domination of Sin, the Rod of the Wicked, the Gild or Punishment of Reprobates. Oh then! that my lot and last end may be in the Righteousness of Jesus my Lord, that I may not fall presumptuously, nor fear greatly, nor be driven forth with evil doers; but be led forth into the Paths of Peace into the strait way that leads to life, there to taste of the Brook in the way (the quiet and sufficiency thou afford thy Flock here) and to drink of the Rivers of thy Pleasures hereafter; to lie down like thy Sheep in the green Pastures of Hope, in the never fading, never failing enclosure of thine Arms, and to rise in Glory with thine Inheritance for evermore. Amen. THE SEVENTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXVI. PSALMS, Is thought to be composed by Esdras, or some of that time, after the Babylonish Bondage, because in the first part of the Psalm it joyfully Celebrates the Return of some, as in the second part hearty wishes the Restoration of all the rest of the Captivity, from the Land of the North, (as the Realm of Babylon is called, Jer. 13.19, 20. Jer. 16.15. in regard of its site to Judea) making that apt and excellent resemblance of them to Streams, running into the dry and desolate parts of the South, which must needs be very welcome there, and are said to flow thither as Torrents in great abundance, upon the melting of the Snows, and producing of Showers by the South Wind: So that whether you take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the South Wind, or South part of the World, the comparison may hold to either acceptation of the Word very full and elegant. The Jews flocking Southwards home, but (not all together) as the Spirit of God moved on the Waters in Babylon, in the Days of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes, stirring up Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and others, to bring back the Hebrews, restore Religion, rebuild the Temple, and repair Jerusalem, which had been demolished and burnt by Nebuzaradan in the fifth Month, 2 Kin. 25.8. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) and in that same Month (about Harvest time) was the Return of the Jews with Ezra, c. 7. v. 9 who had been led away Captive at their Sowing time: Therefore the Simile of the Husbandman here was rarely apposite, both to the occasion of their Joy, and season of the Year, and their manner of Exaltation. This PSALM is very proper for our 23d of April, and 29th of May, or any such happy Time of recovery from Trouble, Danger, and Oppression. AFTER the long Night of a State; so dark as ours, so de— so— late; who could so much as Dream, that we should wake out of Cap— ti— vi— tie? But when God took that Plague a— way, that E— gypt which on Simo— on lay; our Pangs, like Dreams, a— way did fly, and we had safe de— li— ve— ry. Pleased, and transported with our Change, By a Recovery so strange; Acts 3.9. (As Cripples cured by Wonders) we Soon got both Strength and Liberty. Soon we got well, well home; and found Grief did no Soul; no Body wound: But Hearts and Tongues in Psalms agree, And they got Feet as well as we. Then both our Chains and Silence broke; Then Pagans too, the Truth thus spoke: The Lord hath done great things for ye; The Lord hath done so, answered we. Therefore God's Works with joy we tell, Which may convince the Infidel; And call up Prayers for such as be Not yet returned from Slavery. O! were our Friends (our Foes and all) Redeemed from their Egyptian Thrall; From Satan, and from Sin set free, How welcome were their Liberty? Welcome as Nilus in the South, And sweet as Showers in days of Drought; For all, with us, we long to see Reap Mirth, who ploughed in Misery. Sure, Lord, thy labourers, 2 Thes. 3.7, 8, 9 in the heat Who take the pains, shall taste the Wheat; And may with shouts receive from thee A Largess of Prosperity. We, who dropped little hopes in Tears, When driven hence by Foes or Fears; Now loaded back with Solace, see Rich Incomes from Captivity. Endo ibit, & flendo portans pretium seminis pretiosum ob caritatem. Thus the poor Seedsman sadly goes, While on the ground his Wealth he strews; But when the Harvest Crowns him, he Veniendo veniet cum exuitatione. Jogs home with Sheaves and jollity. So they who shed a few small Tears I'th' Seedtime of their Hopes and Fears, Shall glad Returns from Sadness see, And shock up more Felicity. Nay, he that goes from hence, and bears To Earth his Dust, to Heaven his Tears; Shall find those precious Grains to be Vast Crops in blessed Eternity. Gloria Patri, etc. In the Lord's Praise let none be dumb, But Father, Son, and Ghost adore: Who was, and is, and is to come, Thrice Blessed God for evermore. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Seventh PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXVI. PSALM. O Most dear Redeemer Jesus, who wouldst be the Lord our Righteousness, we must confess thou mightest justly become our Enemy, (as Joseph's Brethren became his Foes) because of the multitude of our Dreams; those vain conceits of Happiness which have been trusted and leaned upon, though but Egyptian Reeds, have greatly merited thy Punishment, and our farther deceptions. We have deserved to be most terribly mistaken, like the hungry wretch, who dreams he eats, but he awakes, and behold he is faint, and the more afamisht. Thus are our Souls but the more starved by those Visions of the Night; those short unsatisfying pleasures; those shadows, and fond imaginations, in which we have been lulled asleep by the Flesh, the World, and the Evil one, leading us Captive by them at their pleasure. But, Lord, if thou wilt teach us like thyself, to lead Captivity Captive, and to subdue their triple Band that lies in Ambush against us, (as Abimelech's against the Men of Shechem) then shall we be like the Widow's Son raised even from the Dead: We shall not only recover our strength wonderfully, as did the Cripple, before we go hence, but be recalled with Lazarus to newness of Life, and have our Wills and Faculties unbound, our Mouths and Hearts opened, our Hands and Feet loosed and enlarged to sing the Praises of the Lord, to run the Paths of his Commands, and to teach Transgressor's his ways, that so Sinners may be converted unto him, admiring the great things which God hath done for us, and we praise him for continually; for as God's Praise must be ever in our Mouths upon the account of his miraculous Redemption of us, (who were conquered and taken, enslaved and sold) so ought we incessantly to pray for the Conversion of others, (remembering those that are in Bonds as bound with them) and that thy Servants, O Christ! who are many, may be made one Bread, and they who sit in the darkness of Ignorance, or in the shadows of Error, may be delivered from the power of Satan, into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God. Blessed Lord! thou hast Brethren here that the World knows not, nor thinks to be such. O! that all the Sheep, though they have gone astray, may be reduced from their Wander, and brought out of their Wilderness, Condition, and desert State, by resting on the Shoulders of thy Power, and leaning on the Bosom of thy Love. O thou wellbeloved and best loving Jesus! how grateful, gracious, and desirable, how profitable, sweet, and suitable will such a stream of Grace prove to thine Israel in their Pilgrimage? It will be a Well springing up, and raising thy poor Creatures unto Life; it will be like drops upon the tender Herb, like showers upon the thirsty Ground, making the hardhearted and barren Soul to rejoice, and to break forth into gladness, and into fruitfulness: For when thy Word distils like the Dew, and thou sendest a gracious Rain upon thine Heritage, it must needs be refreshed and renewed like the face of the good Ground which thou hast Blessed; for that which is sterile is nigh unto Cursing, but that which kindly receives the Rain that comes oft upon it, brings forth Food meet for him by whom it is dressed, what kind of Husbandry soever he useth towards it. So we beseech thee grant, O thou good Husbandman! that (since thou dost so plentifully shower amongst us thy benefits, and the good tidings of the Gospel) we may bring forth the fruits of thy Spirit, such as are proper for our places and conditions, and for the Ages of our Lives, and of the World, what way soever thou takest with us, whether thou break us up by the Plough of Afflictions, or dig about us by forbearance and prosperities. We know that he who Sows the good Seed of thy Grace in an honest Heart with the Tears of true Remorse (although the Enemy should mingle Tares among the Wheat, yet) being a painful Labourer, shall Reap a good Crop at the Harvest of the World, and that with Joy, and not with Grief; for godly Sorrow worketh Repentance unto Salvation, not to be repent of. Let us not therefore sorrow, as do many, for Temporal losses, but rather let us rejoice that thou pourest down plentifully of thy Grace upon us, which is better than abundance of Corn and Wine. And so even when we go forth, with Peter, weeping bitterly for our Sins, if we hear with us the precious Seeds of Adoption and Regeneration; and these abide with us, although we may lie down in the dust of Death, or go out of the Land of the Living here, yet shall we come again with Bosoms full of Joy, and with Arms full of a Jesus that went out before us bearing our Reproach, and who with Tears and strong Cries pleaded for the handful that was given him out of the World, and shall come again like a happy Reaper, bringing Sheaves of Corn with him, that the people whom he hath laboured for, and united unto himself, may be crowned with Victory, Prosperity, and Glory, and completed with Gladness with him for evermore. Amen. THE EIGHTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXVII. PSALMS, Was complied by Solomon, as a Compendium of his Ecclesiastes, showing the vanity (and therein the vexation) of all worldly Travel and Care without God's Blessing, in the principal instances of this Life's concernment, which are the building of our Houses by strength and safety, as in the first Verse; by Frugality and Wealth, as in the second Verse; and chief by Children and Heirs, to make our Habitations, Names, and Inheritances to remain for ever, as much as in us lieth, as in the third: And this I take to be the meaning here of building an House, as it is the work of the Master of a Family in Oeconomy, rather than that of the Mathematician in Architecture: And in this sense the Phrase is taken oft in Scripture; as we read, Exod. 1.21. God gave the Midwives for their Faith, Hope, and Charity, Protection, Riches, and Progeny, to support their Families: So likewise, 1 Chron. 17.10, 11. the promise of God's building David's House, is explained by giving him Issue, which should establing his Kingdom better than Solomon could do, notwithstanding all his Wisdom, Power, and number of Women; since we read but of one Son▪ (and he weak and infirm) which that mighty Builder raised up to support the Royal State, Crown and Dignity of the House of David. Well then might the Author of this Psalm (who hath inserted his Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the second Verse) be a Type of the Messiah, and begin to affirm and reiterate the Nisi Dominus here, and infer that, Except the Lord (David 's Lord, as well as Son) did build his House, Solomon, and other Kings, should but labour in vain. This Psalm might be superscribed with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as being sung with loud and frequent Responses by the Levites, at the erecting and re-edifying of the Temple, and therefore intended by me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as an Anthem for the Day of a Nativity, or Baptism. For Shrove-Tuesday, or a Wedding. TILL God the House doth build, and Fa— mily maintain; Workmen, tho' ne'er so strong, or skilled, Lafoy— bour, a— 'las! in vain. Fa— there's get Sons in vain; in vain the Watchmen ward our Gates, un— less the Lord or— deign his Host, to be our Guard. In vain a Life we keep, Rise early, late take Rest; Far hardly, For I take it with the 72 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, when others take pains with care to provide for their Families, God's Beloved thrive better, and yet do not so much as lose their sleep, or rest, in pursuit of thòse enjoyments, which others incessantly toil for. This shows the vanity of our Solicitude, as the other sense (viz. so he gives) speaks God's Blessing of honest Labour, whereby he brings Rest, and makes both it, and what else got by Labour, pleasant, according to Eccless. 5.11. lose our loved Sleep, Till God our Stock hath blest. But they, whom God hath blest, Like Job, regain their Peace; Nempe Dilectis Domini, viz. Jedidiah's, such as Solomon. God gives his Jedidiahs' Rest, And with their Rest, Increase. Look, All Children are given as an Inheritance, passing from the Father of Heaven to us, not purchased by our own Ability; but the Wise and Good are more than David's pleasant and goodly Heritage; for they are also a Reward (as here) and a Crown, especially such as are born to us in our stronger and youthful Age, who may be grown up, and able to give advice and assistance, and ready at hand to help or adorn, as Arrows in the Quiver of an Archer; so that we may go in or out of the Gates of our House, City, or Lie, with honour and safety, and speak either with Friends or Foes, strong or great, the Judge or General. Whether it be in public in the sight of all, (as Aben Ezra construes in Portâ) or whether it be in the place where the People assemble, where the Nobles meet, where the Thrones are set, the Prophet's prophecy, the Right is pleaded, the Guards are kept, the Soldiers stand, and the Judges fit, as they did formerly in the Gate. Vide Ruth 4.1. 1 King. 22.10. 2 King. 7.20. Judg. 9.52. etc. even our best Increase, Ruth 4.13. Gen. 30.2. Children come from the Lord; Those Fruits of th'Womb; which some may guests Man's Work; are God's Reward. Children both give, and Ward A blow; for (though but young) To Parents they be a double Guard, Like Weapons to the Strong. Those Shafts help against wrong, Life against Death provide; Like Jonathan's, they home are fling To shield our threatened fide. Happy the Man, whose side Bears Quivers of such Arms; For wheresoever his Cause is tried, He's quit of Shame and Harms. Thus we, whom God hath Blest, Like Job, regain our Peace; Since God gives his Beloved Rest, And with our Rest increase. Gloria Patri, etc. To God the Father, Son, And God the Holy-Ghost, Be Glory; and let every one Strive who shall praise God most. HOSANNA. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eighth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The GXXVII. PSALM. GRacious Father! who workest hitherto as thy Son also worketh, look upon us thy Workmanship, make us thy Building, who as lively Stones, well wrought and figured, would be built up a Spiritual House unto thee: And we know, except thy Divine Wisdom thus frame and raise us, bearing up the Pillars of our Strength, hewing out the Stones of our hard Hearts to be polished Corners of thy Temple, we shall prove but sorry Tabernacles, but foolish Builders, and Labourers in vain: For who amongst us can say, that he hath made his Heart clean? Who can come to the Rock to lay a good Foundation, except it be given him from above? Or who can keep himself so clean, as that the foul and wicked Spirit touch him not, nor enter in again after he hath been cast out of a Man, except thou, O Lord! who art stronger than the Enemy, dost watch and defend the House of the poor Soul? Thou must work all our Works in us, and for us, for without thee we can do nothing. O therefore! raise, strengthen, establish, and complete us thou glorious Solomon, thou who must edify us by thy Apostles and Teachers, and instruct us how to be Temples for thy holiest Spirit, and the Heritage of the Lord for evermore. We must acknowledge that our best Skill, and carefullest Actions, our Watch and Fast, our Righteousness and Charities, are as Stones which thou, O Master Builder! mightest refuse, being fit for nothing but to debase and throw us down to Hell, affording us no prop or safe reliance upon them. 'Tis thou alone, O truest Jedidiah! that foundest thy beloved Church upon the Cornerstone of Faith, which edifies with joy and peace, with rest and firmness in believing. So build us up, we beseech thee, and watch over our Souls, that we may not be found to have watched, or to have worked, to have instructed our Hearts, to have cleansed our Hands in vain, but to have done the Work, and completed the Task which thou hast appointed us to do, by edifying both ourselves and others in our most holy Faith. We throw ourselves, Lord Jesus, on thy gentlest Bosom of Compassions, to be regarded and instructed by thee, and trust that we are not Judas' whilst we eat of thy Bread, and drink of thy Cup, but shall be unto thee Sons and Daughters, such an Inheritance as may be the Crown of thy Rejoicing, the purchase of thy Labours, the proof of thy Power, the Arrows in thy Quiver, with which thou mayest triumphantly come to the Almighty, and say, Behold me, and the Children which thou hast given me. Let not thine Arms be full or weary, dear Lord, till thou hast enclosed our Souls within them, and made us so the Children of thy strength, as that we may be able to come with boldness to the Throne of Grace, and neither be affrighted when we meet with our Enemies in the Gate of Death, nor when we shall speak with our Accuser, and our Judge, at the great Tribunal of the last day. From the various Proofs of thy tenderness over thy Flock, in giving them repose and comfort, and blessed content, in the midst of their hard fare, hard work, and harder want, O skilful Shepherd of our Souls, let us learn to cast our Care upon thee for our protection and provision, for thy presérvation of our Persons, and propagation of our Families; and if thou carest for us, we need take no more care than Abraham did, for God will provide for us, for our Offspring, for our chief Good, and for his Glory. The Lord shall build his David a House, and he will be an exceeding great Reward (even above that of the Fruit of the Womb) unto his Friend Abraham, whose Children we are if we believe as he: Lord, we believe, help our unbelief, that we might not throw away our loved sleep, much less our best beloved Souls, in carking after the things of this Life, whether they be Pleasures, Profits, Power, Posterity, Preferments, or vain Pastimes; for what are these in respect of a Soul? But giving up our Souls, Estates, and Concernments, into the hands of a faithful Creator, who is able to keep them and us to the very uttermost, let us be preserved not only in perfect Peace and Prosperity in this Life, but also in a happy and safe Repose even in Death itself, when we expect to rest from our Labours, and to sleep in Jesus. Amen. THE NINTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXVIII. PSALMS, Is a Description of the Felicities of such Good Men, as fear the Lord, (that is, say the Rabbins) who cease to do evil, and learn to do well; who walk in the ways of God, and are not only negatively good but positively; making their own hands minister to their Necessities, (as the Apostle did) knowing that he who will not labour shall not eat: But such as labour honestly, (either to obtain a livelihood and subsistence here, or a better Life hereafter) shall find the fruit of their Pains to be Peace and Plenty: Not the Apples of Sodom, or Clusters of Gomorrah; but those of Mercies Temporal, Spiritual, Eternal: Such as are here enumerated, from the 2d. Verse to the end, far better than by any other Poet. Amongst which Blessings, (as to this World) the greatest are esteemed, Vitam quae faciunt Beatiorem, etc. Martial. lib. 10. Epig. 47. 1. A Fruitful Meet Companion, neither barren in good Works, nor Offspring: And therefore compared to a Vine; or because (saith Kimchi) she can live well and plentifully within Doors, and only desires that her Branches may go abroad: As a Vine (saith he) will grow and flourish though rooted within a House, so the spreading Limbs be carried into the Air. 2. Then a cheerful Table decently replenished, with Legitimate, Pious, and Healthful Children: Likened to Olive Plants, either because they are hopeful, and flourishing, (as the Olive Tree is always green;) or useful and Ornamental, (as those Trees are to Entertainments in the East;) or Emblems of unfading Happiness, (as Olive Branches were to Victors;) or not a shameful and spurious Offspring: For it is reported of the Olive Stock, that it will nourish no Grafts, but of its own Kind. These Blessings being described by two such admirable sweet Comparisons, (that strive to cheer and refresh the Laborious and Prosperous Man) the Author breaks off his Apostrophe by a short Epiphonema in the 5th Ver. (but who the Author of this Psalm was appears not) and then in the 6th and 7th Ver. goes on to pray for other Joys for the good Man, towards the completing those promised in the 2.3.4. Verses. Which indced so fed, nay feasted my eager Thoughts with that most excellent Scripture Abundance, expressed by Corn and Oil, Judg. 9.9, 13. (that which Cheers and Honours God and Man) that I could not withhold from enlarging my delight in ruminating thus far upon it. Like the fat Olive, and the fruitful Vine, Cheerful to make Man's Heart, his Face to shine, Are well bred Children, and fruitful Wife; In this World's Paradise those Trees of Life: They wander not afar, but still abide By their own lucky Board's, or House's fide: At Home they Live and Thrive, fix and Increase, The Prosperous Signs of Plenty, Mirth, and Peace. Pax (feu Pacem) super Israel, concludes the Psalm, as the 125. This seems proper for a Wedding day, or any such time of Festivity, and therefore used thus Solemnly to be Sung after the Captivity by the Levites, among the other Psalm; of Degrees: And it is intended by me for St. Lucy's day, and New-year's Tide. Blessed is the Man that fears the Lord, and walks in ways taught by God's word: while such a Joseph, Vice refrains, to Prison Walls though bond he be, he spreads like Egypt's patiented Tree, and bears more Fruit by wearing Chains. Who e'er thou art that fearest the Lord, Fearing to sin in work or word, Plenty, with Ease, shall crown thy Pain; Thy Hands shall get Wealth that will last, The Sweets of which thy Lips shall taste, Doubling, by relishing, thy Gain. Ruth ●. 11▪ 1●. Thy Wife shall, like a fruitful Vine, Deck thy House-side, as well as thine, And see thine Offspring shade thy Board; As pleasant Olive-Plants are set, To grace and guard thee at thy Meat, Thus art thou Blest that fearest the Lord, In heaven thrice happy shalt thou be, As here below 'tis well with thee, Thy Joys from Zion still increase; Thine Age to three Descents shall see Thine Issue fair, thy Nation free; And (what is best) on Israel Peace. As here below 'tis well with thee, In Heaven thrice happy shalt thou be, From Sion's shall thy Joys increase; Thou shalt outlive one Age, to see Good on thy Land and Family, And (which is best) on IsraelPeace, Gloria Patri, etc. Glory be to the Father, Son, And Holy-Ghost, the Three in One, Whose Deity we shall adore; Since every Person of the Three For ever was, shall ever be, And is, God Blessed evermore. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Ninth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXVIII. PSALM. O Most glorious and gracious Lord God, who art fit to be feared, and worthy to be loved, grant that I may not only serve thee out of filial Reverence, and sense of Duty, but also and chief out of most passionate Affection and Delight, walking in thy ways as well as learning them, and doing thy Will as well as knowing it, from a principle of entire and true Love, and of full and absolute Choice. Grant that whether I am born unto Trouble and Care, or to eat and reap the Fruit of others Pains, both by my own and others Labours, my Repose may be afterwards more sweet and nourishing, and my Enjoyments more solid, as my Endeavours successful, while I have Religion, though not Riches, and that which with Content is great Gain, notwithstanding the shortness and loss of worldly Treasures. If I partake of the true Vine, and of the travel of his Soul, who was full as God, and made full as Man, that of his fullness we might receive and feast for evermore, then how well shall it be with me here? How much better hereafter? Come what can come I shall have comfort enough in this World, and a Crown in the next: Nay, I shall be a Crown to my dear Bridegroom, a Glory to my Redeemer, as the wise Spouse is to her Husband; for in this, good and true is the Word of the Lord which he hath spoken (not only in the Literal, but also in the Spiritual sense) and so shall his Work be; as to the Head, so to the Members. He will make the Church Christ's Wife, and she shall be a Vine as well as he, and so great a Bearer, as that she hall cover and adorn all the sides of his House, and bring him clusters of Eshcol, Grapes of Zion, Loads of Comfort and Satisfactions, Tokens of Plenty and Delight, for having trodden the Wine Press alone. And then, O beloved Husbandman! when thou shalt visit this Vine, and behold the Offspring which thou hast brought her with transports of Joy and Contentation, O! then look upon me and mine, and see us grafted into the right Olive, though we be sprung from that which is wild by nature, that we may grow up as Plants of thy own planting, and flourish round about thy Table: For this hath God promised unto thee, O Christ! and we beseech thee to make it good unto us, by making us thy Children. O Lord! how should we praise, honour, and serve thee? Were we, like David, such Olive Trees as might be fixed in thy House, and framed into more holy Uses, to be farther instrumental to thy Glory? Behold a greater than Solomon is here to make us fit to attend thy Oracles, and with the Cherubs to be near thy Mercy Seat. Dear God prepare us for such high places there, however thou cut and strike us here, that we might be the better form, and wrought out of the World's glory, for our own, into thine, even by the beauty of Holiness, that New Jerusalem that comes down from above. Then shall we admire the good of Sanctity, and wish the good of thy People all the days of our life, and rejoice in the happiness of thy Chosen all the days of Eternity: For as we are Blest in serving thee out of thy House and Sanctuary, so we hope to be Blessed with thee in thy holy Hill of Zion, where we shall see the glorious Harvest of all Ages, the eternal Happiness of our Generations, and the never-fading Peace of thy chosen Israel. AMEN. THE TENTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIX. PSALMS, Is a Commemoration, not unlike that Solemn one, which every true Israelite was to make at the Offering of the First-Fruits; Deut. 26.35, 36, 37. and Secondly, a Prognostication of the cursed End and Ruin of the Church her Enemies, from the Consideration of the wonderful Deliverance which God had wrought, and reiterated for his People a Juventute (both from theirs and the World's Infancy;) so that at length their Adversaries, according to their Prayers, shall be but weak, few, like the Grass on the House top, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, not growing up, there being formerly a Meeter, or gatherer of Grass (as we have now of Grain), most in fashion about those fertile Countries, where Grass is of an excessive length even at this day, (as modern Travellers affirm.) that whither before its pulling. But Zion 's Foes (saith Ezra, or whosoever it was, who in his Time compiled this Prophetical Psalm and Prayer) shall one Day be so inconsiderable, that as they shall have no Eulogies to encourage their Growth or Harvest, so they shall need no Weapon to cut them down; for they shall drop away shamefully of their own accord, without a Dominus Vobiscum said unto them: 1 Cor. 14.25. For all they may say (though not of a Truth) what once a Sennacherib and a Rabshakeh falsely affirmed, That God is with us. Quà de causâ à me Selectus est hic Hymnus in Tertium Septembris. Propter M. O. C. nec non in Quintum Novembris. IF Ja— cob did in E— gypt tell, what Troubles in his time be— fell; how few and e— vil were his Days? How hard Life's travel in rough ways: In Ca— naan well may Is— rael say, From my Youth up, God was my stay. From my Youth up I met with Foes, Gen 28▪ ●6▪ 17. But to God's House I 'scap'd from those; Many a time was I assailed, But I as many times prevailed: Exod. 2.24.25. God broke my Cords which they did bind, And made them Captive, if not kind. Exod. 5.19. Mark 15.15. Long did they with deep Furrows wound, And Blow my Back, as 'twere their Ground; But the good Husbandman now cracks John 15.1. The Ploughman's Whip on their own Backs: The Righteous Lord stays not too long 1 Cor. 10.13. From resc'uing his who suffer wrong. Therefore shall Zion's Enemy 2 Sam. 3.33. Psal. 73.6. Prov. 16.18. Mat. 13.5. Like Fools wax faint, like Cowards fly; Whom Pride doth cloth, Shame shall confound, As Corn that grows in no good Ground: 2 Sam. 11.4. Dan. 4.30, 31. But stands (with Kings) on the Housetop, Where comes a Blast, and that's its Crop Its Crop doth rot before 'tis ripe, Nor can it fill the Reaper's gripe, Nor joy his Heart: For (what is worse) It bears no Burden, but a Curse. 'Tis no Man's comfort, no Man's care; No Man for such bids one short Prayer. None in God's Name give such good speed, As Boaz to his Harvest did: [Gloria Patri.] But we to God will Glory give, Who, with the Son, and Spirit, doth live: God Reigns, and shall, as heretofore; Blessed be his Name for evermore. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Tenth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXIX. PSALM. O Dearest Jesus! let me behold thee as an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, and yet how many a time, even from Herod's persecution of thee in thy Youth, wert thou afflicted. Thou didst grow up as a Stem out of a dry Ground, very poorly and despicably in the Eyes of the vain proud World, who looked for another appearance and attendance than thou, O King of Glory! didst affect on Earth, and therefore wert thou rejected as a Man of Sadness. And well mightest thou be acquainted with much Grief, when thou didst bear our greatest Sins, even those whereby we did set thee at nought, (as did Herod and his Soldiers) and even sought the holy Child, the Firstborn of Grace, in our Hearts to take away its Life. O Lord! we must confess how many a time, too often, we have betrayed and exposed thy Name and Body, thy Word and Members, to Shame and Reproach, to Indignities and Sufferings: We have smitten and pierced them through with many Sorrows; we have knotted the Whip, and lengthened out the Rods to plough thy Back, (as the Jews did by their lashing Taunts when thou wert dying on the Cross) only to nonplus thy Love and patience if it were possible: But the Lord is Righteous, and the Lord is Merciful, and therefore he hath cut asunder the Cords of the Wicked, and by his Righteousness shall justify many, as also confound all such as have evil will towards his Zion. Grant therefore, dear Lord! that we may not prove such a Crop as grows upon the House, or among the Stones, which withereth as soon as it is put forth. But as from our Childoood, we have been acquainted graciously with thy Mind and Gospel, so grant that we may grow up in Grace, and in the knowledge of a Saviour, and have the Blessing of Almighty God from the very Ground of our Hearts, to the last Harvest of our Lives, and be able to bless many others, as Boaz did, in the Name of thee, Our Father, etc. TO thee, dear God be all the Dominion, the Power and Glory of my Being, for thou hast prepared it from the fury of my Adversaries ever since the first motions of that evil Figment in my Heart, which hath broke out often into evil Concupiscences, and endeavoured to plough with my Heifer, to plot with my naughty Flesh, to bind and to deliver me a Prisoner unto Satan; but my Lusts have not led me Captive, nor ploughed upon my Back as they conspired to do, for thou, O Lord most just and holy! wouldst not suffer them to Tyrannize or Triumph too long over me, but hast broke those Bands of Wickedness, and cast their Cords from me, that I might be thy Servant, and you the Lord my Righteousness: So that I trust they shall be confounded that contend with thee for my Soul, and I shall not be ashamed while I wait on thee, though my Flesh be as Grass that withers away. Thou art my Strength, O Lord, and my Portion for ever, who will't, I trust, give a Blessing to my Seed, to my Harvest, to my House, to my Endeavours and Increase, that my Work and thine may prosper in my hand, and bring fullness of Joy and Satisfaction to my Breast, while all the vain Thoughts, and viler Suggestions of my Heart, I desire so to hate, as to wish (like the Grass upon the House tops withered and faded away) that they may never grow up to a Crop, lest (sowing the Wind) I Reap the Whirlwind, and have my Recompense in vanity (according to my delight or trust,) and come to nothing before my time. But, O Lord! I wait on thee for a Blessing in this my day, and for thine Eternity, that I may be like a Field whom God hath enriched; if he be not on my side, I cannot prosper, and I know, him whom thou blessest is Blessed: Bless me therefore, even me, O! Our Father, etc. THE ELEVENTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXX. PSALM. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; De dolore Profundo, & ex imo cord; and not (as the Papists would have it) De Profundis Purgatorii, to be used for the Dead: It is an Act and incitement of Hope, under the most weighty Pressures, from this Proof, viz. That neither with the strongest Angels, nor Saints departed, (much less with the greatest, or best of Men upon Earth) is any Pardon or Propitiation to be found, but only with God; who alloweth us here space and place for Repentance, that he may be feared, (not so slavishly as to be fled from, or hated) that he may be sued unto, adored, and attended on, in the holy Duties of Prayer, Praise, and Trust; which are comprised in this Psalm to be used sedulously and constantly night and day, according to that which the Repetition of the comparison in the sixth Verse doth infer, which is thus glossed on by Kimchi: My Soul waiteth in the Night for the Lord, that it may be in the number of those who rise in the Morning-Watch to pray. And this sense being most comprehensive of the Times and Method, both of Jewish, and the greatest of Devotion, I follow it in my Version, and desire to do so in my Practice. This Psalm was made (as some think) in the time of the Captivity, for Redemption from it, as may be judged by the last Verse: But others ascribe it to David, giving it the same Date with the 51st, and is reckoned the sixth of the Penitentials, i. e. of those which were used when public Pentents were brought and reconciled to the Church, who might well say, Because there is Pardon (as saith the Text) or Propitiation (as the 72d) with thee, O Lord, therefore shalt thou be feared, i. e. obeyed; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because the mildness of his Laws, and meekness of his Deal, were strong Motives for Repentance. Anthema Hocce à me usitatum est, ut primò factum, in Secundum Octobris. OUT of the Deep, wherein, like Jo— nas, I was tried; out of the mire of Sin, my Clay to God hath cried, Lord hear my Voice, give what I crave; O! let me have thy Love, heavens Joys. Too oft we choose false Joys; And shouldst thou be severe To chasten our ill Choice, What Man his Ills can bear? But we have proved, That thou may'st be Pardon's with thee; Both feared and loved. I'll fear, lest thou art loved Too little; and I'll flee (When Fear my Heart hath moved) Unto thy Sanctuary: Early and late Grace to afford; There waits the Lord, Therefore I'll wait. My Soul on high shall wait, (Like those, who watch the rise Of Day) to Officiate At Morning Sacrifice. Nay, like the Guard; Remove the Night, Who long till Light And them reward. Till Jacob's Star reward Your Hopes, and on you rise; Wait Isr'el on your Lord With wakeful wishing Eyes. Look till the Sun Doth heal and bless, Of Righteousness And brings God's Son. O! shield ye with his Sun God's People, trust his Word; Since full Salvation Attends our gracious Lord: There's Pity seen, Who will Redeem And Power in him, Us from all Sin. Gloria Patri, etc. Glory be to our King, Who shall be, was, and is; Loud Hallelujahs Sing To God, the God of Peace. The Lord of Hosts, The Father, Son, The Three in One, And Holy-Ghost. AMEN. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eleventh PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXX. PSALM. ODearest Jesus! when I consider thee, crying with strong Cries to thy Father for me out of the depths of thine Agony, and of thy Sufferings, both in Gethsemane, and in Golgotha, how am I swallowed up in the Abysses, both of thy Passion and Compassion for us! Ah! what fathomless Depths indeed! O! what unmeasurable Dimensions, both of Grief and Goodness, are there for us to be immersed in! and since they who are conversant among great Waters see the Wonders of the Lord, O! how may we behold these in the drops of thine Eyes, and of thy Wounds, in the Rivers of thy Tears, and of thy wonderful Sweat, in the Ocean of thy Love and Sorrows for Mankind! When thy Soul was heavy, and sunk down even unto Death, and all the Cataracts of Shame and Fury passed over thy Head, O King of Righteousness and Glory! yet out of the deep and horrible Pit of God's Wrath, into which thy condition was plunged for our sakes, how didst thou reach up thy very Sighs and Groans, thy Pains and Sadness, thy Prayers, and all thy Passions, unto Heaven itself, to reach us thence a Medicine, and a Remedy, more certain Health, and a more happy Life, than the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderness ever brought to its beholders! I will therefore look unto thee, and be enlightened, even while thou seemest Eclipsed; I will stay myself on the Tree of thy Cross, and secure myself under the Shadows of thy Crucifixion, when I am most cast down or overwhelmed with the Seas of my Anxieties and Trials, for the Lord hath been deeply sensible of our Infirmities, and touched to the quick with humane Miseries, that he might not be fled from, (as he was formerly, both while he stood on Sinai, and on Golgotha) but that he might be feared, and approached unto with Reverence, because there is a Propitiation with him for us, there is an Atonement made by him our Highpriest: Therefore, O God hear my Voice, though my Sins cry aloud for Vengeance; and thou mayst be more strict (than thou wert formerly under the more imperfect Light of Nature, or of the Irish Law) to mark the failings and stumblings of Mankind now in the lightsome daytime of the Gospel; yet do thou, my Father, Jeremiah. and my Prince, pity me in the Dungeon of my Corruptions, and draw my Feet out of the Mire of my Lusts, out of the Clay of my earthly Mindedness, out of the Waters of my worldly Sorrows, and bring me to the desired Shore of thy sure Mercies in Christ Jesus; set my feet on the Rock, and order my Go, that my Footsteps may not slip, but that I may walk in the Land of the Living unto the Land of Promise; and when I go down to the bottom of the Mountains, and the Weeds are wrapped about my Head, Ionas. and the Earth with her Bars enclose me on every side, that then I may not be cast out of thy sight, nor into the Bonds of mine Iniquities, nor into the Belly of the lowest Hell: O our Father! since thou hast not left thy Son there, grant that my Life may be brought up from Corruption. I know Salvation is from thee alone, and with thee infinite abundance of Bowels of the tenderest Compassions why thou shouldest be reverenced and repaired unto, there is a Jesus in thy Bosom to redeem from all Sins, from Dangers, Enemies, and Troubles, and to represent us covered with his Righteousness; otherwise shouldest thou view us in our Original Nakedness, or actual Filthiness, we could not stand before thee in Judgement. But since there is Forgiveness with thee, O God there is cause enough why we should fly unto thee, trust in thee, wait on thee, and watch for thee, more than they who watch for the Morning, for if Light be so grateful to those who walk in Darkness, how amiable is thy Countenance to us in the gloominess of thy present State? And how much more lovely will it be when we lie down in the Night of Death, that the Dayspring from on high may visit us, and bring the joyful Morning of a Resurrection, both from Sin and the Grave? O! do thou make hast my beloved Saviour, and be as a Roe, and a young Hart, Cant. 2. on the Mountain of Spices: Thou that art the Hart of the Morning, who out of the midst of thy deepest Woes, and dying Pangs, didst cry unto God for us, do thou send us timely help, for we would seek thee early in the prime of our Age, (hastening from the very dawn of our Lives to prevent the Night-Watches, and like thy Spouse or beloved Mary) to see the Sun of Righteousness risen on the Earth before we get to our Zoar. O! that our Prayers might ascend like Incense by the meritorious lifting up of thy Body for us! Dear Lord! impute no Gild to us, but cleanse us from all, that we may be blessed, and holy, and happy, as we beg to be, for thy own sake, O gracious Saviour! to whom be Glory, etc. THE TWELFTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXI. PSALMS, Was composed by David in the life-time of Saul, when most humble, innocent, and distant from the Succession to the Crown, though then suspected, envied, and accused: It was appointed to be used at the Jews Return, because no temper better qualifies us for God's Mercy, nor more becomes us under the greatest Mercies, (such as those we have enjoyed) than that Humility, Self-denial, Resignation, and Affiance in God's Will, which are here exemplified in the first and second Verses, and exhorted unto in the last. While the Psalmist with that frequent Elegancy in the holy Tongue, suppresseth the Imprecation, and imposeth a kind of Silence upon himself after his Attestation, proceeding to an Asseveration, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If I have not, etc. viz. stilled and pacified my Soul as the Waves, levelled and smoothed my Brow like the face of the Ground, and have put my Hand upon my Mouth; viz. I have ceased from crying and throbbing, as at the Mother's command the Child doth, who although weaned, can without Solicitude yield and conform to the Mother's Direction and Provision. Thus the Comparison is fitly squared, As a Child is in quiet and order with its Mother, so is my Soul with me: (As the Jewish, Arab. notes the Repetition to import) I have weaned it from Transgressions: Non arrogavi mihi magna, mirabilia, inconcessa, inhonesta, as the first Verse intimates; and this whole Psalm, saith Grotius, savours much of a Gospel Spirit, as of that gracious and modest Disposition with which David was endowed; eminently, so as to make him be styled, After God's own Heart. For Innocents' day. NO, Lord! I do not look too high, though to this lof— tie pitch I fly, to seek thy Throne and Ma— je— sty. No Earthly Crown do I de— sign, nor as my sovereign's Son to shine; my sole Am— by— tion's to be thine. (Like Bethshemites) I dare not pry In things for me too Great, too High; My Heart is humble as mine Eye. But the proud Foe my Heart mistook, Whilst I his Frowns did fairly brook, Without returning one Ill look. I soon lay quiet, to control The froward Passions, that did roll Like Waves, about to move my Soul. My Soul is hushed; like a weaned Child, That from the Mother's sight exiled, To any thing's straight reconciled: And surely I myself behave Like a wise Man, while thus I crave Like a weak Child, what I would have. May Isr'el do, as I have done, (To all things here indifferent grown) Trust always— But in God alone. May Isr'el do, as we, etc. Gloria Patri, etc. Give Glory, Praise, Dominion, To God the Father, with the Son And Spirit, thrice Blessed Three in One. Sicut erat in Principio, etc. Now let us all the Lord adore, Who is the same as heretofore, And shall be King for evermore. HOSANNA. Another VERSION of Psalm CXXXI. [To be sung as Mr. George Sandys Paraphrase, Psal. 1.] LORD, 2 Sam. 6.21, 22. Acts 13.22. I'll prelude to my Lord's humblest part, That I may be the Man after thine Heart; I hate proud Looks, and glance not up an Eye At things too hard, too hidden, or too high: But as a Child, whom its kind Mother weans, (Loving the Breast) yet on her Bosom leans, I hold me at thy Hand; nor once repine, But quietly repose, receive, resign: Wishing our Isr'el thus may trust God still, And frame their State according to thy Will. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Twelfth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXXI. PSALM. O Thou Son of David! of whom we ought to learn to be Meek and Lowly, let us see what kind of Disciples we are by regarding our dear Master, and find what Proficients in thy School by minding the Copy thou hast set us: There appeared not the least glance of Pride, Arrogance, or Self-love, in thy Behaviour; there was not the least Roof of Bitterness in thy Breast, for thou camest to Atone the first Sin of our first Parents; and so for all thou wert exalted far above all that are here called Gods, yet thy Spirit was not haughty (as Lucifer's,) not thine Eyes lift up to the forbidden Fruit. Mark 13; 32; Thou wert willing to be ignorant (as Man) of those things which did not befit Men to pry nicely into, that thou mightest stoop to the weaknesses of thy Body the Church, and comply more absolutely with the divine Will, and Compassionate more sensibly the Infirmities or Ignorances' of Mankind. O most gracious condescending Jesus! how were thy Delights among the Children of Men! while thou didst not behave thyself like a Simon Magus, like an Impostor that would be admired for some God below; but, like thy Servant Moses, didst veil thyself, that thou mightest be conversed withal, and didst not walk too much obscured by thine own Lustre and Transcendency, but didst leave the Doctors and Learned Jews to go down with thy humble Mother into Galilee, and to be subject unto her as a weaned Child. And though thou wouldst not exercise thyself in things too high for thee, yet, O! how low wouldst thou appear in thy Employments? How plain in thy Countenance? how easy and affable in thy Conversation? that Publicans and Sinners, and little Children, might come unto thee, and hear thy excellent Discourses, and taste thy miraculous Provisions, while thou goest about doing good, and telling Men that they should follow thy steps in being meek, humble, quiet, and contented, doing Good, readily suffering Evil patiently as dear Children. Lord! How then should we abhor ourselves, when we either think of thee, or of ourselves! How unlike are we become to thee, if we claim any Kindred with thee! For do we not still continue, like Leviathan, among the Sons of Pride? Do we seem little in our own Eyes, as thy Servant David did, when thou didst make him a great King? Or rather do we not lift up our Wills and Understandings, and walk with a stiff Neck of Perverseness in opposition to thee, as it were, aiming even at Heaven itself, like the Tail of the old Serpent? So far are we from receiving the Kingdom of Heaven like little Children! But, O! when then shall it once be that we shall not be , but fear, and love, and own thee to be Lord over us? Then shall we not rashly venture with Uzzal to meddle with those things which are unmeet for us, or forbidden to us; but we shall be weaned from our Mother Earth, from the love of this dirty World, and from loving its foul Inclinations; and we shall cast our Cares and Affairs on thee, renouncing all Self-Trusts or Conceits, to levelly the face of our Souls before the feet of the holy Jesus; that when thou comest, O most holy Spirit! to prepare the way of the Lord in us, he may find no Rock nor Mountain, nothing too hard or haughty in us, nothing untractable or inaccessible to obstruct or oppose his Progress. But, O! let the too mighty Elevations of my vain Thoughts be brought down, and the crooked ways of my Heart be made straight, and the rough ways of my Condition be made smooth, that my Soul may be still quiet with me, and stilled and quieted by thee. Rebuke the tempestuous Motions of a froward Mind, that I may repose myself sweetly and safely on thy Promises, on thy Provisions, and resign myself wholly to thy Inspirations: And God grant that all thine Israel may (like Jacob) wrestle with Principalities and Powers, even in the highest and most heavenly Things; and though never so much in a Night of Cares and darkest perplexities, or to encounter with enraged Enemies, yet let them wait and hope on the Lord, and stay and strengthen themselves on their God (as David did at Ziklag,) for he is a sure Reward, and a constant Reward, a Pillar of Fire, and a Pillar of a Cloud, a Sun, and a Shield, in whose Name we ought to trust, denying our own Conjectures, Affections, and Desires, rather than an absolute Dependence on him for ever and ever. AMEN. THE THIRTEENTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXII. PSALMS, Is a Narration of David's Devotion, and of God's Promises and Appointment; as to David and his Seed, and the settling of the Ark on Zion; which was a Type of the stability of Christ's Kingdom, and of the future Felicities of his Servants, in the Reign of the Son of David, (the Messiah, the Horn spoken of here in Verse 17, as the Rabbins agree) which the Apostle proves, Acts 2.30. Therefore it was solemnly used at the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, 2 Chron. 6.41, 42. Deut. 12.11. 1 Chron. 17.11, 12. and most probably (as Grotius thinks) a composition of Solomon's at his raising of the Temple for the Honour of God, and the Place; containing in it part of Solomon's Prayer, part of God's Promise to the Jews, and to David. But Kimchi and others think it made by David, at that very time, 1 Chron. 21.26. 1 Chron. 22.1. when the situation of the future Temple was miraculously shown unto him (as it is hinted in the word Invenimus) by the Sign from Heaven. For as David was absolutely forbidden the building of a Temple, so till the Prophet Gad came to him with a Divine Command, That he should build an Altar in the Threshing-Floor of Araunah: (For all his great desire, like Abraham's, 1 Chron. 17.12. to see such a glorious Day, and notwithstanding his Devotion, like Jacob, to the Service of God) yet he knew not the place that God would choose, as his Heaven upon Earth, for his most eminent and suitable Habitation: Therefore his Care and Concern chief reflecting on his Vows here made were the more considerable, and might well be styled Afflictions, worthy to be Commemorated as well as his former Persecutions. His constant Humility, Meekness, pious Solicitude, and Affection for God's Service, demonstrated in 2 Sam. 7.2. and 1 Chron. 17.16. and all these senses the word Afflictions will bear, as I have shown in my Version. Hic versus plurimum Hebraeos fatigat. inquit clarius. Where also I have endeavoured to be as clear as I could in the Exposition of that dark place of the sixth Verse, which by some Commentators (like the Jewish Arab. here) is rendered much more shady and obscure; so that the Elegant Castalio was forced to confess, That he understood not the meaning of the Text, viz. Verse 6. Therefore herein (as all along) by the help of the Critics, with the assistance of the Learned Hammond and De Muys, I strive to sum up briefly as much of the sense as my Verse and Knowledge will give me leave to do. Yet I cannot omit Buchanan's Version of this hard Sentence, which is as singular, as his Paraphrase elsewhere is excellent. Fama licet Patriae multum promitteret orae, Inter saxa tamen Sylvestribus obsita dumis: Monstravit Deus ipse locum, Deus ipse perenne Hic Templum; Templique sacris sedem innuitaris. Though Fame hath promised much to Judah 's Coast By the Ark's stay, (whereof our Towns may boast;) Yet God himself hath shown and we have found Old Prophecies, (which did at Bethlem sound, Fulfilled on woody Hills.— — where the Ark stood, Or where it was to stand, high as a Wood) For the Woods of the Field, or the Fields of the Wood, may be taken as for the House of Aminadab in the Hill of Kiriathjarim, which was a City in a woody place, from whence David and all Israel fetched the Ark from the House of Obed-Edom: So for the City of Jerusalem, and especially the Mount Moriah, which was a close Covert in Abraham's time, witness the Ram caught in the Thicket; and was afterwards more adorned with Wood when the Temple was built thereon: This being frequently by the Prophets called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Wood; as Bethlechem, the place of Bread, is also called Ephratah, viz. Fruitful. It was the City of David, where he might learn from his pious Ancestors, that neither Silo, nor Gibeon, nor Nob, but Moriah, (which was a part of Mount Zion, and here by way of Eminency bears the name of the whole Hill) should be the chief place of worshipping the Mighty God of Jacob. God is so called here, because he calls himself the Almighty, Gen. 35.10, 11. Gen. 49.24. Gen. 28.20. when he named Jacob, Israel; and Jacob first calls God so, and is the first of all the Patriarches who is mentioned to have vowed a Vow; as the most ancient Rabbi Abahu notes: Non dicitur, vovit forti Abraham, aut forti Isaac, sed forti Jacob, quod primus omnium vovit Jacob votum dicendo, etc. Dicendo quid? Dicendo omnibus, seu docendo omnes, vovendum esse in Calamitatibus. Quam Terribilis est iste Locu●? erit Bethel; i. e. Domus Dei, seu Domus Orationis, (Dixit) Quandoquidem vidi h●c ipso in loco aedificatum iri Templum. 2 Sam. 24.16, 17. But I think it a fine Dream of the Rabbins, who say, Jacob is here mentioned, because (in his sleep) when he saw those Degrees which reached Heaven, he had a Vision of the Temple that Solomon built; and being amazed at the Majesty thereof, speaks of it, and not of Bethel. And David (as they say) made the Vow, mentioned in this Psalm, when the Plague was stayed at the Threshing-Floor of the Jebusite, and notice given him where the Temple should be built, (as I have noted before.) Thus much may suffice by way of Argument, because I have wrote more in Annotations upon this Psalm, it being the longest and most difficult of my undertaking: Therefore I would be excused by the more Critical and Learned Reader, if the pains I took do neither please nor profit him in the full understanding, or explaining the sense hereof; because these Notes were not intended to nauseate the public with Crambes, but to inform those, who are of as low rank in knowledge as myself. Having put the word Shechinah in the Margin of my Verses, I was once asked, why I did so? Therefore I here give the reason, because I look on that Petition of the Psalmist in the tenth Verse, Janus-like, with two Faces, and most fit for Solomon to make, who built both the Temple, and a place, on purpose to worship towards the holiest of Holies, as if he had in this manner uttered his Mind. O! let me never prove so Idolatrous, as to turn away to other Gods, from this place of Worshipping towards thy holy Temple (toward the Shechinah, the special place of thy Presence,) nor let me prove so rejected by thee, as in thine Anger to be cast out from before thee; but do thou empower me here to make thy Presence, and to meet with thy Favours in my Worship and Adoration of thee. Then I have doubly rendered the last Verse, because of the fullness of the Word (Induam), I'll or put on, or throw on, as the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Retiarii did their Nets over the Secutores, i. e. publicly in the sight of all Men, by covering and overwhelming them to disgrace and destroy them. And this Induam is put in opposition to the clothing of such Men, Vers. 9, 10. who having Truth and Righteousness visibly about them, (as it were, their Raiment) shall be manifestly preserved and adorned thereby, as Judges by their Robes, through the overruling Providence and Tuition of the Almighty. For Christmas day, as it is appointed by the Church. LOrd! think on him whom thou didst find, the Man ac— cour— ding to thy Mind; who could for thee with all things part: With his Wife's love, and his own State, that on thy Ser— vice he might wait. Remember Da— vid's humble Heart. Think on his Hand that brings thee Praise, Strikes down thy Foes, ill Spirits lays, 1 Sam. 17.49 16.16 2 Sam. 6.19.6.16.6.21. And Gifts and Music doth afford: Though he did right, he had much wrong, Even while he brought thy Ark along: Remember David's Troubles, Lord. Think on the King, and on his Care, Who for thy Place did well prepare; Lord Bless his Heir, 1 Chr. 22.3.4.5.28.14 5.2.15.1. build up his House: He would have set, and trimmed up thine, Lord! bless our acting his Design. Remember David, and his Vows. Thus said he, 2 Sam. 5.9. when he took his Oath, To Jacob's God I plight my Troth, Though I am safe in my new Forts: I will not sleep, nor there sit still, 2 Sam. 7.2. Till the Ark rests on Zion's Hill, And from its * Tabernacula. Curtains comes to † Vsus est numero multitudinis, ad plures Templi partes indicandas; nam in Templo (inquit Kimchi) erant Domus tres. Courts. 1 Sam. 19.15, 16. My House (though built) shall not be * It shall not be Dedicated, and so not dwelled in till Consecrated; as the Jews did ever some part of their House for special Worship. Blest; My Bed shall yield me no more † Tandem tam longè abest ut ego sim dormiturus; ut ne oculis quidem rictaturus sim. Rest, Than when 'twas searched for no good: 1 Chron. 13.5, 6. Till here (with ours) God's Seat is found, Being with lofty Cedars crowned, Instead of Kiriath-jearim's Wood For in the Woods we lately found Joys, 1 Sam. 7.1. which to Abrams Hill may sound, Gen. 22.13. 1 Sam. 16.1. Mic. 5.2. When God shall there be seen again: As first at Bethlem we did hear How glorious all his Go were, Up to the Mountains from the Plain. Cant. 2.8. Rev. 14.1. Psal. 114.4. And while God comes with the glad Throng, In every place we hear this Song, See, see, where our Beloved goes: That he may stand on Zion still, Look how he leaps from Hill to Hill, And makes us skip for joy, like Roes. Come, John 2.22. let's to Zion march along In order, (lest we Worship wrong) Numb. 10.33, 35, 36. After the Ark our Course is bend: We'll worship with the solemn Cries, Rise, Lord! unto thy Rest arise, Rise to a Temple from a Tent. The Train shall shout, 1 Chr. 15.27. and so will I, The Choir shall raise their Voices high; The Priests shall show the Sanctity Both of thy Person, and their Place, 2 Chr. 6.12, 13. By being clothed with Righteousness: And thine Anointed thou shalt bless, Nor from thy * Or Favour. See Gregory's Notes on the word, Presence turn his Face. Oh! 2 Sam. 6.21. never turn from us thy Face, For David's sake, love David's Race; Do not his Stock (as Saul's) disown: Since, if his Sons thy Laws obey, Thou, 2 Chr. 9.17. Lord, hast sworn his * De fructu Ventris tui, quoniam uterus Vxeris cum omni suo fructu ad Maritum pertinet. Seed shall sway, And here for ever have a Throne. 2 Sam. 6.12.13. For here hath God his Favour shown, And chose our Dwellings for his own; He will not stay with Edom * Neither with Edom whom he hated; nor Obed Edom whom he blessed. still, But his Provisions shall bless ours, Since on the Rich he dainty's showers, And can with Bread the Hungry fill. Here will I sit, 2 Chr. 6.41. saith God, Vi●tum eye (non viduam) lenedicam. and Carve To each poor Soul, Significare vult apertam & manifestam salutem quae omnibus pateat, cum sacerdotes salute quasi veste circumdarentur; qui nunquam deerint gratiarum repetendarum Officio. that none may starve; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the 72 Interp. will render it, which properly signifies Venison (a dainty indeed,) but it implies more largely any Victuals or Prosions. All Wants I will so far supply, That a large Alb of Thankfulness Shall be my Priest's perpetual Dress, And Saints shall set their Joys on high. On high shall David see my Love, As here in Zion; so above, Like Aaron's Rod, shall bud his * His Royal Dignity, Power, and Off spring. 1 King. 11.36. Horn: † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which mystically refers to Christ. Psal. 4.2. Glory's own Lamp lights up his Line, And on his Head my Crown shall shine; But on his Foes I'll ‖ Haud secus ac Retiarii; ut supra in comment. throw my Scorn. Gloria Patri, etc. Glory be to the Father, Son, And Holy-Ghost, the Three in One, Whom as one Being we adore: Tho every Person of the Three For ever was, shall ever be, And is, God Blessed evermore. AMEN. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Thirteenth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXXII. PSALM. O Lord God that thou mayest the more graciously consider us and our Affairs, Remember our Lord Jesus we beseech thee, and all his Afflictions, all his Humbling, all his Troubles, his Cares, and Loves, and Passions for us: look how through the whole Volume of thy Book it is written of him, That he should fulfil thy Will, O God and therefore he beggared himself so far as to be born of the Stock and Lineage of David, that he might perform the Promise he had made, not to fail his People, but to become their Righteousness, and their Redemption; and so though the Foxes had holes, and the Birds of the Air nests, he would not have where to lay his Head: Neither would he give sleep to his Eyes, but would be walking, and watching, and praying, whole Nights together, that he might be doing good to us, for us, in us, and with us, that here again in this base Earth and World of ours, he might find out an Habitation for the Mighty God, and a place where his holy Dove might rest. Grant then, O glorious Lord! that all his Labours and Desires, his Endeavours and good Will concerning us may not be frustrated, but let us be built up a Spiritual House upon him, and be blest in our Undertake through him unto thy Glory; that as we have been directed, so we may go on (not stand still) to see thy Salvation, and to worship thy Goodness, which doth arise with healing under its Wings for us, as a Hen, and as an Eagle, to cure, to carry, to secure and feed us, to make our Natures thy Abode, our Hearts thy Sanctuary, our Souls the resting Place, both for thee, and the Ark of thy Strength; and all this, to what purpose? but for our Advantage, (not thine) that we might be a Chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, clothed with Christ's Righteousness, and covered with thy Comeliness, which invests us with all Peace and Joy through the Holy Ghost. O therefore! let us lift up our Hearts with Love, and Praise, and Comfort, in believing, trusting, and begging, for thy Son's sake, that neither our Faces may be turned from thee to go a Whoring after other things (that are not God, nor indeed good), nor let the face of thine Anointed be turned so away from us, as not to know us at the last Day. No, blessed Lord! grant us such an interest in our dear Redeemer, as that we may have a Title to thy Favour, and be able to put thee in mind how thou hast sworn, and wilt not fail unto thy wellbeloved Son, that of the Fruit of his Body thou wilt set upon the Throne, and hast promised to all true Believers (his Servants,) that if they keep thy Covenant, they and their Children shall Reign with thee for ever, and find new cause of rejoicing in thee, who hast chosen the Sons of Men for thy Zion, and desired their enlarged Souls for thy restful Habitation, and chief Delight! But when shall we come to this Joy unspeakable, and full of Glory? When we have with patience waited on thy good pleasure, and not fainted in our expectation of thy faithfulness, then for certain we shall see thee, abundantly blessing and rewarding the small Provisions made here to serve thee withal, and thou wilt satisfy such as hunger and thirst after thy Kingdom with the Bread of Life, and with the Wells of Salvation, and they shall be arrayed like thy Priests with Holiness, and shine like Lamps in thy Presence for evermore. Amen. HElp us, O Mighty God of Jacob! to sing no Requiems to our Souls or Conditions here, till we have not only heard of thee with the hearing of the Ear, but harkened unto thee with the attention of the Mind, and come unto thee with the obedience of the Will, finding out a place in our Affections and Understandings where thou mayest dwell, that thou mayest hereafter prepare a Mansion for us, even in thy House, O Father! And with us be mindful of all Degrees amongst us, from David upon the Throne, to Job upon the Dunghill; be good unto them in all their Cares, Vows, Prayers, Devotions, and Afflictions, according to the multitude of thy most tender Mercies, and comfortable Promises: Let the King rejoice in thy strength, O Lord! and do thou make his Power to flourish, and his Righteousness to blossom like the Rod of Aaron; ordain a lustre of Honour and Happiness for him and his House for evermore; let not his Candle go out in obscurity, nor quench the Light of Israel, but let his Enemies be enveloped with disgrace and disappointments, and thy Priests, and our Church of England, with Honour, Prosperity, and perfect Redemption, that the Horn of David may bud amongst us, and the Power of Godliness shoot forth every where in our Land, in the great City, in Prince's Courts, and in thy House and ours, so that thou mayest have Mercy on Zion, and repair the breaches of thy Jerusalem, while she that sat Disconsolate as a Widow may now be feasted with Bread from Heaven, with the Manna of Divine Ordinances duly administered; so that no Soul amongst us may go empty away, but that even he who gathers lest may have no lack. Exod. 16.18. Lord! thou canst make thy holy Viands, like David's Provision at the Passover, be dealt so plentifully to every one, as that none shall be unprovided for, or ashamed, who depend like Ruth upon thy Bounty; but they who despise thee shall be wrapped up in Confusion as in a Cloak. Therefore let thy Servants joy in thy Salvation, and all our People know the Lord, acknowledging his Goodness and his Bounty that blesses the Abundance of the Rich, and fills the Hungry with good things, that both may have Bread enough, and neither want nor repine, but seek their Food of God, while he makes those that depart wickedly from him to continue in shame and scarcity. Ah! that we may stand in a we and not sin, lest we inherit the promotion of Fools, instead of the Kingdom and Crown of David; so provide for us, gracious Master, in every state and condition, as may seem best to thy Godlike Wisdom, and prove most to thine Eternal Glory, if not to ours, O! Our Father, etc. THE FOURTEENTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXIII. PSALMS, Was composed by David (as some think) at his Coronation, 2 Sam. 5. 1 Chr. ●1. 2 Pet. 1.7. 1 Sam. 17.29. after his eight years Civil War, to exhort the People to Love and Amity, according to the exhortation of the Apostle, for those were the Graces which did most adorn his Life, both when a public and a private Person; and so this Psalm, as the next, 1 Sam. 18. 2 Sam. 1. 2 Sam. 3. 2 Sam. 10. & 9 & 18. etc. was fitted for the most Solemn Times of Worship, and the happy Return from Bondage and Captivity, because it magnifies the pious Accord, Uniformity, and Blessed Communion of the Church of God in all Times. It Celebrates the Excellencies of Love, both in and towards God and Man; it reflects much Joy from the Consideration of the Mystical Union between Christ and his Members, whom he owns as Brethren, who shall live, and live together also with him, though he is their High Priest, Rock, and Prince, according to the most apt Comparisons of the holy Oil, and highborn Dew; which Similes, In Zorchabel, and Joshua, Types of the Messiah. as well as the Subject, were so well calculated to the Time, when there was a Prince and an High Priest restored again to Israel, that it is no wonder we find it placed among the Graduals. Some apply it to all the Israelites Love one towards another, who were Brethren of the same Stock (as we are all in Adam;) and likewise to their Love of their Ruler, who was higher than the rest, (as was shown in Saul) like Mount Hermon and Zion, more advancing than other Hills: Therefore to animate us with the like affections towards our Brethren, Parents, and Superiors, they say, the Priest's Blessing is compared to the Sacred Oil, and the Prince's Favour to the fruitful Dew, (according to that expression of the Wisest of Kings) which descends from the highest to the lowest, and is both pleasant and profitable to all; Prov. 19.12. as the Heathen Poet Meander (once quoted by St. Paul himself) could say, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Some of the Rabbins think it a particular Eulogy of the Concord and Conformity among the Priests in their Religious Exercises; and therefore mention is made of Aaron the most Anointed of the Lord (as he may be termed, rather than chief Anointed,) because most Oil was expended on him. For Saint George's, or All-Saints Day. BE— hold how plea—sant ' 'tis! how good! But, O! how rare, and hard to find, Brethren, of the same House and Blood, be-come of the same way and mind. Like Sampson's Honey, Judg. 14.14. strong and sweet, 'Tis thus to see Men's Hearts and Hands, As Jonathan's and David's meet, 1 Sam. 18.3. Twisting together in Love's Bands. When Prince and People so are one, As that the Oil, 2 Sam. 19.39.5.3.19.23. poured on his Head, Down to the lowest Limb doth run; In Grace, and Peace, and Pardon spread. 'Tis like the precious Ointment shed Levit. 8.12. Upon the High Priest's hallowed Crown, Which both perfumed his Beard and Head, And thence upon his Clothes fell down. Thus have I seen Clouds big with Rain First give their Dews to all the Hills, And then shower Wealth on the low Plain As Friendship benefits distils. On Friendship's Fleece God's Love brings down Blessings, Judg. 6.38, 39 Vide Hammond. as numberless as Drops; Which from Mount Zion deck the Town, And the Fields from Hermon's Tops. As to the Vale, these Mountains are; So to the Weak, the Potent prove Useful and kind, though distant far; Yet centred, like the World, by Love. For all our Comforts come from Love, By Love; God gives the Happy Life; That Blest below, and best above, There without end, here without strife. Gloria Patri. Glory to him who makes our Bliss, To the one God, in Persons three; As in beginning was, now is, And shall be to Eternity. AMEN. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourteenth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXXIII. PSALM. O Blessed Father! who hast made many of us of one Blood and Kind: O blessed Saviour! who hast made us many of one Bread, and one Lump: O blessed Spirit! who art the Love, both of the Father, and of the Son, shed this abroad into all our Hearts abundantly; look upon us graciously, O thou only one, most loving and pitying Lord God that we may look upon thee better (though it be but darkly at the best) in that Sea of Glass before the Throne, in that clearest mirror and reflection of thy favour to Mankind, to wit, in Christ incarnate, in whom God is most wonderfully, wisely, and kindly seen to reconcile the World (what is that but Vileness, Vanity, and Vexation, Frailty, and a Curse) unto himself, that Man might be far more able than he was by the Glasses and Laver of the Tabernacle, both to see his Spots and Pollutions to get clean from them, and that God might be considered and admired not so much in the broken Glass of Nature, nor in the blotted Book of the Creature, (which show us his power and greatness) as in the Face of a Redeemer, in the Testament of the holy Jesus, which most plainly, and yet most gloriously speaks thy Love and Goodness, and calls for ours; since if thou hast so loved this naughty World, and us that help to make it worse, how ought we to love thee, and also to love one another? O how good, as well as how pleasant, a thing it is to know Christ as our Head, and we ourselves his Members! This is as sweet and useful as Life itself, to make our short Lives here not tedious to ourselves or others; nay, this is Life Eternal, because Charity never fails: We shall have that Grace for all if we are Christians, we shall keep it always if we are Saints, for it is Holiness, and will be Happiness; it is the Oil that from our Head, from our everlasting Aaron, falls down to the very Skirts of his Clothing, to revive and refresh the lowest and most humbled Sinner (if believing), and it is that Anointing from above which we must not want, especially at the last Article of Life, in the greatest extremities of Temptation, but we must carry it along with us into our Father's presence; then shall we be in his sight as a Field which the Lord hath blest, then will he smell the Odour of our elder Brother's Vest upon us, and we shall inherit the Promises, and abide in his Love in the participation, and in the propagation thereof, Divine Love being the Dew of Heaven that causes the fruitfulness of the Earth; it makes us high and white like Hermon, pleasant and safe as Mount Zion; it makes our Superiors, and the great ones of the Earth, not to be Rocks of Offence to us, but to be rather, as the shadows of a Rock in a dry Land, needful Supports, convenient Sanctuaries and Refreshments, and it causes God to command a Blessing on us from all degrees of People above us, and of conditions round about us. Therefore, Dear Lord! help us to live in such Concord and brotherly Kindness, as that we may be Blessed from all our Relations, from our Superiors, by having the Oil of Spiritual Blessings, and the Dew of Temporal Favours bestowed on us, Love and good Will from Equals, Prayers and good Wishes from Inferiors; being so careful and affectionate, both for thy Priests, and for our Princes, as that neither Moses nor Aaron may be murmured at, but obeyed by us, and we may be protected and guided by their Hands in the Spirit and Practice of all true Love and Charity, for the honour of our Christian Profession, and for the glory of thy holiest Name, O Christ Jesus our Lord! who livest and reignest, etc. THE FIFTEENTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXIV. PSALMS, Was composed by David (De Muys thinks) as well as the former, and appointed to put the People in mind of their more solemn Times of Meeting with that pious, charitable, and unspotted Souls, with which they ought to approach God; this being an Euge, an incitement to all, who are the Lord's Servants, to be constant and pure in his Service, as a particular hoc age to the Priests at the Canonical Hours of Prayer, and stated Times of public Worship, to lift up clean Hands, and holy Hearts. It is a proper Close to the preceding Hymns, being often sung at Midnight at the end of the Nocturnal Offices by the Jews, and designed by me for the Eves of our greater Festivals: It is an Exhortation generally directed not only to the Priests, who kept the Watch in the Temple, so to the People, who watched their Days and Nights, for many departed not, as you may gather from Psal. 92.2. and Luke 2.37. It seems to me most probable, that this Psalm was composed by Ezra the Priest, or some of his Time, not only because it is the last of the Graduals, which were accommodated for the Return from Captivity, but because it is Dramatic; chief concerning the Priests, who stand by night in the House of the Lord; or as the 72d, in the Courts of the House, which was not built in David's time; and therefore it is not so likely a composition of David's, but of Ezra, when the holy manner of worshipping God was restored, Ezra 8.6. and the Priests set in their Courses, Vers. 7. In the first Verse of this Psalm I should suppose the Choir joining to the Music, and then the Chief Priest (for that Watch) giving the rest Directions as in the second Verse, and they again in the third Verse blessing him, (for it is Bless thee, and not ye) though in my version I use the Plural throughout. A Nocturnis for Christmas Eve. ALL ye, whô God's Do— me— stics are, see you, with a— gels wait; and in your Courses, like each Star, by Night shine at heavens Gate. Look while ye stand, Among the Jews the Choir stood, the People kneeled, the Highpriest sat, and the washings of their Hands and Feet (so frequent during the time of their officiating) were called Sanctifications. or kneel, or sit, Ye serve and bless the Lord; Look that your Hands God's Altar fit, And to his Praise accord. Look ye be clean, for Holiness Becomes God's holy Place; Watch well, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the 72. is short of the Original, though it means in holy Things, as well as Places, for it signifies Holiness in the Abstract (Christ typified by the Ark of the Covenant); and such Holiness in Men as could adapt them for the discharge of their Duty, which is hinted by the Apostle, 1 Tim. 2.8. And this was signified by the Jews often washing their Hands and Feet before their Praying, which was styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sanctification: alibi indigitavi. and Pray, that Filthiness None of God's Works deface. Then God, who made the World, and stays On Zion, Grace shall send; Till he shall Bless, and we shall Praise, From hence, World without end. Gloria Patri, etc. To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Holy-Ghost, Be Glory given, by every one Who make the Lord their Boast. AMEN. CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifteenth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXXIV. PSALM. O Thou that acceptest not the Persons of Princes, nor regardest the Rich more than the Poor, since they are all alike the Works of thy Hands! grant that we may not be such Fools as to forget thee in any time of our quiet, fullness, or repose, lest thou come at an Hour when thou art not looked for by us, and find us unfit for thy Appearance, who canst trouble whole Nations even at Midnight (at a time when we least think of Disturbance or Remove), as we have great Examples in the People of Israel, Egypt, and Assyria; for there is not any Darkness (no not the shadows of Death) where the workers of Iniquity can hid themselves from thine Eyes, though all the Mountains of the World should cover them; thou beholdest all our Go, though thy Footsteps are too little regarded by us. Therefore let us not think to do mischief or wrong like the Evil one, who sowed Tares while other Men slept; nor to commit Violence or Robbery; 1 King. 3.20 nor to Defraud or Deceive, like the Harlot at Midnight; but even at that Season be , and Pious, and Charitable, like Boaz, denying ourselves, and mastering our Concupiscences, and (like Samson in Gaza) disappoint the malice of that implacable Adversary, who hunts after our Souls, and ceases not, like a Dog, to go about seeking whom he may devour. Lord! deliver thou my Darling from his Power, as thou didst St. Paul, even at such a dismal time when I may seem in his very Jaws; then let my Soul escape and get away, and find a way to serve thee, (as that chosen Vessel did) who could Pray and sing Praises unto thee even at Midnight; so let us endeavour to worship the Lord with holy Worship, with clean Hands, and a pure Heart, that we may stand on his holy Hill, and remember in all the Formalities of outward Cleanness to keep our Spirits pure; and in all our Approaches to thee, to keep ourselves unspotted of the World; to this end give us inward Holiness, and the Sanctifications both of Heart and Life, that in the darkest hour of Temptation, in the deadest time of Distress, in the cloudiest night of Trouble, or of Agonies, we may lift up our Praises and Adorations unto thee, who canst send thine Angel (as thou didst once thy Son, at such a time) to comfort and recover our vile Natures, and to command Deliverances unto thy People, even from thy most holy Place. O! that we may be of the number of those who qualify themselves by thy Service for the better discharge of their Duty and thy Will; that having the filthy Garments of our own evil Thoughts, Words, and Actions (like Joshua's the High-Priest's) taken off from us, we may not have Satan left at our right Hands to accuse or command us, but may see Jesus at thy right Hand interceding for us; and being clothed in the long Robes of his Righteousness, we may lift up our Hands in thy Sanctuary, and bless thee for evermore, who hast made the Heavens as well as the Sea, for thy Children to adore thee in, O! Our Father, etc. THE FIFTEEN Psalms of Degrees, OR ASCENTS, Are so called, because they were sung Anthem-wise by several Parts of the Choir, with Elevation of Voice on some higher Ground, or place of advantage; perhaps on the Steps of the Temple, which in Ezekiel's Vision are mentioned to be Fifteen in number: Ca 40. v. 22. 34. And just so many Stairs, say the Talmudists, were there mounting from the Woman's Court to the Men's, on which, they fancy, these PSALMS were sung, and therefore thus termed, Ὠδαί τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν καὶ ἀναβάσεων (εἰς τὰς ἀναβάσεις, as Aquila and Symachus.) But I think rather because they were much used by the Hebrews upon their coming up from Babylon, and at the building of the second Temple, as may be guessed from Nehemiah; Cap. 8. at which time they might indeed begin very properly with the 120th Psalm, by reason of the contempt and calumniation of their ill-willers at that time; who were such as are there described Arabians, crafty and cruel Adversaries, who maliciously opposed both their unloosing the Chains of Captivity, and the erection of their Buildings. Need was there then of Songs of Education and Ascents to advance God's high Deliverances of them, and exalt his Praise and Glory in the most excellent way of rejoicing, which was in their eminent Music, as the Title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, rendered Cantica Dignitatum, may likewise bear. As also to revive their drooping Spirits by some pleasant kind of Melody or lofty Note, well known to the Jews by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which some suppose may here import no more than this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the front of other Psalms, viz. to notify that the Tune or Key these were to be sang in, was the same with such other Psalms as were known to begin with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. FINIS.