King David's Sanctuary, OR A SERMON Preached before His MAJESTY the fourth of Febr: 1643. at Christ-Church in OXFORD:  
By RICHARD HARWOOD Master of Arts.  Psal. 108.10, 11, 12. 
Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Euom?  
Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?  
Give us help from troubles for vain is the help of man.  
OXFORD, Printed for H. Hall and W. Webb. 1644.   

TO THE HIGH AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES, DUKE OF CORNWALL, and Earl of CHESTER.  
SIR,  
BEsides the Honour your Highness hath done the Truth, by casting so early an eye upon Her, though in the plainest dress: You have given a Happy Omen to this Nation, that the True Religion, which is now trampled under foot by Heresy, and Schism, hath yet Messem in Herbâ, and is Revirescent in your tender years. As Theodosius the Emperor, after the Apostolical Faith had been long buried by the Arians, 
Soc. Eccl. hist. l. 5 〈◊〉 6.  erected a Church in Constantinople, and christened it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Resurrection: So by your timely Patronage of the Truth, You have raised our Hopes into a Confidence, that we shall yet see a Resurrection: when the King's Crown shall rise the Brighter out of these Flames; and the Dry bones of Learning and Religion, live, and stand, in Your sight. For by commanding this Sermon to the press, (Though I must say to Your Highness, as Tully to Brutus, Quamvis Placebam, nihil feci, quod placeret: It being like martials Fly, of no Worth in itself, but only for the Amber and Grace You have cast about it:) You have already insome part, 
They have made lies their refuge, and under falsehood hid themselves. Isai. 28.15.  not only vindicated the King's Honour, and Your own Spotless Innocency from the Blasphemies of those, who have made Lies a refuge: (For he that pleaseth to read, may here behold the liberty and boldness, we are still allowed against the Romanists, Even in the presence of our King, His Posterity, and the whole Counsel,) But also confirmed the Faith of this Kingdom, that according to the Unparalleled Example of Your Royal Father, you will be a Constant Defender of the Protestant Faith, you have received from a Religious Education, To the glory of God, the future Tranquillity of these Kingdoms, and your own Immortal Honour, which is the prayer of  
Your HIGHNESS Truly devoted, but most humble Servant, RICHARD HARWOOD.   

King DAVID'S Sanctuary.  PSAL. 73.25. 
Whom have I in Heaven, but thee, O Lord? and there is none upon earth, that I desire besides thee.  
AMong the books of Canonical Scripture, there is but one styled the book of the Preacher: not as if our doctrine should all be confined to Ecclesiastes, 
Proloq. in Ecclesiast.  but as Gregory Nyssen, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 etc. because it is a choice Tract of Ecclesiastical policy, and no Text more fit for the Preachers study, or the People's practice, than the vanity of the creature, & the immortality of the creator. For since the soul of man is restless, & unquiet out of its centre, and the whole world is but a wide circumference. since like the needle in the compass, she hath a natural trembling to the fruition of happiness, and this temporal, as Basil truly, 
Basil. in Psal. 61.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 steals along by it, as an impetuous stream rowles by the banks, (and who can aim steedily at a moving mark?) The Prophet here is a true Ecelesiastes, if he draw you a right line to the  centre, and direct the quaking soul to its true pole, God himself. For having coasted the whole world in his thoughts for a resting place, with Noah's Dove, he returns again into the Ark with this Olive branch in his mouth, Non est Mortal, quod opto. He finds no sanctuary, but in heaven, no safe repose, but in the Almighty: Whom have I in Heaven, but thee, O Lord? and there is none upon Earth, that I desire besides thee.  
In this verse King David seems to be placed, as Augustus once fancied himself, inter suspiria & lachrimas, between sighs, and tears: yet he looks cheerfully up to Heaven, fetching comfort thence in the full assurance of the divine favour. And because 'tis musical, I shall once more crave leave to follow the allegory, please you to observe  
The Disposition of the parts And Opposition of the notes, in both.  
First, The Disposition of the parts, and those are Acutum, and grave, High, and Low.  
High, in a passionate expostulation. Whom have I in Heaven, but thee, O Lord?  
Low, in a deliberate resolution. There is none upon Earth, that I desire besides thee.  
I. In the expostulation you have 3 notes.  

1. Quem in coelis. Whom in Heaven, whilst others lay up their treasures on earth, in heaven my exchequer, in heaven my treasury.  
2. Quem praeter te? Whom have I there, but thee, O Lord? God alone is a Christians portion: he is truly possessed of nothing, but the Deity.  
3. Quis mihi, according to the hebrew, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  who is for me? who pleads my cause in heaven? not any Saint, or Angel, but thou O Lord, thou art my redeemer, thou my advocate: which makes the question past all question, I have none in heaven, but thee, O Lord.   
II. The resolution. There is none that I desire on Earth besides thee. Et tecum non. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  The negation is Personal, no man for his favour, Real, no creature for its excellency, that I desire with thee: the treasures of the earth are but guilded poverty: the favour of a Prince, but a gracious snare without thee: give me thy blessed self, and what can this earth add to my happiness? that I may in the next live for ever with thee, Lord, let me never live in the present world without thee; For, non est in terris, there is nothing on earth, that I desire, but thee.  
Secondly. The Opposition or distinction of the notes in both parts. For as Synesius in his panegyrical oration, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their discord is a most sweet harmony. The opposition appears 

1. In the order of the places. In King David's thoughts, Heaven takes praecedency of the earth; Whom have I in Heaven? that's his first care: then, desire on earth, follows after. 'Tis honour enough, for this vile earth to wait upon Heaven.  
2. In the sense of the Verbs, Habeo, and Desideravi; Habeo in Coelis, Have in heaven, Desideravi in terris; only desire on earth. Here we tire ourselves with a restless covetousness, wand'ring through the whole creation, but finding no satisfaction: yet what we crave on earth, we are sure to have in heaven: there our desires shall be satisfied with fruition, and though some vessels may contain more than other, yet every one shall be full, no vacuity, no want in any.  
3. In the diversity of the praepositions. The hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and calvin's Praeter. Nothing with, nothing besides thee, that I desire: this is the true Ela, the highest strain in the Song.   Canticordium, a song for no other instrument, but the heart: that's the Psaltery King David sings to: and as Basill observes of the material, 
Basill in Psal. 1.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they use to play upon it above, not below, as in the Harp and Viol: so in this spiritual Psaltery, the Heart, we shall strike the upper strings, the understanding, will, and affections, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that so our souls may ascend, and in every note of the song, seem to rise a degree nearer heaven. That's the first, which presents itself to your attention, Quem in caelis, Whom have I in heaven; whilst others lay up their treasures on earth, In heaven my exchequer, in heaven my treasury.  
Christianity is but a kind of religious Astronomy, 
1. Quem in Cales.  the contemplation and study of heaven. No Geometry, or measuring the earth in a Christians Mathematics, unless it be, that his soul may the more easily take footing into heaven. When the Rabbins take Shamajim, the word for heaven in pieces, they find it composed of esch and maijm, fire and water, not a jot of earth in it: The very creation of the Heavens instructing our thoughts should be advanced above the earth: 
Menass. Ben Isr. 9.30. in gen.  that hath the lowest place in nature, made, but to be trampled on.  
Some Principles there be, that lay a foundation to every Science: Let your conversation be in heaven, is the chiefest in Christianity. 
Philip. 3. v. 20.  As the Stars move in their several orbs, and the planets in their cycles, and epicycles observe a kind of orderly wand'ring: so a Christians sphere is above, in Heaven, there he performs all his regular motions: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the original word is, let your civil commerce be in heaven. For are we not all Merchant adventurers for happiness? Doth not every man desire to deal in that rich commodity? and where shall we find it, but in the new Jerusalem? The Artist hath made it a very long voyage, 
I. h. de sae. Bos. de Sphaera.  who curiously calculating the distance from earth to heaven, finds it to be five hundred year's journey, but the Christian hath a nearer way to it: he can step to heaven in a pious glance; finish this five hundred year's journey in a meditation of but an hour long: venture alms and prayers, and have a return in a day: nay whilst we are but furnishing the Ship for Heaven, our faith, and affections but on the Shore, not yet launched into the deep, God many times prevents our desires and sends us in a rich prize of blessings. No such gain, as by trading to heaven.  
But not to move the note off its rule; when we say our Pater noster, (though it be almost out of use now adays, our extemporary mouths prising more their whining nonsense, yet when we say it) we tune this note to ourselves: Our father which art in heaven, and why not as well, which art on earth? but that he would confine our thoughts to that place, where all happiness is confined. Earth? Why, it is the mother of corruption; fit for nothing, but to make graves of: if you dote upon it, yea quite change our Liturgy, and commit your souls to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, but with no sure and certain hope of a resurrection to eternal life. In the 6 Chapter of Isaiah, the Cherubims cover their feet with a pair of wings, Ne terram contingerent, 
Calvin. in 6. cap. Isai.  lest they should once touch the earth, and contract any pollution from it. Quo admonentur, says Calvin, to give us notice, that we shall never have any commerce with Angels, till we forsake our acquaintance with the world. 'Tis S. Ambrose upon those words of Matthew, 
Matt. 7.16.  do men gather grapes of thorns? that the soul, and the grape do so correspond in their nature, that as the bunches next the earth corrupt, whilst those above ripen: so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzens' phrase is, the soul that creeps upon the ground doth rot, and putrify, when that which springs upwards is immortal. Indeed our primitive soil is the earth: the soul was first planted in a body of clay, as a diamond some times may be set in lead: yet as Pliny said of Roses, that they lose not their virtue by transplantation, 
Lib. 2. nat. hist. ●●●●.  but increase it. Oderatiores, they are more odoriferous, and pleasant, so did we transplant our souls into heaven, they would be more sweet and fragrant, whilst now they stink, and smell of the earth.  
But let me not here play the Jesuit with you, persuading you to abjure worldly happiness, that our own tribe might engross it, (though some deal worse with us, whowould reform the Church into a religious beggar, condemning us all to a laborious penury, only to bring her revenues to their own coffers) we equally detest a voluntary mendicant, and a golden Idolater. Wilful poverty is a Stoical dulness, and the adoration of mammon a most stupid Idolatry. Mundun mundè, use we may, but not adore the creature, command the world, as a servant, not serve it as a Commander. We may look upon this fair picture as the work of God, not worship it for a God; like the foolish Egyptians that were so enamoured with the picture of Bucephalus, that they esteemed it a Deity.  
Yet how many Shrines and Altars are erected in men's hearts to this great Idol, the world? Most men scarce acknowledge any other God, but this golden Calf, to which they perform their servile devotions. 
Herodot, lib. 5. Terpsie. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  As Herodotus said of Onefilus his head, that it was empty of brain, filled only with honey combs, so our hearts are void of the thoughts of Heaven, replenished only with the vanities of the world. Should I misspend time, to represent unto you the actions of men, I should find them so opposite to heaven, 
Plutarch.  as if they had consulted with Brutus his Oracle, which required him Osculari terram, even to kiss and embrace the earth.  
But Heaven is a fairer object for our meditations. Did we but cast up an eye to our future hopes, how meanly should we esteem our present fortunes. All our happiness here stands on a rolling stone, but if we fix it in Heaven 'tis everlasting, and permanent. 
Plutarch.  Empedocles being asked C●r viveret, why he desired to live in this miserable world? replied, ut coelum aspicerem, only to contemplate Heaven.  
When I behold but the Pavement of Heaven stuck with Stars, as so many sparkling Diamonds, how despicableis the statelyest palace of the greatest Monarch: & if the very pavement be so glorious, what shall we think of those better parts yet unseen? 
Bernard.  Magnum & mirabile sub tanta majestace. When I consider the eternal joys of that place, how heartless, and dying are the best of earthly pleasures! 'tis a very Turkish heaven, that is composed of nothing, but your temporal delights: 
Aug.  a Christians is above, made of pure, everlasting bliss. But Saint Hierom's Ghost strikes me dumb in this point, who departing in Bethlehem, hasted to Hippo, where Augustine was Bishop, and then studying the joys of heaven, and interrupted his meditations with this question, Quid quaeris brevi immittere vasculo totum mare? Why dost thou endeavour to contract the Ocean in a thimble? or to draw eternity within the narrow limits of time? The fading honour of this world! 'Tis but a popular breath, the butt of envy, or what is worse, too often the stage of treason, and revenge: in heaven, 'tis in triumph, above the reach of malice, or oblivion. The Dying life we live here! 'tis a lamp that must out, a shadow that will vanish, a grass that shall whither: in heaven, 'tis lengthened into eternity, beyond the threats of mortality or corruption. The sinful company we enjoy in this life! 'Tis a mixture of virtue and vice, gold, and dross, wheat and tares, in heaven, the society of Saints and Angels: yea the beatifical vision of God himself. O King of glory, 'tis the revelation of thy royal presence, that makes heaven to be itself! as we use to say, Ubi imperator, ibi Roma: Where the King is, there is London: his presence creates a metropolis of any place: which leads your attentions from Quem in coelis? to Quem praeter te? The second note in the song. Whom have I in heaven, but thee O Lord? thou my portion, thou my riches.  
Divitiae parentes sunt absurditatis, says a Father, 
2 Quem prater te.  worldly happiness is the parent of absurdity: for what more incongruous, then to forsake the glory of the creator, for the vanity of the creature? This were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Synesius opinion, 
In epist. ad Pylens. Plin. l. 12. nat. hist.  to exchange gold for brass, or with those people in Pliny, tributum pro umbra, to pay tribute for a shadow. Alas, we creatures need not one another, so long long as we are possessed of thee, O lord 
Ambros.  Cui portio Deus est, totius possessor est naturae; He is Lord of the whole universe, that is but possessed of God himself. And how unsatiable art thou, O man, whom God cannot satisfy? What doth thy religious avarice determine thy desires to? name it what thou wilt: think what thou canst; nay, think once a miracle, what thou canst not think; yet this shalt thou find in the all-sufficient God. 
Arist. in Moral.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, says Aristotle by the light of nature, the Deity is in all things, and all things in it. 'Twas Saint Cyprians wonder, Deum solis nobis, that God esteems us enough for him, nobis non sufficere Deum; and yet we think not God a sufficient boon for us. Quid avarius co, cui Deus non sufficit, cui insunt omnia? What so covetous as he, that is not satisfied with God, who is a monopoly of all things? 'Tis the ambition of every man's coverteousnesse, to reach after the greatest, and most lasting fortune he can; but can your desires compass a larger inheritance than Immensity? can your Lawyer draw you a firmer conveyance, or give you a surer tenure than Immutability? can you take a lease for a longer term of years than Eternity? Let Saint Augustine speak, Quantum libet sis avarus, sufficit tibi Deus, be as covetous as thou canst, yet God is enough for thee. He is an immense, immutable, eternal inheritance. Avaritia terram quaerit, add & coelum, Avarice carries thy desires upon the earth, but to make thy fortune complete, add heaven to thy desire. Nay, wouldst thou have this world, and the next too? Plus, est qui fecit coelum, et terram; He that made heaven and earth is more then both. Who so rich as he, whose maker is his Wealth? Who so fortunate, as he that enjoys him, who enjoys all things? 
Aug. manuale c. 34.  Qui hoc bono fruitur, quid illi erit, in ò quid non erit? he that possesseth this good, what will it be, nay, what will it not be unto him?  
I have here discovered a Mine: opened a Treasure to you: (and certainly in these times of public necessity, it cannot be an unwelcome message: 
Ambros. Ser. 8. in Psal. 118. ) In te Deo est ampla possessio. In God alone is the most ample possession: as the greatest abundance without him is extreme poverty, so the most extreme poverty with him is the greatest abundance. Omnis mihi copia, quae Deus meus non est, egestas est, says Bernard: all my wealth, which is not my God, is down right penury, Dominus pars haereditatis, the Lord is the part of my inheritance. David esteems not that an inheritance, whereof God is not a part. Ps. 16. v. 5. Menath, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  the Principal part, Heaven itself being but a poor fortune without him. The Romans were wont to say, 'twas good looking in a Map, ubi nihil alienum videmus, if all they beheld in it were their own: I have here drawn you to a Map, wherein, were there as many Worlds as Epicurus dreamt of, All's yours, if you make but God your own. O let us advance our thoughts from the creature to the creator, the mine is in heaven, 
1 Sam. 1.1.  the treasure above: every Christian should be an Elcanah, that is, by interpretation, a possessor of God: else he is no Christian, but an Atheist.  
My covetous heart! why dost thou vex thyself with restless thoughts for this world? let them look after earth, that have no right to heaven. God is a Christians patrimony, and what penury of gold, when thou hast the mine? What want of water at the spring head? can he complain the lack of any thing, that is possessed of the Lord of all things? a bottomless covetousness, which the Author of all things cannot content!.  
My ambitious spirit! why dost thou breath after greatness and honour? If God be not in thy preferments, thou art advanced, but upon a pinnacle, which gives an advantage to thy more ruinous downfall. All true honour is derived from heaven, there are 
a Joh. 14.2.  many mansions; places of honour. A 
b 1. Pet. 5.4.  Crown of glory, the ornament of 
c Revela. 7.11.  Saints and Angels, attendants of honour. 
d Mat. 24.35. Rom. 2. Bene speremus de eo, in quo aliquid Des cernimus. Calvin  A Kingdom, the support of honour. A Luciferian ambition, that is not satisfied with the glory, honour and immortality above, But once more: My despairing anxious soul, why art thou cast down, why disquieted within me? Let not thy hope sink, so long as thou seest the least ray of the Deity. Though thou beholdest our King dishonoured, our religion martyred, our fortunes ruined, and whatsoever is dear unto us in this world threatened with destruction: Nunquid tibi Deum? says Angustine, yet they cannot rob us of our God, keep we our interest in him, & we have yet a Treasure inexhaustible, an Army invincible, a Castle impregnable: a Treasure, an Army, a Castle, All in our God. what would you have? if Peace again, he is Deus pacis. If more power, he is Dominus exercituum. 
Psal. 144. v. 10.  If Victory, It is he that giveth victory to Kings, and delivers David his servant from the peril of the sword, Peace, Power, Victory, All from our God. Ask no more, who will show us any good? 
Psal. 4.6.  but Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. For he alone can be all these to us, who now begs all these for us: our partrimony, on earth, our patron in heaven; which brings me from Quem praeter te? to Quis mihi? who pleads for me? not any Saint or Angel; but thou O Lord: thou art my redeemer; thou my advocate.  
Whom but thee. 
3. Quis mihi.  why? Is the new Jerusalem become desolate? what use of many mansions, if no inhabitants there? Or if inhabited, why but thee, O Lord? Can God be solitary among so many regiments of Cherubims and Seraphims? or hath David never a friend in that Army of Martyrs, to usher his prayers to the almighty's care? were the Court of heaven like a Kings on earth, 
Exam. decret. council. Tridentini part. 3. loc. de Invoc. Sanct. 13.  many might conclude, as the man in Chemnitius hearing a Bishop on this subject, Tunc simplicitér actum & conclamatum nobiscum: or at least despair of a gracious answer, that have no friend at Court. But the Almighty's care is not confined to a privy chamber: he that would speak with God needs not bribe any Saint or Angel to be his Solicitor, a creature so base, and servile on earth, that the heavens scorn the use of him: the finitude of the King's presence requires an officer of state, to state our requests to His Majesty, but the ubiquity of God needs not the flattery of a creatures mediation. His ear is omnipresent, as his essence. Itur ad reges per tribunos, a tribune, or Lord must open the door for a petition to the King: 
Ambros. in Rom. 6.1.  ad Deum suffragatore non opus est, sed ment devotâ, To speak with God, we need no other Key, but a devout heart: this unlocks the heavens, and presents the suit to the Kings own hands.  
Indeed mediation supposes a quarrel. (for 'tis scarce sense to say, I will reconcile friends:) had God and man never fallen our, there had been no use of a Mediator, but now we all bend our knees to an offended justice, and might despair of mercy for ever, unless as Themistocles once to the King of Molossy, we present our requests under the protection of the King's only son: 
Plut. Mor.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the most prevalent kind of supplication. If Manoah offer sacrifice, 
Exod. 25. v. 16. Gen. 27. v. 27: Judg. 13.20.  this Angel must open heaven for it. If Moses ascend to God, he must be covered with this cloud. If Jacob would obtain the blessing, He must enter in the garments of this elder brother. 
Eph. 3. v. 12:  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by him alone our persons have admission into the royal presence of the Almighty.  
But, Quis praeter te? is no anthem for the Pope's choir, who allows as many mediators, as he hath Canonised Saints. Though he fill his Calendar from Tyburn, Masters of requests he will have for all necessities. Saint Geogre for the field, and (to open the roll no farther) Saint Gregory for the Schools. Yea as great a turn of State, or if you will. reformation you have in heaven, as we now fear on earth: Christ is put out of his office, and Saint Francis stepped into the mediatorship; the Church of Rome being therein as bold with the King of heaven, 
Anselm I'd excellentia Virg. Bonavint, in Spec. c. 8. Mendoz. in 1. lib. Reg. c. 4. n. 11. An. 12. Sect. 1.  as some are with our King on earth: not only to counterfeit the Great Seal in the Sacraments, but to deny him the choice of his own officers. Nay, they have given away half the Kingdom, that of Mercy to the Virgin Mary (so free are they of the divine prerogative:) allowing God himself but the dreadful tribunal of Justice, of purpose to draw all suitors to her Court.  

Ambr. in 1. cap. ad Rom. Aug. l. 8. de  Dei prolix.  A Platonic superstition, that hath too many grey hairs upon it, to survive to this age of the Gospel! for either the Jesuit doth Platonize, or Plato did Jesuitize, when he first sent abroad his Deos intermedios. A sacrilegious religion, to rob the very Deity, they worship, of his honour! An impious piety, or degrade our high Priest of that honourable title, he hath purchased with his blood! How do they deflower the memory of the blessed Virgin, whilst they force her loyal Spirit into the Throne of God, there to dispense those Acts of grace, which are in the sole power of the King of Kings? 'twere too ridiculous to hear Francisco del campo at his thanksgiving, that he swum over a river with his arms, a Sculler that never before tried the waters, yet made very nimble, and kept to the true stroke by the help of our Lady: When (though necessity hath wrought greater miracles,) a spaniel shall do more without imploring the Virgins ay de. A Pure Virgin she is still, for any violence the Church of England ever offered her, which hath always given her Due honour, but not Adoration. 
1. Tim. 2. 5●  Habemus legem, We have a Salic law in Scripture, that will not allow of any Queen Regent in heaven. Christ called her Woman who was his mother, that we might not esteem her a Goddess, who was but a Woman She may desire our salvation, but cannot bestow it. Wish us well in heaven, yet not know, much less relieve our wants on earth. Ignorance of our misery is some part of the Saints happiness, As Saint Hierome reads the Epitaph on Nepotians' tomb, Foelix Nepotianus, qui nec videt, nec audit haec omnia, happy Nepotian, who neither seethe, nor heareth the sinful affairs of this world.  
But their own Schoolmen have fancied the Deity, 
Abulensir. Durandus. Cajetan.  All transparent: and as the bright Opal presents to the eye the various colours of all precious stones; so the Saints have a clear sight of all affairs in the world, if they cast but a look on the divine essence. Indeed the whole world is resplendent in the Deity, yet by no means do we make it a lookingglass for the Saints curiosity. For either their vision is unlimited, and penetrating unto all things, or else restrained to God's pleasure, as he shall open or shut the veil to them.  
If unlimited, than the knowledge of a Saint must be as infinite as the divine: not a mystery of State, not a record written in that great diary of the world, the Mind of God, from the beginning, but must be published to the creatures view. All there must be of God's Cabinet counsel, and nothing kept secret in that Kingdom: Things past, present, and future: the very thoughts of our hearts, the knowledge whereof hath ever yet been Gods peculiar: Yea that Arcanum Dei, the day of judgement, which our Saviour protests, no man knows, not the Angels in heaven, no, not the Son of man, Every Saint would behold in this Crystal.  
If their knowledge be confined to his will, as he shall please to draw the curtain aside, more or less to them, since the Scripture assures me not, that God hath, or will discover my necessities, how absurdly must I fall upon my knees, to beseech God to reveal that to my Saint, which I first prayed my Saint to reveal to God? This were to mediate for my Mediator, as Saint Augustine once scoffed at Aplló, 
Lib●● decir. Dei.  Interpres Deorum eget interpret, the interpreter of the Gods must speak by an interpreter himself.  
May we not then be so unwise, as to go from the living fountain, to the broken cisterns for the water of life; from the bright sun to the languid beams for the light of knowledge; from our powerful King to the impotent Subjects for the Crown of glory? We acknowledge no Mediator, but our Redeemer. He is not worthy the name of an Intercessor, that hath not his garments died in blood.  
Christ alone is the Centre, where God and man must, if ever, mere friends; and why should we range about the circumference? 
Chemnit exam. council. Tried. de invoc. Sanctor.  Sarcerius relates how that George Duke of Saxony, lying upon his deathbed, and the Monks striving who should commend the most propitious Saint to his devotion, one of his Nobles told him, In publicis negotiis, In matters of State, your highness always used this Proverb, Rect a sine ambagibus progredi, Viam esse maximé compendiariam: to proceed without deviations was the most compendious method; And in a business of so high concernment as your eternal felicity, will you fetch a compass to it, and not rather go directly to Christ, in whose power are the keys of life, and death? can you think, that he, who breathed out his soul on the cross for us, will spare any breath to plead our cause in heaven? that he who poured out his precious heart blood for our redemption, will not also pour out hearty prayers for salvation? Never doubt of your cause, so long as you have such an Advocate, a jesus in heaven. With what boldness may we address ourselves to the throne of grace, when he that is sued unto, is easy to be entreated, Pater, non Judex, a Father, not a Judge? he that petitions for us, is gracious to prevail, Filius, non peregrinus, an only Son, not a Stranger? Et quando pater a filio, Deus avertetur a Christo, & how can a father deny his son, 
Prosper.  God his Christ, when he shall supplicate with strong cries and tears? Heb. 5, 7. When all the Saints in heaven shall sit with cheerful, and dry eyes, and he alone show the frailty of a man to move compassion for us: Nay, when he shall come before him, 
Heb. 12. v. 24.  with that Rhetorical blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than the blood of Abel: when the wounds he received on earth shall become orators for us in heaven, Quot vulnera, tot ora, each wound being a mouth to beg mercy for us. Saint Ambrose can hold no longer, but cries out O Domine Jesus, 
Ambiguity l. de interpell. 4. c. 12.  tu portio mea, etc. O Lord Jesus, thou art my portion, a bounding to me in all things, whom because I have in heaven, I desire nothing else on earth. which brings me from the Expostulation to the pious Resolution, the second part of the song, There is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.  
Lo chaphasti, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  None that I desire, love, trust, or delight in. All in tha word, and because unisons all, I shall tune them together.  
The procession of the creatures from the Creator is like a ray shot from the body of the Sun, 
3. The Resolution.  which is weakened, and spent by extension, and hath no way to recover it strength or vigour, but by reflection on the point, that first sent it forth, even God himself. In Plato our desires are styled, Vela animi, the sails of the mind, because in this life, the soul is tossed in an unconstant motion; she hath no security, till she hoist sail for heaven, no haven of peace, but in the Deity. 'Tis a rabbinical observation, that all the letters in God's name Ichovah are quiescent, preaching unto us, that Quies animae, 
Drus. q. heb.  the soul's rest is in God alone. For in God there is such a confluence of goodness, such a quintessence of perfection, that the soul of man cannot desire, with what it may not be satisfied, from the bounty of his fullness. As Origen said of the Israelites Manna that it answered every man's taste, even the most curious courtlike palate: so there are such infinite delicacies in the deity, that there cannot rise án appetite in the longing soul, that may not be satiated with his plenty. Philosophy ranks our desires into those of the Understanding, after truth: of the Will, after virtue: and of the Affections, after felicity. Now, to all these God is a full satisfaction: to the intellectual, with his infinite wisdom: to the voluntary, with his transcendent goodness: to the affective, with his eternal glory and if the senses can desire, Origen saith, he is singul 
a Can●. ●●. 30.  singulis, a most pleasing object to every sense. Beauty for the eye, music for the ear, 
b Joh. 6.48.53.  bread for life for the taste, 
c Cant 1. v. 2.  a perfume to delight the smell, and 
d Joh. 20.24. Hom 1. in cant.  flesh for the incredulous touch: but why do we look on these objects at the wrong end of the glass? what we call beauty is indeed deity, music felicity, life eternity, sweetness perfection, perfection essence, essence! what shall I say? Honours, riches, peace? I am too short yet, All things. how should this inflame our love to God, who like another Proteus (as I may say) converts himself into all forms and natures to please the covetous heart of man.  
He that seeks contentment in any created good, lays a foundation in the moving air: for when the figure of the great Empires were represented to Zachary in a vision, 
Zechar. 6. V 5.  the Angel told him, isti sunt quatuor venti, those are but the 4 winds, Wind all, and 'tis strange, me thinks, men should repose themselves on the wings of the wind. Sure, had God intended we should have rested our desires on this world, he would have provided a better foundation for it, but Mundum fundavit super nibil, says job, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Super non quid, cap. 26. v. 7.  he hath founded the world upon nothing, A very tottering foundation, ut universus mundus fundaretur super seipsum, that the whole world might settle, & repose itself on God alone. Riches themselves, the world's great Diana, are styled, but the goods of Fortune; the hypocrisy of their nature being signified by the false deity that protects them, or if you will accept of the ordinary gloss, it is by mere fortune, a great chance that riches are good for any thing. Were there any substance in them, sure the greatest fortune would not be attended with least content: but, (the vanity of their nature!) To the largest possessions, as to an imperfect tract, we must always write Desiderantur nonulla. Charles the fifth had for his Motto, Ulterius: we must borrow the word of him for when we have searched over all the treasures, and delights of the world for contentment, we must conclude with an Vlterius, something further is to be sought for yet: there is no non ultrà to our desires, 
Aug. med.  but the all sufficient God.  
Wherefore in this point let Saint Augustine be your Orator, Quaere unum honum in quo sunt omnia bona, & sufficit. Seek but that one good, in which is all good, and it is enough. Why should we trouble ourselves to collect the rays, when we may enjoy the Sun? to catch a drop of water, when the Ocean's ours? to seek for the dust, and fragments, when we may have the whole Diamond? never let St Salvians complaint be reversed upon us, 
L. 5. de guber. Des.  omnia amamus, omnia colimus, solus Deus in comparatione omnium vilis habetur. We love all things, we honour all things, only God in comparison of all is esteemed vile by us: If beauty be the loadstone of love in a creature, shall not he draw our love after him, 
De amore Dei c. 3.  whose very Being is the perfection of all beauty? 'Twas St Bernard's resolution, & it is worthy the breast of every Christian, Animam meam odio haberem, si alibi, quàm in Domino, etc. I should abhor my own soul, 
2. Gen. the distinction of the notes.  did I find it delight in any thing but the God of Heaven. And so I pass to the second general, the distinction of the notes in both parts, and therein, First, the order of the places, Heaven takes place of the Earth: 
2. The order of the places. Heaven before the earth.  Quem in coelis, before desideravi in terris.  
It is with you in your conversation, as with us in our studies, An erroneous method frustrates the best endeavours. Many had arrived to greatness, if their first care had been goodness: but if they are crossed in what they would, 'tis because they would not what they ought. In Christianity we have no such figure as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to place the first last. Primúm Quaerite, First seek the Kingdom of Heaven, and all things else will seek you. Such is the almighty's liberality, that if we desire but the best, he will cast us in, All things. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  The morning word Boker is derived of Bicker a Verb of Inquisition, because heaven should be our morning study, the sun should not rise so early in the firmament, as our thoughts towards Heaven. King David dedicated one Psalm to the morning, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  All ajeleth hassachar, upon the morning star is the inscription of the twenty second, the day no sooner saluted the world, but he took his leave of it: his devotion therein resembling the sun, that creeps every morning from under the earth, never ceasing his course, till he hath got up to the vertical point of heaven; O God my God early willst seek thee, Psal. 63. v I. It is never too rath to seek after happiness. 
Ber. ser. 68 in Cant.  Aceeler a quantum potes, etiam ipsas anticipa vigilias, invenies, non praevenies. Let thy waking devotion anticipate the very watches, find you may, not prèvent the vigilant God: we cannot seek him so early, as he expects us.  
You have here Vivendi methodus, the method of living well. The first step, you tread, must be for Heaven: the first line you draw, for Eternal life. We invert the very order of nature, if we prefix the earth in our thoughts. for the Almighty's first work was to set up this Great Vault, Heaven, over our heads,  he created this Little ball, the Earth, for us to tread on: thereby instructing our piety, if we would build like Christians, to lay our foundation in heaven. Had we no other Catechism, but this one sheet of stars above us, we might learn where to place our first thoughts: by their lustre, and sparkling, me thinks, they seem to invile us to that Kingdom, which they now adorn.  
I need not acquaint this Assembly, how unblessed the very Heathens esteemed their public erterprises, till they had consulted with their oracle. The Romans, as Tully observes, 
Cie, in l. de Aruspice.  counted it unlawful to propose any matter to the Senate, prinsquam de coelo, till their wizards had drawn their observations from the sky. The safest policy indeed to take advise of heaven: 'Twas the ancient emblem of a statesman, manus ad gladium, oculus ad astra, A posture of defence, these times should put you all in, your hands on your swords, your eyes towards heaven. If you begin your consultations on your knees, you fetch a blessing and commission at once from the Almighty's own hand. Sure that work cannot miscarry, that gins in religion.  
Indeed the ambition and malice of some men have made religion put on many faces at this day, like those new invented pictures, that at a different station represent divers forms: in one place, Libertinism, and Atheism, in another Anabaptism, and Brownism, scarce daring at all to show her Protestant face: yet all these pretend to be religion, when by their bloody effects, the murders, treasons, and rebellions, they do produce, a Pagan would never believe, that — Religio tantum potuit suadere malorum.  
How happily hath this Kingdom, 
Acts. 24.14.  even in that way which is now called heresy worshipped the God of our fathers: but now we may say of our Religion, as Saint Basil of the Air in a time of dearth, 
Basil. hom. in Fam. & siccitalem.  that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grown the more impure, because it affects so much purity: the more wicked, because it would seem so religious.  
But so pernicious an Abuse of religion should encourage every Noble spirit to a more zealous patronage of it. Heaven, you see, lays clay me to your first thoughts, and at this time 'twere the highest sacrilege to bestow them on your private interests. What we intent is first, not what we pretend: but if we make it a pious gloss for our worldly designs, we seek not heaven, but ourselves. God hath placed it in nature beyond all things, that we might place nothing beyond it in our affections. Make it we the prologue of our actions, and God will make it the Epilogue of our lives: the end of this life is, life without end; here we have it only in expectation, but in heaven the full fruition. Which presents unto you the next particular, the Different sense of the Verbs, Habeo, and Desideravi. Have in heaven: only Desire on earth.  
This life is a Christians minority. 
2. The sense of theverbes.  He is truly possessed of nothing himself, but is a ward to the Almighty: he never enters upon his Inheritance till he comes to heaven, there he hath livery, and seisin given him from the hand of God himself. Come ye blessed of my father, 
Mat. 25. v. 34. Alex. in Strom.  receive the Kingdom, etc. Clemens Alexandrinus calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that lives in the confines of heaven, whilst he is in this world: he wants but the courteous hand of Death to put him into possession. Here, the law flatters us with firm conveihances, and perpesuities; but there is no freehold of any thing here below, our surest tenure is in Heaven. We contend for the Property of the Subject, when nothing on earth can be the Subject of true Property. For the Lawyer is mistaken, that saith the Clergy man only is borne to no inheritance, when the noblest birth brings forth but a great heir of nothing: For how can I truly call him possessor of that, which in it self hath not the truth of a possession? or if it hath, the longest here, is but the short lease of a man's life: when death comes, he cuts off the entail of the fairest hopes: your Crowns and Sovereigns you must lay down at the pits brink: your Lordships, and manors must be contracted within the narrow compass of a Grave; that's all the Land, you can carry with you. As we read of Abraham. All the Heritage he purchased for his posterity, was but the Cave of Machpelah, a burying place.  
Never let the Dream of any lasting possession here enter into your breasts. If you would be freeholders indeed, you must lay up your treasure in heaven; there, an Inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away is reserved for us. 
1. Pet. 1. v. 4.  An inheritance so large, that four pradicaments can scarce hold it. For Substance Incorruptible, for Quality Undefiled, Immarciscible for Duration, and Celestial for Site: yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 'Tis All reserved for us, in surer hands than Orphans estates here on earth, which are too often a prey to another's avarice, this is safe in Gods own keeping, till we shall lay down our non age, and lives together. And what do we mean to spend our precious souls on these perishing treasures? A Kingdom prepared for Us, and we not yet prepared for the Kingdom? do you not hear the world call upon you, upbraiding, (as it were) your mistaken confidence in it. For what are all these Wars and Tumults, but the world's outcry to us? what are those Defects and Imperfections in the creature, but their Broken Language, whereby they do beseech us to departed from them, and seek after our Eternal patrimony in the Creator. For we love not God at all, if he hath not All our love. Neither Come, nor Praeter must divide it: that's the particular, the Diversity of the Praepositions, Nothing with, nothing besides thee, that I desire.  
The original admits of no variety, 
3. The Diversity of the praepositions.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is but once in the verse: but the accent Revia, as Chimki observes, distinguishing both parts makes it tuneable in both. Yet behold the modesty of Scripture, which rather understands the same word, then suffers a Tautology: much unlike some audacious devotion, that hath many petitions in it, but not divers:  
Not to stay though at the grammar of the text.  
To love the creature for the creature is Epicurism.  
To love the Creator for the creature is Mercenary.  
To love the Creator with the creature is spiritual adultery: but to love the Creator for the creator is true charity. Uno oculorum, said Christ of his Church, Thou hast wounded my heart with One of thine eyes. True love hath but a single eye, 
Cant. 4.9.  or if more, the Naturalist says, there is such a motion of consent between them, that one will not suffer the other to be disloyal, but are both fixed upon one object. 
Cypr.  A lascivious glance upon the creature had made the Spouse Adulter a Christo. In the Schools, 
Aquinas. Daven. in ●. col.  Principale obiectum, God is the principal object of humane charity: the creatures deserve not our love, but in ordine ad illum, as we espy some dark lineaments of the Deity in them. Indeed we may use the creatures, as so many rounds in jacobs' ladder, whereby we climb up to God himself, and therefore Richardus Victorinus, Integer amator Dei, 
L. De gradibus charit.  quocunque, se vertit: a perfect lover of God cannot turn about his eye, but he sees every creature ready to catechise his love: in the meanest created object he calls to mind, that increated charity: so fare we love the creatures, that we may love the Creator the more. Fruimur Deo, utimur aliis: we do but make use of them to enjoy God. Qui diligunt Deum propter aliud, Simoniacè diligunt, says Gerson wittily, he that loves God for any thing but himself commits Simony in his love. 
Gerson. centilogio. dec. 4.  'Tis not the Clergy man's sin only, (though our Country Patrons force us too often to ask the price of our own patrimony.) but there is a Lay Simony too, when you love God no longer, than you can get by him, like those people that worshipped Nilus only so long as his rich inundations filled their barns with corn.  
'Twas Saint Austin's argument to such men, (and may it prevail with us.) 
Ser. 46. de tempore.  Si dulcis est mundus, dulcior est Christus, If there be such sweetness in the creature, which is but a drop, as to allure thy desires, shall not the transcendent delight in the Creator, who is the fountain, command thy affection?  
Can I present the King in the Text with all the delights and treasures in the world: nay could I fetch you bacl that Beloved peace, that is fled from us, Nibil dulcescit, nisi hoc uno condiatur. We should find no sweetness in it, unless it were seasoned with the Deity: Had we kept our God with our former peace, we had not been to seek it now.  
Were every soldier in our armies multiplied into a thousand: 
Chrys. in Psal. 7. v. 3:  every Garrison environed with a wall of brass, and Castle of Diamond: Nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, were the whole world on the march for us against the enemy, it were an inconsiderable force, unless God himself lead up the Van●  
And why should we neglect him any longer, without whom are conquered, even when we are conquerors?" Whilst we think of recruiting our Armies, let us not forget to reruite our affiance in God. The Eclipses we have suffered, are but the Interpositions of our own carnal confidence: The losses we have undergone, are but the corrections of our mistrust. Take it from the mouth of a King, (though in a more desperate condition, than We, God be blessed, have ever yet seen: yet) Jehosaphat in as great a straight as ever Prince was, stood up and said, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established: believe his Prophets, 
2. Chron. 20. v. 20.  so shall ye yet prosper.  
O our God, though we know not what to do, yet our eyes look up unto thee. Let not this Kingdom we beseech thee, be made an Aceldama: We have been thy Eden, O make us not now a desolate wilderness: but be favourable to Zion, build up the walls of Jerusalem. For whom have we in Heaven but thee, O Lord? and there is none upon earth that we desire but thee:  
To whom be ascribed of Us Men on earth, and Angels above, All glory, honour, power and thanksgiving world without end. Amen.  
FINIS.