Sermon LXIX

The Fifth Of My Phebend Sehmons Upon My Five Psalms.
SERMON LXIX.

PREACHED AT ST. PAUL'S.
Psalm Lxvi. 3.

Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.

It is well said, (so well, as that more than one of the fathers seemed to have delighted themselves in having said it) titulus clavis, the title of the Psalm, is the key of the Psalm; the title opens the whole Psalm. The church of Rome will needs keep the key of heaven, and the key to that key, the Scriptures, wrapped up in that translation, which in no case must be departed from. There, the key of this Psalm, (the title thereof) hath one bar wrested, that is, made otherwise, than he that made the key, (the Holy Ghost) intended it; and another bar inserted, that is, one clause added, which the Holy Ghost added not. Where we read, in the title, victori, to the chief musician, they read, in finem, a Psalm directed upon the end. I think, they mean upon the latter times, because it is in a great part, a prophetical Psalm of the calling of the Gentiles. But after this change, they also add resurrectionis, a Psalm concerning the resurrection; and that is not in the Hebrew, nor anything in the

⁸⁸ Revel iv. 11.

place thereof. And, after one author in that church¹ had charged the Jews, that they had rased that clause out of the Hebrew, and that it was in the Hebrew at first, a learned and a laborious Jesuit*, (for truly, schools may confess the Jesuits to be learned, for they have assisted there; and states, and council-tables may confess the Jesuits to be laborious, for they have troubled them there) he, I say, after he hath chidden his fellow, for saying, that this word had ever been in the Hebrew, or was rased out from thence by the Jews, concludes roundly, Undecunque advenerit, howsoever those additions, which are not in the Hebrew, came into our translation, authoritatem habent, et retineri debent, their very being there, gives them authenticness, and authority, and there they must be. That this, in the title of this Psalm, be there, we are content, as long as you know, that this particular, (that this Psalm by the title thereof concerns the resurrection) is not in the original, but added by some expositor of the Psalms; you may take knowledge too, that that addition hath been accepted and followed, by many, and ancient, and reverend expositors, almost all of the eastern, and many of the western church too; and therefore, for our use and accommodation, may well be accepted by us also.

We consider ordinarily three resurrections: a spiritual resurrection, a resurrection from sin, by grace in the church; a temporal resurrection, a resurrection from trouble, and calamity in the world; and an eternal resurrection, a resurrection after which no part of man shall die, or suffer again, the resurrection into glory. Of the first, the resurrection from sin, is that intended in Esay, Arise, and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee'. Of the later resurrection, is that harmonious strain of all the apostles in their creed intended, I believe the resurrection of the body. And of the third resurrection, from oppressions and calamities which the servants of God suffer in this life, some of our later men * understand that place of Job, / know that my Redeemer liveth, and that in my flesh I shall see God'; and that place of Ezekiel all understand of that resurrection, where God saith to the prophet, Son of man, can these bones

¹ Leo Castr. * Lorinus. "Isainh Lx. 1.

^* Calvin. ^s Job xix. 20.

VOL. III. Q

live*? Can these men thus ruined, thus dispersed, be restored again by a resurrection in this world? And to this resurrection from the pressures and tribulations of this life, do those interpreters, who interpret this Psalm, of a resurrection, refer this our text, (Say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.) Consider how powerfully God hath, and you cannot doubt, but that God will give them a resurrection in this world, who rely upon him, and use his means, whensoever any calamity hath dejected them, ruined them, scattered them in the eyes of men. Say unto the Lord, that he hath done it, and the Lord will say unto thee, that he will do it again and again for thee.

We call Noah, Janus, because he had two faces, in this respect, that he looked into the former, and into the later world, he saw the times before, and after the flood. David in this text, is a Janus too; he looks two ways, he hath a prospect, and a retrospect, he looks backward and forward, what God had done, and what God would do. For, as we have one great comfort in this, that prophecies are become histories, that whatsoever was said by the mouths of the prophets, concerning our salvation in Christ, is effected, (so prophecies are made histories) so have wo another comfort in this text, that histories are made prophecies; that whatsoever we read that God had formerly done, in the relief of his oppressed servants, we are thereby assured that he can, that he will do them again; and so histories are made prophecies: and upon these two pillars, a thankful acknowledgement of that which God hath done, and a faithful assurance that God will do so again, shall this present exercise of your devotions be raised; and these aro our two parts. Dicite Deo, Say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works! (that part is historical, of things past) in multitudine virtutis, In the greatness of thy power, shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee, (that part is prophetical, of things to come.)

In the history we are to turn many leaves, and many in the prophecy too, to pass many steps, to put out many branches in each. In the first, these; Dicite, say ye; where we consider first, the person that enjoys this public acknowledgement and thanks

⁰ Ezek. xxxvii. 3.

giving, it is David, and David as a king; for to him, to the king, the ordering of public actions, even in the service of God appertains. David, David the king speaks this, by way of counsel, and persuasion, and concurrence to all the world, (for so in the beginning, and in some other passages of the Psalm, it is omnit terra, All ye lands, verse 1. and All the earth, verse 4.) David doth what he can, that all the world might concur in one manner of serving God. By way of assistance he extends to all, and by way of injunction and commandment to all his, to all that are Under his government, dicite, say, you, that is, you shall say, you shall serve God thus. And as he gives counsel to all, and gives laws to all his subjects, so he submits himself to the same law; for, (as we shall see in some parts of the Psalm, to which the text refers) he professes in his particular, that he will say and do, whatsoever he bids them do, and say; My honse shall serve the Lord, says Joshua⁷; but it is, ego, et domus mea, I and my house; himself would serve God aright too.

From such a consideration of the persons, in the historical part, we shall pass to the commandment, to the duty itself; that is, first dicite, say. It is more than cogitate, to consider God's former goodness; more than admirari, to admire God's former goodness; speculations, and ecstacies are not sufficient services of God; Dicite, Say unto God, declare, manifest, publish your zeal, is more than cogitate, consider it, think of it; but it is less than facite, to come to action; we must declare our thankful zeal to God's cause, we must not modify, not disguise that; but, for the particular ways of promoving, and advancing that cause, in matter of action, we must refer that to them, to whom God hath referred it. The duty is a commemoration of benefits; Dicite, speak of it, ascribe it, attribute it to the right author; who is that? That is the next consideration, Dicite Deo, Say unto God; non vobis, not to your own wisdom, or power, non Sanctis, not to the care and protection of saints or angels, sed nomini ejus da gloriam, only unto his name be all the glory ascribed. And then, that which falls within this commandment, this consideration, is opera ejus, the works of God, {How terrible art thou in thy works1.) It is not decreta ejus, arcana ejus, the secrets of his state, the ways of his government,

⁷ Josh. xxiv. 15.

unrevealed decrees, but those things, in which he hath manifested himself to man, opera, his works. Consider his works, and consider them so as this commandment enjoins, that is How terrible God is in them; determine not your consideration upon the work itself, for so you may think too lightly of it, that it is but some natural accident, or some imposture and false miracle, or illusion, or you may think of it with an amazement, with a stupidity, with a consternation, when you consider not from whom the work comes, consider God in the work; and God so, as that though he be terrible in that work, yet, he is so terrible but so, as the word of this text expresses this terribleness, which word is Norah, and Norah is but reverendus, it is a terror of reverence, not a terror of confusion, that the consideration of God in his works should possess us withal.

And in those plain and smooth paths, we shall walk through the first part, the historical part, what God had formerly done, (Say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works.') from thence we descend to the other, the prophetical part, what, upon our performance of this duty, God will surely do in our behalf; he will subdue those enemies, which, because they are ours, are his; In multitudine virtutis, In the greatness of thy power, shall thine enemies siibmit themselves unto thee. Where we shall see first, that even God himself hath enemies; no man therefore can be free from them; and then we shall see, whom God calls enemies here, those who are enemies to his cause, and to his friends; all those, if we will speak David's language, the Holy Ghost's language, we must call God's enemies. And these enemies nothing can mollify, nothing can reduce, but power; fair means, and persuasion will not work upon them; preaching, disputing will not do it; it must be power, and greatness of power, and greatness of God's power. The law is power, and it is God's power; all just laws are from God. One act of this power (an occasional executing of laws at some few times, against the enemies of God's truth) will not serve; there must be a constant continuation of the execution thereof; nor will that serve, if that be done only for worldly respects, to raise money, and not rather to draw them, who are under those laws, to the right worship of God, in the truth of his religion. And yet all, that even all this, this power, this great power, his power shall work upon these, his, and our enemies, is but this, They shall submit themselves, says the text, but how? Mentientur tibi, (as it is in the original, and as you find it in the margin) they shall dissemble, they shall lie, they shall yield a feigned obedience, they shall make as though they were good subjects, but not be so. And yet, even this, though their submission be but dissembled, but counterfeited, David puts amongst God's blessings to a state, and to a church; it is some blessing, when God's enemies dare not appear, and justify themselves, and their cause, as it is a heavy discouragement, when they dare do that. Though God do not so far consummate their happiness, as that their enemies shall be truly reconciled, or thoroughly rooted out, yet he shall afford them so much happiness, as that they shall do them no harm.

And, beloved, this distribution of the text, which I have given you, is rather a paraphrase, than a division, and therefore the rest will rather be a repetition, than a dilatation; and I shall only give same such note, and mark, upon every particular branch, as may return them, and fix them in your memories, and not enlarge myself far in any of them, for I know the time will not admit it.

First then, we remember you, in the first branch of the first part, that David, in that capacity, as king, institutes those orders, which the church is to observe in the public service of God. For the king is king of men; not of bodies only, but of souls too; and of Christian men; of us, not only as we worship one God, but as we are to express that worship in the outward acts of religion in the church. God hath called himself king; and he hath called kings Gods. And when we look upon the actions of kings, we determine not ourselves in that person, but in God working in that person. As it is not I that do any good, but the grace of God in me*, so it is not the king that commands, but the power of God in the king. For, as in a commission from the king, the king himself works in his commissioners, and their just act is the king's act: so in the king's lawful working upon his subjects, God works, and the king's acts are God's acts.

That abstinence therefore, and that forbearance which the

■ 1 Cor. xv. 10.

Roman church hath used, from dcolaring whether the laws of secular magistrates do bind the conscience, or not, that is, whether a man sin in breaking atemporal law, or not, (for, though it have been disputed in their books, and though the bishop of that church were supplicated in the Trent Council to declare it, yet he would never be brought to it) that abstinence, I say, of theirs, though it give them one great advantage, yet it gives us another. For by keeping it still undetermined and undecided, how far the laws of temporal princes do bind us, they keep up that power, which is so profitable to them, that is, to divide kings and subjects, and maintain jealousies between them, becauso if the breach of any law constitute a sin, then enters the jurisdiction of Rome; for that is the ground of their indirect power over princes, In ordine ad spiritulia, that in any action, which may conduce to sin, thoy may meddle, and direct, and constrain temporal princes. That is their advantage, in their forbearing to declare this doctrine; and then, our advantage is, that this enervates, and weakens, nay destroys and annihilates that ordinary argument, that there must be always a visible church, in which every man may have clear resolution, and infallible satisfaction, in all scruples that arise in him, and that the Roman church is that seat, and throne of infallibility. For how does the Roman church give any man infallible satisfaction, whether these or these things, grounded upon the temporal laws of secular princes, be sins or not, when as that church hath not, nor will not come to a determination in that point? How shall they como to the sacrament? how shall they go out of the world with a clear conscience, when many things lie upon them which they know not, nor can be informed by their confessors, whether they be sins or not? And thus it is in divers other points besides this; they pretend to give satisfaction and peace in all cases, and pretend to be the only true church for that, and yet leave the conscience in ignoranco, and in distemper, and distress, and distraction in many particulars.

The law of the prince is rooted in the power of God. The root of all is order, and the order of all is the king; and what the good kings of Judah, and the religious kings of the Primitive Christian church did, every king may, nay should do. For, both the tables are committed to him; (as well the first that concerns our religious duties to God, as the other that concerns our civil duties to men.) So is the ark, where those tables are kept, and so is the temple, where that ark is kept; all committed to him; and he oversees the manner of the religious service of God. And therefore it is, that in the schools we oall sedition and rebellion, sacrilege; for though the trespass seem to be directed but upon a man, yet in that man, whose office (and consequently his person) is sacred, God is opposed, and violated. And it is impiously said of a Jesuit, (I may easily be believed of that Jesuit*, if any other might be excepted) Non est regum etiam veram doctrinam confirmare, The king hath nothing to do with religion, neither doth it belong to him to establish any form of religion in his kingdom, though it be the right religion, and though it bo but by way of confirmation.

This then David, David as a king, takes to be in his care, in his office, to rectify and settle religion, that is, the outward worship of God. And this he intimates, this he conveys by way of counsel, and persuasion to all the world; he would fain have all agree in one service of God. Therefore he onters the psalm so, Jubilate omnes terrw, Rejoice all ye lands; and, Adore te omnis terra, All the earth shall worship thee; and again, Venite et audite omnes, Come and hear all ye that fear God. For as St. Cyprian says of bishops, that every bishop is an universal bishop, that is, must take into his care and contemplation, not only his own particular diocese, but the whole Catholic church: so every Christian king is a king of the whole Christian world, that is, must study, and take into his care, not only his own kingdom, but all others too. For it is not only the municipal law of that kingdom, by which he is bound to see his own subjects, in all cases, righted, but in the whole law of nations every king hath an interest. My soul may be king, that is, reside principally in my heart, or in my brain, but it neglects not the remoter parts of my body. David maintains religion at home; but he assists, as much as ho can, the establishing of that religion abroad too.

David endeavours that, persuades that everywhere; but he will be sure of it at home; there he enjoins it, there he commands it;

Dicite, says he, Say; that is, This you shall say, you shall serve God thus. We cannot provide, that there shall be no wolves in the world, but we have provided that there shall be no wolves in this kingdom. Idolatry will be, but there needs be none amongst us. Idolaters were round about the children of Israel in the land of promise; they could not make all those proselytes; but yet they kept their own station. When the Arian heresy had so surrounded the world, as that Univerm fore Orientalis eoclesta, Almost all the Eastern Church, and Cuncti pene Latini episcopi, aut vi, aut fraudt decepti¹⁰, Almost all the bishops of the Western Church, were deceived, or threatened out of their religion into Arianism; insomuch that St. Hilary gives a note of a hundred and five bishops of note, noted with that heresy; when that one bishop, who will needs be all alone, the bishop of Rome, Liberius, so far subscribed to that heresy, (as St. Hierome's express words are") that Bellarmine himself does not only not deny it, but finds himself bound, and finds it hard for him to prove, that though Liberius did outwardly profess himself to be an Arian, yet in his heart he was none; yet for all this impetuousness of this flood of this heresy, Athanasius, as bishop, excommunicated the Arians in his diocese, and Constantino, as emperor, banished them out of his dominions. Athanasius would have been glad, if no other church, Constantino would have been glad, if no other State would have received them; when they could not prevail so far, yet they did that which was possible, and most proper to them, they preserved the true worship of the true God in their own jurisdiction.

David could not have done that, if he had not had a true zeal to God's truth, in his own heart. And therefore, as we have an intimation of his desire to reduce the whole world, and a testimony of his earnestness towards his own subjects, so we have an assurance, that in his own particular, he was constantly established in this truth, He calls to all, (Come and see the works of God) and more particularly to all his, (0 bless our God ye people) but ho proposes himself to their consideration too, (/ will declare what he hath done for my soul.) Great is the Lord, and greatly to

^:o Nicephor. Vine Lyra.

¹¹ Hieron. de Roma. ponL 1. 4. c. 9.

be feared, says this religious king, in another Psalm¹*; and that is a proclamation, a remonstrance to all the world. He adds, One generation shall declare thy works to another; and that is a propagation to the ends of the world. But all this is rooted in that which is personal, and follows after, / will speak of the glorious honour of thy Majesty; and that is a protestation for his own particular. And to the same purpose is that which follows in the next verse, Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts; they shall, that is, they should; and, I would all men would, says David; but, whether they do, or not, / will declare thy greatness, says he there; I will not be defective in my particular. And David was to be trusted with a pious endeavour amongst his neighbours, and with a pious care over all his own subjects, as long as he nourished, and declared so pious a disposition in his own person. And truly, it is an injurious, it is a disloyal suspicion, and jealousy, it is an ungodly fascination of our own happiness, to doubt of good effects abroad, and of a blessed assurance at home, as long as the zeal of God's truth remains so constantly in his heart, and flows out so declaratorily in his actions, in whose person God assures both our temporal safety, and our religion.

We pass now from this consideration of the persons; which, though it be fixed here, in the highest, in kings, extends to all to whom any power is committed, to magistrates, to masters, to fathers, all are bound to propagate God's truth to others, but especially to those who are under their charge; and this they shall best do, if themselves be the example. So far we have proceeded, and we come now to the duty, as it is here more particularly expressed, Dicite, Say unto God, publish, declare, manifest your zeal. Christ is Verbum, The word, and that excludes silence; but Christ is also Xoyo?, and that excludes rashness, and impertinence in our speech. Inter cwteras Dei appellationes, Sermonem veneramur", Amongst God's other names, wo honour that, that he is the Word; that implies a communication, God's goodness in speaking to us, and an obligation upon us, to speak to him. For, beloved, that standing of the sun and moon¹⁴, which gave occasion to the drawing of so much blood of the

Amorites, is, in the original, not siste sol, but sile sol; he does not bid the sun and moon stand still, but he bids them say nothing, make no noise, no motion so. Be the sun the magistrate, and be the moon, the church, Si sileant, If they be silent, command not, pray not, avow not God's cause, the case is dangerous. The Holy Ghost fell in fiery tongues, he inflamed them, and inflamed them to speak. Divers dumb men were presented to Christ¹⁵; but if they were dumb, they were deaf too, and some of them blind". Upon men that are dumb, that is, speechless in avowing him, God heaps other mischievous impediments too; deafness, they shall not hear him in his word, and blindness, they shall not see him in his works.

Dicite, Say, says David, delight to speak of God, and with God, and for God; Dicite, Say something. We told you, this was magis quam cogitare, That there was more required than to think of God. Consideration, meditation, speculation, contemplation upon God, and divine objects, have their place, and their season; but this is more than that; and more than admiration too; for all these may determine in ecstasies, and in stupidities, and in useless and frivolous imaginations. Gold may be beat so thin, as that it may bo blown away; and speculations, even of divine things, may be blown to that thinness, to that subtilty, as that all may evaporate, never fixed, never applied to any use. God had conceived in himself, from all oternity, certain Ideas, certain patterns of all things, which he would create. But these Ideas, these conceptions produced not a creature, not a worm, not a weed; but then, Dixit, et facta sunt, God spoke, and all things were made. Inward speculations, nay, inward zeal, nay, inward prayers, are not full performances of our duty. God hears willingliest, when men hear too; when we speak aloud in tho ears of men, and publish, and declare, and manifest, and avow our zeal to his glory.

It is a duty, which in every private man, goes beyond the cogitare, and the admirari; but yet not so far as to a facite, in the private man. Private men must think piously, and seriously, and speak zealously, and seasonably of the cause of God. But this does not authorize, nor justify such a forwardness in any pri

"Matt. xii. 22.

"Mark vii. 32.

vate man, as to come to actions, though ho, in a rectified conscience, apprehend, that God's cause might be advantaged by those actions of his. For matter of action requires public warrant, and is not safely grounded upon private zeal. When Peter, out of his own zeal, drew his sword for Christ, Nondum manifeste conceperat eeangelium patientiw¹¹, He was not yet well instructed in the patienco of the Gospel; nay, he was submitted to the sentence of the law, out of the mouth of the supreme Judge, All they that take the sword (that take it before it be given them by authority) shall perish by the sword^". The first law, that was given to the new world, after the flood, was against the eating of blood". God would not havo man so familiar with blood. And the second commandment, was against the shedding of blood, (Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed.) Nay, not only where Peter was over-forward of himself, to defend Christ by arms, but where John and James wore too vehement, and importunate upon Christ, to give them leave to revenge the wrong done to him upon the Samaritans, (Wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them**?) Christ rebukes them, and tells them, They knew not of what spirit they were; that is, of what spirit they ought to be. They knew, says St. Hierome, they had no power of their own; they go to him who had; and they do not say, Domine jube, Lord do thou do it; but, thou shalt never appear in it, never be seen in it, only let us alone, and we will revenge thee, and consume them. Though they went no farther than this, yet this rash, and precipitate importunity in James and John, as well as that hasty coming to action in Peter, was displeasing to Christ; Dicite, speak; so far goes the duty of this text; speak by way of counsel, you that are counsellors to princes, and, by way of exhortation, you that are preachers to the people; but leave the facite, matter of action, to them in whose hearts, and by whose hands, and through whose commandments God works.

We are yet in our first, in our historical part, commemoration; and there wo made it, (in our distribution and paraphrase) our next step, what wo are to commemorate, to employ this dicite,

this speaking upon; and it is upon God's works; (Sai/ unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works!) So that the subject of our speech, (let it be in holy conferences, and discourses, let it be in God's ordinance, preaching) is not to speak of the unrevealed decrees of God, of his internal, and eternal purposes in himself, but of his works, of those things in which he hath declared, and manifested himself to us. God gave not always to his church, the manifestation of the pillar of fire, but a pillar of cloud too; and, though it were a cloud, yet it was a pillar; in a holy, and devout, and modest ignorance of those things which God hath not revealed to us, we are better settled, and supported by a better pillar, than in an over-curious, and impertinent inquisition of things reserved _to God himself, or shut up in their breasts, of whom God hath said, Ye are gods. God would not show all himself to Moses, as well as he loved him, and as freely as he conversed with him, he showed him but his hinder partsTM. Let that be his decrees then, when in his due time they came to execution; for then, and not till then, they are works. And God would not suffer Moses's body to be seen, when it was dead", because then it could not speak to them, it could not instruct them, it could not direct them in any duty, if they transgressed from any. God himself would not be spoken to by us, but as he speaks of himself; and he speaks in his works. And as among men, some may build, and some may write, and we call both by one namo, (we call his buildings, and we call his books, his works) so if we will speak of God, this world which he hath built, and these Scriptures which he hath written, are his works, and we speak of God in his works, (which is the commandment of this text) when we speak of him so, as he hath manifested himself in his miracles, and as he hath declared himself in his Scriptures; for both these are his works. There are decrees in God, but we can take out no copies of them, till God himself exemplify them, in the execution of them; the accomplishing of the decree is the best publishing, the best notifying of the decree. But of his works we can take copies; for his Scriptures are his works, and we have them by translations and illustrations, made appliable to every understanding; all the promises of his Scrip

"Exod. xxxiii. 23. "Deut. xuiv. 6.

tares belong to all. And for his miracles, (his miracles are also his works) we have an assurance, that whatsoever God hath done for any, he will do again for us.

It is then his works upon which we fix this commemoration, and this glorifying of God; but so, as that we determine not upon the work itself, but God in the work, (Sai/ unto God, (to him) how terrible art thou, (that God) in thy works?) It may be of use to you, to receive this note, then when it is said in this Psalm, Come, and see the works of God, and after, Come, and hear all ye that fear God", in both places it is not, venite, but ite, it is lechu, not come, but go, go out, go forth, abroad, to consider God in his works; go as far as you can, stop not in yourselves, nor stop not in any other, till you come to God himself. If you consider the Scriptures to be his works, make not Scriptures of your own; which you do, if you make them subject to your private interpretation. My soul speaks in my tongue, else I could make no sound; my tongue speaks in English, else I should not be understood by the congregation. So God speaks by his Son, in the Gospel; but then, the Gospel speaks in the church, that every man may hear. Ite, go forth, stay not in yourselves, if you will hear him. And so, for matter of action, and protection, come not home to yourselves, stay not in yourselves, not in a confidence in your own power, and wisdom, but ite, go forth, go forth into Egypt, go forth into Babylon, and look who delivered your predecessors, (predecessors in affliction, predecessors in mercy) and that God, who is yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever", shall do the same things, which he did yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Turn always to the commemoration of works, but not your own; ite, go forth, go farther than that, than yourselves, farther than the angels, and saints in heaven; that when you commemorate your deliverance from an invasion, and your deliverance from the vault, you do not ascribe these deliverances to those saints, upon whose days they were wrought; in all your commemorations (and commemorations are prayers, and God receives that which we offer for a thanksgiving for former benefits, as a prayer for future) ite, go forth, by the river to the spring, by the branch to the root, by the work to God himself, and dicite,

say unto him, say of him, Quam terribilis tu in tuit, which sets us up another step in this part, to consider what this terribleness is, that God expresses in his works.

Though there be a difference between timor, and terror, (fear and terror) yet the difference is not so great, but that both may fall upon a good man; not only a fear of God must, but a terror of God may fall upon the best. When God talked with Abraham, A horror of great darkness fell upon him", says that text. The Father of lights, and the God of all comfort present, and present in an action of mercy, and yet, a horror of great darkness fell upon Abraham. When God talked personally, and presentially with Moses, Moses Hid his face, for (says the text) he was afraid to look upon God". When I look upon God, as I am bid to do in this text, in those terrible judgments, which he hath executed upon some men, and see that there is nothing between me and the same judgment, (for I have sinned the samo sins, and God is the same God) I am not able of myself to dyo that glass, that spectacle, through which I look upon this God, in what colour I will; whether this glass shall be black, through my despair, and so I shall see God in the cloud of my sins, or red in the blood of Christ Jesus, and I shall see God in a bath of the blood of his Son, whether I shall see God as a dove with an olive branch, (peace to my soul) or as an eagle, a vulture to prey, and to prey everlastingly upon me, whether in the doep floods of tribulation, spiritual or temporal, I shall see God as an ark to take me in, or as a whale to swallow me; and if his whale do swallow me, (the tribulation devour me) whether his purpose be to restore me, or to consume me, I, I of myself cannot tell. I cannot look upon God, in what line I will, nor take hold of God, by what handle I will; he is a terrible God, I take him so; and then I cannot discontinue, I cannot break off this terribleness, and say, he hath been terrible to that man, and there is an end of his terror; it reaches not to me. Why not to me? In me there is no merit, nor shadow of merit; in God thero is no change, nor shadow of change. I am the same sinnor, he is the same God; still the same desperate sinner, still the same terrible God.

But Terrible in his works, says our text; terrible so, as he hath

declared himself to be in his works. His works are, as we said before, his actions, and his Scriptures. In his actions we see him terrible upon disobedient resisters of his graces, and despisers of the means thereof, not upon others, wo have no examples of that. In his word, we accept this word in which he hath been pleased to express himself, Norah, which is rather reverendus, than terribilis, as that word is used, I gave him life and peace, for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name*¹. So that this terribleness, which we are called upon to profess of God, is a reverential, a majestical, not a tyrannical terribleness. And therefore he that conceives a God, that hath made man of flesh and blood, and yet exacts that purity of an angel in that flesh, a God that would provide himself no better glory, than to damn man, a God who lest he should love man, and be reconciled to man, hath enwrapped him in an inevitable necessity of sinning, a God who hath received enough, and enough for the satisfaction of all men, and yet, (not in consideration of their future sins, but merely because he hated them before they were sinners, or before they were any thing) hath made it impossible, for the greatest part of men, to have any benefit of that large satisfaction. This is not such a terribleness as arises out of his works, (his actions, or his Scriptures) for God hath never said, never done any such thing, as should make us lodge such conceptions of God in ourselves, or lay such imputations upon him.

The true fear of God is true wisdom. It is true joy; Rejoice in trembling, saith David"; there is no rejoicing without this fear; there is no riches without it; reverentia Jehovw, the feaf of the Lord is his treasure, and that is the best treasure. Thus far we are to go; Let us serve God with reverence, and godly fear", (godly fear is but a reverence, it is not a jealousy, a suspicion of God.) And let us do it upon the reason that follows in the same place, For our God is a consuming fire, there is all his terribleness; he is a consuming fire to his enemies, but he is our God; and God is love: and therefore to conceive a cruel God, a God that hated us, even to damnation, before wo were, (as some, who have departed from the sense and modesty of tho ancients, have adventured to say) or to conceive a God so cruel, as that at our

«⁷ Mal ii. 5. ⁸⁸ Psalm ii. 11. «• Heb. xii. 28.

death, or in our way, he "will afford us no assurance, that he is ours, and we his, but let us live and die in anxiety and torture of conscience, in jealousy and suspicion of his good purpose towards us in the salvation of our souls, (as those of the Roman heresy teach) to conceive such a God as from all eternity meant to damn me, or such a God as would never make me know, and be sure that I should be saved, this is not to profess God to be terrible in his works; for his actions are his works, and his Scriptures are his works, and God hath never done, or said any thing to induce so terrible an opinion of him.

And so we have done with all those pieces, which in our paraphrastical distribution of the text, at beginning, did constitute our first, our historical part, David's retrospect, his commemoration of former blessings; in which he proposes a duty, a declaration of God's goodness, Dicite, publish it, speak of it; he proposes religious duties, in that capacity, as he is king; (religion is the king's care) he proposes, by way of counsel to all; by way of commandment to his own subjects; and by a more powerful way, than either counsel or commandment, that is, by example, by doing that himself, which he counsels, and commands others to do. Dicite, say, speak; it is a duty more than thinking, and less than doing; every man is bound to speak for the advancement of God's cause, but when it comes to action, that is not the private man's office, but belongs to the public, or him, who is the public, David himself, the king. The duty is commemoration, Dicite, say, speak; but Dicite Deo, do this to God; ascribe not your deliverances to your armies, and navies, by sea or land; no, nor to saints in heaven, but to God only. Nor are we called upon to contemplate God in his essence, or in his decrees, but in his works; in his actions,*in his scriptures; in both those you shall find him terrible, that is, reverend, majestical, though never tyrannical, nor cruel. Pass we now, according to our order laid down at first, to our second part, the prophetical part, David's prospect for the future; and gather we something from the particular branches of that, Through the greatness of thy power, thine enemies shall submit themselves unto thee.

In this, our first consideration is, that God himself hath enemies; and then, how should we hope to be, nay, why would we wish to be without them? God had good, that is, glory from his enemies; and we may have good, that is, advantage in the way to glory, by the exercise of our patience, from enemies too. Those for whom God had done most, the angels, turned enemies first; vex not thou thyself, if those whom thou hast loved best, hate thee deadliest. There is a lqve, in which it aggravates thy condemnation, that thou art so much loved; does not God recompense that, if there be such a hate, as that thou art the better, and that thy salvation is exalted, for having been hated? And that profit the righteous have from enemies. God loved us then, when we were his enemies*⁰, and we frustrate his exemplar love to us, if we love not enemies too. The word hostis, (which is a word of heavy signification, and implies devastation, and all the mischiefs of war) is not read in all the New Testament: Inimicus, that is, non amicus, unfriendly, is read there often, very very often. There is an enmity which may consist with evangelical charity; but a hostility, that carries in it a denotation of revenge, of extirpation, of annihilation, that cannot. This "gives us some light, how far we may, and may not hate enemies. God had enemies to whom he never returned, the angels that opposed him; and that is, because they oppose him still, and are, by their own perverseness, incapable of reconciliation. We were enemies to God too; but being enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

As then actual reconciliation makes us actually friends, so in differences which may be reconciled, we should not be too severe enemies, but maintain in ourselves a disposition of friendship; but, in those things, which are in their nature irreconcilable, we must be irreconcilable too. There is an enmity which God himself hath made, and made perpetual: Ponani inimicitias, says God; God puts an enmity between the seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman; and those whom God joins, let no man sever, those whom God severs, let no man join. The school presents it well; we are to consider an enemy formally, or materially; that is, that which makes him an enemy, or that which makes him a man. In that which makes him a man, he

VOL. III.

^M Rom. v. 10.

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hath the image of God in him, and by that is capable of grace and glory; and therefore, that we may not hate, which excludes all personal, and all national hatred. In that which makes him an enemy he hath the image of the devil, infidelity towards God, perfidiousncss towards man, heresy towards God, infectious manners towards man; and that we must always hate; for that is Odium perfectum, a hate that may consist with a perfect man, nay, a hate that constitutes love itself; I do not love a man, except I hate his vices, because those vices are the enemies, and the destruction of that friend whom I love.

God himself hath enemies, Thine enemies shall submit, says the text, to God; there thou hast one comfort, though thou have enemies too; but the greater comfort is, that God calls thine enemies his. Nolite tangere Christos meos^", says God of all holy people; you were as good touch me, as touch any of them, for, they are the apple of mine eyeTM. Our Saviour Christ never expostulated for himself; never said, Why scourge you me? why spit you upon me? why crucify you me I as long as their rage determined in his person, he opened not his mouth; when Saul extended the violence to the church, to his servants, then Christ came to that, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me"? Cain's trespass against God himself was, that he would bind God to an acceptation of his sacrifice; and for that God comes no further, but to Why doest thou thus"? but in his trespass upon ^his brother, God proceeds so much further, as to say, Now art thou cursed from the earth. J eroboam suffered idolatry, and God let him alone; that concerned but God himself. But when Jeroboam stretched forth his hand to lay hold on the prophet, his hand withered". Here is a holy league, defensive, and offensive; God shall not only protect us from others, but he shall fight for us against them; our enemies are his enemies.

And beloved, it is well that it is so; for, if we were left to ourselves, we were remediless. It is his mercy that we are not consumed, by his indignation, by himself; but it must be the exercise of his power, if we be not consumed by his, and our

⁵¹ Psalm cv. IS. » Psalm xvii. 8. ^** Acts ix. 4.

^** Gen. iv. 6. ^** 1 Kings xiii. 4.

enemies; for there is but that one way in the text, that can bring these enemies to anything, that is, In multitudine virtutis turn, In the greatness of thy power. It must bo power; entreaty, appliableness, conformity, facility, patience does not serve. It must be power, and his power; to assist ourselves by his enemies, by witches, or by idolaters, is not his power. It is power that does all; for the name that God is manifested in, in all the making of the world, in the first of Genesis, is Elohiin, and that is Deu s forth, the powerful God. It is power, and it is his power; for his name is Dominus tzebaoth, the Lord of Hosts. Hosts and armies of which he is not the general, are but great insurrections, great rebellions. And then, as it is power, and his power, so it is the greatness of his power; his power extended, exalted. It is in the original, Berob, in multitudine fortitudinis, in thy manifold power, in thy multiplied power. Moses considers the assurance that they might have in God, in this, that God fought their battles (The Lord your God goeth with you, to fight for you against your [enemies, and save you*3.) There was his power declared, and exercised one way; and then in this, that ho had afforded them particular laws, for their direction in all thoir action, religious, and civil; (to what nation is God come so near? what people have laws and ordinances, such as we have?) So that, where God defends us by armies, and directs us by just laws, that is, Multitudo fortitudinis, the greatness of his power, his power multiplied upon us.

Now, through this power, and not without this power, this double power, law and arms, Thine enemies shall submit themselves unto thee, says our text. And then, is all the danger at an end? shall we be safe then? Not then. The word is Cacash, and cacash is but Mendacem fieri, to be brought to lie, to dissemble, to equivocate, to modify, to temporize, to counterfeit, to make as though they were our friends, in an outward conformity. And there are enemies of God, whom no power of armies or laws can bring any further than that, to hold their tongues, and to hold their hands, but to withhold their hearts from us still. So the Gibeonites

^M Deut. xx. 4.

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deceived Joshua*⁷, in the likeness of ambassadors; Joshua's power made them lie unto him. So Pharaoh deceived and deluded Moses and Aaron; every act of power brought Pharaoh to lie unto them. I direct not your thoughts upon public considerations; it is not my end; it is not my way: my way and end is to bring you home to yourselves, and to consider there, that we are full of weaknesses in ourselves, full of enemies, sinful temptations about us; that only the power of God, his power multiplied, (that is, the receiving of his word, that is, the power of law.) The receiving of his corrections (that is, the power of his hosts) can make our enemies, our sinful temptations submit, and when they do so, it is but a lie, they return to us, and we turn to them again, In the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit unto thee.

But then, (which is our last step and conclusion) even this, that these enemies shall be forced to such a submission, to any submission, though disguised and counterfeit, is, in this text, presented for a consolation; there is a comfort even in this, that those enemies shall be fain to lie, that they shall not dare to avow their malice, nor to blaspheme God in open professions. There is a conditional blessing proposed to God's people; (0 that my people had hearkened unto me! 0 that Israel had walked in my ways"!) What had been their recompense? This. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto them. Should they in earnest? No truly; there is the same word, they should have lied unto them, they should have made as though they had submitted themselves; and that, God presents for a great degree of his mercy to them. And therefore, as in thy particular conscience, though God do not take away that stimulum carnis, and that angelum satana?, though he do not extinguish all lusts and concupiscencies in thee, yet if those lusts prevail not over thee, if they command not, if they divert thee not from the sense, and service of God, thou hast good reason to bless God, for this, to rest in this, and to call it peace of conscience: so hast thou reason too to call it peace in the church, and peace in the state, when God's enemies, though they be not rooted out, though they be not disposed

⁸⁷ Josh. ix. ⁸⁸ Psalm Lxxx. 15.

to a hearty allegiance, and just obedience, yet they must be subject, they must submit themselves whether they will or no, and though they will wish no good, yet they shall be able to do no harm. For the Holy Ghost declares this to be an exercise of power, of God's power, of the greatness of God's power, that his enemies submit themselves, though with a feigned obedience.