Exposition of the Last Psalm

AN EXPOSITION of the last Psalm.

A LL the Psalms of David are comprised in two words, Halleluiah, and Hosanna, that is, blessed be God, and God bless; as being for the greater part either prayers unto God for receiving mercies, or else praises unto God for escaping miseries. This our present Hymn placed as a Conclusion of the whole book, yea the beginning, middle, end, to which all the rest (as Musculus observeth are to be referred) inviteth us in prescript and postscript, in title, in text, in every verse, and in every Clause of every verse to praise the Lord. Teaching these two points especially:

• 1. For what
• 2. With what

God is to be magnified.

For what, verse. 1, 2. O praise God in his holiness, praise him in the firmament of his power, praise him in his noble acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness.

With what, even with all that is

• Without us, verse. 3, 4, 5. Praise him in the sound of the trumpet, &c.
• Within us, verse. 6. Omnis spiritus, &c. Let every spirit praise the Lord, praise ye the Lord.

This in brief is the whole texts Epitomie, I come now to the words Anatomy, cutting up every part and particle severally, beginning first at the first, O praise God in his holiness. Of which one sentence the Doctors have many (though not adverse yet diverse) readings, especially three: Praise God in his saints, praise God in his sanctity, praise God in his sanctuary. S. Jerome, Augustine, Prosper, and other as well ancient interpreters as moderne translate here praise God in his saints. For if he must be praised in all his creatures, how much more in his new creatures: if in the witless worms, and senseless vapors, Psal. 148. much more doubtless (as Theodorit here collects) in men, in holy men, in saints, upon whom he hath out of his unsearchable riches of mercy bestowed the blessings of the life present, and of that which is to come.

First, almighty God is to be blessed for giving his saints such eminent gifts of grace for the good of his Church, and for the setting forth of his glory. So Chrysostom, Basil, Euthymius, Prosper, Placidus Parmensis expound it. Every good and perfect gift is from above descending from the father of lights, a good thought in a saint is gratia infusa, a good word in a saint is gratia effusa, a good deed in a saint is gratia diffusa, through his grace which is the God of all grace saints are whatsoever they are. Wherefore praise the Lord in his saints, often remember their virtues as their true relics, and as it were bequeathed legacies unto God's people. So the wise man, Ecclesiasticus 44. Let us now commend the famous men in old time by whom the Lord hath gotten great glory, let the people speak of their wisdom, and the congregation of their praise. So the Confession of Bohemia, chap. 17. We teach that the saints are worshipped truly, when the people on certain days at a time appointed, do come together to the service of God, and do call to mind and meditate upon his benefits bestowed upon holy men, and through them upon his Church, &c. And for as much as it is kindly to consider, opus diei in die suo, the work of the day in the same day it was wrought; it is well ordered by the Church of England, that the most illustrious and remarkable qualities of the saints are celebrated upon their proper festiuals, that on S. Stephens day, we may learn by S. Stephens example to love our enemies: on S. Matthews day, to forsake the world and to follow Christ: on S. John the Baptist his day, to speak the truth constantly, and to suffer for the same patiently. Thus in steadfastness of faith and godliness of life ( non legere modo sed degere sanctorum vitas, as one wittily) to be followers of them as they were followers of Christ; is (as blessed Latimer was wont to say) the right worshipping of Saints, and of God in his Saints.

Again, for as much as there is a communion of Saints, as we confess in the Creed, a knot of fellowship between the dead Saints and the living; it is our duty to praise God for their good in particular, as they pray to God for our good in general. It is required on our part I say, to give God most humble thanks for translating thē out of this valley of tears into Jerusalem above, where they be clothed with long white robes, having palms in their hands, and crowns of gold on their heads, ever living in that happy kingdom without either dying or crying, Apocal. 21. 4. and this also (in the judgment of Augustine, Jerome, Hugo, Raynerius, and other) is to praise God in his Saints.

These reasons are the grounds of certain holy days established in England by law, namely to bless God for his Saints eminent grace while they were living, and exceeding glory now they be dead. Wherein our Church ascribes not any divine worship to the Saints, but all due praise to the sanctifier: in celebrating their memory (saith Augustine ) we neither adore their honor, nor implore their help: but (according to the tenor of our text) we praise him alone, who made them both men and martyrs. In the words of Jerome to Riparius: Honoramus reliquias martyrum, vt eum cuius sunt martyrs adoremus: honoramus seruos, vt honor seruorum redundet ad dominum: If thou desire to do right unto the Saints, esteem them as patterns, and not as patrons of thy life; honor them only so far, that thou mayest always praise God in them, and praise them in God.

The gunpowder men err very much in this one kind of honoring God, for either they worship his Saints as himself, or else their own saintlings, and not his Saints. In praying to the dead, in mingling the blood of their martyrs with the precious blood of their Maker, in applying their merits, and relying upon their mercies; it is plain that they make the Saints (as Melancthon tells them in his Apology for the Confession of Auspurge ) quartermasters with God, and half mediators with Christ, I say joint mediators not of incercession only but of redemption also. Nay they make the blessed Virgin upon the point their only mediatrix and advocate, so they sing, and so they say. They sing in their public service, Maria mater gratiae, mater misericordiae, &c. the which is God's own style, 1. Pet. 1. 10. & 2. Cor. 1. 3. so they likewise say, Maria consolatio infirmorum, redemptio captiuorum, liberatio damnatorum, salus vniuersorum. Giselbertus in lib. altercationis Synagogae et ecclesiae, cap. 20. Maria quasi maria, saith Augustinus de Leonissa, sermon 5 upon Ave maria, for as all rivers come from the seas, and return to the seas again, Ecclesiastes 1. 7: so forsooth (if you will undertake to believe him) all grace is derived from Mary, and ought to be returned again to Mary. We find so much in Rosario Mariae, reparatrix & saluatrix desperantis animae, &c. That which is worse, their own Pope (who cannot, as they teach, err in a point of doctrine as Pope) calleth her expressly Deem. Pet. Bembus in his epistles written in Pope Leo 10. name, lib. 8. epist. 17. printed at Strasburg an. 1609. that which is worst of all, in their most approved Bible: they translate Gen. 3. 15. ipsa conteret caput tuum: she shall break thine head, although (as their own Jesuit Ribera confesseth honestly) the Hebrew text, the Chaldee paraphrase, the translation of the Septuagint, and all good Latin copies read ipse conteret, he shall bruise the serpents head, applying it to Christ, according to that of Paul, The God of peace shall tread down Satan under your feet, Rom. 16. 20. by this evidence you may see that the gunpowder crew praise not God in the saints, nor the saints in God: but on the contrary the saints as God.

Again these S. Peter men (and as I have warrant to term them on this day Salt Peter men ) err from the true meaning of our text, because they do not praise God in sanctis eius, in his saints: but dishonor God in sanctis eorum, in saints of their own making, usually praying unto some who were no men, and to many who were not holy men. It is doubted by the two great lights in their glorious firmament, Bellarmine and Baronius, whether there were ever any such man as S. George, or such a woman as S. Catharine. Cardinal Bellarmine lib. de beatitudine sanct. cap. vlt. §. respondeo sanctorum doth acknowledge that they worship certain saints whose stories are uncertain, reputing the legend of S. George apocryphal according to the censure of Pope Gelasius: and Cardinal Baronius ecclesiast. annal. Tom. 2. ad an. 290. according to the impression at Rome, fol. 650. as also de Martyrologio Romano cap. 2. confesseth as much of Quiriacus and Iulitta, declaring plainly that their acts are written either by fools or heretics, and in his annotations upon the Roman Martyrologie 23. April, he taketh up Jacobus de Voragine for his leaden Legend of our English S. George, concluding in fine, that the picture of Saint George fighting with a Dragon is symbolical, and not historical. If the Scripture be true whatsoever is not of faith is sin: then assuredly these men (as Paul speaks) are damned of their own selves in their own conscience, who (notwithstanding all their doubts) pray still in their public service, Deus, qui nos beati Georgij martyris tui meritis & intercessione laetificas, Concede propitius, &c. An Idol as Paul affirms, 1. Cor. 8. 4. is nothing, Ergo, the Papists in worshipping S. George which is nothing, commit (even themselves being Judges) abominable Idolatry.

As they worship some who were no men, so many who were not holy men, as a reverend Doctor of our Church accutely, Non matyris domini sed mancipes diaboli: the Soldier who pierced Christ's holy side was a Pagan, neither doth any story which is authentical speak of his conversion, and yet they worship him under the name of S. Longinus, or Longesse, March 15. Papias (as Eusebius and Jerome report) held the heresy of the Millenarians, and yet he is honored as a saint in the Roman Calender upon the 22. of February. Becket was a bad subject in his life, and no good Christian at his death, in that he commended himself and the cause of his Church unto S. Denys and our Lady. Yet S. Thomas of Canterbury was honored at Canterbury in the days of popish ignorance more then either the worlds Savior, or the blessed Virgin his mother: in which relation I appeal to the records of that Church, as also to the very stones under his shrine worn with the knees and hands of such as came thither to worship him. Boccace reporteth how one Sir Chappelet a notorious Italian Usurer and Cousoner came to be honored as a Saint in France. Sanders among them is a saint, albeit he lived in plotting, and died in acting rebellion against his gracious Sovereign Queen Elizabeth of famous and blessed memory. Nay Dauus is Diuus, Saul is among the Prophets, pater personatus, father Parsons all the days of his life was a perpetual Martyr, as his fellow Ribadeneira termeth him: and yet one (who sometime was his inner man, and knew him as I presume, better then ever did Ribadeneira ) transposing the letters of Robertus Pársonius Iesuita, found this anagramme, Personatus versuti oris abi: the wit-foundered drunkard, Henry Garnet (who did not according to the Counsel of Paul use vino modico: but as Paulinus pretily modio ) that lecherous treacherous Arch-priest, Archtraitor, Arch-devil in concealing, if not in contriving: in patronizing, if not in plotting the powder intended massacre, is returned a Saint from beyond the seas with à sancte Henrice intercede pro nobis: his action is justified, his life commended, his death honored, his miracles and memory celebrated by that Ignatian spirit, ( portentum nominis portentum hominis, having a great deal of name, though a very little modesty) Andreas Eudaemon Johannes Cydonius: but notwithstanding his apology, the saintship of Henry Garnet is so buffeted by the replies and antilogies of our accuratlie learned divines, as that his straw face will hereafter hardly be worth a straw. Catesbie, Winter, Rookwood, and the rest of the Cole-saints and hole-saints (who labored in the devils mine by the Popes mint) are numbered among the holy ones also: Babylon and Egypt praise God in them, and for them. I have heard much of roaring gentlemen in London and Canterbury, but if the Lord himself had not watched over his Church, if the Lord himself had not written England in the palms of his hands, if the Lord himself had not kept King James as the apple of his eye, if the Lord himself had not been on our side (now may God's Israel in England say) if the Lord himself had not been on our side, when they rose up against us, if the Lord himself had not (out of his unspeakable goodness toward us and our posterity) broken their snares, and delivered our souls out of that horrible gunpowder pit; these bellowing Bulls of Basan, and Canon-mouthed hell-hounds would have made on this day such a roar, that all Christendom should have felt it, and the whole world have feared it. O Lord God of all power, blessed be thy name, which hast this day brought to naught the enemies of thy people, so let all thine enemies perish O Lord, that our mouths may be filled with laughter and our tongue with joy. Sint diui modo non viui, let England hang such, although afterward Rome hallow such, he that hath an eye to see without the spectacles of a Jesuit, will afford as good credit to the register at Tiburne as to the Calender of Tiber: for if these be Martyrs, I wonder who are Murderers? If these be Saints, I pray you who are Scythians? If these be Catholics, who are Cannibals?

I pass to the second exposition of these words, O praise God in his sanctity, so Munster, Pagninus, Beza, Tremellius and our old translation here, Praise God in his holiness: now God is holy formaliter & effective, holy in himself, and making other holy; the Lord is glorious in holiness Exod. 15. 11. Whereas other God's are famous for their unholiness, Venus was a wanton, Mercurius a thief, Jupiter a monstrous adulterer, an ingenious man (as Basil writes) would blush to report that of beasts, which the Gentiles have recorded of their God's. If such imputations are true saith Augustine, quàm mali how wicked are these God's: if false quàm male how wretched and foolish are these men, adoring the same things in the temple, which they scoff at in the theater, in turpitudine nimium liberi, in superstitione nimium serui: so that their God's are not as our God, even our enemies being Judges Deut. 32. 31. there is none holy as the Lord 1. Sam. 2. 2. called often in holy Scripture the holy one, yea thrice holy; holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts Isaiah 6. 3. his name is holy, his law is holy, his spirit is holy, his will holy, his word holy, righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works Psalm. 145. 17. making us also which are his servants an holy people Deut. 7. 6. an holy priest-hood 1. Pet. 2. 5. his holy temples 1. Cor. 6. 19. our bodies, our souls, our selves, our whole service holy, wherefore praise God in his holiness.

Luther, Calvin, Vatablus, your English-Geneva bibles, & our new translation have praise God in his sanctuary, the which in holy scripture signifieth either heaven, or the temple, heaven is often called in sacred writ God's sanctuary, for thus saith he that is high and excellent, he that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is the holy one, I dwell in the high and holy place. Christ in coming to us is said to break the heavens Isaiah 64. 1. and when he went from us unto his father a cloud took him up into heaven Acts 1. and frō heaven he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead 1. Thes. 4. 16. That his sanctuary may be taken here for heaven, is gathered out of the very next clause ( praise him in the firmament of his power ) the which (as Calvin & other expositors have well observed,) is exegetical, and expounds the former, as if David should have said, praise the Lord in his sanctuary, that is in the firmament of his power, for the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handy work Psalm. 19. 1. let all people praise God our father in heaven, especially such as dwell with him in heaven, O praise the Lord all ye blessed Angels and Saints inhabiting his sanctuary which is highest and holiest.

Other apply the word sanctuary to the Temple, so termed for two respects especially. 1. because God manifesteth his holiness toward us in that holy place more principally, calling it expressly his house. 2. a sanctuary in regard of our holy service toward God, for albeit every day be to the good man a Sabbath, and every place a temple; yet the God of Order hath appointed certain times, and certain places also, wherein he will be worshipped publicly, saying Leviticus 19. 30. Ye shall observe my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. For our holiness toward God concerneth us one way in that we are men, and another way in that we are joined as parts to that visible mystical body which is his Church as men, we are at our own choice both for time, and place, and form, according to the exigence of our own occasions in private, but the service which is to be done of us as the members of a public body, must of necessity be public, and so consequently to be performed on holy days in holy places. and for this doctrine the scriptures afford both patent and pattern, the patent is reported by the Prophet Isaiah: Chap. 56. verse. 7. and repeated by Christ in three several Evangelists: my house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The patterns are manifold, I will enter into thine house in the multitude of thy mercies, and in thy fear will I worship toward thine holy temple, saith our Prophet, Psal. 5. 7. The Publican and the Pharisee went into the temple to pray, Luke 18. Peter and John went up together into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer, Acts 3. Anna fasted and prayed in the temple, Luke 2. This one word sanctuary teacheth us how we should behave our selves in the Church as in God's presence: Doest thou come to that holy place to receive the blessed Supper of our Lord? remember that the temple is sanctuarium, non promptuarium, a sanctuary, not a buttrie, have ye not houses to eat and drink in, despise ye the Church of God? Doest thou come to pray? take heed to thy foot when thou enterest into God's house, compose thy knees, and eyes, and hands, and heart after such a devout manner: as that thou mayest not only praise God upon the loud cymbals, but (as it is verse. 5.) praise him upon the well tuned cymbals also. Doest thou come to hear the sermon? remember that the preaching of the Gospel is not the word of a mortal man, but the power of the immortal God unto salvation, and albeit the Preacher be never so simple, never so sinful; yet the word is holy, the action holy, the time holy, the place holy, ordained by the most holy to make thee holy. Upon whatsoever occasion thou comest into the temple, remember always that the ground is holy whereon thou standest, it is a sanctuary, the habitation of God, and place of his holiness: and therefore not to be profaned with ordinary though lawful worlds business, much less with unlawful pastimes and interludes, it is a place for praise, not for plays, O praise God in his sanctuary.

Or (as Martin Luther interprets it) praise God in his sanctuary, that is for his sanctuary, for showing his word unto Jacob, his statutes and ordinances unto Israel, for his adoption, and his covenants, and his promises, and his service, Rom. 9. 4. O praise the Lord for his true Church established for the present among the Jews, and hereafter in the fullness of time to be constituted among Christians until the worlds end. For this clause may be construed of the mystical heaven and temple, so well as of the material heaven and temple. The good man (I mean the true Christian) is not only God's house, but also God's temple, yea God's heaven, as Augustine expounds the words of Christ, Our Father which art in heaven, that is, in holy men of heavenly conversation, in whose sanctified hearts he dwelleth as in his sanctuary. Archimedes in his conference with Hiero said, Give me a place where I may stand out of the world, and I will move the whole earth: in like manner he that will be reputed a Saint, and so take upon him to remove men earthly minded from their worldliness, must himself at the least have one foot out of the world, seeking (as the blessed Apostle speaks) the things above, that other may see his good works, and glorify God which is in heaven, that is (according to the true soul of our text) praise God in his Saints which are his sacrarie, his sanctuary, his house, his heaven.

Here then all the three diverse lines ( praise God in his Saints, praise God in his sanctity, praise God in his sanctuary ) meet in one centree; namely, God is to be praised in his sanctuary for his sanctity conferred upon his Saints, whereby they shined as lights in this heaven on earth, and now shine like stars in that heaven of heaven. If I were not (according to the text and the time) foreward to prosecute the gunpowder men as the more dangerous enemies of God and his Gospel, I might upon this ground take up the bucklers against idle Nouelists, utterly condemning the festiuals of holy Saints, established in our Church by good order of law. Their principal objection is taken out of Paul's epistle to the Galatians, chap. 4. verse. 10. Ye observe days and months, and times and years, I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. To which answer is made, that there is a fourfold observation of days

• Natural.
• Political.
• Ecclesiastical.
• Superstitious.

Of all which only the superstitious is condemned, as Aretius and Illiricus, and other Protestant Divines upon the place. Now the superstitious observation is either Judaical or Idolatricall, it is apparent that Paul meant the first hereof especially, because the Galatians after they were converted unto Christ, were seduced by false teachers unto the ceremonies of the Jews, as concerning the Sabbaths & the new Moons and the like, the which were figures of Christ, and had their end in him. Are ye so foolish that having begun in the spirit, ye would now be made perfect by the flesh? As for Idolatricall observing of times, it is granted easily that the Pagans (in dedicating feasts unto false gods, and in making differences of days dismal and fortunate, either by curious arts, or by particular fancies, or popular observations) are worthily reputed superstitious. And the Papists also (solemnizing holy days of the Saints in their Churches with idolatrous worshipping of the creatures, and their Images: and out of their Churches with Epicurelike belly-cheer, revelling, and idleness) turn again to the beggarly rudiments and fashions of the world: but the festiuals of England (celebrated according to the doctrine and Injunctions of our Church) are very far from these and all other kinds of superstition, for then is God truly worshipped in the public congregation, I say the true God is truly praised in his true Saints, on our holy days the sacraments are rightly ministered, the Scriptures are fruitfully read, the Word is faithfully preached; all which are main means to withdraw men not only from superstition and idolatry, but also from all sorts of error and impiety whatsoever.

Yea but the words of the Commandment are, six days shalt thou labor: Ergo, there should be no holy day besides the Lord's day. Protestant Divines answer that the clause ( six days shalt thou labor ) is a permission, or a remission of God's right, who might challenge to himself all our time for his work, and not a restraint for any man from serving of God on any day. For the Jews beside the Sabbath had diverse other feasts; as Easter, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of first fruits, Whitsuntide, the feast of blowing trumpets, the feast of Tabernacles; all which (as we read Leviticus 23) they kept by God's appointment holy, notwithstanding these words of the law, six days shalt thou labor. And so the Christian Church in all ages hath upon just occasions separated some week days unto the praising of the Lord, and rest from labor. Joel 2. 14. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Daies of public fasting for some great judgment, days of public rejoicing for some great benefit, are not unlawful, but exceeding commendable, yea necessary. Whosoever doubts of the Churches liberty herein, or of the practice of this liberty, may peruse the ninth chapter of Ester, in which it will appear that God's people by the commandment of Mordecai did every year solemnize and keep holy the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar, in remembrance of their great delivery from the treason of Haman. Upon these grounds the last ever renowned Parliament enacted, that we should forever spend the prime part of this present fifth of November in praying and praising the Lord, for his unspeakable goodness in delivering our King, Queen, Prince, and states of this realm from that hellish, horrible, bloody, barbarous intended massacre by Gunpowder. Now that I may for my part execute the will of the Parliament (sparing the Nouelists, and referring such as desire to be further satisfied in this argument of holy days, unto the judicious writings of my most honored and honorable master, Archbishop Whitegift, in the defense of his answer to the Admonition) I proceed in the text, praise him in his noble acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Some read laudate eum in virtutibus eius, praise him in his powers: other ob fortitudinem eius, praise him in his power; and according to these two diverse translations, I find two different expositions; one construing it of God's glorious Angels, and the other applying it to God's glorious acts: for the first, it is evident in holy writ that there be certain distinctions and degrees of Angles in the quier of heaven, there be Seraphim Isaiah 6. 2. Cherubims, Gen. 3. 24. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, Coloss. 1. 16. in all which and for all which God is to be praised, as being his ministering spirits for the good of such as shall be heirs of salvation; as long as we serve God, all these serve us, even the Cherubims, and Seraphim, Angels, and Archangels, I say, so long as we serve the Lord, these pages of his honor and parts of his courts attend us, and pitch their tents about us: a doctrine very profitable, very comfortable, yet for as much as I hold it less pertinent to the present occasion I thus overpass it, and hast to that other exposition interpreting these words (as our Church readeth) of God's noble acts.

Now the works of God are of two sorts, ad intra & ad extra: some be confined within himself, other extended towards us: works of the sacred Trinity within it self (as that the Father begets, and the Son is begotten, and the holy Ghost proceeds from both) are wonderful acts of such an high nature that it is our duty rather simply to adore, then subtly to explore them: all his acts extended toward us are summarilie reduced unto two, namely the works of creation and redemption. The work of creation is attributed in the Mass of the matter to God the Father, in the disposition of the form to God the Son, in the preservation of both to God the holy Ghost. So likewise that of redemption, in election unto God the Father, in the consummation unto God the Son, in the application unto the holy Ghost, all which are very noble acts▪ and God is to be praised in them according to his excellent greatness. The work of creation is so mighty, that none could bring it to pass but the Father almighty: that God should have nothing but nothing, whereof, wherewith, whereby to build this high, huge, goodly, fair frame; is a principle which nature cannot teach, and Philosophy will not believe. The work of redemption is of far greater might and mercy, for the making of the world was (if I may so speak) only lip-labor unto God, he spake the word and it was done, be commanded and it stoodfast, Psalm. 33. 9. but Christ in redeeming the world said many words, and did many wonders, and suffered also many wounds. It is true that the least ache of his least finger is infiniti meriti, sed non definiti meriti, that is of an infinite merit, yet not that determined ransom for the sins of the whole world. It cost him more to redeem souls, he died for our sins and rose again for our justification, he suffered for us, and that death, and that a violent death, and of all violent deaths the most accursed death on the Cross.

The work of sanctification is a noble act also, for every man if you rightly consider his making is a wonder, I am saith our Prophet fearfully and wonderfully made: but a good man if you consider his new making is a wonderful wonder, as Paul speaks a spectacle to men and Angles, as the vulgar Latin runs in the 68. Psalm, at the last verse, mirabilis deus in sanctis, O God wonderful art thou in thy Saints.

But David here meaneth especially the valiant acts of God in governing & garding his people from their enemies, O come hither and behold the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward the Children of men, he turned the sea into dry land so that his people went on foot thorough the midst of the sea, the waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on their left; but the waves of the Sea returned and covered the chariots and horsemen even all the host of Pharaoh that pursued them. Almighty God reigned hailstones out of heaven upon the cursed Amorites at Bethoran, and they were more ( saith the text) that died with the hail, then they whom the Children of Israel slew with the sword. And when Duke Joshua prayed, Sun stay thou in Gibeon, & thou Moon in the valey of Aialon: the Sun abode and the Moon stood still until the people avenged themselves upon their enemies. When Zenacherib and his innumerous host came to fight against Hezekiah King of Judah, God's Angel in one night flew an hundred eighty and five thousand Assyrians. 2. Kings. 19.

And undoubtedly (beloved) there is no nation under the cope of Heaven hath had greater occasion to praise God in this kind then England, the preservation of the most illustrious princesse the Lady Elizabeth under the fiery trial of her unkind sister Queen Marie was a noble act, and the seminary of much happiness unto this kingdom for many years after, and so much the more noble because Philip King of Spain hath often confessed that he spared her life (when wildy Winchester and bloody Bonner had brought her into the snare) not out of any piety or pity, but only out of policy. Her exaltation to the Crown was another noble act, so noble that some Popish Prelates in their envy burst a sunder and died for very grief of heart. Well might that good Lady sing and say with the blessed Virgin, He that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is his name, he hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek: her flourishing in health, wealth, and godliness, more then 44. years (in despite of all her foes abroad, at home, schismatical, heretical, open, intestine) was another noble act: for after once the Bull of Pope Pius Quintus had roared, and his fat Calves had begun to bellow in this Island: there passed never a year, never a month, never a week (I think I might say) never a day, never an hour, but some mischief was intended either against her person or her people: the resisting of the rebellion in the Northern parts of England, was a noble act: the discovering and so consequently the defeating of Campians treason a noble act: of Parris treason a noble act: of the Lupus Lopus his treason, a noble act: of Squires treason, a noble act. Her glorious victories against her fell and insolent enemies the Spaniards in Ireland, in Flanders, in France, in their own dominions of Portugal, Indies, and Spain were noble acts. It was a wonder of wonders, that a Mayden Queen should at one time be both a staff to Flanders, and a stay to France, a terror to Pope, a mirror to Turk, feared abroad, loved at home, Mistress of the Sea, wonder of the world. She might truly be called a Prince of Peace, for she was Crowned in Peace, she lived in Peace, she died in Peace, she was buried in Peace: and when she had slept with her Fathers, it was another noble act of the Lord to send us in the midst of all our fear so learned, so meek, so pious a Prince as King James, in such exceeding sweet peace, that never a sword was drawn, happily never a word spoken against him. All these were noble acts, and ought to be had in a perpetual remembrance. But of all other noble preseruations ( Our deliverance from that intended merciless and matchless Massacre both in fact and fiction, the fifth of November, in the year 1605. is most noblie noble. King James on this day might have said with King David, O Lord which art my rock and my fortress, thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me, that I might break them as small as the dust of the earth, and tread them flat as the clay of the street. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious, and his mercy endureth forever. Let Israel now confess that he is gracious, and that his mercy endureth forever. Let the house of Aaron now confess that his mercy endureth forever. Yea let all such as fear the Lord now confess that his mercy endureth forever. All the Congregations of the Saints in the whole world, have good cause to thank God our strength and deliverer. Scotland hath good cause, for if England had been but a Tuesday breakfast, assuredly Scotland should have been but a Fridays drinking, one morsel as it were for the greedy devourer. The Churches in France relieved often by us, have good cause to rejoice with us. Our neighbors of Holland have good cause to triumph as they do, for if our house had been set on fire, their house being the next would have been quickly pulled down. The Churches in Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Geneva likewise have good cause to praise God in this noble act according to his excellent greatness.

More principally the Common-weal of England, and in it all men of all factions, and all fashions whatsoever. Atheists (if they think there be a God) have good cause to thank God, acknowledging his mercy toward them in sparing us, and so saving the bad for the righteous sake. Carnal Gospellers have good cause to thank God, confessing that so long as Let is in Sodom, it cannot be destroyed, and so long as Moses standeth in the gap, and prayeth for his people, God's wrathful indignation cannot devour us. Yea, let the Gunpowder men themselves (if they have any spark of grace) confess that God is to be praised in this noble act, for suppose (God be thanked we may suppose and dispose thus of these matters unto our comfort) I say suppose, their devilish plot had been acted, I assure my self our cause had been far better, and our number far greater then theirs, and as for our sins (which are indeed our greatest enemies) they would have brought into the field so many as we: so that having so much armor of light, and more armor of proof then they: Causa iubet melior superos sperare secundos.

But suppose the least and the worst part had overcome the bigger and the better, yet (if they be not hewn out of hard rocks, if these Romanists have not sucked the milk of wolves (as it is reported of the first founder of Rome) they would have relented to see their native Country made nothing else but a very shambles of Italian and lgnatian butchers, When Alexander saw the dead corps of Darius, and Julius Caesar, the head of Pompey, and Marcus Marcellus, Syracuse burn; and Scipio, Numantia spoild, and Titus, Jerusalem made even with the ground; they could not abstain from weeping, albeit they were mortal enemies, But above all other in this kingdom the truly zealous, and zealously true hearted protestants have greatest occasion of rejoicing, for if the Lord had not ( according to his excellent greatness, and according to his excellent goodness too) delivered us out of this gun-powder gulf, our bodies happily might have been made food for the fowls, or else sewel for the fire, and that which would have grieved our posterity more, superstition and Idolatry might in short time have been replanted in this land, I mean that upstart Antichristian religion of Rome, wherein many things, especially four (as judicious Fox well observed) are most abominable.

• 1. Vnlimited jurisdiction, derogatory to all Kings and Emperors.
• 2. Insolent titles, prejudicial to all Bishops and Prelates.
• 3. Corrupt doctrine, injurious to all Christians.
• 4. Filthie life, detestable to all men.

The greater was our danger, the greater was our deliverance: the greater our deliverance, the greater our thanks should be, for as it followeth in my text, God is to be praised according to his excellent greatness. It is true that our most and best praises are few for the number, and little for the measure, whereas God is infinite for his goodness, and in his greatness incomprehensible, so that the meaning of David is that we should praise him according to our capacity, and not according to his immensity: according to the grace bestowed upon us, and not according to the glory which is in him. Ecclesiasticus 43. 30. praise the Lord, and magnify him as much as ye can, yet doth he far exceed. Exalt him with all your power and be not weary, yet can ye not attain unto it.

Now where the Lord giveth a greater mean, there he requireth a greater measure, where he bestoweth a greater portion of gifts, he doth expect a greater proportion of glory: wherefore seeing the Lord hath out of his abundant mercy conferred upon this kingdom inestimable blessings in the preaching of his word for the space of more then fifty years, it is questionless he looks for no little thanks or small praise, but for great thanks and great praise according to his excellent greatness manifested in this our deliverance. I come therefore to the second part of this Psalm, showing with what God is to be praised, in the sound of the trumpet, &c.

God is to be praised (saith Augustine) totis votis de totis vobis with all your souls, & with all yourselves. That therefore we may manifest our inward affections by such outward actions as are commendable, where there be trumpets, let them sound: where there be lutes and harps, let thē strike up: where there be loud Cymbals and well tuned Cymbals, let them ring, let thē sing the praises of God for this our most happy deliverance, let trumpet and tongue, viol and voice, lute & life witness our hearty rejoicing in the Lord: If our true zeal were more fiery within, it would doubtless break forth into moe public works, then it doth against that bloody brood of the gun-powder crew. There have been many collections in every diocese for the reedifying of the Churches of Saint Albanes and Arthuret, the which I assure myself were good works: there have been in this latter age many gorgeous, I might say glorious buildings erected about and in this honorable City, to the great ornament of our Country, the which I think you may number among your good works: there have been lotteryes to further Virginean enterprises, and these (for anything I know) were good works also: there have been many new play-houses, and one fair Burse lately built, Paris garden in a flourishing estate makes a great noise still, and as I hear Charing Cross shall have a new coat too: but in the mean time while so many monuments are raised either to the honor of the dead, or else for the profit and pleasure of the living: dic mihi musa virum, I pray muse and show me the man, who joins with that ever zealous, reverend, learned Dean in founding a College for a society of writers against the superstitious Idolatries of the Roman Synagogue, the which happily might be like the Tower of David, where the strong men of Israel might have sheildes and targets to fight the Lord's battle. Is it time for your selves to dwell in your seiled houses and this houselye waste?

Remember I beseech you the words of Azariah unto King Asa and the men of Judah, The Lord is with you, while you are with him, and if ye seek him, he will be found of you: but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. Be not cold in a good cause, fly not out of the field, play not the cowards in the Lord's holy wars, for albeit happily yourselves are like for your time to do well enough in despite of the devil and the Pope his darling: yet your posterity will assuredly rue it, and have just cause to curse their dastardly spirits, and worthless progenitors. I say no more concerning this point, only I pray with our forefathers in the first english Litany set out in the days of King Henry the 8. from all sedition and privy conspiracy, from the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities, from all false doctrine and heresy, from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word and commandment.

Good Lord deliver us.

Where note by the way that the Popes abominable tyranny is hedged in (as it were) on the one side with sedition and privy conspiracy, and on the other side with false doctrine and heresy. I have another prayer, and for as much as it is in Latin, I must entreat all such (if any such here be present who love Bonanentures psalter and the Romish service) to join with us in this orison.

Papa noster qui es Romae; maledicetur nomen tuum, intereat regnum tuum, impediatur volunt as tua, sicut in Coelo sie et in terra, Putum nostrum in Coena dominicada nobis hodie, & remit nummos nostr • s quos tibi dedimus ob indulgentias, sicut & nos remittimus tibi indulgentias, & 〈◊〉 nos inducas in haeresin, sed libera nos a miseria, quoniam tuum est infernum, pix & sulphur in secula seculorum.

The word of God is a two edged sword, sharp in a literal, and sharp in an allegorical exposition. Hitherto you have heard the history, now there remaineth a mistery, nihil enim hic ludicrum aut lubricum saith Augustine, and therefore divines understand here by the sounding of the trumpet, the preaching of the Gospel, whose found went out thorough all the earth unto the ends of the world: at the sevenfold sounding of this trumpet the walls of sericho fall, that is all the pomps and powers of this world are conquered & brought to naught, this trumpet is mighty thorough God to cast down holds, and Imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God. 2. Cor. 10. 4.

Other say that the Saints are these trumpets, and harps, and Cymbals, and that their members make this music to the Lord, our eyes praise the Lord, while they be lifted up unto their maker in heaven, and wait upon his mercy: our tongues praise the Lord, in singing Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs unto the Lord: our ears praise the Lord, while they hear the word of God with attention: our hands praise the Lord, while they be stretched out unto the poor, and while they work the thing that is good: our feet praise the Lord, when they be not swift to shed blood, but stand in the gates of God's house, ready to run the ways of his commandments. In Tympaeno sicca & percussa pellis resonat, in choro autem voces sociatae concordant said Gregory the great: wherefore such as mortify the lusts of the flesh praise God in tympano, and they who keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, praise God in choro: the Brownist in separating himself from the Church though he seem to praise God in tympano, yet he doth not praise God in choro: and the carnal gospeller albeit he join with the Church in chere, yet he praiseth not God in tympano they praise God in well-tuned Cymbals who tune their souls before they preach or pray, whosoever desires to be a sweet singer in Israel must be learned in the school, before he be loud in the temple: the heart likewise must be prepared for praying, as the harp for playing▪ if our instruments of praise be not in tune, then our whole devotion is like the sounding brass or as the tinkling Cymbal: in God's quier there is first tune well, and then sound well, if once we can say with David, O God mine heart is ready, mine heart is ready, then our lute and harp will awake right early: let thy soul praise the Lord, and then all that is either without or about thee will instantly do the same.

Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord ) that is omne spirans, omnis spiritualis, omnis spiritus, let every creature praise the Lord for his estate of confection, every Christian praise the Lord for his estate of refection, every blessed spirit loosed out of the worlds misery praise the Lord for his estate of perfection, let every creature, man above all the Creatures, and the foul of man above all that is in man praise the Lord. Omnis spiritus, i. totus spiritus, all the heart, all the soul, all the mind, as the psalmist elsewhere, I will thank thee O Lord my God with all mine heart, even with my whole heart, or omnis spiritus the spirit of every man in every place, for this saying is prophetical, insinuating that God in time to come, shall not only be worshipped of the Jews at Jerusalem with outward ceremonies, in the sound of the trumpet and upon the lute and harp: but in all places, of all persons in spirit and truth as Christ expounds David in the 4. of Saint John's Gospel at the 23. verse, whereas unbelieving Jews are the sons of Abraham according to the flesh only believing Gentiles are the seed of Abraham according to the spirit, and heirs by promise, more Israel saith Augustine then Israel it self. The sons of Abraham (as Christ tells us in the Gospel, 〈◊〉 they who do the works of Abraham, and Abraham's chief work was faith, Abraham believed (saith the text) and it was imputed to him for righteousness, Ergo▪ the true believer is a right Isralite, blessed with faithful Abraham. Galat. 3. 9. some stretch this further, applying it not only to the spirits of men in the Church militant, but also to the blessed Angels and Saints in the triumphant, for this Psalm consists of a threefold apostrophe.

1. David inviteth all the Citizens of heaven, O praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in the firmament of his power.

2. All the dwellers upon earth, praise him in the sound of the trumpet, praise him upon the lute and harp, &c.

3. Both and all, let everything that hath breath, every thing which hath either the life of nature, or of grace, or of glory, let every spirit whether it be terrestrial or celestial, of whatsoever condition, age, sex, praise the Lord.

It is a Rabbinical conceit that this hymn consists of 13. Hallelujahs, answering 13. Properties of God mentioned Exod. 34. 6. 7. verses, and in that our Prophet after a dozen Hallelujahs hath not done, but addeth a thirteenth, he doth insinuate that when all our devotion is finished, it is our duty to begin again with God's praise, for as of him, and thorough him, and for him▪ are all things, even so to him is due all glory for evermore: as his mercies are from everlasting to everlasting, from everlasting election, to everlasting glorification: so likewise his praises are to be sung forever and ever. In this life we begin this hymn singing (as musitians speak) in breifs and semibriefs a staff or two, but in the world to come standing before the throne of the Lamb, clothed in long white robes, accompanied with all the sweet voices of heavens incomparable melodious quire: we shall eternally sing; Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, which was, and which is, and which is to come, praise, and glory, and wisdom, and power, and might, be unto our God for evermore. Amen.