over angels of heaven, devils of hell, and the greatest earthly monarchs, being far ABOVE ALL that are supposed or called GODS, and therefore deserves a nobler worship than is given to any creature.

Ver. 4. He is not limited in his providence to one city, or confined to a single province, but IN HIS HAND and power, under his rule and government, ARE ALL THE remotest and most secret CORNERS OF THE EARTH; no place is too far for his reach, too deep for his discovery, or too strong for his power, for the height AND THE STRENGTH OF THE HILLS which are inaccessible to men, these ARE HIS ALSO, and serve for the bulwarks of his kingdom.

Ver. 5. He is the Lord of all the world, and commandeth over that unruly abyss of waters THE SEA, which he binds in fetters of sand, that it should not harm us; he hath given it to us, and makes it serve our needs, because it is HIS by an unquestionable title; for he created and he made IT, and therefore ought to give laws to it, and dispose of it and all the earth, because he took away the covering of waters from the ground, AND HIS HANDS made herbs and fruits, birds and beasts, and so furnished and Prepared the DRY LAND to be an habitation for the sons of men.

Ver. 6. O COME then, since we have so gracious and allsufficient a God, LET US not only praise him for what we have, but also pray unto him and WORSHIP him for the relief of all our necessities, with all possible zeal and sincerity in our hearts, and with all lowliness and reverence in our postures; let us bow and fall DOWN on our faces, AND KNEEL to so glorious a King, behaving ourselves most humbly BEFORE THE LORD who is able to do all things, and being OUR MAKER, deserves to be worshipped with both soul and body.

Ver. 7. And our peculiar interest in him may encourage us to pray to him, FOR HE IS THE LORD in whom we believe, who calleth himself OUR GOD, and although he made all men, yet he hath especially made himself known to us, AND WE ARE THE PEOPLE whom he feeds with his word and sacraments, and whom he hath chosen to be the flock OF HIS PASTURE, for he himself doth watch over us day and night, to secure us from sin and Satan; we are his especial subjects, AND THE SHEEP that shall ever be preserved by the care of his eye, and the

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power oF HIS HAND, if we come at his call, and hearken to his

voice.

Ver. 8. O ye peculiar people of God, observe therefore how his ministers and his Spirit do every day invite you to repentance, saying, To-DAY, after you have lost so many days, and have so few remaining; while this day is in your power, it will be well for you IF YE WILL HEAR and obey HIS VOICE, and that he may not call in vain, take heed you wilfully HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS by delighting in the pleasures of sin, by doubting of the promises, or slighting the threatenings of God; for the event will be as sad AS IN THE PROVOCATION of the Divine anger by the unbelieving Israelites at Meribah, and as IN THE DAY OF their presumptuous TEMPTATION of God's patience at Massah IN THE WILDERNESS of Sin, after they came out of Egypt.

Ver. 9. This example God set before the posterity of those obstinate Jews, saying to them, (as now he doth to you,) Remember the time WHEN YOUR FATHERS, in whom you glory, disobeyed my commands, questioned my providence, and durst not trust my promises, but TEMPTED ME by requiring miracles from me to satisfy their lusts, and by this they supposed to have PROVED ME and made trial of my power and love; although they received a miraculous deliverance, AND SAW all the rest of MY WORKS, which were so wonderful, they would have convinced any but such stubborn wretches.

At

Ver. 10. For all this I forbore them (as I have done some of you) full FORTY YEARS, and spared them from utter destruction, yet still they were rebellious as at first, so LONG WAS I GRIEVED WITH the perverseness of THIS GENERATION. last, when nothing would amend them, I declared my utter detestation of them, AND SAID of those whom I had once chosen, IT IS A PEOPLE whom nothing can reclaim, a refractory crew THAT DO ERR IN THEIR HEARTS concerning me, imagining me faithless and false, or weak and impotent; and no wonder, FOR THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN, nor never would observe MY WAYS, viz. to destroy presumptuous sinners, but to give grace and glory to holy and humble men which put their trust

in me.

Ver. 11. Wherefore I warn you all to take heed lest you refuse to hear my voice, and neglect to repent to-day; for so

you will provoke me to deal with you, as I did with them, UNTO WHOM I SWARE, and steadfastly resolved IN MY WRATH, being justly incensed at their baseness, THAT THEY SHOULD all perish in the wilderness, and for all their confidence, that one of them should NOT ENTER INTO the blessed land of promise, nor partake of MY REST: So I cut them off for disobedience and unbelief, and I will keep all such out of the heavenly Jerusalem. Lo, I have said it, that you may be warned and turn in time. Glory be to the Father, &c. As it was in the beginning, &c.

SECTION VIII.

OF THE DAILY USE OF THE PSALMS IN MORNING AND

EVENING PRAYER.

§. I. THE Book of Psalms seems to be a collection of those devout hymns wherewith holy men did praise God upon public or private occasions, being fitted to all conditions of the church, and of particular persons also. They are Divine prayers and praises indited by the Spirit of God, with such admirable variety, that we may easily collect a form from thence, either to petition for any thing we need, or to glorify the name of God for any mercy we have received. Wherefore they are used and commended by Christians, Jews, and Mahometans also. And although we have many differences among the several parties that are called Christians, yet all agree to make use of these incomparable and sacred anthems; so that Cassander designed to compose a liturgy out of them, that might serve his purpose of universal accommodation, and be received by all Christians. This joint consent and universal approbation will make it needless to spend much time to commend what all admire. Yet it were easy to reckon COMBER, VOL. I.

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up those excellent titles and honourable charactersb which have been given them. They are called the instrument of virtue, the marrow of divinity, the storehouse of devotion, the epitome of holy scripture. They contain excellent forms to bless the people, to praise God, to rejoice in his favour, to bewail his absence, to confess our faith, to crave pardon of our sins, deliverance from our enemies, and all blessings for the church of God. In the use of them we ought to exercise all graces, repentance and faith, love and fear of God, charity to all men, and compassion to the miserable. The composure of them declares they are fitted for men of all ages and degrees, in all estates and conditions, young and old; kings, priests, and people; in prosperity and adversity; here they may find that which so exactly suits them all, as if their condition had been foreseen and particularly provided for: and if any who grant this shall except, That many of the Psalms are not applicable to their condition, I shall confidently affirm, That as devout men in their enjoyment of the Divine favour can be humbled in using the complaints for want of it which were uttered by better men, and thereby they are moved to see what they deserve, and to consider what many of their brethren want; so on the contrary, a pious man under trouble of spirit can, by the spiritual rejoicings there described, behold the goodness of God to others, and foresee his own deliverance, receiving thereby additions to his faith, hope, and patience. He that forgives his enemies, and wisheth well to all particular persons, may repeat those curses

a Virtutum organum, Ambr. Theologiæ compendium, Basil. Epitome totius Scripturæ, Athan. Parva Biblia, Luth.

b Psalmus benedictio populi

est, Dei laus, plebis laudatio, plausus omnium, sermo universorum, vox ecclesiæ, fidei canora confessio, &c. Vid. Ambr. Præf. ad Psal.

delivered in this book, as predictions of the miseries like to befall the inveterate enemies of religion, or as deprecations against sin and Satan, and all the spiritual enemies of our souls, which are the Amalek with whom we must have an endless war, and whose extirpation we must endeavour and pray for. The like might be said of all the rest in all other cases; but this may suffice to justify the church in more frequent using these Psalms than any other part of God's word, because this is the quintessence of all scripture, and most accommodated for worship and devotion: so it was esteemed by the Jews, and therefore the greatest part of the temple-service consisted of forms contrived out of the Psalms, and committed to the masters of the choir, who used those forms, and praised God by them long after David's time, 2 Chron. xxix. 30; yea, at this very day their Liturgy is an extract principally out of 85 these Psalms; and no man is ignorant how constantly the primitive Christians used them in their assemblies, insomuch that the very women, the children, and meanest mechanics, could say them by heart, and sang them at home and abroad, even about their labours; making them at once the exercise of their piety, and the refreshment of their minds, recreating themselves and glorifying God; and hereby they had answers ready to

c Historia instruit, lex docet, prophetia annunciat, correptio castigat, moralitas suadet, in libro Psalmorum profectus omnium est. Ambr. ut supra.

d 1 Chron. xvi. 7. ad ver. 37. collected out of the cv. xcvi. and cvi. Psalms. Ab eo tempore ordinarie posthac Deus fuit celebratus Psalmis et sacra musica. Osiander. See 1 Chron. xxv. 2.

e Et versus alios complures e Psalmis Davidicis recitare solent,

&c. Buxt. Synag. cap. 5.

f

I Cor. xiv. 26. Coloss. iii. 16. Ἕτερός τις τοὺς τοῦ Δαβὶδ ψαλλέτω ὕμνους, καὶ ὁ λαὸς τὰ ἀκροστίχια iπоуаéт. Const. Apost. lib. 2. cap. 57.

g Psalmorum oracula et domi canunt et in foro circumferunt. Basil. in Psal. i. See Euseb. Hist. lib. 9. cap. 1; and more fully Dr. Hammond's Preface to the Psalms.