I had seen him with mine eyes. Lord, grant me thy Holy Spirit, that I may behold him with the same faith, and embrace him with the same affections that he did, and then I shall cheerfully join in a Nunc dimittis, and being daily ready to die, shall ever be fit to live, and thy will shall be done in my life or death. Blessed Lord! thou hast even to our days, by these holy writings, sufficiently manifested thy Son before all our faces; and it is our carelessness, ingratitude, and unbelief, that hides him from our eyes, and makes us hug these vanities, and fear to leave them. But thou hast done thy part, and I will praise thee for sending this bright and glorious sun, which shined on so many millions of wretched heathens benighted in the darkness of idolatry, and made them Christians. I will bless thee for honouring thy ancient but despised people, who were more ennobled by the birth of Jesus than by all their former royalties and victorious trophies, and instead of the bright cloud, the glory of the tabernacle, thou didst send him to pitch his tent among them who was the brightness of thy own glory. I am ravished to behold so many joyful souls blessing thee for this light which shined on them in their sins, the confines of eternal darkness, and converted and translated them into thy marvellous light. And all thy holy saints in all ages have given thee the glory for all those illustrious beams of love and charity, piety, justice and devotion, which shine in their lives, and are but the reflection of the rays of the grace of Jesus. This excellent person rejoiced, not only in his own felicity, but to behold, by the spirit of prophecy, what joy Jesus was like to bring to me, and many thousands of converts and holy men to the end of the world. Wherefore let us be glad and rejoice with him, for ourselves and all people, for the light that shines upon us, and the

glory that is round about us, and with all our souls sing, Glory be to the Father, &c.

The paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis.

Ver. 29. I desire not to live in this world any longer than I have laid hold of thy salvation; which since thy word and Spirit hath now discovered to me, I have all I can wish for here; therefore, LORD, NOW LETTEST THOU thy command go forth, that THY SERVANT who hath longed hitherto to enjoy thee, may DEPART quietly out of this miserable world, and be dismissed from the prison of the flesh. I can now leave it IN PEACE, being assured thou wilt make good all other promises, since in giving thy dear Son thou hast done so exactly

ACCORDING TO THY WORD.

30. My desires are satisfied, and my faith confirmed as much as is possible in this world; FOR MINE EYES, enlightened by thy Holy Spirit, HAVE SEEN by faith in thy blessed word, him that is my Redeemer, and brings THY SALVATION to me, and all the world.

31. I cannot contain nor yet express my joy to behold this lovely Peacemaker, WHICH THOU HAST not only manifested in the flesh, but PREPARED by the discovery made of him in thy holy gospel, to appear most gloriously BEFORE THE Face of ALL PEOPLE that ever shall be hereafter.

32. This glorious Sun of Righteousness hath shined on all the earth, his word is A LIGHT TO LIGHTEN the dismal regions of the unconverted heathens, and THE GENTILES that knew not God; his doctrine instructed them, and hath converted many; and his presence and his grace is the honour AND THE GLORY of all true believers, the joy and comfort of THY PEOPLE ISRAEL, so that we, and all the world, are bound to praise thee for thy gospel and thy Son here on earth; and to continue our song to all eternity, when thou lettest us depart from hence. Amen.

SECTION XVII.

OF THE LAST HYMN, OR THE SIXTY-SEVENTH PSALM.

§. I. THE parallel to the former evangelical hymn is this devout Psalm, where that saving health a which holy Simeon saw and predicted should be a light to all nations, is desired to be accomplished in the conversion of all men. And when we have been illuminated with the doctrine of Christ out of the apostolic lessons, it is very seasonable to pray for the propagation of these Divine truths throughout the world, that we may shew our high esteem of them, our hearty gratitude for them, and our sincere desire that God may have glory, and all men benefit by them; and it is the more suitable, because these petitions are mixed with acknowledgments and praises also, as we shall more particularly now de

Ver. 1. God be merciful to

us, and bless us, and shew us the light of his countenance, and be merciful unto us: 2. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all

nations.

3. Let the people praise

thee, O God, yea, let all the people praise thee. 4. O let the nations rejoice and be glad for thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. 5. Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee. 6. Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, And God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.

7. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the world shall fear him.

a Ver. 2. Vulg. salutare tuum, ut Luc. ii. 30.

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A brief Discourse upon the LXVIIth Psalm.

§. III. Ver. 1, 2. GOD BE MERCIFUL UNTO US, AND BLESS US, &c. unto-AMONG ALL NATIONS] When we consider ourselves as members of that holy church which the Lord did first plant by the preaching, and hath ever since watered by the writings, of his holy apostles, and observe how by the daily lessons he continues still to instruct and comfort us, to exhort and reprove us; we are emboldened to beg his grace and favour to enable us to profit by them, and live according to them; and we desire he will express the kindness of his heart by the smiles of his countenance; we wish not he should bless us so much in riches, honours, or such like external things, but that which we count the greatest blessing, even that we may enjoy his favour and the light of his countenance, Psalm iv. 6, 7; and lest our sins should eclipse that lovely splendour, and hide it from us again, we pray he will be merciful unto us. And when we thus pray, that we and God's church may have public testimony of his good-will, and be in a prosperous estate, we do not desire it so much for our own benefit, as for the glory of God and the good of others for when the church and people of God are holy in their lives, and successful in their affairs, it is a means to attract many to righteousness, and to spread the fame of the gospel among all nations. We may

fitly therefore pray that by the aid of the Divine mercy we may live agreeably to the doctrine we have heard; for the holy lives of Christians would win more proselytes than the strongest arguments or the most charming eloquence, which, alas! are miserably weakened by the evil conversations of those who bear the name of this religion.

§. IV. Ver. 3, 4. LET THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE, O God, &c. unto—AND GOVERN THE NATIONS UPON EARTH] Our

own praises are too few to answer the goodness of so great a Majesty; wherefore we summon all the world to assist us in this so necessary a duty. And because they cannot be expected to praise him who do not know him, we tacitly pray for the conversion of all people, wishing all might hear the blessed sound of these holy lessons, and thereby learn to know God; for if they know him they will love him, admire him, and celebrate his praise as well as we. While we are taught the righteous dispensations of God, we ought to pity the poor nations that do not discern his holy providence, and to pray that they with us may see how wisely the Almighty doth order, and how justly he doth judge in all places of the world; and this we may do more cheerfully, when we by faith foresee that the time shall come when every knee shall bow to Jesus, and all the nations upon earth shall be subject to this righteous Judge and glorious King. We hear his reasonable commands, his righteous laws, and his amiable precepts, and thereby we discern that the sceptre of his kingdom is a right sceptre; so that we wish all people did know and own him for their King and Governor; and then we are sure they would all praise him, and rejoice most heartily under so sweet a government as his is.

§. V. Ver. 5, 6, 7. LET THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, YEA, LET ALL THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE, &c. to the end.] If we look into all the world, we shall find both Christians and others complaining of many wants, and craving continually to be supplied; but we are here taught a more excellent way, even that all men should praise God for his former mercies, and that would be the best means to move God to bestow more; for our praises unite into a cloud, and fall down again in a shower of blessings, both temporal and spiritual. If all did heartily (as we now) sing anthems and psalms