vation. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Zion conspicuously advanced. Rejoice, saith the majesty, and of thy wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts; and I will declare thy greatness. They shall It is to them no small pleasure to behold speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk God's holy perfections illustriously shining of thy power. So did he signify his reso- forth; and the glory of him (who is the lution. I have not hid thy righteousness principal object of their love, their revewithin my heart; I have declared thy faith-rence, their hope, and confidence) to be fulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. So his conscience testified of his practice. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men: that they would offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with gladness. So doth he pour forth his desire. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name: show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. Come and see the works of God. Sing forth the honour of his name, make his praise glorious. O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the people. So doth he summon, so doth he urge us to this practice; and in his deportment we may see our duty. IV. It is peculiarly the duty and practice of good men upon such occasions to feel and to express religious joy. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord. Good men indeed then have great matter, and much cause, on many accounts, to be glad. It becometh them to rejoice, as having an universal complacence in God's proceedings, as gratefully relishing all dispensations of Providence. They, as pious, are disposed to bless and praise God for all things incident, and cannot therefore but rejoice; joy being an inseparable companion of gratitude and praise. Hence, Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Hence, The voice of salvation and rejoicing is in the tabernacles of the righteous. Hence, Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright; is an exhortation backed with a very good reason. They cannot but find satisfaction in observing God's providence notably discovered, to the confirmation of their faith, and cherishing their hopes; together with the conviction of infidelity, and confusion of profaneness. Our heart (saith the Psalmist) shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy sal 1 Psal. cxlv. 5, 6, 11; (lxxvii. 12; ix. 14;) xl. 10; evii. 8, 15, 21, 22, 31; xlvii. 1; xcvi. 2, 3; cv. 2; lxvi. 5, 2; (lxvi. 16;) cv. 1. JPsal. xcvii. 11; cxviii. 15; xxxiii I. It is to them ground of exceeding comfort, to receive so clear pledges of God's love and favour, his truth and fidelity, his bounty and munificence toward them, expressed in such watchful care over them, such protection in dangers, such aid in needs, such deliverance from mischiefs, vouchsafed to them. Such benefits they cannot receive from God's hand, without that cheerfulness which always doth adhere to gratitude.* I will (saith David) sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. Because thou hast been my helper, therefore in the shadow of thy wings I will rejoice. My lips shall greatly rejoice in thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. I will be glad, and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities. The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them.m the They are also greatly refreshed with ap prehension of the happy fruits sprouting from such dispensations of Providence; such as are the benefit of mankind, the peace and prosperity of the civil state, preservation, settlement, enlargement, advancement of God's Church; the support of right, the succour of innocence, the maintenance of truth, the encouragement and furtherance of piety; the restraint of violence, the discountenance of error, the correction of vice and impiety. In these things they, as faithful servants of God, and real friends of goodness, as bearing hearty good-will and compassion to mankind, as true lovers of their country, as living and sensible members of the Church, cannot but rejoice. Seeing by these things their own best interest (which is no other Sen. de Benef. ii. 22. Cum accipiendum judicaverimus, hilares accipiamus, profitentes gaudium, &c. -Vide ib. 30. Psal. xxxiii. 21; xiii. 5; cvii. 42. 1 Psal. xcvii. m Psal. xiii. 61 12; xxx.4; xcvii. 8, 9; xlviii. 11. Ixiii. 7; lxxi. 23; xxxi. 7; cxxvi. 3; ▼ than the advantage of goodness), their chief honour (which consists in the promotion of divine glory), their truest content (which is placed in the prosperity of Zion), are highly furthered; how can they look on them springing up, without great delight and complacence? O (saith the Psalmist) sing unto the Lord-for he hath done marvellous things. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. And, Sing, O heavens, crieth the Prophet, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O ye mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy on his afflicted. And, When (saith he) ye shall see this (the comfort of God's people), your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord | shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies." Even in the frustration of wicked designs, attended with severe execution of vengeance on the contrivers and abettors of them, they may have a pleasant satisfaction; they must then yield a cheerful applause to Divine justice. The righteous (saith the Psalmist) shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: and, Let the wicked (saith he) perish at the presence of God; but let the righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God; yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Whence, at God's infliction of judgment upon Babylon, it is said in Jeremy, Then the heaven, and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon; and at the fall of mystical Babylon, in the Apocalypse, it is likewise said, Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. Farther, V. The next duty prescribed to good men in such case is to trust in God, that is, to have their affiance in God (upon all such like occasions, in all urgencies of need) settled, improved, and corroborated thereby. This indeed is the proper end, immediately regarding us, of God's special providence, disclosing itself in any miraculous, or in any remarkable way; to nourish in well-disposed minds that faith in God, which is the root of all piety, and ground of devotion. Such experiments are sound arguments to persuade good men, that God doth govern and order things for their best advantage; they are powerful incentives, driving them in all exigences to seek God's help; they are most convincing evidences "Psal. cxxii. 6; (1 Cor. xii. 26:) Psal. xcviii. i. 3; Isa. xlix. 13; Psal. xcvi. 11, 13; Isa. lxvi. 14. • Psal. Iviii. 10; Job xxii. 19; Psal. lxviii. 2, 3. 48. 4 Rev. xviii. 20. (Psal. lxxviii. 7.) P Jer. li. that God is abundantly able, very willing, and ever ready to succour them. They (saith the Psalmist) that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. And, I (saith he) will abide in thy tabernacle for ever; I will trust in the covert of thy wings; for thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. It is indeed a great aggravation of diffidence in God, that having tasted and seen that the Lord is good; having felt so manifest experience of divine goodness; having received so notable pledges of God's favourable inclination to help us; we yet will not rely upon him. As a friend, who by signal instances of kindness hath assured his good-will, hath great cause of offence, if he be suspected of unwillingness in a needful season to afford his relief; so may God most justly be displeased, when we (notwithstanding so palpable demonstrations of his kindness), by distrusting him, do in effect question the sincerity of his friendship, or the constancy of his goodness toward us.* VI. Good men upon such occasions should glory: All the upright in heart shall glory. Should glory; that is, in contemplation of such providences feeling sprightly elevations of mind and transports of affection, they should exhibit triumphant demonstrations of satisfaction and alacrity. It becometh them not in such cases to be dumpish or demure; but jocund and crank in their humour, brisk and gay in their looks, pleasantly flippant and free in their speech, jolly and debonair in their beha viour; every way signifying the extreme complacency they take in God's doing, and the full content they taste in their state. They with solemn exultation should triumph in such events, as in victories achieved by the glorious hand of God in their behalf, in approbation of their cause, in favour to ward their persons, for their great benefit and comfort." They may (not as proudly assuming to themselves the glory due to God, but as gratefully sensible of their felicity springing from God's favour) se jactare, se laudibus efferre (as the Hebrew word doth signify;) that is, in a sort boast, and commend themselves as very happy in their relation to God, by virtue of his protection and aid. They may (not with a haughty insolence, or wanton arrogance, but with a sober confidence and cheerful. ness) insult upon baffled impiety, by their Psal. ix. 10; Ixi. 3, 4, 5; cxv. 9, &c.; cxxx. 7; χχχίν. 8. Ecclus. ii. 10. " Psal. cxxvi. 1, &c. Psal. lii. 6, 7,- The righteous shall laugh at him, or, deride him, in this manner: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. ever. expressions and demeanour upbraiding the folly, the baseness, the impotency and wretchedness thereof, in competition with the wisdom, in opposition to the power of God, their friend and patron. For such carriage in such cases we have the practice and the advice of the Psalmist to warrant and direct us. In God (saith he) we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; and I will triumph in the works of thy hands. We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him; talk ye of all his wondrous works. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy name, and to triumph in thy praise.' Such should be the result (upon us) of God's merciful dispensations toward his people. I shall only farther remark, that the word here used is by the Greek rendered, ixangorras, they shall be praised: which sense the original will bear, and the reason of the case may admit. For such dispensations ever do adorn integrity, and yield commendation to good men. They declare the wisdom of such persons, in adhering to God, in reposing upon God's help, in embracing such courses which God doth approve and bless: they plainly tell how dear such persons are to God; how incomparably happy in his favour, how impregnably safe under his protection; as having his infallible wisdom and his invincible power engaged on their side. This cannot but render them admirable, and their state glorious in the eyes of all men; inducing them to profess with the Psalmist, Happy is the people, which is in such a ouse; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord. And of such a people, that declaration from the same mouth is verified, In thy name shall they rejoice all the day long, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted: for thou art the glory of their strength, and in thy favour their horn shall be exalted. Such are the duties suggested in our text, as suiting these occasions, when God in a special manner hath vouchsafed to protect his people, or to rescue them from imminent mischiefs, by violent assault or by fraudulent contrivance levelled against them. I should apply these particulars to Psal. xliv. 84 xcii. 4; xx. 5; cv. 3, 2 cvi. 47. the present case solemnized by us: but I shall rather recommend the application to your sagacity, than farther infringe your patience, by spending thereon so many words as it would exact. You do well know the story, which by so many years repetition hath been impressed on your minds: and by reflecting thereon You will easily discern, how God, in the seasonable discovery of this execrable plot (the masterpiece of wicked machinations ever conceived in human brain, or devised on this side hell, since the foundation of things), in the happy deliverance of our Nation and Church from the desperate mischiefs intended toward them, in the remarkable protection of right and truth, did signalize his providence. You will be affected with hearty reverence toward the gracious author of our salvation, and with humble dread toward the just awarder of vengeance upon those miscreant wretches, who digged this pit and fell into it themselves. You will be ready with pious acknowledgment and admiration of God's mercy, his justice, his wisdom, to declare and magnify this notable work done by him among us. You must needs feel devout resentments of joy for the glory arising to God, and the benefits accruing to us, in the preservation of God's anointed, our just Sovereign, with his royal posterity: in the freeing our country from civil broils, disorders, and confusions; from the yokes of usurpation and slavery; from grievous extortions and rapines; from bloody persecutions and trials, with the like spawn of disastrous and tragical consequences, by this design threatened upon it; in upholding our Church (which was so happily settled, and had so long gloriously flourished) from utter ruin: in securing our profession of God's holy truth, the truly catholic faith of Christ (refined from those drossy alloys, wherewith the rudeness and sloth of blind times, the fraud of ambition and covetous designers, the pravity of sensual and profane men, had embased and corrupted it), together with a pure worship of God, an edifying administration of God's word and sacraments, a comely, wholesome, and moderate discipline, conformable to divine prescription and primitive example; in rescuing us from having impious errors, scandalous practices, and superstitious rites, with merciless violence obtruded upon us: in continuing therefore to us the most desirable comforts and conveniences of our lives. You farther considering this signal testimony of divine goodness, will thereby be moved to hope and confide in God for his gracious preservation from the like pernicious attempts against the safety of our Prince and welfare of our country, against our peace, our laws, our religion; especially from Romish zeal and bigotry (that mint of woful factions and combustions, of treasonable conspiracies, of barbarous massacres, of horrid assasinations, of intestine rebellions, of foreign invasions, of savage tortures and butcheries, of holy leagues and pious frauds, through Christendom, and particularly among us), which as it without reason damneth, so it would by any means destroy, all that will not crouch thereto. You will, in fine, with joyous festivity, glery and triumph in this illustrious demonstration of God's favour toward us; so as heartily to join in those due acclamations of blessing and praise. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Alleluiah; Salvation, and glory, and power, unto the Lord our God; for true and righteous are his judgments. Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, O thou King of saints. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only doth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.s SERMON XII. A CONSECRATION SERMON.* and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud, &c. If all, not only inaugurations of persons, but dedications even of inanimate things to some extraordinary use, hath been usually attended with special significations of joy and festival solemnity; with great reason the consecration of a person to so high and sacred a function, as that of a Christian Bishop (that is, of a prince, or principal pastor in God's Church), requires most peculiar testimonies of our gratulation and content: the face of things ought then to be serene and cheerful; the thoughts of men benign and favourable; the words comfortable and auspicious, that are uttered upon such occasion. And that ours at present should be such, the subject as well as the season of our discourse doth require. Words few, but pregnant, and affording ample matter for our best affections to work upon; and which more particularly will engage us, both to a hearty thankful. ness for past benefits, and to a confident expectation of future blessings; while they acquaint us with the ancient exhibition of a gracious promise, remind us of the faithful performance thereof hitherto, and assure us of its certain accomplishment for the future. The occasion whereof was this: King David, moved by a devout inclination to promote God's honour, and benefit the Church, had vowed to build a magni, ficent temple, imploring God's propitious concurrence with, and approbation of, his design. Whereupon Almighty God not only declares his acceptance of that pious resolution, but rewards it with a bountifu, promise, consisting of two parts; one con ditional, relating to David's children and PSAL. CXXxii. 16.. I will also clothe her posterity, that they in an uninterrupted priests with salvation. THE Context runs thus: The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I WILL ALSO CLOTHE HER PRIESTS WITH SALVATION: Henry the Seventh's Chapel, July 4, 1663, at the Bishop of Man's consecration. Psal. cxxiv. 6; (lxviii. 32;) Rev. xix. 1, 2; xv. 3; Psal. lxxii, 18, 19. succession should for ever enjoy the royal dignity, in case they did constantly persist in observing his covenant, and the tes timonies that he should teach them; the other more absolute, that however, what he chiefly intended concerning God's esta blished worship and the perpetual welfare of the Church, God would have an especial care that it should fully and certainly be accomplished: that he would for ever fix his residence in Sion: that he would protect and prosper it, and all that did belong thereto; especially those that did most need his favour and assistance, the poor, the priests, and the saints (or gentle ones) 70. This is briefly the importance of the general promise wherein is comprehended that particular one whereon we are to treat; and in which we may ob- | table;) yet all the rest of this covenant (or serve 1. The Promiser, I. 2. The persons who are especially concerned in the promise, her Priests. 3. The thing promised, clothing with salvation. I. I say, the Promiser, 1; that is, the Lord; the most true, the most constant, the most powerful God; most true and sincere in the declaration of his purpose, most constant and immutable in the prosecution most powerful and uncontrollable in the perfect execution thereof: whose words are right, and all whose works are done in truth: who will not break his covenant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips: whose counsel shall stand, and who will do all his pleasure. These glorious attributes and perfections of his, so often celebrated in Holy Writ, do ground our reliance upon all God's promises, and do oblige us, notwithstanding the greatest improbabilities or difficulties objected, to believe the infallible performance of this. II. The persons whom the promise mainly regards, her Priests. Priests, that is, persons peculiarly devoted to, and employed in sacred matters; distinguished expressly from the poor (that is, other meek and humble persons;) and from the saints (that is all other good and religious men.) And, her Priests; that is, the Priests of Sion: of that Sion which the Lord hath chosen; which he hath desired for his permanent habitation; which he hath resolved to rest and reside in for ever. Whence it plainly enough follows, that the Priests and Pastors of the Christian Church are hereby, if not solely, yet principally, designed; which interpretation, because it is in a manner the foundation of our subsequent discourse, and by some it may perhaps not be readily admitted, I shall endeavour farther to confirm by these few arguments. promise) is conceived in terms peremptory No 2. The completion of this individual promise is both by the Prophets foretold, and expressed by the Evangelists, to appertain to the times of the Gospel. Ye heard even now the words of Jeremy, which are by him applied to those times, when God would cause the Branch of righteousness (that is, Jesus of Nazareth, our blessed Saviour) to grow up unto David, who should execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days (saith he farther) shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell 1. Because the covenant here mentioned safely: and this is the name wherewith she is not, as to the main parts thereof, of a shall be called (or rather, which he shall be conditional or temporary nature, but abso-called, as not only the vulgar Latin and the lute and perpetual; and must therefore be understood to respect the Christian Church (that of the Jews being long since rejected, their temple demolished, their Sion utterly forsaken. For although one particular contained therein, concerning the continual succession of David's posterity in the regal authority over Israel, hath a condition explicitly annexed (and, consequently, the effects depending upon the performance of that condition were contingent and mu Psal. xxxiii. 4; lxxxix. 34; Isa. lxvi. 10. Contra, 2 Chron. vii. 21. • Vide 2 Chron. vii. 16. Greek interpreters, but the Chaldee also read it), THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Likewise in the fifty-fifth of Isaiah, God thus invites the Gentiles: Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David; that is, I will ratify that everlasting covenant, which in your behalf I once made with David, and will confer d Psal. lxxxix. 35, 36, 37. Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21; Jer. xxxiii. 15, 16. |