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Editor’s Notepg 53Editor’s NoteSERMON 4Critical Apparatus1Critical ApparatusPreached upon[3E3v]2the Penitentiall Psalmes.

  • 3PSAL. 32. 6.
  • 4For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee,
  • 5in a time when thou mayest be found; surely in the floods of
  • 6great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Editor’s Note7You would not bee weary of reading a long conveiance, in which the landDivisio. Editor’s Note8were given to your selves; nor of a long Will, in which the body of the state Editor’s Note9were bequeathed to you. Be not weary, if at any time your patience be exercised 10some minutes beyond the threescore, sometime beyond the houre in these Editor’s Note11exercises, for we exhibit the conveiance, in which the land, the land of Promise 12is made yours, and the Testament, in which even the Testator himselfe is 13bequeathed to you. But Legacies must be demanded, and oftentimes sued for; 14and in this text you are directed how to come by it, by prayer, (For this shall 15every one, &c.) And you are encouraged in the suit by the value of that you are 16to recover, by the effect of prayer, Surely in the floods of great waters they shall 17not come nigh to him: and these two, the way and the end, the manner and the 18matter, prayer and the benefit thereof, will be our two parts. And in the first Editor’s Note19of these, The duty of prayer, though wee be elsewhere commanded To pray1 Thess. 5. 17. 20continually, yet for all that continuall disposition, we have here certaine 21limitations, or rather indeed preparations, lest that which we call Prayer should Editor’s Note22not be so, and these are foure: For first, it is but omnis sanctus, every godly man 23shall pray, for the prayer of the wicked turns to sinne; And then the object of Editor’s Note24prayer, to whom it must be directed, is limited, it is but ad te, unto thee hee 25shall pray, beyond him wee cannot goe, and he that prayes short of him, to any 26on this side of God, falls short in his prayer; And in a third consideration, Editor’s Note27the subject, the matter of his prayer is limited too, It is but propter hoc, for 28this shall hee pray, that is, for that which hath beene formerly expressed, not 29whatsoever our desires, or our anguish, and vexation, and impatience presents Editor’s Note30or suggests to us; And lastly, the time is limited too, In tempore opportuno, In a 31time when thou mayest be found. In these foure, we shall determine that first 32part, the duty; and in the second the reward, the benefit, which is deliverance, 33(Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh him) wee shall see Editor’s Note34first, that the world is diluvium aquarum, a deluge of water floods that threaten 35all; But yet though worldly calamities bee of that spreading, and diffusive, and Editor’s Note36overflowing nature, non approximabit, there are places that it cannot come to, 37rocks that it cannot shake, hills that it cannot overflow; God hath so erected the pg 54Editor’s Note38godly man, that hee is a non ultra, a banke to this sea; It shall not come neere Editor’s Note39him; and this David establishes with that seale of infallibility, Surely, Surely in 40the floods [3E4r]| of great waters they shall not come nigh him. And these be the steps by 41which we shall leade you to the greatest happinesse, that is, deliverance from all 42afflictions, and that by the noblest meanes, and the fairest way, that is, familiar 43conversation with God by prayer.

1 Part.44Into our first part, The duty of prayer, wee shall make our entry with this 45consideration, That our religious Duties, in their precepts, are for the most Editor’s Note46part accompanied with reasons to induce us to the performance thereof: Hoc 47fac & vives; Doe this, sayes God; doe it, because I command it, at least doe it, Heb. 13. 2.48because if thou doe it, thou shalt live for ever. And so, Bee not forgetfull to 49entertaine strangers, for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares; Here the Editor’s Note50reason of the precept is example; others have prospered that way, therefore 51walke thou in it. God illustrates his precepts, comments upon his owne Text Editor’s Note52much by examples. First, to raise us to the best height, God makes himselfe our Editor’s Note53example, Sicut Pater, Be holy as your Father in heaven is holy: Then, because we 54cannot reach to that, he makes men like our selves (at least, such as we should Iam. 5. 17.Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus55be) our example, Sicut Elias, Elias was a man subject to like passions as wee are, 56and hee prayed that it might not raine, and it rained not, and that it might, and Editor’s Note57it did. If wee be not able to conforme our selves to the singularity of one Editor’s Note58particular and transcendent man, hee sends us to the whole body of good men, ver. 10.Editor’s Note59his servants, Sicut Prophetæ, Take, my brethren, the Prophets, for an example of Editor’s Note60long patience. And because he knowes our inclination, to be a declination, and 61that we cast those lookes, which hee made upward towards him, downward Editor’s Note62towards the creature, he sends us to creatures of an ignobler nature, Vade ad 63formicam, Goe to the Ant, doe as shee doth, be as industrious in thy businesse, 64as she is in hers. And then, as in inclining us to good, so also for avoiding of 1 Cor. 10.Editor’s Note65sinfull courses, he leades us by example too, Non sicut quidam eorum, Bee not 66idolaters as some of them, nor fornicators, nor tempters of Christ, nor murmurers, ver. 6.Editor’s Note67as some of them. And as that Apostle begins that catalogue there, so, These are ver. 11.Editor’s Note68examples to us, so hee ends it thus also, These things came unto them for examples: 69God suffers the wicked to proceed in their sin, and he powres downe his 70judgements upon them for their sins, not onely for their punishment, but 71therefore, that they might be examples to us. Now if God raise a glory to 72himselfe in the destruction of the wicked, if he make the wicked in their ruine, 73even Ministers in his Church, that is, edifiers, and instructers of others, by Editor’s Note74their owne ruine, if their ruine bee a sensible Catechisme, and a visible Sermon 75for the edifying of others, how much more doth it conduce to his glory, that the 76righteousnesse, and holy conversation of his Ministers, and Prophets should Editor’s Note77bee a lanterne to the feet of his people? This is all that David promises in 78thankfulnesse for that mercy which he asks of God, This is that that hee asks; Psal. 51. 12.Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus79Restore me to the joy of thy salvation, Et confirma me spiritu principali, Establish Editor’s Note80mee with thy free spirit, Spiritu munifico, sayes S. Hierom, with thy liberall, thy pg 5581bountifull Spirit; This is much that David asks; and what will David doe for Editor’s Note82God? This; I will teach thy wayes unto the wicked, and sinners shall be converted 83unto thee. And this is that which S. Paul apprehended to have moved God, to Editor’s Note84use his service in the Church; For this cause was I received to mercy, that Iesus1 Tim. 1. 16. 85Christ should first shew unto me all long suffering; but that was not all; But as 86it followes there, Vnto the example of them, which shall in time to come beleeve in 87him unto eternall life. It is an unexpressible comfort to have beene Gods instru-88ment, for the conversion of others, by the power of Preaching, or by a holy and Editor’s Note89exemplar life in any calling. And with this comfort David proceeds in the Editor’s Note90recommendation of this duty of Prayer, Day and night I have felt thy hand uponver. 4. 91me, I have acknowledged my sinne unto thee, and thou forgavest the iniquity of myver. 5. 92sin; thus it stood with me, and by my example, For this shall every one that is 93godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou maiest be found.

Editor’s Note94First then, the person that hath any accesse allowed him, any title to pray, isOmnis sanctus. 95he that is Godly, holy. Now, Omnis Sanctus, est omnis Baptismate sanctificatus:Hierom. 96Those are the holy ones whom God will heare, who are of the houshold of the Editor’s Note97faithfull, of the Communion of Saints, matriculated, engraffed, enrolled in Editor’s Note98the Church, by that initiatory Sacrament of Baptisme; for, the house of God, Editor’s Note99into which we enter by Baptisme, is the house of Prayer; And, as out of the 100Arke, whosoever swam best, was not saved by his swimming, no more is any Editor’s Note101morall man, out of the Church, by his praying: He that swomme in the flood, 102swomme but into more and more water; he that prayes out of the Church, 103prayes but into more and more sin, because he doth not establish his prayer in 104that, Grant this for our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus sake. It is true then, that 105these holy ones, whose prayer is acceptable, are those of the Christian Church; Editor’s Note106Onely they; but is it all [3E4v]| they? are all their prayers acceptable? There is a second 107concoction necessary too: Not onely to have beene sanctified by the Church in 108Baptisme, but a sanctification in a worthy receiving of the other Sacrament too; 109A life that pleads the first seale, Baptisme, and claimes the other seale, The Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus110body and blood of Christ Jesus: We know the Wise mans counsaile, concerning 111propitiation, Be not without feare. Though thou have received the propitiatoryEcclus. 5. 5. Editor’s Note112Sacrament of Baptisme, be afraid that thou hast not all. Will the milke that thou 113suckedst from a wholesome Nurse, keepe thee alive now? Or canst thou dine 114upon last yeares meat to day? Hee that hath that first holinesse, The holinesse 115of the Covenant, the holinesse of Baptisme, let him pray for more. For Omnis Editor’s Note116Sanctus, is Quantumcumque Sanctus, How holy soever he be, that holinesse Editor’s Note117will not defray him all the way, but that holinesse is a faire letter of credit, and 118a bill of exchange for more. When canst thou thinke thy selfe holy enough? 119when thou hast washed thy selfe in snow water? In penitent teares? (as the bestIob 9. 30. Editor’s Note120purity of this life is expressed) why, even then, Abominabuntur te vestimenta tua, 121Thine owne cloathes shall make thee abominable. Is all well, when thou thinkest all 122well? why, All the wayes of a man are cleane in his owne eyes, but the Lord weighethProv. 16. 2. 123the spirit. If thine owne spirit, thine owne conscience accuse thee of nothing, Editor’s Note124nothing unrepented, is all well? why, I know nothing by my selfe, yet am I not1 Cor. 4. 4. pg 56Iob 4. 18.Editor’s Note125thereby justified. It is God onely that is Surveyor of thy holinesse, And, Behold, 126he found no stedfastnesse in his Servants, and laid folly upon his Angels; how much Gregor.Editor’s Note127more in them, that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust? Sordet in 128conspectu æterni Iudicis, When that eternall Judge comes to value our transitory, 129or imaginary, our hollow, and rusty, and rotten holinesse, Sordet quod in inten-Editor’s Note130tione fulget operantis, Even that which had a good lustre, a good speciousnesse, 131not onely in the eyes of men that saw it, who might be deceived by my hypocri-Editor’s Note132sie, but in the purpose of him that did it, becomes base, more allay then pure 133metall, more corruption then devotion.

Gen. 31. 31.134Though Iacob, when he fled from his Father in law, Laban, were free enough 135himselfe, from the theft of Labans Idols, yet it was dangerously pronounced of Editor’s Note136him, With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: For, his owne Wife, August.Editor’s Note137Rachel had stollen them: And Caro conjux; Thy Wife, thy flesh, thy weaker part, 138may insinuate much sin into thine actions, even when thy spirit is at strongest, 139and thou in thy best confidence. Onely thus these two cases may differ; Rachel 140was able to cover those stollen Idols from her Fathers finding, with that excuse, Editor’s Note141The custome of Women is come upon me; But thou shalt not be able to cover thy 142stollen sins, with saying, The infirmity of man is come upon me, I do but as 143other men do; Though thou have that degree towards sanctification, that thou 144sin not out of presumption, but out of infirmity, though thou mayest in a 145modified sense fall within Davids word, Omnis sanctus, A holy man, yet every 146holy and godly man must pray, that even those infirmities may be removed Apoc. 22. 11.Editor’s Note147too. Qui sanctificatur, sanctificetur adhuc: He that is holy, let him be holy still; Editor’s Note148not onely so holy still, but still more and more holy. For, beloved, As in the Editor’s Note149firmament, of those stars which are reduced into Constellations, and into a 150certainty of shapes, of figures, and images, we observe some to be of one 151greatnesse, some of another, wee observe divers magnitudes in all them, but to 152all those other Stars, which are not reduced into those formes, and figures, we 153allow no magnitude at all, no proportion at all, no name, no consideration: 154So for those blessed soules which are collected into their eternall dwelling in Editor’s Note155Heaven, which have their immoveable possession, position at the right hand Editor’s Note156of God, as one Star differs from another in glory, so do these Saints which are 157in Heaven; But whilst men are upon this earth, though they be stars, (Saints 158of God) though they be in the firmament, established in the true Church of 159God, yet they have no magnitude, no proportion, no certainty, no holinesse 160in themselves, nor in any thing formerly done by God in their behalfe, and 161declared to us; but their present degrees of godlinesse give them but that 162qualification, that they may pray acceptably for more; He must be so godly 163before he pray, and his prayer must be for more godlinesse; and all directed to 164the right object of prayer, To God, Vnto Thee shall every one that is godly pray, 165which is our next, the second of our foure Considerations in this first part.

Ad Te.Editor’s Note166Ad Te, To God, because he can heare; And then Ad te, to God, because he can 167give. Certainely it were a strange distemper, a strange singularity, a strange Editor’s Note168circularity, in a man that dwelt at Windsor, to fetch all his water at London 169Bridge: So is it in him, that lives in Gods presence, (as he does, that lives 170religiously in his Church) to goe for [3E5r]| all his necessities, by Invocation to Saints. pg 57171David was willing to bee our example for Prayer, but he gives no example of 172scattering our prayers upon any other then God. Christ Jesus was willing to Editor’s Note173give us a Rule for Prayer: but if hee had intended that his Rule should have 174beene deflected and declined to Saints, he would have taught us to say, Frater 175noster qui es in Cælis, and not only Pater noster; to pray to our Brethren which Editor’s Note176are there too, and not onely to our Father which is in Heaven. If any man have 177tasted at Court, what it is to be ever welcome to the King himselfe, and what it 178is to speake to another to speake for him, he will blesse that happinesse, of 179having an immediate accesse to God himselfe in his prayers. They that come 180so low downe the streame, as wee said before, to London Bridge, they will go Editor’s Note181lower, and lower, to Gravesend too; They that come to Saints, they will come to Editor’s Note182the Images, and Reliques of Saints too; They come to a brackish water, betweene 183salt and fresh, and they come at last, to be swallowed up in that sea which hath 184no limit, no bottome, that is, to direct all their devotions to such Saints, as have 185no certainty, not onely not in their ability, we know not what those Saints can 186doe, but not in their history, we know not that such as they pray to, are Saints; Editor’s Note187nay, we know not whether they ever were at all. So that this may be Idolatry, in Editor’s Note188the strictest sense of the word, Idol; Idolum nihil est; let that be true, which 189they say, and in their sense, Our Images are not Idols, for an Idol is nothing, 190represents nothing, but our Images are the Images of Men that once were upon 191the earth. But that is not throughout true; for they worship Images of those Editor’s Note192who never were; Christophers, and other symbolicall, and emblematicall Saints, 193which never lived here, but were, and are yet nothing. But let them be true 194Saints, how will they make it appeare to us, that those Saints can heare us? 195What surety can we have of it? Let us rather pray to him, who we are sure can 196heare, that is first, and then sure he can give that we pray for, that is next.

Editor’s Note197The prayer here, is forgivenesse of sins; And can Saints give that? TheQui dant. Editor’s Note198Hosannaes, and the Allelujahs, and the Gloria in Excelsis, Glory in heaven, peace 199upon earth, good will amongst men, these are good and cheerfull Notes, in which Editor’s Note200the Quire of heaven are exercised; Cherubims and Seraphims, Prophets and 201Apostles, Saints and Angels, blesse God and benefit men by these: But the Editor’s Note202Remittuntur peccata, Thy sinnes are forgiven thee, is too high a note for any Editor’s Note203creature in earth or heaven, to reach to, except where it is set by Gods own 204hand, as it is by his Commission to his Minister, in his Church, and there onely, 205in the absolution given by his Ordinance to every penitent sinner. We see that 206phrase, Dimittuntur peccata, Thy sinnes are forgiven thee, was a suspicious word, 207even in the mouth of Christ himselfe, amongst the Scribes that would not Editor’s Note208beleeve his Divinity; when Christ said to him that had the Palsie, My sonne be Editor’s Note209of good cheare, thy sinnes are forgiven thee; the Scribes cryed out, he blasphemed: 210It strikes any man, to heare of forgivenesse of sins, from any but God. It was not Editor’s Note211a harder thing to say, Fiat lux, then to say, Dimittuntur peccata: Not harder to Editor’s Note212bring light out of darknesse by Creation, then to bring a cleane thing out ofIob 14. 213uncleannesse by Conversion; for, who can doe that? And therefore when the 214King of Aram sent Naaman to the King of Israel, to take order for the curing of Editor’s Note215his bodily Leprosie, the King of Israel rent his Clothes, and said, Am I a God,2 King. 5. 7. 216to kill and to give life? The power even of temporall life and death, is proper pg 58Editor’s Note217to God; for, as Witches thinke sometimes that they kill, when they doe not, 218and are therefore as culpable, as if they did; So a tyrannous persecutor, so a Editor’s Note219passionate Judge, so a perjured witnesse, so a revengefull quarreller, thinks he 220takes away the life of his enemy, and is guilty of that murder in the eye of God, 221though the blow be truly from God, whose judgements are ever just, though 222not ever declared. Let them never say, that they aske not these things, temporall 223or spirituall, at the hands of those Saints; for, expresly, literally, as the words 224stand, and sound, they do aske even those very things; and if the Church have 225any other meaning in those prayers, the mischiefe is, that they never teach the Editor’s Note226people, by Preaching, what that their reserved meaning is, but leave them to 227the very letter of the prayer, to aske those things, which, if they could heare, 228yet the Saints could not give. And when the prayer is made aright, directed to 229God himselfe, yet here in our Text it is limited, Propter hoc, For this, this that 230was spoken of before, every one that is godly shall pray unto thee. Now what is 231this This? for that is our third Consideration.

Propter hoc.Editor’s Note232Si à quo petenda, sed non quæ petenda petis, If thou come to the right Market, August.233but buy unwholesome hearbs there, If thou come to the Apothecaries shop, 234and aske for nothing but poysons, If thou come to God in thy prayer, and aske 235onely temporall blessings, [3E5v]| which are blessings onely in their use, and may be, 236and are ordinarily snares and encumbrances, then is this direction of Davids, 237Propter hoc, for this shall he pray, transgressed. For, This, as appeares in the 238words immediately before the Text, is, The forgivenesse of the punishment, and of 239the iniquity of our sinne; which is so inexpressible a comfort, to that soule that 240hath wrastled with the indignation of God, and is now refreshed and released, 241as whosoever should goe about to describe it, should diminish it; He hath it not 242that thinks he can utter it. It is a blessed comfort to find my soule in that state, 243as when I last received the Sacrament with a good conscience: If I enjoy that 244peace now, that is, the peace of a religious, and of a wise conscience; for there is 245a wisedome of the conscience, not to run into infinite scruples and doubts, but Editor’s Note246Imponere finem litibus, to levy a fine in bar of all scruples, and diffidences, and 247to rest in the peace and assurednesse of remission of sinnes, after due means 248for the obtaining thereof; and therefore if I be as well now, as when I received, 249this is a blessed degree of blessednesse. But yet there is one cloud in this case, Editor’s Note250Ab occultis, my secret sins, which even mine own narrowest inquisition extends 251not to. If I consider my selfe to be as well as I was at my Baptisme, when 252I brought no actuall sin, and had the hand of Christ to wash away the foulnesse 253of Originall sin, can I pray for a better state then that? Even in that there Editor’s Note254was a cloud too, and a cloud that hath thunder and lightning in it, that Fomes 255peccati, that fuell and those embers of sin, that are but raked up, and not trod Editor’s Note256out, and doe breake forth upon every tentation that is presented, and if they 257be not effectually opposed, shall aggravate my condemnation, more then if 258I had never been baptized. But David conceives such a forgivenesse here, as 259carries up the soule to the contemplation of that state, which it had before the 260fall of Adam. It is not this present sin of a cold delivering, and a drowsie hearing 261of the messages of God; It is not my yesterdayes sin, nor my sins since my last Editor’s Note262repentance, that are forgiven me, but my sin committed six thousand yeares pg 59263before I was borne, my sin in Adam, before any promise, nay, before any 264apprehension of any need of a Messias; I am so restored, that now by the 265application of the merits of my Redeemer, I am as well as I should have been, 266though there had never been any use of a Redeemer, no occasion given by me 267in Adam, of the incarnation and passion of Christ Jesus. The comfort of being Editor’s Note268presented to God as innocent as Adam, then when God breathed a soule into Editor’s Note269him, yea as innocent as Christ Jesus himselfe, when he breathed out his soule 270to God; oh how blessed is that soule that enjoyes it, and how bold that tongue 271that goes about to expresse it! This is the blessednesse which the godly Editor’s Note272attaine to by prayer, but not by every sudden Lord, Lord, or every occasionall 273holy interjection, but by serious prayer, invested, as with the former, so with 274that other circumstance that remains, In tempore opportuno, In a time when thou 275mayest be found.

Editor’s Note276This time is not those Horæ stativæ Horæ canonicæ, those fixed houres inIn tempore. 277the Romane Church, where men are bound to certaine prayers at certaine 278houres. Not that it is inconvenient for men to binde themselves to certaine 279fixed times of prayer in their private Exercises; and though not by such a vow, 280as that it shall be an impiety, yet by so solemne a purpose, as that it shall be a Editor’s Note281levity to breake it. I have known the greatest Christian Prince, (in Style and 282Title) even at the Audience of an Ambassador, at the sound of a Bell, kneele 283downe in our presence and pray; and God forbid, he should be blamed for 284doing so; But to place a merit in observing those times, as they doe, is not a 285right understanding of this time of finding. Nor is it those transitory and Editor’s Note286interlocutory prayers, which out of custome and fashion we make, and still Editor’s Note287proceed in our sin; when we pretend to speake to God, but like Comedians Editor’s Note288upon a stage, turne over our shoulder, and whisper to the Devill. When youEsay 1. 15. 289stretch out your hands, I will hide mine eyes; when you make many prayers, I will 290not heare; for your hands are full of blood. And if they be full of blood, they 291can take in no more; If they be full of the blood of oppression, they can lay no Editor’s Note292hold upon the blood of propitiation. Irrisor est, non pœnitens, qui adhuc agit quodIsidor. 293pœnitet, He mocks God, that repents and sins over those sins every night, that Editor’s Note294every day he repents. The Apostle sayes so too, Hee makes a mock of the Sonne Editor’s Note295of God, and crucifies him againe. This onely is true Repentance, Plangere &Ambro. 296plangenda non committere, To bewayle our sins, and forbeare the sins we have 297bewayled. Neither alone will serve; which deludes many. Many thinke they doe 298enough if they repent, and yet proceed in their sin; and many thinke they doe 299enough, if they forbeare their sin now, though they never repent that which is Editor’s Note300past; both are illusory, both deceitfull distempers. Lacessit Iudicem, qui post-August. 301[3E6r]| posita satisfactione quærit præmiis honorari, He doth but provoke and exasperate 302the Judge, that solicites him for heaven, before he hath appeased his anger by Editor’s Note303repentance for former sins; for this is to call for costs before he be discharged.

304These then are not the times of finding God; but what are? Generally it isGospel. Editor’s Note305Manifestatio Euangelii, The time of the Gospel is the time of finding God; nowAugust. Editor’s Note306when God hath vouchsafed Induere hominem, to put on us in his Incarnation, Editor’s Note307and enabled us Induere Deum, to put on him in the Sacraments; to stay with us 308here upon Earth, and to carry us up with him in his Ascension to Heaven; when pg 60Editor’s Note309he is made one body with us, and hath made us one Spirit with him, how can 310we doubt of a fit time to finde him? Christs time was alwayes; for even under the Esay 49. 8.Editor’s Note311law, God sayes, I have heard thee in an accepted time, and in the day of Salvation 312have I succoured thee; But this doth the Holy Ghost apply to the time of the 2 Cor. 6. 2.Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus313Gospel, Behold now the accepted time, behold now the day of salvation.

Calamitie314The time then of the Gospel is the time of finding; But now, all times are not Psal. 116. 4.Editor’s Note315alike. Calamities are a good time. When I found trouble, and sorrow, then I called 316upon the name of the Lord, saying, I beseech thee O Lord, deliver my soule. This 317is a good time, but it is somewhat a darke time; the withdrawing of Gods Exod. 14. 25.Editor’s Note318countenance from us; The Egyptians when they deprehended their danger, Editor’s Note319said, We will fly from the face of Israel; But whither? The Sea returned, and the 320Egyptians fled against it, and perished. We may be benighted, benummed by 321calamities, and they may as well deject us as raise us. Ioab pursued Abner hotly, 2 Sam. 2. 25.Editor’s Note322vehemently; Abner asks, What, Vsque ad internecionem, Shall the sword devoure Editor’s Note323for ever? Ioab answered, (as the Vulgat reads those words) Vivit dominus, si 324locutus fuisses mane, As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst spoken in the morning, in the 325morning every man had departed. If we turne to the Lord in the morning, in 326the beginning of an affliction, the Lord turnes his fierce wrath from us; but 327if we stand out long, and bend not under his corrections, he pursues Ad 328internecionem, even to destruction by obduration.

Prosperitas.Editor’s Note329So then the manifestation of the Gospel, that is, the helpes which God 330offers us, more then Jews, or Gentils, in the Ministery of the Gospel, and the Editor’s Note331Ordinances of his Church, is the time of finding God; And woe unto us, if 332we seeke him not whilest he affords us these helpes; And then the time of Editor’s Note333affliction, when God threatens to hide his face, but hath not yet hidden it, 334but awakens us by a calamity, is a time of finding God. But the best and the 335clearest time is in the Sun-shine, then when he appeares to us in the warme 336and chearefull splendor of temporall blessings upon us; Then when thou hast a 337good estate, and good children to let it descend upon; Then when thou hast 338good health, and a good profession to exercise thy strength, and thy labors in; Editor’s Note339Then when the dishes upon thy table are doubled, and thy cup overflows, and 340the hungry and thirsty soules of the poore doe not onely feed upon the crums Editor’s Note341under thy table, and lick up the overflowings of thy cup, but divide dishes with Editor’s Note342thee, and enter into the midst of thy Bolls; Then when thou hast temporall 343blessings, (that is Gods silver) and his grace to use those blessings well, (that is 344Gods gold) then is the best time of finding the Lord, for then he looks upon 345thee in the Sun-shine, and then thy thankfull acknowledgement of former 346blessings is the most effectuall prayer thou canst make, for the continuance, and 347enlargement of them.

Nunc.Editor’s Note348In a word, then is a fit time of finding God, whensoever thy conscience Editor’s Note349tells thee he calls to thee; for, a rectified conscience is the word of God; If that 350speake to thee now this minute, now is thy time of finding God. That Now, that 351I named then, that minute is past; but God affords thee another Now; he speaks pg 61352againe, he speaks still, and if thy conscience tell thee that he speaks to thee, now 353is that time. This word of God, thy conscience will present unto thee, but that Editor’s Note354one condition, which Moses presented to Gods people, and that is, That thouDeut. 4. 29. Editor’s Note355seeke the Lord with all thy heart, and all thy soule. It is a kinde of denying the 356Infinitenesse of God, to serve him by pieces, and ragges; God is not Infinite to 357me, if I thinke a discontinued service will serve him. It is a kinde of denying 358the Unity of God, to joyne other gods, Pleasure, or Profit with him; He is not Editor’s Note359One God to me, if I joyne other Associates, and Assistants to him, Saints or Editor’s Note360Angels. It is a kinde of diffidence in Christ, as though I were not sure that he 361would stand in the favour of God still, as though I were afraid that there might 362rise a new favorite in heaven, to whom it might concerne me to apply my Editor’s Note363selfe, if I make the balance so eaven, as to serve God and Mammon; if I make a Editor’s Note364complementall visit of God at his house upon Sunday, [3E6v]| and then plot with Editor’s Note365the other faction, the World, the Flesh, and the Devill, all the weeke after. The 366Lord promised a power of seeking, and an infallibility of finding; but still with Editor’s Note367this totall condition, Ye shall seeke mee, and ye shall finde me, because ye shall seekJer. 29. 13. 368mee with all your heart. This he promised for the future, that he would doe; This Editor’s Note369he testified for the house of Iudah, that he had done, Iudah sought him with a2 Chro. 15. 15. 370whole desire, and he was found of them, and the Lord gave them rest round about: 371And the Lord shall give you rest round about; rest in your bodies, and rest in 372your estates; rest in your good name with others, and rest in your consciences 373in your selves; rest in your getting, and rest in your injoying that you have 374got, if you seeke him with a whole heart; and to seek him with a whole heart, is 375not by honest industry to seeke nothing else, (for God weares good cloathes, Editor’s Note376silk, and soft raiment, in his religious servants in Courts, as well as Cammels 377haire, in Iohn Baptist in the Wildernesse; and God manifests himselfe to man, 378as well in the splendor of Princes in Courts, as in the austerity of Iohn Baptist Critical Apparatus379in the Wildernesse) but to seeke God with the whole heart, is to seeke nothing Editor’s Note380with that Primary, and Radicall, and Fundamentall affection, as God; To seek 381nothing for it selfe, but God: not to seeke worldly things in excesse, because 382I hope, if I had them, I should glorifie God in them; but first to finde established 383in my selfe a zealous desire to glorifie God, and then a modest desire of meanes 384to be able to doe it. And for this, every one that is holy shall pray unto thee, in a 385time when thou maist be found.

386And so we have done with our first Part, and the foure pieces that constitute Editor’s Note387that, The Person, Omnis sanctus, Every godly man; that is, Sanctificatus, and Editor’s Note388Sanctificandus, Hee that is godly enough to pray, and prayes that he may be 389more godly: And the Object of prayer, Ad te, God alone, for God alone can 390heare, and God alone can give; And then the Subject of prayer, Hoc, This, this 391which David expresses, forgivenesse of the punishment, and of the iniquity Editor’s Note392of sin, In which respect, (that David proposes and specificates the subject of 393prayer) wee are fairely directed rather to accustome our selves to those prayers, 394which are recommended to us by the Church, then to extemporall prayers of pg 62Editor’s Note395others, or of our owne effusion; And lastly, the Time of finding God, that is, Editor’s Note396Then when we seeke him with a whole heart, seeke him as Principall, and then 397receive temporall things, as accessory, and conducible to his glory. Thus much 398hath fallen into the first Part, the duty of Prayer; A little remaines to be said of 399the benefit here assured, Surely, in the floods of great waters they shall not come 400nigh unto him.

2. Part.Editor’s Note401Taking these waters, either Distributively, to every one that is godly, or Hier.402Collectively, as S. Hierome does to the whole Church, the use will be all one. Editor’s Note403The Holy Ghost who is a direct worker upon the soule and conscience of Aquæ.Editor’s Note404man, but a Metaphoricall, and Figurative expresser of himselfe, to the reason, 405and understanding of man, abounds in no Metophor more, then in calling Ezek. 26. 3.Editor’s Note406Tribulations, Waters: particularly, He would bring in waters upon Tyrus, And, Hosea 5.Editor’s Note407He would poure out his wrath upon his enemies, like waters. Neither doth he onely 408intimate temporall, but spirituall afflictions too, in the name of Waters. And Hieron.409as S. Hierome understands the whole place of the Church, collectively, so August.Editor’s Note410S. Augustine understands these waters, to be Variæ Doctrinæ, those diverse Editor’s Note411opinions, that disquiet and trouble the Church. And though the Church of 412God were built upon a hill, and compassed, and environed, and fenced with 413the blood of him that built it, and defended and guarded by the vigilancy 414of the Apostles; yet into this Jerusalem did these waters breake, even in the 415Apostles time, as we see by those severall, those manifold, those contradictory 416Heresies, that sprung up then. Christ and his Apostles had carried two Waters August.Editor’s Note417about his Church: The water of Baptisme, that is Limen Ecclesiæ, and Ianua 418Sacramentorum, The first Ferry, by which we passe into the Church; and by this Editor’s Note419Water came three thousand, and five thousand at once to the Church, upon 420particular Sermons of S. Peter. And then Christ gave another Water, by which, 421they came to another Ablution, to Absolution from actuall sins, the water of Ezek. 36. 25.Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus422contrite teares, and repentance, which he had promised before, I will poure Editor’s Note423cleane water upon you, and you shall be cleane, And by this water came Peter Editor’s Note424himselfe, when his faith had failed, And by this water came Mary Magdalen, 425when her life had been defiled. But yet for all these Waters, other Waters soaked Editor’s Note426in, and corrupted them earely; for, for Baptisme, the Disciples of Simon Magus 427annulled Christs Baptisme, and baptized in Simons name; and his Disciple 428Menander annulled the Baptisme of Christ, and Simon, and baptized in his owne Editor’s Note429name. And then, for the other Water, Repentance, the Heretiques drained up 430that [3F1r]| shrewdly, when they took away all benefit of repentance for sins committed 431after Baptisme. David denies not, nay David assures us, that collectively, the 432whole Church shall be beaten upon with waters.

1 Preached . . . Psalmes.] ed.; Serm. LIX. ~ F80

55 [marg.] Iam. 5. 17.] ed.; Iam. 5.27. F80

79 [marg.] Psal. 51. 12.] ed., PS; Psal. 51.2. F80

110–111 concerning . . . feare.] Concerning . . . feare: PS

313 [marg.] 2 Cor. 6. 2.] ed.; 2 Cor. 2.6. F80

Multæ.Editor’s Note433Waters multiplied; Aquæ multæ, Many waters; so the vulgat reades this, that Editor’s Note434wee Translate here, Great waters. So multiplied Heresies. The excellency of the Editor’s Note435Christian Religion is, that it is Verbum abbreviatum, A contracted Religion; All Editor’s Note436the Credenda, all that is to be beleeved, reduced to twelve Articles of the Creed; Editor’s Note437All the Speranda, all that is to be hoped for, prayed for, expressed in seaven pg 63438Petitions, in the Lords Prayer; All the Agenda, all that is to be done in it, 439comprised in ten Commandements, in the Decalogue. And then our blessed Editor’s Note440Saviour, though he would take away none of the burden, (for it is an easie yoke, Editor’s Note441and a light burden) yet he was pleased to binde it in a lesse roome, and a more 442portable forme, when he re-abridged that Abridgement, and recontracts this 443contracted Doctrine, in those two, Love God, and Love thy Neighbour. And then 444the Devill hath opposed this Abridgement by Multiplication, by many waters, 445many heresies: for, it is easie to observe, that in every Article of the Creed, there 446have been at least a dozen Heresies. And in those Articles, which were most 447credible, most evident, most sensible, most of all; Many more Heresies upon 448the Humanity of Christ, then about his Divinity: And then, as in matters of 449Faith, so for matter of Manners, there was scarce any thing so foule and so 450obscene, which was not taught by some Heretiques, to be religious and Editor’s Note451necessary; Things which cannot be excused, things which may not be named, 452made by the Gnostiques, essentiall and necessary in the Consecration of the 453Sacrament. And then, when these waters of death were in a good part dryed up, 454these grosse errors in Faith and Manners were reasonably well overcome, Editor’s Note455Then came in those waters of Traditionall Doctrines in the Romane Church, 456which are so many, as that they overflow even the water of life, the Scriptures 457themselves, and suppresse, and surround them.

458Therefore does David, in this text, call these many waters, Diluvium, A floodDiluvium. Editor’s Note459of great waters; many and violent. For this word Shatach, Inundans, signifies 460Vehemence, Eagernesse, and is elegantly applied to the fiercenesse of a horse Editor’s Note461in Battel, Equus inundans in Bellum, A horse that overflowes the Battell, thatJer. 8. 6. Editor’s Note462rushes into the Battell. Therefore speaks the Prophet of waters full of blood;Esay 15. 9. Editor’s Note463What Seas of blood did the old Persecutions, what Seas have later times poured 464out, when in the Romane Church, their owne Authors will boast of sixty 465thousand slaine in a day, of them that attempted a Reformation in the times 466of the Waldenses!

467Surely, sayes our Prophet, These waters shall be, Heresies there shall be.Omnis sanctus. 468And no man may look for such a Church, as shall have no water; Evermore Editor’s Note469there will be some things raw, and unconcocted in every Church; Evermore 470some waters of trouble and dissention, and a man is not to forsake a Church, in 471which he hath received his Baptisme for that. But waiving this generall, and 472collective application of these waters to the Church, and to take it as the letter 473of the Text invites us, Omnis sanctus, surely every godly man shall finde these 474waters, many waters, floods of many waters; for affliction is our daily bread; for, 475we cannot live in this world a spirituall life, without some kinde of affliction: 476for, as with long fasting we lose our stomachs, so by being long unexercised in 477tribulation, we come to lose our patience, and to a murmuring when it falls Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus478upon us. For that last Petition of the Lords Prayer, Libera nos à malo, Deliver us Editor’s Note479from evill, may as some interpret it, suppose that this Evill, that is Malum pœnæ, 480Affliction, will certainly fall upon us; and then we doe not so much pray to be pg 64481delivered from it, as to be delivered in it, not that afflictions may not come, but 482that they may not overcome, when they come, that they may not be ineffectuall Editor’s Note483upon us. For, it was Durus sermo, A harder and an angryer speech then it seemes, Esay 1. 4.Editor’s Note484when God said to his people, Why should yee bee smitten any more? Why should 485I keep you at Schoole any longer? Why should I prepare Physick, or study 486your recovery by corrections any farther? When God was wearied with their 487afflictions, and they were not, this was a heavy case; He afflicted them forty Editor’s Note488yeares together in the Wildernesse, and yet he saies, Forty yeares long was I 489grieved with this generation: He never saies, They were grieved, but he was with Editor’s Note490their stupidity; They murmured, but they sorrowed not to any amendment. 491So they perverted this word, Non approximabunt, They shall not come nigh thee, 492they shall not affect thee; That they must doe; we must be sensible of Gods 493corrections; but yet there is a good 3F1v| sense, and a plentifull comfort, in this word 494of our Text. To the godly man, non approximabunt, the floods of great waters, 495though waters, though floods, though great floods, they shall not come nigh him; 496and that is our last word, and finall conclusion.

Non aproximabunt.Editor’s Note497Consider the Church of God collectively, and the Saints of God distributively, Editor’s Note498in which Babylon you will, in the Chaldean Babylon, or in the Italian Babylon, 499and these waters doe come nigh us, touch, and touch to the quicke, to the heart. 500But yet as David intends here, they touch not us, they come not nigh us; for 2 Cor. 4. 7.501wee have treasures in earthen vessels; They may touch the vessell, but not the Editor’s Note502Treasure. And this is literally expressed in the Text it selfe, non approximabunt 503eum; not that they shall not come neare his house, or his lands, or his children, Editor’s Note504or his friends, or his body, but non eum, they shall not come nigh him. For, for 505the Church, the peace of the Church, the plenty of the Church, the ceremonies 506of the Church, they are sua, but not illa, they are hers, but they are not she. And 507these things, riches & ceremonies, they may be washed off with one tide, and 508cast on with another, discontinued in one Age, and re-assumed in another, Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus509devested in one Church, and invested in another, and yet the Churches, she in Critical Apparatus510her fundamentall Doctrines never touched. And so for us, a wave may wash 511away as much as Iob lost, and yet not come nigh us; for if a Heathen could Editor’s Note512say, Vix ea nostra voco, That outward things were scarce worthy to bee called 513Ours, shall a Christian call them not onely His, but Himselfe, so as if they be Editor’s Note514lost, he is lost? How long will a Medall, a piece of Coine lie in the water, before 515the stampe be washed off? and yet how soone is the Image of God, of his Editor’s Note516patience, his longanimity defaced in us by every billow, every affliction? But for 517the Saints of God it shall not be so; Surely it shall not. They shall stand against Psal. 114. 3.Editor’s Note518the waters, And the Sea shall see it, and fly, and Iordan shall be turned backe: And Editor’s Note519the world shall say, What ayled thee O Sea, that thou fleddest, O Iordan that thou 520turnedst back? For they that know not the power of the Almighty, though they 521envy, yet shall wonder, and stand amazed at the deliverance of the righteous. Rev. 3. 20.Editor’s Note522Sto, & pulso, sayes God of himselfe, I stand at the doore and knocke; God will 523not breake open doores to give thee a blessing, as well as he loves thee, and pg 65524as well as he loves it, but will have thee open to him: much more will he keepe 525Tentations at the doore; They shall not breake in upon thee, except thou open. Editor’s Note526This then was that, which David elsewhere apprehended with feare, ThePsal. 18. 5. 527sorrowes of the grave compassed me about, and the snares of death overtooke mee; 528Here they were neare him, but no worse. This is that that hee prayes deliverance Editor’s NoteCritical Apparatus529from, Let not the water flood drowne mee, neither let the deepe swallow me up. AndPsal. 69. 15. Editor’s Note530this is that God assures us all that are his, When thou passest through the waters,Esay 43. 2. 531I will bee with thee, and through the floods that they doe not overflow thee. Maintaine 532therefore a holy patience in all Gods visitations: Accept your waters, though 533they come in teares; for hee that sends them, Christ Jesus, had his flood, his 534inundation in Blood; and whatsoever thou sufferest from him, thou sufferest Editor’s Note535for him, and glorifiest him in that constancy. Upon those words, Tres sunt, 536There are three that beare witnesse, The Spirit, and water, and blood, S. BernardBernard. 537taking water there, (by way of allusion) for affliction, saith, Though the Spirit Editor’s Note538were witnesse enough, without water, or blood, yet Vix aut nunquam inveniri 539arbitror Spiritum sine aqua, & sanguine, we lack one of the seales of the Spirit, 540if we lack Gods corrections. We consider three waters in our blessed Saviour; Editor’s Note541He wept over Jerusalem; Doe thou so over thy sinfull soule. Hee sweat in the Editor’s Note542garden; Doe thou so too, in eating thy bread in the sweat of thy browes, in Editor’s Note543labouring sincerely in thy Calling. And then hee sent water and blood out Editor’s Note544of his side, being dead, which was fons utriusque Sacramenti, the spring-head ofAugust. 545both Sacraments; Doe thou also refresh in thy soule, the dignity which thou 546receivedst in the first Sacrament of Baptisme, and thereby come worthily to 547the participation of the second, and therein the holy Ghost shall give thee, the 548seale of that security, which he tenders to thee in this Text, Non approximabunt, 549How great water floods soever come, they shall not come nigh thee, not nigh that, 550which is Thou, that is, thy faith, thy soule, and though it may swallow that, 551by which thou art a man, thy life, it shall not shake that, by which thou art a 552Christian, thy Religion. Amen.

Notes Settings

Notes
Editor’s Note
Text. F80, 3E3v–3F1v (no. 59, 592–600). There are no other witnesses. This is a well-printed text, with only a few errors in the biblical references in the margin, probably the result of misreading (l. 55 marg.) or the confusion of chapter and verse numbers (l. 313 marg.).
Headnote. This fourth sermon of eight in the undated Ps. 32 series has something of a transitional character. On the one hand, it reinforces lessons of the previous sermons: for instance, echoing the second sermon on the value of divine examples, (ll. 52–60), and the third sermon on the role of the minister in absolution (ll. 179–81). On the other, it anticipates the focus on the church in affliction and the bleaker mood of the fifth sermon (PS ix.15), which this edition places in or after 1629 (see Introduction, p. lv). One resemblance to Sermon 9 in this vol., discussed below and in ll. 504–10 cmt, suggests that this sermon belongs to a period shortly after the end of the Parliament in June 1626. It may, however, belong later in the year, or even to 1627. Certainly, the sustained interest in the topics of the Montagu controversy embeds it firmly among D's sermons of the mid-1620s. There is some internal evidence for delivery during a Sunday morning communion service (cf. this vol., Sermon 3, Headnote). D ends by instructing his auditors to 'come worthily to the participation of the second [sacrament]' (ll. 546–7), a call less emphatic than Sermon 3's 'come now' (l. 608), 'doe it now' (l. 621), but the culmination of repeated arguments for the importance of eucharistic participation: it is not the 'initiatory Sacrament of Baptisme' (l. 98) alone that sanctifies, he has stressed, but 'a worthy receiving of the other Sacrament too' (l. 108). Nonetheless, his first emphasis is on the role of sermons in revealing 'the land of Promise' (l. 11). Whether, when D mentions that the auditory may have to listen for more than one hour in 'these exercises' (ll. 10–11), he refers to this sermon alone, to the series on Psalm 32 as a whole, or to preaching in general, is unclear, but probably one of the latter, since at c.7,800 words, this sermon is shorter than the previous three in the series.
D's sermon continues the careful balance struck throughout this series between encouraging sincere, serious devotion and navigating the dangerous waters of doctrinal dispute. He follows a two-part structure, considering first the duty of prayer, then its rewards and benefits. He subdivides the first part into four sections on the 'limitations, or rather indeed preparations' (l. 21) for prayer indicated by his scriptural text. Before this, however, he first considers the reasons and inducements for praying, recalling the argument made in the second sermon in the Ps. 32 series (see below, ll. 50, 52–60, 74, cmts), that God provides exemplary cases both of godly living and of ruin by which to teach: even the ruin of ministers can be 'a sensible Catechisme, and a visible Sermon' (l. 74) to others. While D returns to his frequent theme that the power of preaching is a divine instrument for conversion (ll. 87–8), he also incorporates other forms of holy exemplarity to extend his message beyond fellow clerics. In Sermon 2, he had traced a line from David to Paul to the minister who makes 'a blessed preaching of my selfe' (l. 162). Here, again, he invokes David and Paul as teachers in God's service (ll. 77–87), but this time he uses these as precedents for both clerical and lay lives: God can convert others through preaching 'or by a holy and exemplar life in any calling' (ll. 88–9).
This lays the ground for his first section on prayer, concerning godliness, which he immediately frames in terms of baptism and conformity to the church. He implicitly disassociates his interpretation of Ps. 32: 6's 'godly' from the more puritan sense of self-identification, since in his version it is church membership that enables one to be godly, and not baptism alone but also participation in Holy Communion. Nonetheless, D does not stop at an emphasis on sacramental conformity; godliness is not only the preparation for, but also the aim of, prayer (ll. 161–3). He reminds his auditors of the notion, widely accepted among Protestants, that there will be degrees of glory among the saints in heaven (see ll. 156–7 cmt), while taking care to clarify that those on earth have no claim to any stature through personal merit, 'no holinesse in themselves' (ll. 159–60).
The second section on prayer, concerning its object, God, enables one of the characteristic intersections in this sermon series between personal piety and the religious politics of the mid-1620s. D's satirical attack on the invocation of saints (ll. 166–96) touches once more on an aspect of the Montagu controversy. Article 22 of 39A lists the invocation of saints alongside 'purgatorie, pardons, worshipping and adoration aswell of images, as of reliques' as 'a fonde thing, vainly invented, and grounded vpon no warrantie of Scripture, but rather repugnaunt to the worde of God'. Richard Montagu treated the subject extensively, in a full-length treatise adapted from his sermon to James I, Immediate Addresse Vnto God Alone (1624), STC 18039, in A Gagg for the New Gospell? No: a New Gagg for an Old Goose (1624), STC 18038, and again in Appello Caesarem (1625), STC 18031. While he followed the English church in rejecting the practice, Montagu conceded enough ground to RCs to trouble many English readers, claiming, for instance, that individuals had guardian angels who could be invoked to pray for them (see ll. 173–6 cmt). D's discussion of this subject also gestures to the related debate between RC and Protestant writers over whether RC reverence of images constituted idolatry, a position maintained by, among others, James I. Montagu controversially accepted the RC position—'as the most part of them doe teach in their Bookes the vse of Images, I see no cause to stile them Idolaters' (Immediate Addresse, K2r)—although he argued that popular practice is 'very like it, if not the same' (see further A Gagg, 2Q2r–2S4r). D's handling of these vexed topics does not engage the detailed terms of the debate—for example, the RC distinction between latria (the worship given to God) and dulia (the reverence and honour given to saints), a distinction observed by Montagu (A Gagg, 2R3r, 2S3v–2S4r). Instead, his characteristic metaphorical stress is on the 'brackish water' (l. 182) of doctrinal contamination. His memorable analogy between prayer and the water of the River Thames, increasingly polluted as it flows downstream from Windsor to London and finally to the estuary and the sea, locates purity in an 'immediate accesse to God' (l. 179), which is comparable to the experience of speaking directly to the king ('If any man have tasted at Court, what it is to be ever welcome to the King himselfe', ll. 176–7). Yet these intersecting images of drawing water and 'tasting' the royal presence do not quite match up: the analogy begins not with a courtier but with 'a man that dwelt at Windsor' (l. 149), who is imagined perversely fetching his water downstream. Windsor's foremost (if part-time) resident was Charles I, married to a French Catholic and himself previously suspected of doctrinal pollution (see this vol., Sermon 6, Headnote, ll. 66–74, and cmts). D's image subtly gestures to this sensitive possibility, before overwriting it with the conventional parallel (see ll. 176–9 cmt) between access to the king and to God in prayer.
D diverts from the divisio announced at the beginning of the sermon by adding a consideration of who can forgive sins, extending his discussion of prayer to saints while returning to a theme handled in the previous sermon (this vol., Sermon 3). Here, D observes the limits of ministerial power even as he proclaims it: the power of the keys is 'onely, in the absolution given by his Ordinance to every penitent sinner' (ll. 204–5), a reminder of the emphasis in the previous sermon on confession and absolution as framed by the daily office of the BCP.
The purpose of prayer is the third section of this first part, and D conventionally rejects 'temporall blessings' (l. 235) as a worthy object for petitions; forgiveness is the true aim of prayer, and D once again strikes a sacramental note by comparing the different states of the soul after being forgiven, taking Holy Communion (l. 243), and being baptized (l. 251). The question of the appropriate time for prayer allows him further to stress public worship, between the poles of RC and puritan practice, and to add a reminiscence about seeing Emperor Ferdinand II himself (ll. 281–4) during the Doncaster embassy (1619). His reflection on timeliness sets the tone for the rest of the sermon. The temporal blessings of wealth and prosperity are acknowledged as good times for thankfulness (l. 345), and D's point that they are not incompatible with godliness (ll. 375–9) is surely aimed at the socially elevated in his auditory; yet it is the time of 'Calamities' (l. 315) to which D will return.
The shorter second part of the sermon (ll. 401–552) dwells on the 'floods of great waters' in his text. The image of the 'brackish water' (l. 182) of doctrinal contamination returns, as Matt. 5: 14's city on a hill becomes the church besieged on all sides by heresies: even the church's own waters of baptism and repentance became polluted in the early church (ll. 425–31), as did the other sacrament, the Eucharist, although D decorously avoids describing the 'things which may not be named' (l. 451, and cmt), performed in heretical communion rites. As in the Devotions, it is water as the biblical symbol of affliction that dominates the last part of this sermon. D anticipates the major structural device of the next sermon in the series (on Ps. 32: 7, PS ix.15) by applying the image of waters both 'Collectively' (l. 402) to the whole church and 'Distributively' (l. 401) to the individual. D's emphasis on the core beliefs and duties of a church that will survive, even though it may have to dispense with riches and ceremonies in times of trial (ll. 504–10), reflects the more elaborate church-as-ship image in Sermon 9 in this vol. (ll. 204–9), 'content to hull it out . . . during the storme'. Like that sermon, this one may also respond to Charles's June Proclamation for the Establishing of the Peace and Quiet of the Church of England and the accompanying anxieties, in that immediate post-Parliament period, about doctrinal and political fracture within England. The sense of survival during adversity is the striking final note of this sermon, and it seems to usher in the mood of the second half of this series: the next sermon on Ps. 32 (PS ix.15) will centre on the church in affliction, its persecution and deliverance.
Sources. Of the psalm commentaries that D habitually consulted for this series, the only one to receive explicit attention is the Breviarum in Psalmos, at that time attributed to Jerome (ll. 95, 401–2), and although D draws on psalm exegesis, there is little sustained engagement with it in this sermon. The majority of D's patristic quotations are from Augustine: his Enarratio on Pss. 140/143 (l. 137), De Civitate Dei (l. 306), In Joannis Evangelium Tractatus (l. 544), and several pseudonymous works then accepted as canonical. D's discussion of heresies in the early church probably stems from Adversos Omnes Haereses, attributed to Tertullian (ll. 426–9), as well as Augustine's list of perverse sacramental practices in De Haeresibus (ll. 451–3). Other sources cited in single quotations are Isidore of Seville (ll. 292–3), ps.-Ambrose (ll. 295–6), Bernard of Clairvaux (ll. 538–9), and Gregory the Great (ll. 127–30); the phrasing of the last of these, in particular, suggests recourse to an intermediary. As with the previous Sermon (3 in this vol., ll. 424–5), there is a single tag from 'a Heathen' poet, in this case Ovid (l. 512). D's mention of the massacre of the French Cathars by RC soldiers at Béziers during the Albigensian Crusade (ll. 463–6) is based on the account by the 13th-c. Cistercian chronicler Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, whose figure for the number of dead differs from that in other major sources. Again, D may well have had recourse to an intermediary for this detail, since interest in the status of medieval sects as ancestors of Protestantism was reflected in a wealth of publications on the subject during the 1620s.
Compared with Sermons 1–3 in this vol., there is a comparatively heavy use of the Geneva Bible in this sermon. There is an unusual quotation from Felix Pratensis' Lat. version of the psalms (l. 80), which D misascribes to Jerome; this slip probably indicates the use of an intermediary. D's preference for the Lat. 'propter hoc' ('for this', ll. 27, 232) in Ps. 32: 6 over the Vulg. rendering 'pro hac' (iuxta LXX; 'pro hoc', iuxta Heb.) indicates that, as in previous sermons in the series, he has compared the T–J. and BV versions of his text.
The sermon shows continued engagement with topics of the Montagu controversy and debates with RC writers; of these, the only source D responds to specifically, though not by name, is Robert Bellarmine's De Controuersiis (see ll. 187–93, and cmt) on the subject of idolatry. As in many other cases in this vol., D's assumption of familiarity with Bellarmine's polemical work is a nod to the significant proportion of clerics among his St Paul's auditory, and perhaps members of Convocation. Likewise, while his opening analogy between land transfer, bequests, and the divine promise offered through preaching requires no advanced knowledge of the law, his subtly worked-in references to property law in ll. 94, 155, and 246 would have rewarded the attentiveness of Inns of Court members.
Further reading. On the Ps. 32 series see Sermon 1 in this vol., Further reading. The best account of the major debating points to which D refers—the Montagu controversy, invocation of saints, images and idolatry, the succession of Protestant churches—is given by Anthony Milton, Catholic and Reformed: The Roman and Protestant Churches in English Protestant Thought, 1600–1640 (Cambridge, 1995), esp. chs. 4 and 6. Emma Disley, 'Degrees of Glory: Protestant Doctrine and the Concept of Rewards Hereafter', Journal of Theological Studies, 42 (1991), 77–105, provides a thorough context for the idea explored by D in ll. 156–7. Chanita Goodblatt discusses D's use of Hebr. in this sermon in The Christian Hebraism of John Donne: Written with the Fingers of Man's Hand (Pittsburgh, 2010), 99–106. Jeffrey Johnson, The Theology of John Donne (Woodbridge, 1999), cites this sermon alongside other similar quotations on repentance (92) and the baptism of tears (105), and sees D positioning 'the duty of prayer not only as a public act, but also as a surrendering of the mind, and therefore the will, to God' (42).
Critical Apparatus
1 Preached . . . Psalmes.] ed.; Serm. LIX. ~ F80
Editor’s Note
7–13. You . . . you: D begins his sermon by comparing the time spent in attending a sermon with that spent in reading a 'conveiance' (the legal document in which the transference of property from one person to another is effected (OED, 'conveyance', n., 7.b)). His analogy between a believer's attainment of the Promised Land and the law surrounding land ownership and transfer is extended in ll. 94, 155, and 246 (see cmts).
Editor’s Note
8. state: estate.
Editor’s Note
9–11. Be . . . exercises: D may gesture to the hourglass by the pulpit as he warns of the possibility of exceeding the usual sixty ('threescore') minutes, but it is notable that this sermon is shorter than the preceding three in the series (see Headnote).
Editor’s Note
11. exhibit: the verb includes the legal sense 'produce, lodge, put in (a document) in a court of law' (OED, v., 4.a).
Editor’s Note
11. land of Promise: cf. Gen. 12: 1–7, 28: 13.
Editor’s Note
19–20. pray continually: Geneva.
Editor’s Note
22. omnis sanctus: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta Heb. and iuxta LXX; 'euery one that is godly').
Editor’s Note
24. ad te: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta Heb. and iuxta LXX).
Editor’s Note
27. propter hoc: Ps. 32: 6 (T–J. and BV).
Editor’s Note
30. In . . . opportuno: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta LXX).
Editor’s Note
34. diluvium aquarum: cf. Ps. 31: 6, 'in diluvio aquarum' (iuxta LXX; 'in the floods of great waters').
Editor’s Note
36. non approximabit: Lat., 'it will not come near', a singular form of Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta LXX), 'non adproximabunt'.
Editor’s Note
38. non ultra: Lat., 'nothing beyond', words said to be written on the pillars of Hercules in the Gibraltar strait to warn sailors not to go further. Given the later association (ll. 433–57) of overflowing waters with the influx of superstitious and superfluous doctrines, these words hint at the Protestant emphasis on sola scriptura (see William Barlow, A Defence of the Articles of the Protestants Religion (1601), STC 1449, O3r, for an analogous usage).
Editor’s Note
39. infallibility: 'unfailing certainty' (OED, 2). OED cites D's sermon at St Paul's, Christmas Day 1621 (PS iii.17.512) as first usage, but there are numerous earlier examples, often in an RC context of the judgements of general councils or the papal succession.
Editor’s Note
46–7. Hoc . . . vives: Luke 10: 28 (Vulg.; 'this do, and thou shalt liue'), much quoted by D throughout his preaching career, often with reference to good works and the covenant between God and humans; cf. PS i.4.439–40, PS vii.10.98–9, PS vii.16.690–91, PS x.7.188–9.
Editor’s Note
50. example: following the educational principle that rules should be paired with examples, on which see this vol., Sermon 2, l. 7, and cmt.
Editor’s Note
52–60. First . . . patience: an echo of this vol., Sermon 2, ll. 66–9 (and see cmt).
Editor’s Note
53. Sicut Pater: Matt. 5: 48 (Vulg.), compressed.
Editor’s Note
53. Be . . . is holy: cf. Matt. 5: 48: 'Be yee therefore perfect, euen as your father, which is in heauen, is perfect'; cf. 1 Pet. 1: 15–16: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy', quoting Lev. 11: 44.
Critical Apparatus
55 [marg.] Iam. 5. 17.] ed.; Iam. 5.27. F80
Editor’s Note
55. Sicut Elias: Lat., 'just as Elias'.
Editor’s Note
55–7. Elias . . . did: cf. Jas. 5: 17–18.
Editor’s Note
57. singularity: 'special excellence or goodness' (OED, 6).
Editor’s Note
58. transcendent: 'surpassing or excelling others . . . ; pre-eminent' (OED, adj., A.1.a), but with a pun on the sense 'ascending' (not in OED, but cf. 'transcend', 4), recalling 2 Kgs 2: 11: 'there appeared a charet of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went vp by a whirlewind into heauen'.
Editor’s Note
59. Sicut Prophetæ: Lat., 'just as the prophets'.
Editor’s Note
59–60. Take . . . patience: Geneva, compressed.
Editor’s Note
60–2. And. . . creature: D invokes the Augustinian concept of sin as aversio a Deo et conversio ad creaturam ('a turning away from God and a turning towards the creature/creation'); see Augustine, De Libero Arbitrio Libri Tres, 1.16.35, 2.19.53–2.20.54 (PL 32. 1240, 1269–1270); Aquinas, ST, IIIa, q. 86, a. 4, ad 1. Cf. PS ii.15.38–59.
Editor’s Note
60. declination: falling away, decline, decay (OED, 1, 5), specifically in moral terms.
Editor’s Note
62–3. Vade . . . Ant: Prov. 6: 6.
Editor’s Note
65. Non . . . eorum: 1 Cor. 10: 10 (Vulg.), compressed, and substituting 'Non' ('not') for 'neque' ('Neither . . . as some of them').
Editor’s Note
65–7. Bee . . . them.: cf. 1 Cor. 10: 7–10.
Editor’s Note
67–8. These . . . us: cf. 1 Cor. 10: 6.
Editor’s Note
68. These. . . examples: Geneva, reading 'ensamples'.
Editor’s Note
74. sensible: 'perceptible by the mind or the inward feelings' (OED, adj. 2). Cf. this vol., Sermon 2, l. 142.
Editor’s Note
74. visible Sermon: used throughout the early modern period for examples of God's justice and goodness, drawing on Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, 2.3.4, on the subject of signs: 'sunt haec omnia quasi quaedam verba visibilia' (PL 34. 37; 'All these signs are like visible words'; FC, ii. 63); and In Joannis Evangelium Tractatus CXXIV, 80.3: 'Accedit verbum ad elementum, et fit Sacramentum, etiam ipsum tanquam visibile verbum' (PL 35. 1840; 'the word is added to the element, and there results the Sacrament, as if itself also a kind of visible word'; NPNF, 1st ser., vii. 344). The phrase is cited by Jean Calvin on the sacraments (Institutes, 4.14.6) to support his argument that the sacraments are the same in their function as the Word of God (4.14.17).
Editor’s Note
77. lanterne . . . feet: cf. Ps. 119: 105.
Critical Apparatus
79 [marg.] Psal. 51. 12.] ed., PS; Psal. 51.2. F80
Editor’s Note
79. Restore . . . salvation: Geneva, reading 'Restore to me the ioy of thy saluation'.
Editor’s Note
79. Et . . . principali: Ps. 50: 14 (iuxta LXX), 'et spiritu principali confirma me'.
Editor’s Note
80. Spiritu munifico: not Jerome (i.e. Ps. 50: 14 (iuxta Heb.), 'spiritu potenti') but the trans. by Felix Pratensis, Psalterium Sextuplex (Leiden, 1530), i1r (Ps. 51); D. may have found Pratensis' trans. via an intermediary, e.g. Jean de Lorin, Commentariorum in Librum Psalmorum, Tomus Primus (Lyon, 1623), 4X3v.
Editor’s Note
82–3. I. . . thee: Ps. 51: 13 (Geneva, reading 'Then shall I teach').
Editor’s Note
84–7. For . . . life: Geneva, slightly adjusted.
Editor’s Note
89. exemplar: exemplary.
Editor’s Note
90–2. Day . . . sin: cf. Ps. 32: 4–5.
Editor’s Note
94. [marg.] Omnis sanctus: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta LXX and iuxta Heb.; 'euery one that is godly').
Editor’s Note
94–8. First . . . of Baptisme: D's gloss of 'Godly' as relating to all baptized Christians disassociates the term from the meaning assigned by those English Protestants who identified themselves as part of a smaller group of the godly elect.
Editor’s Note
94. title: assertion of right, claim (OED, n., 7.c), in the specific sense of 'legal right to the possession of property . . . title-deeds' (7.a); cf. ll. 7–13 cmt.
Editor’s Note
94. Omnis . . . sanctificatus: Lat., 'everyone that is holy, is, every one that is made holy through baptism'; cf. ps.-Jerome, Breviarum in Psalmos, Ps. 31: 'Omnis sanctus: hoc est, per baptismum (PL 26. 913A; 'everyone that is holy, that is to say, through baptism').
Editor’s Note
94–5. sanctification . . . Sacrament: a point emphasized in the previous sermon (this vol., Sermon 3, ll. 445–7, and cmt). The CofE Book of Homilies (John Jewel, The Second Tome of Homilies (1623), STC 13675, 2R3r) includes a two-part 'Homilie of the worthy receiuing and reuerend esteeming of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ'.
Editor’s Note
97. matriculated: from the verb 'to enter (a name) in a register or official list; to admit or incorporate into a society or body of people by this means' (OED, 'matriculate', v., 2; see 4 for extended use, citing D's P–M as first usage).
Editor’s Note
97. engraffed: engrafted; see next cmt.
Editor’s Note
98. initiatory . . . of Baptisme: D echoes the definition of baptism in Calvin, Institutes, 4.15.1 (ii. 513): 'Baptism is the initiatory sign by which we are admitted to the fellowship of the Church, that being ingrafted into Christ we may be accounted Children of God'. Cf. Jacobus Arminius, Disputationes . . . Publicae & Privatae (Leiden, 1614), 2.63.8 (k7r): 'Baptismus hic quia est initiale sacramentum, non est sæpius iterandus' ('because this baptism is an initiatory sacrament, it should not be frequently repeated'). Cf. PS v.5.572–3.
Editor’s Note
99. house of prayer: cf. Matt. 21: 13.
Editor’s Note
101. morall man: a man living according to laws of morality (but not a Christian). Cf. this vol., Sermon 7, ll. 232–6, where D claims that the moral man's sense of sin comes from the Holy Spirit.
Editor’s Note
106–7. second concoction: in Galenic physiology, the part of the digestive process that makes blood. The first concoction of food and drink takes place in the stomach, from which a substance called chylus is produced, as well as excrements. These pass through the gut and are separated, with chylus passing through the meseraic veins to the liver, while excrements pass out of the body via the bowels. The second concoction, in the liver, purifies chylus to produce blood (a process known as 'sanguification'), which is then distributed throughout the body, while further excrements are removed (see e.g. Helkiah Crooke, Mikrokosmographia (1615), STC 6062, N1v–N2r). D's reference to a blood-making process is particularly appropriate to the sacrament of communion. For further concoction metaphors see l. 469, and this vol., Sermon 2, l. 9.
Critical Apparatus
110–111 concerning . . . feare.] Concerning . . . feare: PS
Editor’s Note
110–11. concerning . . . feare: an accurate quotation.
Editor’s Note
112–13. Will . . . now?: cf. 1 Cor. 3: 2 and Heb. 5: 12–13.
Editor’s Note
116. Quantumcumque Sanctus: cf. Aquinas, ST, IIIa, q. 41, a. 1 co., on how Christ wished to be tempted by the devil, 'propter nostram cautelam, ut nullus, quantumcumque sanctus, se existemet securum et immunem a tentatione' ('in order to warn us, so that nobody, however holy, may think himself safe or free from temptation').
Editor’s Note
116–18. How. . . more: D pictures holiness in financial terms: the holiness imputed at baptism acts in the same way as a document that authorizes the bearer to draw out a specified sum of money from a commercial agent—for instance, a merchant's offices. Letters of credit and bills of exchange were means of transporting money without carrying currency, and were hence used in foreign travel. The phrase 'letter of credit' may suggest, as secondary meaning, a letter serving as an introduction or recommendation, particularly for a diplomat (see OED, 'credit', n., P5.1), which speaks to the courtly analogy D employs later (see ll. 176–9).
Editor’s Note
117. faire: neat, legible (OED, 'fair', adj., 11.e), without blots or corrections.
Editor’s Note
120–1. Abominabuntur . . . abominable: D rewords Job 9: 30 from the first to the second person (Vulg., 'me . . . mea'). The trans. is his own rendering; cf. 'mine owne clothes shall abhorre me' (AV, with the sidenote 'make me to be abhorred').
Editor’s Note
124–5. I know . . . justified: Geneva.
Editor’s Note
125–7. Behold . . . dust?: Job 4: 18–19 (Geneva).
Editor’s Note
127–30. Sordet . . . operantis: Lat., 'it is foul in the sight of the eternal judge'; 'it is foul that is bright in the intention of the doer'. D's quotation from Gregory the Great, Moralium Libri, sive Expositio in Librum B. Job, 5.11.21 probably derives from an intermediary source; the phrase 'sordet in conspectu æterni Iudicis, quod in intentione fulget operantis' is ascribed to Gregory in numerous texts, e.g. Guillelmus Peraldus (but ascribed to Thomas Aquinas), De Eruditione Principum, lib. 2, cap. 8; Guillaume Pépin, Expositio Septem Psalmorvm Pœnitentialivm (Venice, 1587), H1v. However, the more authoritative version, cited in other English sources of the period, is: 'sordet in districtione judicis quod in aestimatione fulget operantis' (PL 75. 690C; 'that which is bright in the estimate of the doer, is foul in the Judge's searching sight'; LF, xvii. 257).
Editor’s Note
130. speciousnesse: 'fair or elegant appearance' (OED, 'speciousness', 2). This pre-dates OED's first usage (Thomas Fuller, Pisgah-sight of Palestine (1650)), but see Thomas Burt, The Glory of the Godlie Graine (1607), STC 4131, C7r: 'like vnto Christ, not only in speciousnesse of beautie, but in preciousnes of body'. D's use also implies the sense of an attractive appearance, 'but in reality devoid of the qualities apparently possessed' (OED, 'specious', 2.a).
Editor’s Note
132. allay: alloy.
Editor’s Note
136. With . . . live: Gen. 31: 32.
Editor’s Note
137. Caro conjux: Lat., '[your] flesh, [your] wife]', cf. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, Enarratio in Psalmum CXL, 16: 'caro tua tanquam conjux tua est' (PL 37. 1825; 'your flesh is as it were your wife'); Enarratio in Psalmum CXLIII, 6: 'Caro tua, conjux tua, famula tua' (PL 37. 1860; 'your flesh, your wife, your handmaid'). Cf. PS iii.2.149, PS v. 10.364.
Editor’s Note
141. The . . . me: cf. Gen. 31: 35 (Geneva and AV).
Editor’s Note
147. Qui . . . still: cf. Rev. 22: 11 (Vulg., Geneva, and AV).
Editor’s Note
148–53. As . . . consideration: Thomas Blundeville, M. Blundevile his Exercises Containing Sixe Treatises (1594), STC 3146), X4v–X5r, notes that man cannot number the stars, and that 'of the fixed starres they [astronomers] could neuer finde more then 1022. and because the starres are not equall in greatnes or bignes, they make sixe differences of greatnesse'; fifteen are in the first category, 'bigger then all the rest, whereof euery one containeth the earth 207. times', while in the last are '14. others, whereof 5. be called clowdy and the other darke, because they are not to be seene but of a very quicke and sharpe sight'. The Ptolemaic system divided known stars into forty-eight constellations or 'images'; cf. D, 'The First Anniversary': 'It tears / The Firmament in eight and forty sheires' (ll. 252–3); PS iii.9.151–5, PS iv.7.1094–1103.
Editor’s Note
149. reduced: in the sense 'organize[d] into (esp. a specified number of) classes, categories' (OED, 'reduce', v., 18.a. (a)). Possibly in a specific astronomical use, as in John Bainbridge, An Astronomicall Description of the Late Comet (1618), STC 1207, F3r: 'those who first reduced the starres into symbolicall constellations, placing Virgo in the midst of Libra and Leo'.
Editor’s Note
155. immoveable: in legal terminology, buildings and land were classified as immovable property, as distinct from movable things; see, e.g., the definition of 'feofment' in John Cowell, The Interpreter (Cambridge, 1607), STC 5900, 2F1r: 'it signifieth in our common lawe, any gift or graunt of any honors, castels, maners, mesuages, lands, or other corporall and immoueable things of like nature, vnto another in fee simple, that is to him and his heires for euer, by the deliuerie of seisin and possession of the thing giuen'. cf. ll. 7–13, 94, 246, and cmts.
Editor’s Note
156–7. as . . . Heaven: cf. 1 Cor. 15: 41. Most Protestants accepted that there were degrees of reward in heaven, but denied that these were the consequence of merit, instead affirming that they were a free gift from God; see further Disley, 'Degrees of Glory'. D preached on this subject in Part 2 of his sermon at Whitehall, 18 Apr. 1626, OESJD iii.3.356–481.
Editor’s Note
166. [marg.] Ad Te: Ps. 31: 6 (Vulg., 'vnto thee').
Editor’s Note
168–9. Windsor . . . Bridge: London Bridge is approximately 40 miles downstream from Windsor, site of the royal residence, Windsor Castle.
Editor’s Note
173–6. but . . . Heaven: D's rewriting of the Lord's Prayer ('our brother, who art in heaven') attacks the RC doctrine of invocation of saints while gesturing to the Montagu controversy. In Immediate Addresse Vnto God Alone and A Gagg for the New Gospell?, Montagu makes clear that one should not pray to saints since 'wee are not perswaded . . . that the Saints departed, and now with God, doo, or can ordinarily, by any power or ability in themselues, hear, see, knowe, take notice of the wants, state, cases, or praiers of men on earth, to be mindefull of them vnto God in heauen' (A Gagg, 2G3r). However, he avoids claiming that it is flatly blasphemous, arguing, for example, that it is not impious to invoke guardian angels—'For as to my Brother, or to my Friend at hand, neere vnto me, I may say, Good Friend, or good Brother, let mee haue your good Prayers vnto God for me: so good Angell Keeper pray for mee' (Immediate Addresse, O1r–v)–a notion that D rejects in ll. 358–60. See further Headnote, and Milton, Catholic and Reformed, 206–8. D's joke was borrowed by Nehemiah Rogers in The Fast Friend (1658), Wing R1822, 2F2v: 'Our Saviour Christ was willing to give us a Rule for Prayer, and in that Rule he hath taught us to say Our Father; had he been willing that his Rule should have been declined to the Saints, he would have taught us to say Frater noster qui es in coelis, and not only Pater noster, to pray to our Bretheren which are there, and not to our Father only, that is in Heaven'.
Editor’s Note
176–9. If . . . prayers: cf. the homily 'Of Prayer', in Jewel, The Second Tome of Homilies, 2K4v: 'O but I dare not (will some man say) trouble GOD at all times with my prayers. We see that in Kings houses and Courts of Princes, men cannot be admitted, vnlesse they first vse the helpe and meane of some speciall Noble man, to come vnto the speach of the King, and to obteine the thing that they would haue. To this reason doeth Saint Ambrose answere very well, writing vpon the first Chapter to the Romanes. Therefore (saith he) we vse to goe vnto the King by officers and noble men, because the King is a mortall man, and knoweth not to whom hee may commit the gouernement of the common wealth. But to haue GOD our friend, from whom nothing is hid, we neede not any helper, that should further vs with his good word, but onely a deuout and godly minde'. See further Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Romanos, on Rom. 1: 22 (PL 17. 58B–C).
Editor’s Note
181. Gravesend: a town in Kent at the mouth of the Thames, approximately 65 miles downstream from Windsor and 25 from London Bridge, and a port of call for all ships sailing upriver to London. The macabre associations of the name were cemented by the plague pamphlet, thought to be by Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton, Newes from Graues-end (1604), STC 12199.
Editor’s Note
182–3. brackish . . . fresh: one of a cluster of usages by D in 1626–7 to suggest theological pollution. Cf., in particular, D at Whitehall, 1 Apr. 1627 (OESJD iii.5.161–5) on the pollution of Protestantism by Catholicism: And all Divines that have their soules and consciences so disposed, as their Libraries may bee, (At that end stand Papists, and at that end Protestants, and he comes in the middle, as neare one as the other) all these have a brackish taste; as a River hath that comes near the Sea, so have they, in comming so neare the Sea of Rome'; cf. this vol., Sermon 6, l. 154.
Editor’s Note
187–93. So . . . nothing: D tacitly responds to Robert Bellarmine, De Reliquiis et Imaginibus Sanctorum, 2.5 (Dispvtationvm . . . De Controuersiis Christianae Fidei, 3 vols. (Lyon, 1596–9), i, 3R5r), who quotes 1 Cor. 8: 4 (see l. 188 cmt): 'Scimus, quia nihil est idolum in mundo. vbi idolum nihil esse dicitur, quia licet sit aliquid secundum materiam, tamen nihil est formaliter, cùm id repræsentet, quod nihil est, et proinde nec verèe repræsentet, & consequenter, nec sit' ('we know that an idol is nothing in the world: whereby an idol is said to be nothing, because though it is something according to the matter, it is nevertheless nothing in the formal sense, since it represents what is nothing, and hence it does not truly represent, and by consequence, it is not'). Although not directly correspondent to 'nothing', the Gr. εἴδωλον‎ has the meanings of image, phantom, spectre, fancy (OED, idol, n., 5, 6). See further Headnote; Milton, Catholic and Reformed, 187–96.
Editor’s Note
188. Idolum nihil est: 1 Cor. 8: 4 (Vulg.), 'nihil est idolum' ('an idol is nothing').
Editor’s Note
192. Christophers: images of St Christopher, a by-word for idolatry, e.g. in Theodore Beza, Sermons Vpon the Three Chapters of the Canticle of Canticles (Oxford, 1587), STC 2025, 2C3r–v: 'the picture whereof the world made afterwardes a detestable Idol, called Saint Christopher, was neuer the picture or pourtrait of any man of that name: but was first inuented to represent the condition and state of euery christian'. The story of St Christopher was recorded in the Golden Legend. As patron saint of travellers, St Christopher is an apt ironic exemplum in a passage controlled by the conceit of sailing upon seas of superstition and idolatry.
Editor’s Note
197. [marg.] Qui dant: Lat., 'those who give'.
Editor’s Note
198–9. Glory . . . men: Luke 2: 14, slightly adjusted.
Editor’s Note
200. Cherubims and Seraphims: plural forms commonly used in AV; cf. Isa. 6: 2, 37: 16.
Editor’s Note
202. Remittuntur . . . thee: Matt. 9: 2 (Vulg. is slightly compressed).
Editor’s Note
203–5. except . . . sinner: D returns to a theme of his previous Ps. 32 sermon (see this vol., Sermon 3, Headnote, ll. 435–6, 494–5, and cmts). The absolution spoken by the minister after the general confession at Morning and Evening Prayer (BCP) states that God 'hath giuen power and commaundement to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent, the absolution and remissions of their sinnes'.
Editor’s Note
208–9. My Sonne . . . thee: cf. Matt 9: 2.
Editor’s Note
209. he blasphemed: cf. Matt 9: 3.
Editor’s Note
211. Fiat lux: Gen. 1: 3 (Vulg.; 'Let there be light').
Editor’s Note
211. Dimittuntur peccata: Matt. 9: 5 (Vulg., omitting 'tibi'; 'Thy sinnes be forgiuen [thee]').
Editor’s Note
212–13. bring . . . uncleannesse: cf. Job 14: 4.
Editor’s Note
215–16. Am . . . life?: Geneva, reading 'Am I God'.
Editor’s Note
217–18. Witches . . . did: the Witchcraft Act of 1604, 1 Jas. I, cap. 12 (The Statutes of the Realm, 11 vols. (1810–28; repr. 1963), iv. 1028) ordered that any person who 'shall use practise or exercise any Witchcrafte Inchantment Charme or Sorcerie, wherebie any person shalbe killed destroyed wasted consumed pined or lamed in his or her bodie . . . shall suffer pains of deathe as a Felon'. Opinions differed on witches' responsibilities for capital crimes. Countering works such as Jean Bodin, De la Demonamanie des Sorciers (1580), Reginald Scot, The Discouerie of Witchcraft (1584), STC 21864, F2r (and see further F2v, G2v–G3v) notes the many absurdities in witches' confessions that they had murdered through impossible means (e.g. through a wish, or a touch of the hand), and argues that 'no lawe will admit such a confession, as yeeldeth vnto impossibilities', and further that 'he is not by conscience to be executed, which hath no sound mind nor perfect iudgement', while noting the case of a woman executed for killing someone through a touch on the shoulder. King James's own work on the subject, Daemonologie (Edinburgh, 1597), STC 14364, G1v (and see further G3r–v), argues that the devil is the cause of such deaths: 'whatsoeuer actiones, either in hurting men or beasts: or whatsoeuer other thing that they [witches] falselie imagine, at that time to haue done, may by himselfe or his marrowes, at that same time be done indeede; so as if they would giue for a token of their being rauished at the death of such a person within so shorte space thereafter, whom they beleeue to haue poysoned, or witched at that instante, might hee not at that same houre, haue smitten that same person by the permission of GOD, to the farther deceiuing of them, and to mooue others to beleeue them?'. On the legal background see Alan Macfarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A Regional and Comparative Study, 2nd edn. (1999), 14–22.
Editor’s Note
219. passionate: swayed by passions, and more specifically, 'easily moved to, or prone to, anger; hot-tempered, irascible' (OED, adj., 2.b).
Editor’s Note
226. reserved meaning: alluding to mental reservation, the technique of equivocation particularly associated by English Protestants with Jesuits, in which a statement that seems to be false is accompanied by an unspoken clause in the speaker's mind, which clarifies or qualifies the spoken statement and makes it truthful (see further Perez Zagorin, Ways of Lying: Dissimulation, Persecution and Conformity in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1990), esp. 186–220). Its role in scriptural interpretation was brought to the fore in the controversy, c.1607–10, between the Jesuit Robert Parsons and D's friend Thomas Morton, in which Parsons defended equivocation and mental reservation by asserting that Christ's words could be equivocal; e.g. A Quiet and Sober Reckoning vvith M. Thomas Morton (Saint-Omer, 1609), STC 19412, 4R2r: 'he saith to the Iewes: Yf you perseuere in my sayings, you shall truly be my disciples, and know the truth, and the truth shall free you: which freedome or deliuerance the Iewes vnderstood from temporall bondage, and therefore answered him, that they were the seed of Abraham, and had neuer bene in bondage to any: which errour of the Iewes proceeded from the ambiguous speach of our Sauiour, reseruing in his mind, and not expressing in his proposition, what bondage he meant: for that his reserued meaning indeed was of the bondage of sinne'. Cf. this vol., Sermon 2, ll. 277–8, and cmt.
Editor’s Note
232. [marg.] Propter hoc: Ps. 32: 6 (T-J. and BV; 'for this').
Editor’s Note
232. Si . . . petis: Lat., 'if you seek things which must be sought from a particular person, but do not ask for the things you should ask for'; cf. ps.-Augustine (cf. marg.), Cyrillus Jerosolymitanus: Epistola XIX, 2: 'Non enim aliter nostrae nequeunt exaudiri preces, nisi cum vel in Deo nostra non perfecte spes consistit, vel quia petimus non petenda' (PL 33. 1128; 'for our prayers cannot otherwise go unheard, except either when our hope in God does not stand perfectly, or because we ask for things which should not be asked for').
Editor’s Note
246. Imponere finem litibus: Lat., 'to put an end to lawsuits/disputes'. Cf. 'De finibus levatis', 27 Edw. 1 (The Statutes of the Realm, i. 128): 'Quia Fines in Curia nostra levati finem litibus debent imponere & imponunt, & ideo fines vocantur' ('Forasmuch as Fines levied in our Court ought and do make an end of all matters, and therefore are called Fines'); and Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England, trans. Samuel E. Thorne, 4 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1968–77), iv. 353 ('De exceptionibus'): 'dicitur finalis concordia, et ideo finalis quia imponit finem litibus' ('It is called a final concord, [and final on that account] because it puts an end to suits'). A 'fine' in this context is 'a finall agreement which is had between any persons concerning any land or rent, or other thing whereof any suit or writ is between them hanging in any Court' (John Rastell, Les Termes de la Ley (1624), STC 20716, 2B7r), and was used as a means of conveying land through a fictional suit when normal means were not available. The procedure was that 'the person to whom the land was to be conveyed sued the holder for wrongfully keeping him out of possession; the defendant (hence called the cognizor) acknowledged the right of the plaintiff (or cognizee); the compromise was entered on the records of the court' (OED, 'fine', n.1, 6.b). This could be used as a means of barring an entail, that is, converting an estate that was entailed (and thus could not be sold by the owner, but must pass to the owner's heirs) into absolute ownership (known as 'fee simple'), a context particularly relevant to this sermon given the earlier allusions to land inheritance (ll. 7–13, 94, 155, cmts).
Editor’s Note
250. Ab occultis: Ps. 18: 13 (iuxta LXX and iuxta Heb.; 'from my secret [sins]', Ps. 19: 12); cf. this vol., Sermon 2, ll. 407–8.
Editor’s Note
250. inquisition: enquiry, scrutiny.
Editor’s Note
254–5. Fomes peccati: Lat., 'the tinder of sin', typically used to denote concupiscence. The phrase is Augustinian (cf. De Nuptiis et Concupiscentia, 2.9, PL 44. 449), and widely used by scholastic writers, e.g. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, 2.30.7: 'Quid ergo originale peccatum dicitur? Fomes peccati, scilicet concupiscentia vel concupiscibilitas' (PL 192. 722; 'What, therefore, is original sin said to be? The tinder of sin, that is, concupiscence or rather concupiscibility'). See further Aquinas, ST, IIIa, q. 15, a. 2, in which he argues that there was no 'fomes peccati' in Christ.
Editor’s Note
256. tentation: temptation.
Editor’s Note
262. six thousand yeares: the idea that the world was or was approaching 6,000 years old had wide currency in the early modern period, with, as authority, Augustine's De Civitate Dei, 12.12 (PL 41. 359–360), among other patristic sources, although it was not universally accepted; Juan Luis Vives' commentary notes that 'our Vulgar accoumpt is above 6700. yeares. Namely, from Our Sauiour, 1522', Of the Citie of God, trans. John Healey (1610), STC 916, 3Y4v. The Rabbinic tradition of the prophecy of Elias, much cited in D's time, posited that the world would last 6,000 years (a calculation based on 1,000 years for every day of the creation) in three eras of 2,000 years each: one before the law, one under the law, and one the time of Christ. Cf. PS v.8.145–6, PS vii.16.194–5, and this vol., Sermon 8, l. 340.
Editor’s Note
268–9. Adam . . . into him: cf. Gen. 2: 7.
Editor’s Note
269–70. Christ . . . God: evoking the vocabulary of the Vulg. accounts of Christ's death in Matt. 27: 50: 'emisit spiritum' ('he sent forth / sent out his breath / spirit / soul'; cf. 'yeelded vp the ghost', Geneva and AV); Luke 23: 46: 'exspiravit' ('he died / he breathed out'; cf. 'gaue vp the ghost', Geneva and AV).
Editor’s Note
272. Lord, Lord: Matt. 7: 21.
Editor’s Note
276. [marg.] In tempore: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta LXX; 'in a time').
Editor’s Note
276–81. This . . . breake it: cf. D's letter to Sir Henry Goodyer, printed in D, Poems (1633), STC 7045, 2Zv: 'Yet as God seposed a seventh of our time for his exterior worship, and as his Christian Church early presented him a Type of the whole yeare in a Lent, and after imposed the obligation of canonique houres, constituting therby morall Sabbaths every day, I am far from dehorting those fixed devotions'.
Editor’s Note
276. Horæn stativæ: Lat., 'fixed hours'. In ancient Rome, the feriae stativae (set holidays / feast days) were one of the four types of public holiday.
Editor’s Note
276. Horæn canonicæ: Lat., 'canonical hours' (also known as the 'divine office'), offices appointed in the breviary to be said at different hours of the day in the RC Church, and part of ancient monastic discipline. The index to F80 glosses this passage as 'Canonicall Houres; no inconvenience in observing them, so wee place no merit in them' (4C2r).
Editor’s Note
281–4. I . . . so: in all probability this refers to Viscount Doncaster's audience with the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (1578–1637) at Graz in Nov. 1619 during the embassy to which D served as chaplain (Bald, 363 n. 2). Doncaster had also had an audience with Ferdinand before the latter became emperor, in Salzburg in July 1619; see Roy Schreiber, The First Carlisle: Sir James Hay, First Earl of Carlisle, as Courtier, Diplomat, and Entrepreneur, 1580–1636 (Philadelphia, 1984), 28, 31. D's language here makes clear that he was present and that this was an official ambassadorial meeting, making the Doncaster embassy the only plausible occasion. In his 4th Prebend sermon, 28 Jan. 1626/7 (PS vii. 12.752–3), D refers to the Habsburgs as 'that royall Family, which thinks it selfe the greatest in Christendome at this day, The House of Austrich'.
Editor’s Note
286. interlocutory: playing on a double sense of 'pertaining to, or occurring in, dialogue or conversation' (OED, adj., 1.a.) and the legal sense 'pronounced during the course of an action; not finally decisive of a case or suit' (3); for the latter cf. PS ii.9.324, PS vii.9.451.
Editor’s Note
287. Comedians: stage players, actors. For another theatrical flourish on the subject of sin, see this vol., Sermon 3, ll. 103–8, and cmt.
Editor’s Note
288–90. When . . . blood: Isa. 1: 15, closest to Geneva, but following AV's reading 'when yee make' (Geneva has 'though ye make').
Editor’s Note
292–3. Irrisor . . . pœnitet: Isidore of Seville (cf. marg.), Sententiae Libri Tres, 2.16.1 (PL 83. 619B; 'he is a mocker, no penitent, who still does that of which he repents').
Editor’s Note
294–5. Hee . . . againe: cf. Heb. 6: 6.
Editor’s Note
295–6. Plangere . . . committere: ps.-Ambrose, Sermones, 25.1, 'De Sancta Quadragesima IX': 'Pœnitentia est et mala praeterita plangere, et plangenda iterum non committere' (PL 17. 655A–B; 'penitence is also to lament past faults, and not to commit again that which should be lamented').
Editor’s Note
300–1. Lacessit . . . honorari: ps.-Augustine, Meditationes, 1.3, which reads 'postposita satisfactione delicti' (PL 40. 903; 'he provokes the judge, who, having neglected to give satisfaction [for his crime], seeks to be honoured with favours').
Editor’s Note
300. [tn] Lacessit: F80 has damaged type for 'c', not (as PS record) an italic 'v'.
Editor’s Note
303. call . . . discharged: i.e. call for his legal expenses to be met, before being exonerated of a charge.
Editor’s Note
305. Manifestatio Euangelii: Lat., 'manifestation of the gospel', associated with the sixth age (dating from Jesus' coming to the present) in Augustine's theory of the six ages of the world, De Catechizandis Rudibus Liber Unus, 22: 'novum testamentum haereditatis sempiternae manifestans' (PL 40. 339; 'showing forth the New Testament of our everlasting inheritance'; NPNF, 1st ser., iii. 307); cf. In Joannis Evangelium Tractatus CXXIV, 9.7: 'Propterea et sexta die fecit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam: quia sexta ista aetate manifestatur per Evangelium reformatio mentis nostrae' (PL 35. 1460; 'God made man after His own image on the sixth day, because in this sixth age is manifested the renewing of our mind through the gospel'; NPNF, 1st ser., vii. 65); Contra Faustum Manichaeum Libri Triginta Tres, 12.18: 'Unde ista sexta aetas . . . in manifestatione evangelica Ecclesiam construit' (PL 42. 264; 'so the sixth age is occupied with the construction of the Church by the preaching of the gospel'; NPNF, 1st ser., iv. 189).
Editor’s Note
306. Induere hominem: Lat., 'to put on humanity'; cf. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 10.29.1: 'Gratia Dei non potuit gratius commendari, quam ut ipse unicus Dei Filius in se incommutab-iliter manens indueret hominem' (PL 41. 307; 'the grace of God could not have been more graciously commended to us than thus, that the only Son of God, remaining unchangeable in Himself, should assume humanity'; NPNF, 1st ser., ii. 199). Cf. PS v.7.263–6, PS v.17.495.
Editor’s Note
307. Induere Deum: Lat., 'to put on God'.
Editor’s Note
309. one. . . with him: cf. 1 Cor. 12: 12–13.
Editor’s Note
311–12. I . . . thee: Isa. 49: 8, but D's wording is closest to the verse as quoted in 'the time of the Gospel' (ll. 312–13) in 2 Cor. 6: 2, which reads 'a time accepted' (Geneva and AV).
Critical Apparatus
313 [marg.] 2 Cor. 6. 2.] ed.; 2 Cor. 2.6. F80
Editor’s Note
313. Behold . . . salvation: Geneva and AV.
Editor’s Note
315. Calamities: cf. this vol., Sermon 3, ll. 388, 559–62, and cmts. Plague and war were commonly referred to as collective calamities, and both the epidemic of 1625 and the beleaguered state of the Protestant International in the Thirty Years' War (with defeats such as the Battle of the White Mountain, 8 Nov. 1620, and the Battle of Dessau Bridge, 25 Apr. 1626) may be within D's frame of reference.
Editor’s Note
315–16. When . . . soule: Ps. 116: 3–4 (Geneva).
Editor’s Note
318. deprehended: discovered. Cf. this vol., Sermon 3, l. 168 cmt.
Editor’s Note
319. We . . . Israel: Exod. 14: 25 ('Let vs flee', AV; 'I wil flee', Geneva).
Editor’s Note
319–20. The Sea . . . perished: Exod. 14: 27 (Geneva and AV); 'and perished' is D's addition, based on this and the next verse.
Editor’s Note
322–3. Vsque . . . ever?: 2 Sam. 2: 26 (Vulg., Geneva, and AV); the marg. citation refers not to the source of the quotation, but to the beginning of the passage that describes the incident as a whole.
Editor’s Note
323–5. Vivit . . . departed: D's accurate quotation from 2 Sam. 2: 27 (Vulg.) is followed by his own trans.; cf. 'As God liueth, if thou haddest not spoken, surely euen in the morning the people had departed' (Geneva).
Editor’s Note
329. [marg.] Prosperitas: Lat., 'prosperity'.
Editor’s Note
331. Ordinances . . . Church: the Word and sacraments.
Editor’s Note
333. God . . . face: cf. Deut. 31: 17, Ps. 44: 24.
Editor’s Note
339. cup overflows: cf. Ps. 23: 5.
Editor’s Note
341–2. feed . . . table: recalling the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16: 21, a verse recalled in the prayer of humble access before communion, 'Lord's Supper' (BCP): 'We be not worthy so much as to gather vp the crumbes vnder thy Table'.
Editor’s Note
342. Bolls: bowls, esp. as representative of drinking, conviviality (OED, 'bowl', n.1, 1.b.(a)).
Editor’s Note
348. [marg.]. Nunc: Lat., 'now'.
Editor’s Note
349–53. If . . . time: D enacts the sense of a perpetually fleeting present becoming past explored in book 11 of Augustine, Confessions. e.g. 11.15.20: 'Si quid intelligitur temporis, quod in nullas jam vel in minutissimas momentorum partes dividi possit, id solum est quod praesens dicatur. Quod tamen ita raptim a futuro in praeteritum transvolat, ut nulla morula extendatur' (PL 32. 817; 'If one can conceive any part of time which could not be divided into even the most minute moments, then, that alone is what may be called the present; and this flies over from the future into the past so quickly that it does not extend over the slightest instant'; FC, xxi. 346). In particular, his emphasis on speaking the word 'Now' evokes Augustine's point about sound in 11.27.34: 'Ecce puta, vox corporis incipit sonare, et sonat, et adhuc sonat, et ecce desinit; jamque silentium est, et vox illa praeterita est, et non est jam vox. Futura erat antequam sonaret, et non poterat metiri, quia nondum erat, et nunc non potest, quia jam non est' (PL 32. 823; 'See, for instance, how a bodily voice begins to sound, and it sounds, and still sounds, and then stops; now there is silence: that voice is past, and voice there is no more. It was in the future before it sounded and could not be measured, for it was not yet existing—and now it cannot be, because it is already out of existence'; FC, xxi. 358). Cf. PS vii.14.716–25, where D similarly emphasizes the salvific potential within his sermon of 'this minute'.
Editor’s Note
354–5. That . . . soule: a slightly adjusted quotation.
Editor’s Note
355–65. It . . . after: this passage (excluding the words 'Saints or Angels') is plagiarized by Abraham Wright in A Practical Commentary or Exposition upon the Pentateuch (1662), Wing 3688, 3B1r, on Deut. 4: 29.
Editor’s Note
359–60. Saints or Angels: see ll. 173–6 cmt.
Editor’s Note
360. diffidence: 'want of confidence or faith' (OED, 1).
Editor’s Note
360–3. as . . . selfe: a possible allusion to ongoing opposition during the early to mid-1620s to the royal favourite the Duke of Buckingham, led by the Earls of Arundel, Pembroke, and Bristol. See further Introduction, pp. xxxiv–xxxv.
Editor’s Note
363. serve . . . Mammon: cf. Matt. 6: 24.
Editor’s Note
364. complementall visit: a visit for the formal expression of courtesy, or that is formal and ceremonious only, rather than necessary (see OED, 'complemental', adj., 4, 6). The phrase receives no comment in the OED but is found in other 17th-c. texts, e.g. Sir Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels (1638), STC 13191, G3r, on Indian funeral customs and the Ganges, where the dead man's son must 'pay a complementall visit to that River'. Cf. PS iii.17.581–4 (at St Paul's, Christmas Day 1621): 'Why doest thou delude God, with this complementall visit, to come to his house, if thou bring not with thee, a disposition to his honour, and his service?'.
Editor’s Note
365. the World . . . Devill: cf. BCP, Litany: 'from al the deceits of the world, the flesh and the deuill. Good Lord deliuer vs'; a traditional triad of types or prompts for sin, based on Eph. 1: 2–3.
Editor’s Note
367–8. Ye . . . heart: Geneva, with the addition of a second 'ye shall'.
Editor’s Note
369–70. Iudah sought . . . about: Geneva, reading 'they' for 'Iudah'.
Editor’s Note
376–7. Cammels . . . Wildernesse: cf. Matt. 3: 4.
Critical Apparatus
379 to seeke] ed.; toseeke F80
Editor’s Note
380. Radicall: 'fundamental', 'original, primary' (OED, adj., 1.b, 2).
Editor’s Note
387. Sanctificatus: Lat., 'made holy'.
Editor’s Note
388. Sanctificandus: Lat., 'making holy'.
Editor’s Note
392. specificates: determines specifically, specifies (OED, 'specificate', v., 1, 3).
Editor’s Note
395. effusion: 'a pouring forth, unrestrained utterance (of words, sounds etc.)' (OED, 3.a.); D's usage in this figurative sense pre-dates OED's first usage (Henry Hammond, A Paraphrase and Annotations upon the Books of the Psalms (1659)).
Editor’s Note
396. Principall: 'head, ruler, governor, master' (OED, n., 1.a).
Editor’s Note
401–2. Taking . . . Church: ps.-Jerome (cf. marg.), Breviarum in Psalmos, Ps. 31, interprets v. 7 as 'Vox Ecclesiae ad Christum' (PL 26. 913B; 'the voice of the church to Christ'). Cf. Jerome, Commentariorum in Osee Prophetam Libri Tres ad Pammachium, 2 on Hos. 5: 10, where Jerome argues that God speaks to 'principes Juda, hoc est, Ecclesiae' (PL 25. 862D; 'the princes of Judah, that is, the church'). This distinction between reading the psalm 'Distributively' and 'Collectively' forms the major structuring device of the next sermon in the Ps. 32 series (PS ix.15).
Editor’s Note
403–6. The Holy . . . Waters: cf. D, Devotions, Expostulation 19: 'thou art a figurative, a metaphoricall God' (99); 'But wherefore, O my God, hast thou presented to us, the afflictions and calamities of this life, in the name of waters? so often in the name of waters, and deepe waters, and Seas of waters?' (100); D at court, 5 Apr. 1628 (OESJD iii.7.616–19); D at St Paul's, Whitsunday 1629 (PS ix.3.525–7). Cf. also ps.-Jerome, Breviarum in Psalmos, Ps. 32: 7: 'Per aquas, saeculi tribulationes significat, et persecutiones sanctorum' (PL 26. 916B; 'by "waters", it means the tribulations of a generation and the persecutions of the saints').
Editor’s Note
404. [marg.] Aquæ: Lat., 'waters'.
Editor’s Note
406. He . . . Tyrus: a loose reworking of Ezek. 26: 3.
Editor’s Note
407. He . . . waters: cf. Hos. 5: 10.
Editor’s Note
410–11. S. Augustine . . . Church: Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, In Psalmum XXXI Enarratio II, 18: 'Multae aquae sunt variae doctrinae . . . Aliae aquae multae, multae doctrinae inquinant animas hominum' (PL 36. 260–270; 'The many waters are diverse teachings . . . Those many other waters, many other teachings, merely defile men's souls'; ACW, xxx. 86–7). Summarized in VG on Ps. 31: 6.
Editor’s Note
411–12. And . . . hill: cf. Matt. 5: 14. In his Whitehall sermon, 1 Apr. 1627 (OESJD iii.5.102–3), D refers to the same image in terms of militaristic offence rather than defence, and to emphasize the church's 'Visibility' and 'eminency'.
Editor’s Note
417–18. The . . . Church: cf. D, Devotions, Expostulation 19: 'thou hast given a Remedy against the deepest water, by water; against the inundation of sinne, by Baptisme' (100); 'what is our refuge? thine Arke, thy ship' (101).
Editor’s Note
417. Limen Ecclesiæ: Lat., 'the threshold of the church'. Although the phrase is not used by Augustine, it is representative of his thinking on baptism, as in Contra Julianum, Haeresis Pelagianae Defensorem, Libri Sex, 4.8.42: 'nec petunt, nec quaerunt, nec pulsant; imo etiam cum baptizantur, reclamant, respuunt, reluctantur: et accipiunt tamen, et inveniunt, et aperitur eis, et intrant in regnum Dei' (PL 44. 759; 'they [infants] neither ask, nor seek, nor knock—actually even while they are being baptized they sometimes scream, spit, and struggle against it—yet they receive and find it is opened to them, and they enter into the kingdom of God'; FC, xxxv. 204). D's diction is also probably informed by the traditional placement of the baptismal font at the west end of the church, symbolizing baptism as a rite of entry and initiation. Cf. PS vi.3.215–6, PS viii.6.5–6, this vol., Sermon 6, ll. 23–4.
Editor’s Note
417–18. Ianua Sacramentorum: Lat., 'the door of the sacraments'; see Aquinas, ST, IIIa, q. 73, a. 3 co.: 'baptismus est principium spiritualis vitae, et ianua sacramentorum' ('baptism is the beginning of the spiritual life, and the door of the sacraments'); baptism is referred to as 'omnium sacramentorum ianua' ('the door of all the sacraments') in Institutio Iuris Canonici, lib. 1, titulus 24 (Corpus Iuris Canonici (Lyon, 1622), 2A2a6v).
Editor’s Note
419–20. three. . . Peter: cf. Acts 2: 4, Acts 4: 4. D makes the same point at Whitehall, 1 Apr. 1627, OESJD iii.5.108.
Critical Apparatus
422 [marg.] Ezek. 36. 25.] ed.; Ezek. 24.35. F80
Editor’s Note
422–3. I . . . be cleane: Geneva, reading 'Then wil I powre'.
Editor’s Note
423–4. And . . . failed: cf. Matt. 26: 75.
Editor’s Note
424–5. And . . . defiled: cf. Luke 7: 38. The sinful woman who washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair is not named as Mary Magdalene in the gospel account, but she is traditionally identified as the woman named in Luke 8: 2.
Editor’s Note
426–9. Disciples . . . name: cf. ps.-Tertullian, Adversus Omnes Haereses, 1 (now recognized as spurious, but printed in Tertullian, Opera, ed. Jean de Gagny (Paris, 1545), and PL as part of Tertullian, De Praescriptionibus adversus Haereticos): 'Hic ausus est summam se dicere virtutem, id est, summum Deum . . . Post hunc Menander discipulus ipsius, similiter magus, eadem dicens quae Simon ipse: quicquid se Simon dixerat, hoc se Menander esse dicebat, negans habere posse quemquam salutem, nisi in nomine suo baptizatus fuisset' (PL 2. 61B; 'He [Simon Magus] had the hardihood to call himself the Supreme Virtue, that is, the Supreme God . . . After him Menander, his disciple (likewise a magician), saying the same as Simon. Whatever Simon had affirmed himself to be, this did Menander equally affirm himself to be, asserting that none could possibly have salvation without being baptized in his name'; ANF, iii. 649). Simon Magus appears in Acts 8: 9–24 as a sorcerer who is baptized, but then attempts to buy the gift of laying-on of hands from the Apostles; accounts of Simon's and Menander's heretical teachings are detailed in Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 1.23 and Justin Martyr, First Apology, 16.
Editor’s Note
429–31. Repentance . . . Baptisme: early heretical sects associated with this doctrine were the Novatians, Montanists, and Donatists. Article 16 of 39A declares that 'Not euery deadly sinne willingly committed after baptisme, is sinne agaynst the holy ghost, and vnpardonable. Wherefore, the graunt of repentaunce is not to be denyed to such as fal into sinne after baptisme. . . . And therefore, they are to be condemned, whiche say they can no more sinne as long as they lyue here, or denie the place of forgeuenesse to suche as truely repent'.
Editor’s Note
433. Aquæ multæ: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta Heb.).
Editor’s Note
434. Great waters: Geneva and AV.
Editor’s Note
435. Verbum abbreviatum: Lat., 'abbreviated word'; cf. Rom 9: 28 (Vulg.): 'Verbum enim consummans, & abbreuians in æquitate, quia verbum breuiatum faciet dominus super terram' ('for consummating a word, and abbridging it in equitie: because word abbridged shal our Lord make vpon the earth', D—R). The formula was traditionally applied to Christ and used by many theologians, esp. Bernard of Clairvaux, e.g. Sermones in Cantica Canticorum, 59.9 (PL 183. 1065D).
Editor’s Note
436. twelve . . . Creed: the division of the Creed into twelve articles has its origins in the early church; ps.-Augustine, Sermones, 240 (PL 39. 2189) claimed that, after Pentecost, the apostles composed the Creed by contributing an article each, a story that D seems to endorse in PS iii.17.986–7.
Editor’s Note
437–8. seaven . . . Prayer: the traditional division into seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer, observed by Augustine, Enchiridion, 115 (PL 40. 285) and featured in English primers and writing aids, e.g. An A, B, C. for Children (1570), STC 19.5, B3r.
Editor’s Note
440–1. easie . . . burden: cf. Matt. 11: 30.
Editor’s Note
441–3. he . . . Neighbour: cf. Matt. 22: 36–40, where Jesus adds, 'On these two Commandements hang all the Law and the Prophets'; however, D may be thinking of the account in Luke 10, where Jesus adds 'this do, and thou shalt liue' (v. 28; cf. ll. 46–7), and earlier refers to the fate of Tyrus (vv. 13–14; cf. l. 406).
Editor’s Note
451–3. Things . . . Sacrament: of several patristic sources, D probably recalls Augustine, De Haeresibus, 26, on the Cataphrygians: 'Sacramenta perhibentur habere funesta: nam de infantis anniculi sanguine, quem de toto ejus corpore minutis punctionum vulneribus extorquent, quasi eucharistiam suam conficere perhibentur, miscentes eum farinae, panemque inde facientes: qui puer si mortuus fuerit, habetur apud eos pro martyre; si autem vixerit, pro magno sacerdote' (PL 42. 30; 'They are said to have gruesome mysteries, for the report goes that by draining the blood from the entire body of a year old infant by minute punctures and by mixing it with wheat, they make bread from it and perform their eucharist. If the child dies, he is regarded as a martyr among them; but if he lives, a great priest'; The De Haeresibus of Saint Augustine, trans. Liguori G. Müller, Patristic Studies, vol. 90 (Washington, DC, 1956), 75). The 'things which may not be named' are probably the practices of the Manichaeans (46): 'coguntur Electi eorum velut eucharistiam conspersam cum semine humano sumere, ut etiam inde, sicut de aliis cibis quos accipiunt, substantia illa divina purgetur' (PL 42. 36; 'their Elect are forced to consume a sort of eucharist sprinkled with human seed in order that the divine substance may be freed even from that, just as it is from other foods of which they partake'; trans. Müller, 89).
Editor’s Note
455. Traditionall Doctrines: i.e. doctrines based on church tradition rather than scripture. The 4th session of the Council of Trent (8 Apr. 1546) affirmed truth and moral discipline to be 'contained in the written books, and the unwritten traditions which, received by the apostles from the mouth of Christ himself, or from the Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down even unto us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand' (The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, trans. Theodore Alois Buckley (1851), 18). Cf. PS viii.15.588.
Editor’s Note
459. Shatach: the Hebr. noun 'shetef' (Strong H7858, 'flood') appears in Ps. 32: 6; D quotes the verb 'shataf' (Strong H7857, 'to overflow'), as used in Jer. 8: 6. See Goodblatt, Christian Hebraism, 101–6, on D's use of this word compared with commentaries by Rashi, Augustine, Andrewes, Cassiodorus, and Luther.
Editor’s Note
459. Inundans: Lat., 'overflowing'.
Editor’s Note
461. Equus . . . Bellum: this rendering of Jer. 8: 6, based on the Hebr., is noted in various sources, e.g. Johann Forster, Dictionarium Hebraicum Novum (Basel, 1564), 2B2v, on 'shetef': 'equus inundans in bello'; T—J.'s marg. note on the verse has 'Heb. inundans'.
Editor’s Note
462. rushes . . . Battell: Geneva and AV.
Editor’s Note
462. of . . . blood: cf. Isa. 15: 9.
Editor’s Note
463–6. What . . . Waldenses!: a reference to the massacre of Béziers on 22 July 1209, part of the Albigensian Crusade. Figures for the massacre vary, and D's figure of 60,000 slaughtered comes from the 13th-c. Cistercian Alberic of Trois-Fontaines ('60000 hominum et amplius . . . trucidatis'; Chronica a Monacho Novi-monasterii Hoiensis Interpolata, ed. Paul Scheffer-Boichorst, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, vol. 23 (Hanover, 1874), 889). D's identification of the Waldensians with the Reformation was part of a larger strategy among English Calvinist divines (evident in the various edns. of John Foxe, Acts and Monuments (1563–83)) to trace a succession of true churches before Luther, in response to RC accusations that Protestantism began at the Reformation. Medieval sects, including the Albigensians and Waldensians (or Poor Men of Lyon), Lollards, and Hussites were closely associated. The mid-1620s saw a particular interest in the subject with the publication of Samson Leonard's trans. of Jean-Paul Perrin's history of the Waldensians and Albigensians, The Bloudy Rage of that Great Antechrist [sic] of Rome (1624), STC 19768.5 (also published as Luthers Fore-Runners (1624), STC 19769), and George Abbot, A Treatise of the Perpetuall Visibilitie, and Succession of the True Church in All Ages (1624), STC 39, esp. M1v–N4r (on Waldensians and Albigensians). William Laud and Richard Montagu were both hostile to the notion of succession from proto-Protestant sects; see further Milton, Catholic and Reformed, 270–307. Cf. PS ix.15.135–6, on Ps. 32: 7: 'though God exposed them as wood to be felled, to a slaughter of twenty, of forty, of sixty thousand in a day'; and PS x.6.562–5. Goodblatt, Christian Hebraism, 101, notes that the convergence of flood imagery with mention of the Waldensians appears again in D at St Paul's, Whitsunday 1628 (PS viii. 11.409–16).
Editor’s Note
469. unconcocted: undigested, 'not properly worked up or elaborated' (OED, 3, citing this sermon as first usage in the figurative sense).
Critical Apparatus
478 Libera nos] ed., PS; Liberanos F80
Editor’s Note
478–9. Libera . . . evill: Matt. 6: 13.
Editor’s Note
479. Malum pœnæ: Lat., 'the evil of punishment/pain'. The distinction of evil into 'malum poenae' and 'malum culpae' ('the evil of fault') is Augustinian (e.g. Sermones, 299.8, PL 38. 1373–1374) and widespread in scholastic writing, esp. Aquinas, De Malo (Op. Om.), q. 1, a. 4; ST, Ia, q. 48, a. 5, 6.
Editor’s Note
483. Durus sermo: cf. John 6: 61 (Vulg.; 'an hard saying', John 6: 60).
Editor’s Note
484. Why . . . more: Isa. 1: 5 (Geneva, reading 'wherefore' for 'why').
Editor’s Note
488–9. Forty . . . generation: Ps. 95: 10.
Editor’s Note
490. stupidity: 'insensibility to pain or sorrow' (OED, 3.b, citing D at St Dunstan's-in-the-West, Trinity Sunday 1627, PS viii.1.838, as first usage in this sense, but see Greenwich, 30 Apr. 1615, OESJD i.i.267).
Editor’s Note
497. [marg.] Non approximabunt: Ps. 31: 6 (Vulg., 'they shall not come nigh').
Editor’s Note
498. Italian Babylon: Rome; cf. PS x.6.65 (and passim).
Editor’s Note
502–3. non . . . eum: Ps. 31: 6 (iuxta LXX), 'ad eum non adproximabunt' ('they shall not come nigh vnto him').
Editor’s Note
504. non eum: Lat., 'not unto him'.
Editor’s Note
504–10. For . . . touched: this bears a striking resemblance to the extended image in Sermon 9 (this vol., ll. 199–209) of the church as a ship in a storm, cut down to its keel, 'the fundamental articles of Religion'. D's mention of 'the peace of the Church' may refer specifically to Charles I's Proclamation for the Establishing of the Peace and Quiet of the Church of England (14 June 1626), STC 8824 (see Appendix), which charged ministers not to 'maintaine any new inuentions, or opinions concerning Religion, then such as are clearly grounded, and warranted by the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England'. See further Sermon 9, Headnote.
Critical Apparatus
509 Churches] Church is PS
Editor’s Note
509. devested: thrown off, abandoned (OED, 'devest', 4.b).
Editor’s Note
509. [tn] Churches: PS emend to 'Church is', noting that 'the passage as it stands in F[80] is certainly corrupt' (ix. 442), but F80's version makes clear sense in the light of the previous sentence ('they are sua but not illa, they are hers, but they are not she'). 'Churches' is the possessive singular form (i.e. 'Church's', cf. 'hers'); the following phrase 'she [i.e. the Church] in her fundamentall Doctrines' is held up as a contrast, a sense lost by PS's addition of a comma after 'Doctrines'.
Critical Apparatus
510 Doctrines] Doctrines, PS
Editor’s Note
512. Vix . . . voco: Ovid, Metamorphoses, 13.141 ('I call those in no true sense our own').
Editor’s Note
514–16. How . . . affliction?: cf. PS ix.17.10–11, on Ps. 32: 9: 'man, who was his Medal at first, (when God stamped and imprinted his Image in him)'; PS v.7.260–1.
Editor’s Note
516. longanimity: long-suffering, patience; often in religious use (OED, 1).
Editor’s Note
518. the Sea . . . backe: closest to Geneva, but altered from past to future tense.
Editor’s Note
519–20. What . . . back: Ps. 114: 5 (Geneva, reading 'O Iorden, why wast thou turned backe?').
Editor’s Note
522. Sto . . . knocke: Vulg. is slightly compressed; Eng. is Geneva and AV. D cites the same verse towards the end of the previous sermon in the series (this vol., Sermon 3, ll. 534–5, and cmt). Here, once again, he suggests the believer's participation in the act of repentance.
Editor’s Note
526–7. The . . . mee: Geneva, slightly compressed.
Critical Apparatus
529 [marg.] Psal. 69. 15.] ed.; Psal. 69 15. F80
Editor’s Note
529. Let . . . up: Geneva; also BCP (Ps. 69: 16).
Editor’s Note
530–1. When . . . thee: Isa. 43: 2 (Geneva).
Editor’s Note
535–6. Tres . . . blood: cf. 1 John 5: 8.
Editor’s Note
538–9. Vix . . . sanguine: Lat., 'I think that the spirit can be found either hardly, or not at all, without water and blood'; cf. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo in Octava Paschae, 1.8: 'Verumtamen licet maneat post aquam et sanguinem Spiritus . . . interim tamen aut vix aut nullo modo invenire est Spiritum sine illis' (PL 183. 295D–296A; 'but although the Spirit abides after [the water and] the blood . . . yet for the present the Spirit is scarcely, or not at all, found without them'; Sermons for the Lent and the Easter Season, trans. Irene Edmonds (Collegeville, Minn., 2013), 182). Bernard takes water as baptism, blood as martyrdom (specifically, Christ's sacrifice), and the spirit as charity (1.5), and says (1.7; PL 183. 295B) that one should remember the martyrdom 'in quotidiana corporis afflictione' ('in the daily suffering of the body') and baptism 'in compunctione cordis et lacrymarum assiduitate' ('in compunction of heart and constant tears'; Sermons, 181). D's identification of these waters as affliction links to the 'teares' of l. 533.
Editor’s Note
541. He . . . Jerusalem: cf. Luke 19: 41.
Editor’s Note
541–2. Hee . . . garden: cf. Luke 22: 44.
Editor’s Note
542. eating . . . browes: cf. Gen. 3: 19.
Editor’s Note
543–4. And . . . dead: cf. John 19: 34.
Editor’s Note
544. fons . . . Sacramenti: cf. Augustine, In Joannis Evangelium Tractatus CXXIV, 120.2, on John 19: 34: 'Vigilanti verbo Evangelista usus est, ut non diceret, Latus ejus percussit, aut vulneravit, aut quid aliud; sed, aperuit: ut illic quodammodo vitae ostium panderetur, unde Sacramenta Ecclesiae manaverunt, sine quibus ad vitam quae vera vita est, non intratur. Ille sanguis in remissionem fusus est peccatorum: aqua illa salutare temperat poculum; haec et lavacrum praestat, et potum' (PL 35. 1953; 'A suggestive word was made use of by the evangelist, in not saying pierced, or wounded His side, or anything else, but 'opened;" that thereby, in a sense, the gate of life might be thrown open, from whence have flowed forth the sacraments of the Church, without which there is no entrance to the life which is the true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins; that water it is that makes up the health-giving cup, and supplies at once the laver of baptism and water for drinking'; NPNF, 1st ser., vii. 434). Cf. Henry King, at the Spital, Easter Monday 1626, A Sermon of Deliverance (1626), STC 14968, G1v: 'with the Speare piercing his side, [he] let out two Sacraments, Baptisme, and the Sacrament of his Bloud, as sure Seales to confirme vnto our soules the Truth of our Deliuerance'.
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