Alexander Henderson’s Sermons

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Fragment of Preface

The following sermon, with the two addresses that precede it, were delivered, as appears from internal evidence, at St. Andrews, on a day of special humiliation observed there, prior to the swearing of the National Covenant, probably towards the end of March, or the beginning of April, 1638. The Covenant had already been sworn and subscribed at Edinburgh on February 28 of the same year. Copies of it were thereafter taken to all parts of the country, and solemnly sworn after due humiliation and fasting. St. Andrews was one of the three only burghs in Scotland, of which Aberdeen and Crail were the other two, from which Commissioners were not present at the first swearing of the Covenant in Edinburgh; and Henderson, as being the fittest person for such a mission, was sent to that city and important seat of learning, to endeavour to gain it over to the Covenanted cause. We have here the sermon and addresses he delivered on the occasion, by means of which, in part at least, the object of his mission was successfully achieved. The services of the day seem to have consisted (1) of what was called a “Preface”, only a fragment of which remains, the first page or two of the manuscript being lost; (2) of the reading of Scripture, the portion read being Deuteronomy 28; (3) of a kind of running comment on the chapter read, with application to the particular business in hand; and (4) of a sermon on Psalm 110:3.

… of humiliation, it will not be easy for you to win to it now. And except that ye humble yourselves now when ye have health, wealth, and peace, the Lord shall cause you to humble yourselves under heavy and sore straits, when ye cannot get yourselves helped. There is no way for you to prevent the wrath of God, that has been brewing in a cloud above you this long time, but only by humbling of yourselves before God, and under his mighty hand. And because ye are out of use of humiliation, and it is long since ye had such a fast as this, and ye cannot tell how to perform it;1 let us address ourselves to the Lord, and beseech him that he would teach us how we shall proceed in this work, in every point thereof; that so we go away with some sense of peace and reconciliation in our souls, through Jesus Christ. And because it is he who can humble these haughty and proud hearts of ours, therefore let us address ourselves to him, to seek and to beg of him that he would humble them; that so this day’s exercise may prove acceptable to him, and comfortable to our own souls.

  1. Public fasts, which before had been very frequent in the church, were almost unknown during the domination of Episcopacy, being discountenanced and disallowed by the rulers both in Church and State, See Row, passim.