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Ye heard the profession that is made, in the name of the kirk, of her confidence in God,—that in heavy distress she lifts up her eyes to God. And the ground of her confidence is, because “God is in the heavens,”—he is a majestic and a mighty God, and does whatsoever he will. Ye heard also of the manner of her confidence. Even as servants of all sexes looks to the hand of their masters and mistresses for help and relief, or for a reward, so the kirk looks also towards God’s hand. And then there is the continuance of this her confidence,—she will never give it over. It is nothing to wait on, and to seek earnestly, for a while, but this is the praise of on-waiting and confidence, to wait on in earnestness and in constancy till the Lord be gracious; and to wait still upon him, and to cry aye to him, till he show that same particular mercy which the kirk or a Christian desires.
In this part of the psalm he propones his petition to God in name of the kirk. If so be that we put our confidence in God, and have our eyes bended upon him to receive directions from him, and wait upon him till his time, and in this time pray to the Lord that he would be gracious and show mercy, we may then be confident. And the reason he gives for putting up this petition is, because the kirk has readily (likely) ado with enemies who use to be at ease and in prosperity in the world; and when they are in such a case, then they labour by all means to breed trouble and adversity to the kirk of God. And this makes them to be proud and haughty; and they declare their pride by their contempt and mocking of the servants of God. And this their contempt and mocking, it comes to a very great height, that the enemies fill up the measure of their persecution by it, and the souls of the godly, they “are exceedingly filled” with their scorning who are at ease, and with the contempt of these that are proud.
So there be two things contained in the words;—1. The petition that the prophet puts up in name of the kirk. 2. The reason of it.
1. First. The petition is, “That God would be gracious or merciful to them.” The word properly signifies to be gracious, but it is alike in sense whether it be grace or mercy. For grace, it is the kindness and love of God, or the lovingkindness and favour of God, which inclines him to help his kirk; and mercy is the daughter of that grace of God, whereby God has a special respect to his creature that is in distress. The kirk then prays here for grace and mercy. Then certainly we may see here that this deliverance is not prayed for as a thing merited by the kirk, for howsoever the enemy that contended with the kirk, and troubled and molested her so sore, had no just cause so to do against the people of God, yet God himself had a just controversy against them wherefore he should afflict them. And so they acknowledge, as it is Lamentations 3:22, that it is not of the justice, but of the mercy of God, that they are not consumed. The lesson that we have to learn of this is, if so be that men were doing us any wrong, and we are conscious to ourselves that we have not deserved it at their hands, or that they were doing us ill for good, and we knew it to be so from them; yet when we come to God, acknowledge more than all that,—even acknowledge that he in justice does that. For certainly God has evermore a just controversy against us; and so let us acknowledge that it is God and not men who afflicts us; he only sends out these as instruments of our trouble. It were good for us that in every aflliction that is either upon ourselves or upon the kirk, that we would ascend first to God, and see his hand in it, and not to rest by the gate (way), and to rack ourselves, and shoot out our wrath upon the stone that is casten at us; but go to God, and see him to be the first beginner of it. Thou may say, this man has done it, and he has been, it may be, stirred up by another to it, and he by another, and so go through a multitude till thou come to the first breast it bred in; but rest not when thou art there, till thou be at God, and acknowledge that it is God who is the doer of it. It may be, indeed, that thou has done no wrong to none of these men, yet acknowledge that thou has done wrong to God. And when thou has ascended thus, think that God is a just God, and he never punished any yet who was not a sinner; and then descend into thy own heart, and consider that there is something there which has risen up against God, and so has stirred up God against thee. And if we would do this, we would find it to be both comfortable and to be profitable for us in our afflictions, to acknowledge that God because of our sins, he sends afflictions upon us. I know ofttimes God has other intentions in afflicting of his kirk or children than to punish sin in them. It may for that end, that thou may give a further testimony to his truth, and that the world may see what thou will do for him; it may be to stir thee up to be more earnest with God in prayer; it may be to prevent sin in thee, etc. But this may be the reason of it also, that thou may be the more humbled for sin, and to make thee find out some sins which thou has not tried nor searched before: for that is sure, where affliction is, it is evermore a probleme [program?]1 of sin. Albeit it be not judicium propter peccatum, yet it is in vitio peccati;—it is castigante, albeit it be not vindicante,—albeit it be not for revenge, yet it is a chastening us because of sin. And so if we will first ascend to God, and see that in justice he has afflicted us, and then descend to ourselves, and see the cause to be our sins, then we will be forced to acknowledge that it is only of the free grace of God that we must be delivered.
Secondly, “Be gracious, be gracions unto us.” Who is this who cries to the Lord, “Be gracious, be gracious unto us?” It is the kirk and the people of God. Was not the Lord gracious to them before? for was it not of his grace and mercy that he made them to be his people and kirk? and, indeed, properly he can be said to be gracious to none but to them; and yet, for all that, they cry to him, “Be gracious.” Indeed, the estate of the kirk is never such but she has need to cry for more grace; and therefore albeit either the kirk or thou thyself in particular has been graced of God, yet ye must still pray, “Be gracious.” Albeit thou cannot count the number of the graces that God has bestowed on thee, yet thou must beseech him to multiply them more. Beloved, there may be three periods of time for seeking of grace distinguished in the life of a Christian. First, when we are first turned to God out of the estate of nature. The second is, that interval of time that is betwixt our conversion and our glorification. And the third is, when we get glory. All acknowledge, even the Papists themselves, that it is only of the free grace of God that our first conversion is wrought; but they say that it is partly of justice that we get grace after that, and that we are holden on, and that God gives one thing after another, and that we get glory in the end. But the apostle to the Romans2 says, “We stand by grace;” and it is only of free grace that we get glory, as ye will see it, 2 Timothy 1:16. Paul there praying for Onesiphorus says, “The Lord grant he may find mercy of the Lord in that day,” which is the day of judgment. And so it is of grace that we are first converted out of nature to be the children of God; it is of grace that the Lord prosecutes and holds us on into that course; and it is of free grace also that we receive glory at the end of it. And therefore we must every day be crying to the Lord to forgive us our sins, because we are daily committing sin; and we must be daily praying to the Lord, “Give us this: day our daily bread.” For albeit we had as much beside us as we think would entertain us, yet all these things will do no good, if God bless them not; and therefore we must pray to him, that as of his grace he has provided them for us, so he would also give the staff of bread; for if he take away the staft of bread, we may eat much, but it will do us no good. And so, albeit the Lord have once assured us of the forgiveness of our sins, yet we must still pray, “Forgive us our sins.”
Thirdly, Observe here, that it seems the kirk thinks much of this. “Be gracious, be gracious.” And, indeed, these who know it best, they will be most earnest for it. It is strange that we mistake matters so far that we should pray for. The Lord, he has so disposed of the petitions of the Lord’s prayer, that they may teach us what we should insist most upon. There be three of them for the honour of God; two for our souls, and only one for our bodies and our natural life. Now examine yourselves by this, and see if ye have prayed to God thus. If ye have been praying for your daily bread, that is, for the thmgs of this life; ye have insisted upon these,—sought a good crop, good and seasonable weather, etc.; ay, but how many petitions have ye sought for your souls? Either few or none; and it is to be doubted if ever some of you has sought a petition for the honour of God. And yet where ye should propone one petition for your body, there should be two for your soul, and three for the honour of God. So here he doubles his petition to God; earnestly and fervently he propones it. And this is done because of the excellency of the grace of God. If wekent the excellency of this grace of God, there is nothing we would be so earnest for as for it; for it is from this grace of God that we get these great things which the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, nor has it ever entered in the heart of man to consider of them; and it is from this grace of God that we receive glory, which is the crown of grace. The natural man receives not the things that are of God: his eye sees them not, nor his heart understands them not. There is many who speaks of grace and mercy, who knows little what it means. It’s true, indeed, the spiritual man knows them not perfectly, but only in part here; but the natural man knows not what the Lord has prepared to bestow upon his children here, let be (not to speak of) to know what glory he will give them hereafter. When we pray for grace, we pray for very great things. Many will pray, God give me grace to do this, or for that, but knows not what it means; but it is very great. 1. It is to be in the favour of God: for then ye pray that God may incline his heart to you, to love you. 2. When ye pray for grace, and does it aright, it contains all the other effects that comes from that;—that God would furnish you all things, both for this life and for the life to come, that the Lord would be a sun to thee, even to thee as the sun is to the earth: and there is no one thing more profitable to the earth than the sun is, for it gives to many, but it receives nothing of any again. And, indeed, if the sun did this of itself, it would be of grace; but it is nothing else but a servant, and so it is the Lord who does it. And the other grace is, that he would be a shield to thee, to deliver thee from all ill; and so the Lord sends all good things to his own; and he sends them afflictions, because he sees it to be good for them. And he withholds all ill things from them; and therefore he withholds from some health, wealth, peace, etc., in the world, because he knows they would be ill for them 3. This is grace also, when he manifests it to thy soul that he loves tnee and shows thee what store of good things he has prepared for thee, and persuades thee that thy name is written in the book of life, when thou finds grace into thy soul, where there was nature before, faith where there was unbelief. For albeit thou have grace, and have the effects of it, what comfort can it be to thee, if it be not made sensible to thee? for it is not so much the having of good things, as the sense of having them, that breeds comfort to us. When the Lord speaks kindly, and manifests himself to thee, this is it which makes peace, joy, and comfort in thy soul. If we knew how great this grace of God were, O but we would be earnest for it! Have what we can have, houses, lands, etc., if we want the grace of God, they are not tokens to us of the love of God, and so we are but miserable. And therefore we should count this. to be our happiness, when God is gracious and merciful to us.
Fourthly, Observe here, it may be that the prophet is now seeking a temporal benefit from God, as deliverance of the kirk from the mocking and trouble, and yet he calls it the grace and mercy of God. We may learn here that the greatest things that the worldly and natural man gets from God, they are not from grace, nor are they tokens of grace to him; but the least thing that the kirk or a Christian soul gets, they get it from God because he is gracious to them. It is good, therefore, for us to learn to distinguish and put a difference between these things which God gives to the world, and which he bestows upon his children. Both may receive health, wealth, peace, etc., and yet the one be bestowed in grace but the other in anger; and both of them may be in affliction, but the godly’s out of great love, and the wicked’s nothing else but a begun vengeance to them here, to be perfyted hereafter. And so there is a difference in both kinds; the Lord, he is good in all things to his own, whether in prosperity or adversity, in wealth or poverty, etc.; but whatever he sends to the wicked, he sends it to them to further their destruction. And therefore learn to put a difference between these things that comes from that common fountain of God’s goodness to all, and what comes from that living well-spring of his loving kindness to his own; how the Lord may bestow many temporal things upon the wicked, and yet not bestow them out of grace nor favour, and how he will bestow spiritual things upon his kirk and children, and then albeit he withhold the temporal things, they will be content. And albeit the children of God have all these temporal things, they count nothing of them if they find them not to come from the grace of God, and they have not that with them. And when the world or wicked receives any things from God, they are not thankful for them, but for the fashion; they will say, God be thanked, but he sees not God to be the bestower of them; but for the child of God, he rests not whill (till) he be at God as the fountain of all good things, and still ascends by these things that he gets till he be led to the fountain from whence they spring, even the goodness of God. This he acknowledges in the least thing that he gets; and when he gets greatest affluence of worldly. things, he acknowledges that there is no worthiness at all in him, but that God does all o him of his free grace and love.
Now he repeats this petition, ye see, twice. Sometimes prayers, they are long in Scripture, sometimes they are short; sometimes a petition is proponed but once, sometimes it is doubled. Now, shall we condemn these long prayers more than the short, as the Pharisees' were? or shall we call that doubling of petitions babbling, which our Saviour condemns? No, for this is done from affection; and the affection being stirred up to it, it cannot be babbling. Albeit thou should say ten times in prayer, “Be gracious, be merciful to me,” if it be from a sense of thy own need, and from an earnest desire of mercy and grace, then it is good and acceptable to God. But if thou do only say this to make thy prayer long, and say it without sense, then it is nothing else but an idle repetition, which the Lord condemns in his word, and profane babbling. And therefore it cannot be a safe way of prayer to set down a set form of prayer with many repetitions into it, as “God be merciful to us,” “Christ be merciful to us,” etc., for we must only say these things as our heart directs us; for if our heart direct us not to it, and we be not stirred up by the Spirit to it, then it is nothing else but profane babbling and idle repetition. It is not idle, indeed, what the Spirit of God directs us and stirs us up to do, but what is done without the Spirit, it serves for no use but for sin. Sometimes we will pray longer nor the Spirit directs us to pray, and sometimes we will end before the Spirit end; but we should evermore consider what it is that the Spirit furnishes to us, and say all that, but say no more;—close not before the Spirit close, and when the Spirit ceases, close thou also. I say not, neither, that we must do this so strictly in publick prayer—to say no more than the Spirit immediately directs us; for in publick we must pray for others as well as for ourselves; and therefore we cannot be S0 strict to say no more than the Spirit immediately bids us; but this must be done in private. We must have the Spirit to go before us in our prayers, for we know not what to pray for, nor how to pray, and therefore we must have the Spirit to direct us.
II. Now what is the reason that moves them to put up this prayer to God? Because the kirk is punished with the insolency of her enemies. And he describes the enemies of the kirk by their ease, and by their pride; and he describes their pride by their contempt, and by their mocking of the people of God. And then God’s people, they are filled exceedingly with their pride and with their contempt.
They are “at ease,” and they are “proud.” At ease it may be in Sion, albeit it be said, “Woe to them that are at ease in Sion;” and it may be that they are at ease without the kirk, and the kirk is under their scorn and contempt, and is filled with it. Here we may see the ordinary estate of the godly, and of the ungodly, in the world. The godly, they are afllicted in the world, and therefore it is that they cry to God that he would be gracious to them; their affliction makes them to cry to God: but for the wicked, they are at ease in the world, and so are proud and insolent. The posterity of Jacob and Esau, they are vive (lively) examples of this. The posterity of Jacob and himself, they are under grievous and sore affliction in Egypt; but for the children of Esau, who were the Edomites, theyare flourishing andabounding in wealth. When the people of God were in distress in the wilderness, and had nothing but, as they say, from hand to mouth, getting their food rained down to them from heaven, and their water coming out of the rocks, being all the time fed and clad with miracles, and so in respect of the world they were puir, (albeit it be true, indeed, when they were puirest in the world, yet they were still rich enough in God, for they wanted nothing), all this time the Amorites, the Perizzites, etc., and the people who were dwelling in Canaan, they were enjoying the fruit of that land which was promised to the people of God as a special blessing to them. Ye may think this to be an unequal dispensation in God, that it should be so. That rich man in the gospel, he was a very wicked man, but Lazarus, he was a very good man and yet he who was the wicked man, he fares delicately every day, and had all things as his heart could wish, for outward things; but for Lazarus, albeit he was a good man, for outward things he was in as miserable a case as could be. This may seem to be unequal dealing, and yet it is the Lord’s own dealing and dispensation. The cause why this is, the natural man sees it not, for he knows not what a providence of God means, but the child of God sees this same to be an undeniable document (proof) of the providence of God, both towards his own children, and towards the wicked in the world. Marvel not then albeit ye have seen it so, and albeit ye should see it so again; and say not with David, Psalm 73:13, “It is in vain for me to cleanse my heart, and to wash my hands in innocency.” But if ye will compare the estate of the one with the estate of the other, ye will see that there is a great difference between them. Or (ere) it be long, indeed, the difference shall be exceeding great in the world to come; if ye will compare their present joy with that which the child of God shall have eternally, or if ye will compare the present afllictions of the godly with the everlasting torments of the wicked in hell, ye will see the difference to be exceeding great. And even in their present estate here, there is a great difference. The child of God would not change his present estate here, with the peaceable conscience that he has, with the greatest monarchs in the world and a sleeping conscience, or a conscience evermore crying to them night and day: I will assure you he would not cois (exchange) the one with the other. And the martyrs, when they were going to the fire to be brunt, would not have changed their present condition with their adversars and the persecutors who were going to burn them. Therefore think not this misery, to be in trouble in the world, nor count not the wicked happy, because they are in prosperity.
Now this their ease, it makes them proud: for these two join themselves together, and except God give a great measure of grace, ye will hardly find them to be separate. When the Lord gives anything in the world to men whereby they may live at ease, they are ordinarily proud with it: and this is the reason why the Lord holds many of the godly at such hard pinches; because if they gat their will of the world, they would become proud of it. Hagar, who was but a poor handmaid and a bondservant, because she had conceived a child, and her mistress was barren, she rises up against her mistress Sarah, to contemn her. And Moses, who was a wise man himself, and directed by a wise master, Deuteronomy 8, he insists largely upon this, that when the people were entered into the land of Canaan, and were possessed there, that they should not begin to say, It was their own power and might that conqueished (acquired) that to them, and so wax proud. As if he said, If ye take not good heed to yourselves, these things which should be the ground of your thankfulness to God, they will be motives to stir up pride into you, and so make you to forget God. And we may see the examples of this daily in kings and great ones in the world, who receive manyest (most) favours from God: they misken (disregard) God, as if there were not a God above them, as Pharaoh says, Who is the Lord, that I should fear him? and Nebuchadnezzar, and Haman, etc. And even the servants of God, they have ofttimes fallen in their prosperity. It is strange that David, who had so many great gifts of body, mind, means, honour, etc., and he had spiritual gifts also, which are all the foundation of this Babel of pride, that he should have been so humble, that he was as a weaned child, as a worm and not a man, etc.,—he was always exceeding humble, except when through his passion he forgot himself. The reason of it was this, because he was frequent in spiritual exercises, in-fasting, in prayer, reading and hearing God’s word, meditating on it, etc., and so still learning to know God more. And by these he knew that, albeit he was eminent above all others, yet he was beneath God, for he was above David and all others; and therefore was it that he was humble. And then he had the knowledge and conscience of that sinning sin ot original corruption, as he confesses, Psalm 51:4-5, and of actual transgressions. These pulled him down continually, that he durst not be proud, and many times kept him from falling; for if we forgot our former sins, it is just with God that he should let us fall in sin for time to come. Thirdly, he knew his own frailty, that man was but a vain and foolish thing. These thoughts made him to walk humbly before God, and toward others with whom he had to do. As it is said, Micah 6:8 “What is there more required of thee, O man, but to walk humbly before thy God?” and Psalm 73:5-6 there is a joining of these two: “Because the wicked are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued as other men; therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain.” Certainly, if we be at ease in the world, and have not the grace of God, we will not miss to forget God. And therefore it is good for us, when God gives us anything in the world, whether it be health or wealth, whether it be natural or spiritual, aye speir (ask) at God, Wherein shall I keep it? and the Lord will answer, It must be kept in humility. And therefore desire it of the Lord, that as he increases these things to thee, so he would enlarge the cabinet of humility also, that it may be kept there. If thy rent increase, say, Lord, give me humility also to keep it in. If the Lord give thee ease, health, wealth, honour in the world, if so be that thou be the child of God, thou will pray to him to teach thee lessons, whereby thou may be more humble than before.
Now, from their pride there did arise contempt, as from their ease there did arise pride. So from pride there arises contempt and lightlying (undervaluing) of others; for where pride is, it shows itself thus in contempt of all others: and there is no sin will kyth itself so much outwardly as pride, except drunkenness; and indeed it is a sort of drunkenness. And as these who has drunken small drink or water all their days, give them but one drink of wine, it will make them giddy, that they will think all goes about with them; even so these who are basely born, and has been meanly brought up all their time, if they be exalted to any high place in the world, they grow incontinent drunken with pride; and when they are drunken, they cannot hide it, but they must vent it either one way or other. And this sort of drunkenness, it shews itself in a very ill fashion. For men, when they are drunken with strong drink, they will be exceeding kind to other men, (for the most part it is so); but when men are thus drunken with pride, it kyths (shows) itself in contempt of all others who are about them, and even in contempt and mocking of these whom they should not have mocked, and of these who deserves least to be mocked of any.3
And so we may see that the wicked are at ease, and so become proud; and aye the prouder they be, the godly are the more subject to their contempt. The wicked, they contemn the godly in their hearts, and scorns them in their gestures and countenances, and in their words and actions. And ye may not think that the wicked contemn the godly thus out of dissimulation,—that they think not as they say; but they mock, scorn, and contemns them out of the pride of their heart: for they think that it is nothing else but melancholy, and out of singularity, that they do as they do. And to this contempt and scorning it seems that the Apostle Peter has relation, when he says, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” What is that? Even to have praise in the mouth, to have honour in action, and glory in estimation and opinion. That is, when thou was in the world, then the wicked in the world did dispraise thee with their mouths, in their speeches and actions they [did] disgrace and dishonour thee, and in their opinion they thought thee no better worthy: now God shall give thee a recompense for all these—thou shall be found at that great day to praise, honour, and glory.
Now when we find it to be thus, what course shall we take? Shall we, when they mock us in their speech, do so to them again? when they disgrace us, shall we strive to disgrace them again? and shall we think as little of them as they can do of us? No, this is not the course that the children of God takes; but still they go fordward in obedience of the commandment of God, let the wicked or the worldling say, or do, or think what they will: and they take all their contemnings, and mockings, and disgracings, and lays them out a-braidband4 before God, as Rabshakeh’s libels, and sets them all down in a bill before him, and says, Lord, see what I sufter for thy sake, and for doing thy will. And indeed, it is a strange thing, and yet it has evermore been found true, when men are at ease in the world, and through their ease has become proud, and then contemns and scorns and disgraces the godly; and yet when they do so, it is not for anything in them that deserves contempt or disgrace, but even for that wherefore they should be highly esteemed. For who is there who is contemned and scorned by the world, but they deserve it all? There is none of the children of God, while they are here, who are so renewed from sin, but they deserve contempt and scorn. But wicked men in the world, they are that unhappy that they contemn, scorn, and despise them, not for these things that are il into them—they have no will to do that, because it is like to themselves; but the reason why they contemn and scorn them is, because they love religion, loves a good cause, and joins themselves to further it, or loves the course of sanctification; therefore they are scorned by them. And so the godly, they acknowledge this to God, that justly they might be brought to shame and disgrace for their sins; but they say, “For thy sake are we killed all the day long:” and this is a great comfort to them. But when the wicked use this often, albeit the godly bear it patiently for a while, yet when the burden of their contempt is made sensible to them, then they go to God, and represents their necessities before him, and tells him, “We are exceedingly filled with reproach and contempt.” “There is a twofold fulness of scorning and contempt.” 1. When the wicked who contemn the children of God are full of contempt, when they begin to contemn religion itself, to call a Reformation a Deformation, and the people of God puritans, and such other names as they think fittest. And it was come to this height with these who mocked God’s people in this land, and they had so insisted in their mocking, whill (till) some of the people of God were begun to take with (admit) it: and, indeed, the enemies here had gone farder on in their pride and contempt than I can tell, so that they were full 2. The second fulness is, when the people of God are full of this contempt. I cannot say that people’s souls were so filled with it as the enemies were,— it was not so sensible to the most part, nor were they so grieved for it as they ought. It was our profession, indeed, that we were grieved for these things, but it was not so sensible to us as our estate was miserable. Yet the Lord, he has been merciful to us, and has begun to work a reformation. Always (nevertheless) this is sure, when the enemies of the kirk are filled with contempt, and thou art filled with it also, and comes to God and cries for help, then the cry is loud, and he hears from heaven, and comes down,— sees if it be according to thy cry; and when he sees that it is according to that cry, then he begins and works a reformation into a land. which the Lord grant unto us, through Jesus Christ. To whom, etc.