1. They are blessings. In benedicti­onibus. The word hath a peculiar sig­nification when it referres to God. In its own strictness, it imports no more than to praise, or wish, or speak well. Mens blessings are with the tongue only. But Dei bene dicere est bene facere, sayes A Lapide. Comm. in Deut. p. 1012. Gods blessings come from his heart by his hand: for him to speak, is to give, and make good a blessing.

Blessings, in God's sense, denote, Rea­lity, Plenty.

1. Lorinus in Loc. Reality. They are blessings indeed. Non rem fucatam donat. He gives not gaudy nothings. They are not appariti­ons, Mat. 4.9. such as Satan profered our Saviour. They are not umbrages, but substances: not seeming, but sure mercies. We may say, Num. 22.6. as Balak to Balaam, I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed; and add what Isaac said of his son Jacob, Yea, and he shall be blessed. Gen. 27.33. Such are the Kings blessings in the Text, of the surer sort, blessings in truth, and in being. All are not blessings that seem so. Men may be full of enjoyments, and yet em­pty [Page 9]of blessings. Mal. 2.2. Hos. 13.11 God can even curse blessings. Dedi Regem in furore: I gave them a King in my wrath. I, and a Parliament in his wrath. And an Army in his wrath. And we may have peace in wrath, and plenty in wrath, and health, and life, and all in wrath, and to do us hurt. Judas his money was no blessing. Dives his pomp and delicacies was no blessing. Achitophel's wisdom was no blessing. Saul's Kingdom was no blessing. But even the troubles, the sufferings, the dangers of the King, shall become blessings to him; Prov. 1.32 whil'st the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. Reality; that first.

2. Lorinus in Loc. A Lap. Com. in Num. p. 788. Gen. 27.28. Plenty. God's blessings make God's plenty (as we use to speak) Be­nedictio copiosam bonorum largitionem sig­nificat. Blessings speak abundance, all things in one word: The fatness of the Earth, and the dew of Heaven. The treasures of both worlds are laid up in it. When God said, Gen. 17.16. I will bless Sa­rah, it immediately follows, she shall be a Mother of Nations, Kings of people shall be of her. Blessings is a word with a womb, the fruit of it stocks the world.

Let us ascend the Heavens, and take such a scantling of them, as mortality is capable of: and we shall find Blessings to be the sole ornament, and furniture of those Mansions of peace and immortali­ty. The store of the New Hierusalem is all blessings: Rev. 22.1, 2. with this water runs that pure river, clear as Chrystal, pro­ceeding out of the Throne of God; this is the fruit of the tree of life. There's no need of Sun, or Moon, or Light, or Temple, for Blessing is all these. There, the place is Blessings: the company Bles­sings: the employment Blessings. The glorious Inhabitants thereof hear no o­ther voice, see no other vision, speak no other language, but, Blessing, honor, glory, Ch. 5.13. and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Let us look below, and what takes up these sublunary regions, but a croud of blessings as thick as they can stand, ran­ged into orders, and succession, to serve man, and speak the glory of the great Creator? Psal. 104.24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works? in wisdom hast thou made them all; the Earth is full of thy riches

Blessings speak plenty. That's a se­cond. But that's not all.

There are some particular blessings of the King, which the people desire here to commemorate, and make recogniti­on of with thankfulness. Among many, these three.

Victory. Vivacity. Safety.

1. Victory. Many victories; for Da­vid entered the Camp betimes, 1 Sam. 17.33. was A man of warre from his youth; baffled, and slew him that was called so. He had Victricem dextram, a conquering hand; which did so inrich his repute, and heighten his name, that he became the very Mirth and Musick of Israel; The women dancing and singing, and ecchoing one to another, Ch. 18.7. Saul bath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. Particularly the Victory which this, and the foregoing Psalm re­ferre to, and which is the blessing cele­brated: was that of David's Armies a­gainst the forces of the children of Am­mon, with the Auxiliaries of Syria un­der the command of their Captain Ge­neral Shobach. Of which you have a full account, 2 Sam. 10. and of which more afterwards.

2. Vivacity. Length of dayes. Of which, Vers. 4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of dayes for ever and ever. Some victo­ries cost dear, are bought with the life of a King, or General, and are little less than the undoing of the Conquerors, they lose by winning. God sometimes takes his people from the possession of blessings, even when they are entring up­on them. He did so with his servant Moses, whom he cut off in the very con­fines of Canaan, Deut. 34.4 I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. He did so with the il­lustrious, hopeful, and most lamented, the late Duke of GLOCESTER, that immortal blossome, not to be mentioned without a preface of sadness: who saw, but enjoyed little of the happiness, of his royal Brothers, His most excellent Majesties Restauration. But the King's blessings are lengthened with his life. He hath victory, and life to use and im­prove it. 1 King. 3.11. God hath given him the life of his enemies, and his own life too. Which are two of the four most eligible blessings, so accounted by God himself, who best knows the worth of his own [Page 13]blessings, in his comprobation of Solo­mons choice, 1 Kings 3.11. Life is that blessing in Wisdom's right-hand, which taketh place of riches and honor. It is the greatest of earthly blessings. Fa­cito debilem pede, facito debilem manu, vita dum superest benè est. Men will hold it upon hard terms, they are loth to part with it even when the dayes are come, they have no pleasure in them. Eccl. 12.1. All look on it as their All, Kings most of all. They are most commonly at a heighth of outward glory, full of bles­sings: and they desire nothing so much as life to enjoy them. We read of but one life lengthened in Scripture; and it was a Kings. 2 King. 20 6. Dan. 2.4. Ch. 3.9. And the Caldeans look­ed on it as the best piece of Courtship that they could use to Nebuchadnezzar, O King, live for ever! There is no­thing so much a blessing to a King on this side the Kingdom of Heaven, as his life.

And have not we cause to remember, to remember with eternal thankfulness, how God gave our most Dread Soveraign his life, gave it him at Worcester, even then when a thousand deaths look'd him in the face to take it away? When the [Page 14] proud waters were ready to go over his soul. Psal. 124.5. When the insulting enemy said, God hath forsaken him: Psal. 71.11. persecute him, take him, for there is none to deliver him; even then did his mighty hand, and stretched-out arm, take Rebellion rampant by the throat, Psal. 22.20. and delivered his soul from the sword: his darling (his only one, according to the Hebrew) from the power of the dog. Psal. 113 8. That he might set him with Princes: even with the Prin­ces of his people. Isa. 55.3. That he might give him those sure mercies of David. His Throne shall be as the Sun before me. Psal. 89.36, 37. It shall be established for ever as the Moon: and as a faithful witness in Hea­ven. But of that more anon. Vivacity, that's the second of those blessings the people here own with thankfulness for their King.

3. Safety. Ver. 5. His glory is great in thy salvation. And in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice, Ver. 1. God chargeth his providence in a more pecu­liar manner with Kings. Touch not mine Anointed. It is a great blessing, to have our blessings secured to us. Fear of lo­sing, lessens a blessing. How low ran the rate of earthly blessings among us, [Page 15]during the late times of trouble; when men knew not how to secure them from the hands of Rapine, nor free them from those artificial and finer kinds of violence which were in use among us? It is the blessing of our blessings when they are made safe to us: And we are then happy, when we are fortified by the strength of God, and made impreg­nable by the power of the most high. There's no security like Omnipotency, and those Walls must needs be inexpug­nable which are made up of his Salvati­on. That's the King's condition here, Lord, thou hast sospitated his person, and established his Throne, and secured his Kingdom. Psal. 5 11, 12. His glory is great in thy salvation. And therefore, Let all those that put their trust in thee, rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou de­fendest them: let them also that love thy name, be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous, with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

Be that enough for the first expressi­on, which here heightens the mercy of the Kings Conservation, In benedictioni­bus. With blessings.

2. Those blessings are of goodness. The blessings of goodness. In benedictionibus dulcedinis, the vulgar Latin renders it. With the blessings of sweetness and de­light. Blessings that will gratifie the desires of his soul, and go down with a relish. Psal. 34.8. He shall taste and see how good the Lord is. He shall not only have blessings of defence, but delight: mer­cies, not only for necessity, but compla­cency. God shall gild his deliverance with the light of his countenance, and sweeten his enjoyments with the experi­ences of his love. Thou preventest him with the sweetest of blessings.

In benedictionibus bonitatis: in St. Hierom's words: with the blessings of goodness. And that goodness seems to have a double reference, either to the cause, or kind of blessings.

1. To the cause. Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness. That is, Thy goodness is the cause, and ground: the fountain, and foundation of all his blessings. [...], the word which the Seventy two Interpreters use in this place, speaks benignity, and blessings of good­will. Lord, all the Kings blessings are the out-lets of thy goodness. That is, [Page 17]the living and inexhaustible fountain, from whence do flow all those streams which make glad the people of God. The spring of Love is in God's own self. His bowels made the first motion of good to us, Thou art good, Psal. 119.68. and dost good. The goodness derived to us, is from a primitive goodness in himself. It is meerly and solely from his goodness, that we have any good. Alas! had we no goods, but what the purchase of our own merits brought in, Ch. 3.17. we should be but like that conceited, Phanatick Church in the Revelations, say, (it may be) We are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing: when indeed we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Tua sunt omnia, sayes King David, (when he and his Princes contributed so liberally to carry on the work of the Temple) All are thine. And the same King in the Text, hath nothing but what Goodness gives him. Goodness is Founder and Benefa­ctor and all. They are the blessings of goodness so as to their cause.

2. Of goodness, so as to their kind. In benedictionibus bonis: after the Cal­dee. With good blessings. Not as if [Page 18]any blessings were other than good: but because some blessings are better than o­ther. God hath choice of blessings. Some are of the greater, and some of the lesser print. Now the King's bles­sings are like himself, of the better sort. Achsah's portion: Judg. 1.15 Irriguum superius, & inferius. The upper springs, as well as the nether springs. Gen. 44.12. Joseph's Brethren may have every man his money in his Sack: but the Cup is found with Benja­min.

The King shall not be put off with coarse and common mercies: but he shall have, Adipem frumenti, the fat­test, or finest of the wheat; and shall be satisfied with the very honey out of the rock of mercy. Ps. 81.16. Eum egregiis affeci­sti beneficiis, is the apposite, and ex­pressive rendring of Castellio. Thou hast bestowed most eminent favours on him. D. H. Par. in Loc. Musc. in Loc. Whom the incomparable Doctor Hamond, mentions and follows, para­phrasing it, All sorts of the most valu­able mercies. In benedictionibus opti­mis, sayes another. With the chief and choycest blessings. Such as are mentioned, Ver. 6. Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. [Page 19]And that certainly is the best of bles­sings, the one thing needful, the life of all the rest. For, as if the Sun were a­way, it would be night for all the stars: So, if the face of God do not shine up­on us, all the glimmerings, and scintil­lations of creatures, cannot yield us the least spark of true comfort.

That I may leave this then: Let me bespeak you in St. Paul's language. [...]. 1 Cor. 12.31. Having such choice of blessings, covet earnestly the best gifts. Think it not enough to have a portion in this life. Take not up with the Blanks of the world, when the prize of spiritual blessings, and the riches of grace are set before you. Stoop not so low as earth; remember your souls came from Heaven. It is a bassle put upon those immortal substances, to take up in any thing less than Divine. You are the best of sublunary Beings, and therefore 'bate nothing of super­celestial blessings. Never bless your selves in any but the blessings of goodness.

And that I may both speak and speed; let me commend their good­ness to you under three valuable conside­rations.

1. They stay the soul: giving it the fill, and making up all the desires of it. How craving doth every thing else leave the soul, but these blessings of goodness? Job saith of gold and silver, Job 3.15. that Prin­ces filled their houses with it: but who can say they fill'd their hearts There is an insufficiency and scantness in all these poor and pitiful goods of the lower world. Take them in their greatest ex­tents and latitudes, they are incommen­surate, and disproportion'd to a capaci­ous, and comprehensive soul. Even where they are most, and in greatest a­bundance, Corn. à Lap. Com. in Isa. 55. they leave many cantons, and corners unfilled. Ludibrium sunt oculo­rum, non pabulum animi. They fool the eyes, but fill not the heart. They make a great shew, but give little satis­faction. No, satisfaction cometh from another quarter. O satisfie us early with thy mercy! Psal. 90.14. There is a satisfying sweet­ness that goes along with divine good­ness, and with that alone. For he satis­fieth the longing soul, Psal. 107.9. and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. These bles­sings of goodness stay the soul's appetite and longing. That's the first.

2. They stay with the soul. They [Page 21]ha' some last in them, they are durable blessings. They'll stand when the stars shall fall; and when the Heavens shall shrink up like a scroll, they will hold out measure with eternity. It abates the worth of all the good things of this life: that they are making haste into nothing, and shall shortly disappear. Riches (sayes he that had so much of them that he was able to buy out all the Kings of his time) make themselves wings, Prov. 23.5. and stie away as an Eagle towards Heaven. Whilst we are making them fast with wax, with bills, and bonds: and think to make them sure with bolts and barres, and locks and chests; even then are they making wings to slie away. Friends the nearest of earthly comforts, that will stick by us to the last; even they meet with their non ultra, and when affecti­on hath commanded them to their last Office, and led them to the grave-side to drop a tear over our dust; then hither shalt thou go, and no further. But the blessings of goodness, go through the very valley of the shadow of death, Psal. 23.4. sur­vive our funerals, step over our graves, and meet us in our glory. They at­tend us in this life. Psal. 23.6. Surely goodness and [Page 22]mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life. And they expect us in the life to come. Psal. 31.19. O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee! They keep us company in both worlds. Thus the blessings of goodness stay with the soul, which is the second piece of their goodness.

3. They stall not the soul. The sweetness of grace dulls not the appetite after more; and it is impossible the weight of glory should be a burden. These blessings of goodness are like Man­na to the gatherers of it. Exod. 16.18. He that ga­thered much, had nothing over. They both fill, and fit the cravings of the soul, and they satiate without a surfet. All our other goods (as we call them) may sometime, or other, be evil to us. There may be, there have been cases, in which men have had too much, of what we are apt to think we can never have enough. Ch. 1.5. The Mariners, in Jonah, cast their Wares over-board. They are fraught with their own fears, and lost if they cast not away their gains. Is there any thing of more value? Light. A great comfort. A beam of the invisi­ble brightness. The first-born of the [Page 23]Creation of God. Yet Job hath a quarrel to it, Ch. 3.20. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery? Is there any thing yet dearer? Life. The breath of the Creator, and being of creatures. And yet Rebecca finds her self aggrieved with it, I am weary of my life, Gen 27.46. because of the daughters of Heth. Thus we nau­seate the sweetest of earthly blessings, and they sour in the very enjoyment, like Tamar in the arms of Amnon. But were these blessings of goodness ever out of date? were they ever impaired by a­ny time of evil? was ever condition so sad, as to work them out of credit? It is impossible to put a case in which they are not good for us, and the worse we, the better they are, and the more desirable. When it is not in the united strength, and combined power of crea­tures to help us, or do us good: then comes in their Qu, then we look at them as most besteading. When we are be­set with evils, as destitute as our Psal­mist, I looked on my right-hand, Psal. 142.4. and beheld, but there was no man that would know me, refuge failed me: no man ca­red for my soul; then, then especially do we seek out and sue for them as most [Page 24]seasonable. Then, why is not the light of God's countenance given to him that is in misery? Then, I am weary of my life for want of the face of God; if I have not his favour, what good shall my life do me? Earthly blessings are com­monly either so little they keep us in want, or so much they make us nauseat: but to be so filled, that we neither lack nor loath, is the sole and singular effect of the blessings of goodness; and nothing can do it, but what's of kin to Heaven. They complete, but clogg not: they stay, but stall not the desires of the soul. That's the third commendation of their goodness.

And be that enough for the second expression, heightening the mercy of the King's Conservation; His blessings are of the best. In benedictionibus. Dul­cedinis. Bonis. Optimis. With the bles­sings of goodness.

The third follows. That goodness is preventing: Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness.

And here a little variety in reading makes both pleasure, and plenty of ob­servation.

Quoniam praevenisti. So the vul­gar [Page 25]Latin. Forasmuch as thou hast pre­vented him.

Quin praevenis, Am [...]sius in loc. I meet with in some Expositors. For thou dost prevent.

Quinetiam praevenies. Which our other Translation seems to follow. Yea, moreover, thou shalt prevent him.

Thou hast prevented. Psal. 44 7. For thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

Thou dost prevent. Psal. 46.1. For God is our refuge and strength: a very present help in trouble.

Thou shalt prevent. Psal. 48.14. For this God is our God for ever and ever, he will be our guide even unto death. So that we may conjugate the King's deliverance through the several Tenses of provi­dence, (as Saint Paul sometimes did his) Who delivered him from so great a death, 2 Cor. 1.10. and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver him.

And, these Tenses may teach us, (what we are not over-apt to learn) that the times of mercy are in God's own power, and at his sole appointing, and he will not be prescribed by us. We thought long for deliverance, groan­ing [Page 26](it's well if some did not murmure) under our pressures: the arbitrary and lawless impositions of Pharaoh, and his worse than Egyptian Taskmasters, upon our Persons, Estates, and (which cut deepest) our Consciences also; and being impatient of delayes, would needs be setting God a time, and limiting the holy one of Israel, to wayes and means for our rescue; but God, who best knows to time his own mercies, gave check to our presumptions, and hath taught us the Religious manners of holy waiting, and to know that all our times are in his hand, Psa. 31.15. and of his set­ting, and when that is come, he will ap­pear, Psal. 102.13. and not before. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea the set time is come. One time or other, the King shall be prevented with the blessings of goodness. Here's Nullum Tempus occurrit Regi; either, thou hast, thou dost, or thou shalt prevent him with the blessings of good­ness.

Preventest. But how, and what is that? To prevent, is in strictness of signification, to come before. God is ever before-hand in mercies, with the [Page 27] King, with his people. Com. in Ps. o. 282. l. 6. Nemo est quem non praeveniat gratia, quia prior diligit, eligit, vocat, proeoccupat Deus, sayes Lo­rinus. There is none whom grace pre­venteth not, because God is first in lo­ving, chusing, calling, and possessing of his creatures. Rom. 11.35. Who hath first given to him (sayes St. Paul, putting a questi­on which defies all answers) and it shall be recompenced to him again? And St. Augustine's blood's up against all that derogate from preventing goodness. Coa. de. [...] ­i [...]t. Pela [...] c 6. A­vertat Deus hanc dementiam, ut in do­nis ejus nos priores faciamus, posterio­rem ipsum. God keep us all from that madness of making our selves first, and God to come after, in any gift which we receive at his hands. Nay, it were well if we would come after in any rea­sonable distance. How hath God run us out of distance with mercy? How hath he gone farre enough before them in goodness, that never yet took one step to follow him in thankfulness? Hath he not done us good long since, and waits for the returns of it to this very day? How may the best of us be asha­med of our arrears? What a way are we behind in praises and thanksgiving [Page 28]with him who sometime delighted to way-lay our King with mercy and lo­ving-kindness, and yet preventeth him, and us in him, with the blessings of good­ness.

If you would see further into this pre­venting goodness, take the help of two particulars only.

Thou preventest him, both in his Pe­tition, and Expectation.

1. Thou preventest him in his Petiti­on. Givest him before, and more than he asks. And this seems to be the im­port of the words. In the verse before the Text, we read, Thou hast given him his hearts desire, thou hast not with­holden the request of his lips. Or, as some elegantly render it, D. H. Par. in Loc. The espousals of his lips. That is, That which he hath set his soul upon, and his heart and affections are so carried out after, as most desirable. Cant 3.11 (In which sense, Solomon's Coronation-day, is called the day of his espousals, Concessit Regi quae pitiit: il­lit etiam [...]un conu­livit quae non. p [...]tiit. Ames. in Loc. and the day of the gladness of his heart.) And now, sayes the Text, Thou hast out-done his desires, and thy goodness exceeds all possible requests. Thou dost not only give him Totum quod cupit; but Totum quod non cupit, [Page 29](as St. Augustine speaking of the joyes of Heaven) All that he desires, but all that he does not desire. He cannot ask, what thou canst, and dost give. Thy favours come so thick upon him, they leave no room for prayer. Thou antici­patest his very requests in their conce­ptions. Thy mercies meet him, meet him more than half-way: nay, they are upon him before his prayer can set out. Thus thou preventest him with the bles­sings of goodness. This may English that admiring Eulogie of the Father, Sr. Bern. who knew not how to speak good e­nough of the name of that God, Qui non petentibus solùm, sed impaenitenti­bus: non invocantibus sed provocantibus bonum largitur. And this runs a paralel with that promise of the Evangelical Prophet: Isa. 65.24. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and whiles they are yet speaking, I will hear. And this calls for that return of the Apostle, Unto him that is able to do exceeding a­bundantly above all that we ask or think, Eph 3.20, 211 unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Thou preventest the King in his Pe­tition, that's one.

2. Lorinus in Loc. Thou preventest him in his Ex­pectation. Et vo [...]a vincit & cogitatio­nes. He exceeds not only prayer, but thoughts. This is [...], indeed, exceeding, abundantly above all; when goodness is above both votes and hopes: and imagination it self could not reach our mercies. And certainly, if ever God prevented the thoughts and expectation of King or people, we are they. Ps. 126.1. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion: we were like them that dream; [...]. So the Seven­ty two Interpreters. With whom the vulgar Latin consents, Sicut consolati: as men comforted. We are dead men revived. Like men given for gone, and restored. As sick, desperately sick persons, strangely, unexpectedly reco­vered from the confines of death, and the grave, to a pancratick habit, and soundness of body. Which best Inter­preters conceive to be the meaning of that place. Let us look back again (for we can never look too often, and with admiration enough) on that me­morable ingagement at WORCESTER. [Page 31]There the shield of the mighty was vile­ly cast away, 2 Sam. 1.21 the shield of the King, as if he was not anointed with oyle. There innumerable evils compassed him about. There the wrath of the enemy was great; Deut. 32.27. and the adversary behaved himself strange­ly, and said, Our hand is high, behold we do prevail. The enemy said, Exod. 15.9 I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil: my lust shall be satisfied up­on him; my hand shall destroy him, I will make his remembrance to cease from among men. Deut. 3 [...].26. Lam. 4 19 His persecutors were swif­ter than the Eagles of the Heaven: they pursued him upon the Mountains, they laid wait for him in the Wilderness. And we thought nothing else, Vers. 20. Exod. 14.13. Psal. 57.2. but that The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord had been taken in their pits. But see the salvation of the Lord which he shewed to him that day. He cried unto God most high: unto God that perform­eth all things for him. And lo! be­sides, beyond, above all expectation; Vers. 2. Ps. 124.7. He sends from Heaven, and saves him from the reproach of him that would swallow him up. His soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the Fowlers: the snare is broken, and he is escaped. [Page 32]Preventing goodness secured him against circumventing wickedness; and he is a­live as at this day. Vers. 6. Blessed be the Lord: who hath not given him as a prey to their teeth. Psa. 18 46 The Lord liveth, and blessed be his rock: and let the God of his salvati­on be exalted. Add to this his constancy in Religion, from which neither (as his own royal pen gives it us) could ever move him; though he might complain as David, 1 Sam. [...]6.19. They have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go serve other Gods. And add to this his return hither in safety up­on the wings of his peoples votes, and prayers: after the government was un­hinged, and the old foundations so farre out of course, and the New Modellers so strengthened in their wickedness, as to dare to attempt the abjuration of his royal Person, Isa. 58.12. and Family: To build the old wast places: and to raise up the foun­dations of many generations: and be cal­led, The Repairer of the breach, the Re­storer of paths to dwell in. And we must needs confess, that God hath emi­nently prevented all expectations with the blessings of goodness.

Let us learn then, whether we owe, and to whom to ascribe, the peace, the plenty, the liberty, the life, the joy of this Day! even to preventing good­ness all. Had it not been for that, neither we, nor possibly this place, especially in this decorum, and lustre, had been standing here this day. This was our wings, and feathers: our rock, and refuge; our walls, and bullwarks; our shield, and buckler: our strength, and stay: our light, and our salvation: This is that Tower of David builded for an Armory, Cant. 4.4. whereon there hang a thousand Bucklers, all shields of mighty men. This is every thing to the King, and to us in him, Thou pre­ventest him with the blessings of good­ness.

That Zion's stones have been piti­ed, Ps. 102.14 and any have favoured the dust thereof: so that she did not sink down into eternal, and irrecoverable ruines.

That the beauteous Church of En­gland, scratched and torne by her own undutiful sons; is not sitting so­litary, like that Widow in the La­mentations, bemoaning her miseries, [Page 34]and begging pity of Passengers, Lam. 1.12 Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? behold and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done un­to me, wherewith the Lord hath affli­cted me in the day of his fierce an­ger!

That we are not filled with the noise of the Warrior, Isa. 9 5. and Garments rolled in blood. Ps. 144.14 That we have no leading in­to captivity, no complaining in our streets; but our eyes see Hierusalem a quiet ha­bitation, a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down.

That the plots, and conspiracies of unreasonable men, (if it be not unrea­sonable to call them men) are discovered, their purposes disappointed, and their arm broken.

That we are not filled with bitter­ness, Lam. 3 15. and made drunk with wormwood. Fed with the bread of Affliction, Isa. 30.20. and the water of Affliction, and our Teachers remo­ved into corners.

That we are not compassed with gall and travel; Lam. 3.5, 7. hedged about, and our chain made heavy.

That our necks are not under per­secution, Ch. 5.5, 8. and we labouring without rest; [Page 35]Servants ruling over us, whiles there is none to deliver us out of their hands.

In short. That we are not incom­parably wretched: as miserable, as war and wickedness: as faction, and folly: as error, and ambition: as malice, and madness: can make us, is solely from this preventing of the Text, Thou preventest him with the blessings of good­ness.

And therefore, (that I may close this) How much is it our concern, to address often, and earnestly to Heaven: to importune the God of all grace, that he will continue to prevent the King, and his liege people, with the blessings of goodness still. 1 Sam. 2.10. That his Adversaries may be broken in pieces, and that he will thunder out of Heaven upon them. That he will give strength to the King, and exalt the horn of his anointed; that so the King may yet joy in his strength, Psal 84.9 [...] and greatly rejoice in his salvation. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. The children of Edom are waiting for another day of Hierusalem: and as smooth as they look, and speak, with [Page 36] Jael's butter and milk, Judg. 4.18. and a Turn in my Lord, turn in to us, and fear not; it is to be feared, they have a nail for those temples, which God of his pre­venting goodness keep out of their hands. Let my Lord the King live, and this fear be to his enemies.

And so I shall ha' done with the first general part of the Text, The Conserva­tion of the King. Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness.

1. Upon his head. Not upon any [Page 37]one member, no nor upon any five members neither, no nor yet upon the whole body. For by the undoubted fundamental Laws of this Kingdom, neither the Peers of the Realm, nor the Commons, nor both together in Parlia­ment: nor the people collectively, or representatively, nor any other persons whatsoever, ever had, hath, or ought to have any coercive power over the persons of the Kings of this Realm. Dated J [...]. 25. 1660. As the Royal pen informs us in a late Pro­clamation, and hath enacted it also at the request of the late Parliament: that our heels may no more stand where our head should be.

Upon his head, as fittest for Vision, Pro­vision.

1. The head is fittest for Vision. Eccles 2.14. A wise man's eyes are in his head. And well had it been for us if ours had been believed to be there when time was; probably we had not seen the miseries, and dire­ful effects of the late Warres. We were so sagacious, and quick-sighted, we could see things before they were in their causes: our members would needs see more than our head, and so we ran blind-folded into confusion. The [Page 38]eyes of a people are in their King as in their head: and they that are with­out him (witness our late selves) are but like Sampson without his eyes, fit for nothing but to make the Philistines sport. Judg. 16.25. It is a sign their brains are scarce in their heads, that think their eyes would do well any where else. Upon his head for Vision.

2. Upon his head for Provision. The head is Providore, and Purveyor for the whole body. The welfare of the body depends mostly upon the Wisdom, and Council, upon the dictates and directi­ons of the head. The body supports the head by its strength, and the head supplyes the body by its providence. A Church, or State without this head, is like an Orphan, or fatherless In­fants. So that promise intimates, Erunt Reges nutricij hij. And Kings shall be thy Nursing Fathers, Isa. 49.23. and their Queens thy Nursing Mothers. Oecono­mi tui (as some render it) making the Church and Common-wealth the Family of the Prince, upon whom lies the whole care, and governance of it, to order it, and provide for it. Upon his head as fittest for provision. That's a se­cond.

Upon his head. This being [...], and [...]: both for Order, and for honor's sake. Or if you please,

Upon his head, Imports, The heighth of his place, and The weight of his em­ployment.

1. The heighth of his place. Head denotes chiefdom, and pre-eminence. The chief of their Tribes, and Fami­lies, which the Vulgar Latin all along calls, Principes; our Translation ren­ders, Heads. Princes are Heads. Mic. 3.1. Hear O Heads of Jacob, and ye Princes of the house of Israel. It may be said of Saul in his place, as well as his person, that he is, Altior universo populo ab hu­mero, & sursum. Higher by the head than all the people. Rex omnibus ma­jor, Deo solo minor: was good divini­ty in Tertullian's dayes: (though the iniquity of ours had almost dasht it out of countenance with that ridicu­lous Maxim of our new Statists, Confuted by Bodin [...]s de Repub. l. 1. cap. 8. Ma­jor singulis, minor universis.) The King is above all, and under God on­ly. He is Homo Deo secundus, in the same Father's phrase. A man second to God. Nay, be it spoken with re­verence! [Page 40]He is a God of the second sort. 1 Tim 1.17. Psal. 82.6. Deus est immortalis Rex, Rex mortalis Deus. God is an immortal King, and the King is a mortal God. This is Scripture language, and I hope we may speak it without suspicion of flattery. The height of the King's place, that's the first import of his head.

2. The weight of his employment. The trouble of Government lies most in the head. Others may have their hands, but the King commonly hath his head, full. This made Antigonus say to his son, Regnum nostrumest servitus splen­dida. A Kingdom is but a glorious servitude. A finer kind of trouble. No wonder if Saul hid himself among the stuff; 1 Sam. 10.2 [...]. and chose rather to obscure his head among the baggage, than of­fer it to the Crown of Israel: if he foresaw the burden of business, and incumbrance, which he was like to put on with it. Indeed could that Bellua multorum capitum, be tamed, and all Wood made Mercury; Would the Rout be refined, and ingenuity be found among the Rabble; Were there hopes to meet with a Nation as [Page 41]tractable, as David found his countrey­men of Judah: Whose hearts he bowed, 2 Sam. 19.14. even as the heart of one man. Then, Facile est imperium in bones: Pla [...]t. as the Comedian. Good men are easily go­verned. But the depravity of nature, the pride, avarice, and ambition of men, hath made them so mutinous, and unruly: that government is be­come a weight, big enough for head, and shoulders and all. Isa. 9.6. Therefore that Principatus super humerum, in the Pro­phet: The Government shall be upon his shoulder: does not only allude to the Scepter, and Sword, and other sym­bols of Authority, Praeto [...]ibus a [...]te ibant [...]c [...]ores cum f [...]sci­bas. Cic. carried upon the shoulder, (as the Romane Fasces were) before the Magistrate; but speaks go­vernment it self to be a weight requi­ring more than an ordinary strength to undergo it. A lap. in Isa. p. 156. Therefore the learned in the Hebrew observe, that the word Nasi, signifies both Prince, and Bearer. A Prince is Bajulus reipublicae, The supporter of his people. So Moses made account, Deut 1.12. 2 King 13.14. when he complained that, He could not bear them alone. He is Currus & Auriga, the Chariot and Horseman to his people, whom [Page 42]he carries about with him continually. He stands under such a weight, that he is the very Atlas of the lower world. In short. The cares of Princes sit clo­ser to their heads than their Crowns, and they that wear them both, never want weight. Matters of import, and weight of employment, that also is signified by the head.

And now I should ha' done with this particular: but finding the words also eminently applyed to the Lord Jesus Christ, Col. 1.18. who is head of the body, the Church; I could not pass them over, without taking notice, that it is no such impropriety, to say two heads, as our Refusers of the Oath of Supre­macy would insinuate. For Subordina­ta non pugnant. To make the King head, is not to behead Christ Christ is head, and the King is subordinate head too. Two heads, and yet no Monstrosity.

Toparchs, and under-Kings are not inconsistent with an Empire: no more are Terrestrial Kingdoms, and Head­ships [Page 43]with the paramount power of the Lord of Glory. It is ridiculous to think, more to object, that the King would invade the Prerogative Royal of Je­sus Christ, by being head of the Church in the same heighth, and latitude with him: or that Christ should not look upon it as equal robbery for any to call himself King, as head in his Church; which yet these Recusants are willing to allow. If men will be sober, they cannot but see the King layes claim to nothing which Christ hath reserved to himself as his peculiar. He stands not Rival with him for command. He pleads not Peerage with God. He sayes not, sayes not in his heart, Isa. 14.13, 14. I will ex­alt my Throne above the starres of God. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; Ero similis altissimo. I will be like the most high. That was Luci­fer's Language: and one as proud as Lucifer, takes to it, or else he hath wrong done him, Dominus Deus no­ster Papa. Our Lord God the Pope. I wish they would not give the Pope that which they deny the King. Let them but remember the stile of some aspiring Emperors, and the King's ti­tle [Page 44]will appear modest enough. Nu­men nostrum. Nostra Aeternitas. And what Dio the Historian tells us of some Marbles, and Statua's that they were inscribed with Devoti Numini. Titles, which any thing but Marbles would blush at. But a Sub-supremacy (as I may call it) to be Supreme under Christ, suits both with the reason of a man, and the sobriety of a Christi­an. There can be no just pretence to deny the King his Supremacy, whil'st in all humility he confesseth Christ's. The truth is, the cavil is so idle, and impertinent, that those which make it, give cause enough to suspect, that as they now grudge him his head, so they would not stick to take off his head, had they power and opportunity in their hands.

If wise, and good men be not mi­staken, This is that submission Saint Peter calls for, 2 Pet. 2.13 [...], To the King as Supreme. Yes, say these worst sort of Recusants again, To the King as Supreme in Temporals. I grant that the exposition of Pope In­nocent the third; P. 226 l A. Col. 1. for so Lorinus the Jesuite tells us in his Comment upon [Page 45] St. Peter. And, I wish, they be not as little friends to the Protestant Churches as he, that follow that Exposition. Sit Petrus in clave: is a phrase used at the Coronation of the Kings of this Realm. And if there be any Scholars among the dissenters, let them construe me that.

Mr. Bisield, a person looked on as no great admirer of conformity, urgeth this place to evince the King's Supremacy, and the Oath to it, as any may see that will consult his Commentary upon it. I shall only add. Let Protestants remember it was an Apostle; and the Pontificians consider it was Saint Peter that asserted the King's Supremacy: and then methinks neither should have much to say, why he should not be owned as head, upon whose head the Crown is now to be set. Which is the next particular; both the day, and the time, and the Text, lead us to it.

The Crown upon the Kings head is gold, pure gold. A Crown of pure gold on his head.

A Crown. But what Crown? there's the question; and it is not Tanti, not worth the while to resolve it. Some con­ceive the Text to intend a particular Crown. Among these, Trevetus, Vata­blus, [Page 46]and Genebrard, determine it, the Crown of the King of Ammon taken at Rabbah: of which mention is made, 2 Sam. 12.30. But whether the King's own Crown, or the Crown of Melchom, alias Molech, the celebrated Idol of that peo­ple; hath been disputed more than e­nough. Not of the King, sayes one party; because of the excessive weight of it, 2 Sam. 12.30. Sixty pound weight. Iu [...]us. a Talent of gold, a Talent being one hun­dred, twenty, and five pounds; and so the Crown was insupportable either by the head of David, or of the King of Ammon himself, though of a larger breed. ‘Nec sufferre queat majoris pondera Gem­mae. Iuven. Sat. 1.’ To evade which. Not usual­ly worne, but a Crown Estate. Willet. Ha [...]m. in 2 Sam. p. 78. It was supported by the hands of others, says Lyranus. It was con­trived to be pendent, so Abulensis, from the Hebrews. Or, which is the fancy of Bruno the Carthusian: Conslavit, & in ali­am redegit. It was melted, and reduced to a less, and more suitable sise. Nor was it the Idol's crown, sayes the other party. Both upon a religious account, because it was inconvertible to David's use; and up­on a civil score, because it was below him to wear the reversions of an Idol, who was [Page 47] Solo Deo vero minor, majorque falsis, below the true God only, Abulensis. Lyranus. Hugo Car­dinalis. Carthusia­nus. better and greater than all factitious, fictitious ones. The Learn­ed have troubled themselves more than needs to salve all these difficulties. It would be besides our business, to ingage with any of them in renewing a quarrel a­bout a Crown long since laid in the dust. There are some also (whom we shall but mention) for another Crown: 2 Sam. 1.10. the Crown of Israel, which Saul wore, and the young Amalckite took from his head, as also the bracelet from his arm, and brought them to David, and lost his life for his pains.

Whatsoever Crown it was, it was In­signe Regni, in the Orator's expression, An Ensign of Soveraignty, and one of the chief among the Regalia. Such a Crown it was, that Interpreters strive, as if they could not embelish, and set it out with terms significative enough. Posuisti in capite e­jus Coronam de lapide pretioso. Thou set­test a Crown of precious stones on his head: so the Vulgar Latin. And Bruno the Carthusian, from Josephus, tells us, Cicero. In Psal. it was Corona cum Sardonyche in medio gemma­rum. A Crown that had a Sardonyx set in it, in the midst of other Jewels. The Sar­donyx signifieth Zeal for the Faith, and a [Page 48]readiness to die for it. A stone that would stand well in the Diadem of this Realm, as well becoming him who is Defender of the Faith: and renewing the precious memo­ry of that Royal Martyr, K. Charls 1. who sealed his love to it with his blood, Rev. 12.11. and loved not his life unto the death. I am not so much a La­pidary, as to give you in all these Crown-Jewels, and their Tropological imports. I shall only tell you the Topaz was one; that Lapis auri aemulus so called for the golden colour of it: Corn. [...]ap. Com. n [...] ­od p. 554. l D. signifying, Animum caele­stem & ad omnia infractum, a gallant soul, one that dares invite danger, and shrinks in at no apprehensions of fear. And to this also the Head to be Crowned this day hath a good title, as his actions both at home, and abroad can witness. But time is more precious than these stones, and therefore I shall spend no more of it upon them. Enough of that reading. A Crown of precious stones on his head.

Saint Hierom reads it, Ex obryzo, of tried gold. Auri purgatissimi. Optimi. Those are other readings speaking the same sense of the Text; and therefore I shall keep to that. A Crown of pure gold.

I shall not digress into a discourse of the several acceptations of the word Crown, in Scripture.

Sometimes speaking excellence: Prev. 12.4 A ver­tuous woman is the Crown of her husband. Sometimes, abundance: Ps. 65.11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness: and thy clouds drop fatness. Sometimes, recompence: Rev. 3.11. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy Crown. I shall make quicker work, if I on­ly observe to you, That, Crown speaks Majesty. Gold, perpetuity. Pure, simplicity.

1. Crown, There's Majesty. Liv. The Histo­rian calls this Insigne Regium, this especi­ally; it is the first, highest, greatest, and most inseparable. 2 King. 11.12. Esth. [...].17 When Joash was made King, Jehoiada put the Crown upon him, And when Esther was made Queen, the Crown of the Kingdom was set upon her head. In familiar discourse Crown speaks as much as Kingdom. A Crown is so ex­pressive of Majesty, that it gives us in some, and those the sublimest apprehensi­ons of the life to come, and all those glo­rious retributions of the Saints. It was the highest notion under which St. Paul could conceive of the bliss of Heaven. Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day. A Crown, There's Majesty.

2. Gold. There's perpetuity. Let the [Page 50] Isthmian Gamesters wear their Garlands, whose names were as fading as their flow­ers; Gold that immortal mettal is only fit for his head, who is immortal; and that Rex nunquam moritur, makes the King so. And so does that, In pactum salis, 2 Chron. 13.5. of Abijah. The Lord hath given the Kingdom over Israel to David for ever, e­ven to him and to his sons, by a Covenant of Salt. And so does that promise made to David in faithfulness, Ps. 89.29. His seed will I make to endure for ever: and his throne as the dayes of heaven.

Gold, there's perpetuity. I willingly omit some other designations of Gold. Pru­dence, it notes wisdom, as Lead doth he­betude and folly. Opulence, it is the riches of a people, Gen. 2.11. Havilah is commended be­cause there is gold. Supremacy, it is the first of Mettals; and the King first of men. Tranquility, Times of peace, before Warre and Bloodshed broke into the world, are by the Poets called the Golden Age.

Mollia securae peragebant otia gentes. Ovid.

3. Pure. There's simplicity. It speaks the King simple in opposition to mix­ture.

1. In his rule. It is not a Miscellany an every-thing-nothing, a mingled, a Mungrel Government. It is not sophi­sticated with any Plebeian ingredients, not an Aristocratical composition, much less an Anarchical confusion: but it is the pure gold of Monarchy.

2. In his Title. Which is clear, Like him who would de­vise the pedigree of O. Wil­liams alias Cromwel from Ow­ [...] and fair; he needs no mercenary pen to lead him a new way into antiquity. He doth not cut out his way to it with the sword, swim to it through a Sea of innocent blood, break into it through repealed Oaths, and Obligations. He doth not tread down Law and Right, stride over honor and honesty, prostitute conscience and whatever the civilized world calls Sa­cred. Briefly. He does not weave a Cloak of Religion to steal a Crown withal: but his right is indubitate, his Title clear; it is a Crown of pure gold.

This Crown of pure gold, commends the King's dignity: commands our duty.

1. Commends the King's dignity. Not as if he needed any mutuatitious worth, or had little but what he was beholden to [Page 52]his Crown for: I think enemies them­selves (if so gracious a Prince can have a­ny) must needs say that he is even with his Crown, and brings as much lustre to his Crown, as his Crown to him: but be­cause the Crown upon the right head, though he should be otherwise unwor­thy, makes a Dignity. Which made it a pardonable and no unhandsome piece of Zeal in a noble person of this Nation: Thomas Earl of Surrey to Hen 7. that if the Crown were set upon a stake, he would fight for it. It is a truth, that Nero as King is exalted as much above the common rate of men, and hath as much right to obedience from his Sub­jects, as Augustus: Domitian, as Vespa­sian: Julian as Constantine. And if they that dote so upon Mr. Calvin's Disci­pline, will but allow of his Doctrine, he tells us, Calv. in Ro. 13. Etiamsi non rarò degenerant, qui Principatum tenent, nihilominus deferenda est eis obedientia, quae Principibus debetur. Though Princes should not be good men, yet they have the right of good Princes, to the subjection of their people. Nulla ergo Tyrannis esse potest, Ibidem. (sayes the same Calvin, and I instance in it on purpose be­cause he sayes so) quae non aliqua ex parte subsidio sit ad tuendam hominum societatem. [Page 53]No Tyranny can be, which may not in some measure tend to advance the Weal­publick. Pet. Mart. in Ro. 13. And Peter Martyr speaking of Nero, saith that, Cum ipse imperio suo opprimeret Orbem terrarum, tamenjus dice­batur. Tyranny then in more sober times, was never an exemption from obedience. Nay, the Canonists go further. Excom­municatio Domini non liberat vassalum à Sacramento. Ministers may ex­communi­cate Prin­ces. Bucha­nan. de jur. Reg. p. 70. The Excommunication of a King, (if such could be, and it is too well known whose fingers itch to have such a power in their hands) doth not free a Subject from his Oath, and obedi­ence. It matters not what Sanders a ran­ting Romanist, asserts: An heretical King is no King. Nor do we value that vene­mous, Quacunque arte, of Mariana: it is lawful, sayes he, but it is but he that sayes it, by any artifice, trick, or cun­ning to remove Kings that stand in the way. Compare Knox and Buchan. with Card. Bel. Emon. Sa. Petra Sancta and other Jesuites. And I know not whether our Schismatiques come in as seconds, or do not rather out-do all in their damnable positions; witness Muncer that notori­ous, and incomparable Impostor: who pretended to a conference with God, and a Commission from him, to kill Kings, destroy the wicked, (such as his sense [Page 54]makes so) and begin a new world of Saints. Eph. 4.20. But we have not so learned Christ. An unchristian'd Greek was better taught than so, who calls a King, [...]: the lively image of God, the Preserver of all things. And Tertullian sayes so much for the very Gen­tiles, Caesarem majori formidine observa­tum à Gentilibus, quàm ipsum de Olympo Jovem. They looked on Caesar with greater reverence than Jupiter. To shor­ten this. Our histories tell us, that Eleu­therius wrote to King Lucius, (by whose means the heavenly light and brightness of Christianity first shone upon this Island, Camd. Brit p. 67. as saith our Antiquary) Vos estis Dei Vicarius You are God's Vicegerent in your Kingdom. Kings are all so. They are his Representatives here below▪ He communicates his own name and stile to them: that men may know they are a­nointed with the Oyle of gladness above their fellows, and learn to look on Ma­jesty as a very transcript of Divinity. This Crown of pure gold, commends the King's Dignity. That's first.

2. It commands the Subjects Duty. The Crown layes claim to our obedience. And though the Donatists of old, (whom, [Page 55]a peevish, Canne, in his V [...]trom the Temple, that Vox & praete­rea nihil. and impertinent Trifle of the late mad world, was not ashamed to call honest) and our Donatists under new names, would fain find out some subter­fuges, and plead an exemption: yet they run full upon the mouth of that Canon of the Apostle, [...], Rom. 13.1 Let every soul be subject: E [...]ad E­ [...]sc. Se­nond. Every soul without excepti­on. Qui tentat excipere tentat decipere. So Saint Bernard concludes. He that would except, would deceive. He, that with the sons of Belial, dares ask, 1 Sam. 10. What is Saul that he should reign over us? will not stick, in time, Job 21.15. to question with the Atheist in Job, What is the Almighty that we should serve him? Our own late experiences evince this abundantly, and are a sad proof of it. These are those [...], The blots and blemishes, the Scab and scandal to all Religion. Such unruly principles, and practices have made Christianity suffer, opening the mouths of Julian, and Porphyrie, and such like scoffers, to declaim against it, as an enemy to all order and government. It was the commendation of the Christi­ans, good subjects to Antonine no very good Emperor, that they did Inservire laeti, they did him cheerful service; how [Page 56]much more then shall the best of Kings command ready obedience, even from the worst of Subjects?

I hope I may save the labour of an ex­hortation in this place, K. Charles the first before the Gates of Hull on St. George's day. 1642. if I do but call to your remembrance, who it was which this day nineteen years stood before your gates. Much good may the meditation do you; thoughts of it had need make you more than penitents. Nor will I draw Arguments of obedience to you from the King, or his Crown: the name of your Town dedicates you to him, Kingston super Hull. and the very Arms of your Corporation are Monitors of your loyalty: where, lest one should not serve, you have no less than three Crowns to put you in mind of your duty. The Crown commands duty.

And be that enough for the second particular, in this latter general part of the Text. The Crown on the King's head of pure gold.

Come we now to the third and last. The hand of God setting that Crown of pure gold, upon the head of the King. Thou settest a Crown of pure gold on his head.

Thou. Dan. 5.21. And who could do it but he? He is the most high, and ruleth in the king­dom [Page 57]of men, Ch. 2.37 and appointeth over it whom­soever he will. The God of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory: sayes Daniel, who was Privy-Counsellor to two Monarchies, and Prin­cipal Secretary to four Kings: and so had the advantage to observe their successi­ons, alterations, and disposals. God is the great Moderator of Heaven and Earth: the Original of Dominion is in him: he is the only arbitrary, and indi­sputable disposer of all the Diadems of the world. He setteth on the Crown, By me Kings reign, Prov. 8.15. Psal. 89.39. and Princes decree justice. He taketh off the Crown. Thou hast prophaned his Crown by casting it to the ground.

Thou settest it on: by thy Commissive, and Ordinative; he sets it not on him­self, by thy permissive Will. He takes it fairly from thy hand: does not seize it by any hand of craft, or cruelty. It is the happiness of a people when their King hath a Crown of God's setting on: Usur­pers are their grievance, make them complain as the Romans of Pompey the great. Miseria nostra Magnus est.

Thou settest it on. And who hath such cause to say so as we? Men and Brethren, [Page 58]let me speak freely unto you; if ever Crown was set on by the immediate hand of God, it is that upon the King's head this day. Isa. 52.10. Never did the Lord so make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the Nati­on: never did this end of the earth see such salvation of our God. I appeal to his most inveterate Oppugners, who were wont to argue the righteousness of their cause from the Topick of their success, and vi­ctories; Deut. 32.31. Ch. 4.32. whether their Rock be as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For ask now of the dayes that are past, which were before us, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one side of Heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like i [...]? When they were as numerous, and as haughty as Senacherib, vaunting that they were enow with the soles of their feet to dry up all the rivers of besieged places: Isa 38.24, 25. and said, By the multitude of my Chariots am I come up, to the heighth of the Moun­tain, to the sides of Lebanon: and I will enter into the heighth of his border, and the forrest of his Carmel; then did God but hiss for the flie (as it is in the Prophet) call up from Scotland a small, Isa. 7.18. inconsiderable, [Page 59]and despised number, and with them wrought this great Salvation. Exod. 15.3, 6. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Thy right-hand, O Lord, is become glori­ous in power; thy right-hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And though there were several loyal attempts made before, and some of them probable e­nough, to effect deliverance for us: yet did the all-wise God suffer them to be all broken, and frustrated; happily, that he might fool earthly wisdom, and by stain­ing the beauty of all creature-excellency, take the whole glory of our deliverance to himself, that he might give us cause with admiration, and amazement, to say, Thon settest a Crown of pure gold on his head.