Hezekiah's return of praise for his recovery by A.L. Littleton, Adam, 1627-1694. 1668 Approx. 71 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-08 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A48725 Wing L2562 ESTC R37940 17154178 ocm 17154178 105965 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A48725) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 105965) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1619:2) Hezekiah's return of praise for his recovery by A.L. 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Bible. -- O.T. -- Isaiah XXXVIII, 17-19 -- Sermons. Sermons, English -- 17th century. 2004-02 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-05 Amanda Watson Sampled and proofread 2004-05 Amanda Watson Text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion HEZEKIAH'S Return of PRAISE For His RECOVERY . By A. L. PSAL. L. 14 , 15. Offer unto God thanksgiving , and pay thy vows unto the most high . And call upon me in the day of trouble ; I will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . LONDON , Printed by E. Cotes , for Samuel Tomson at the Bishops-Head in Duck-lane . 1668. To the Pious Reader . THe Occasion of Preaching this Sermon , was sutable to the Text , a good Man's Recovery : of Printing it , the desire of Copies ; and the Press was for this judg'd the readiest way : and thus though intended but for few , may be for the use of many . The Author is one neither seeks applause , nor fears censure ; if it may do thy soul any benefit , he has his end . To which purpose this Synopsis was added , that thou mightest have the Method and Heads of the Discourse before thee in one view . The Doxology in the close being an Extract great part of it out of the Psalter ( a book , which if thou deserv'st the name I called thee by , thou art well acquainted with ) needed no references . If by the perusal thou find'st thy self any whit benefited , give God the praise , and let the Author have thy prayers . Farewel . The SYNOPSIS . The Text divided into IV. Parts . I. The Affliction : and that either 1. Corporal . A sickness : describ'd by It's Quality , Bitterness : and that as it is 1. Undergone by Hezekias . Obs. God's dearest ones are not exempt from bitter afflictions . 2. Resented by him . Obs. Natural apprehensions allow'd even in Exercises of grace . It 's Quantity , Great bitterness . Obs. Great Saints exercised with great Tryals . The change , For Peace , i. e. Health . Obs. The truly pious in change of condition change not ; but serve God for God's sake . The surprize , Behold . Obs. A Christian must stand upon his guard . 2. Spiritual , Trouble of conscience . Obs. A troubled conscience is not alwayes an evil conscience . II. The Deliverance : considered in The Author , God : Thou hast deliver'd . Obs. God is the sole author of all our deliverances . The Motive , In love , and that to my soul. Obs. Divine mercy is gratuitous . Obs. Soul-love is the best of loves . The Danger , From the pit of corruption . Obs. All our life-time we walk on the pit-brink . III. The Improvement and Assurance : Pardon of sins . Thou hast deliver'd , thou hast cast my sins , &c. Obs. God uses to accumulate mercies . In love to my soul ; for thou hast cast , &c. Obs. Pardon of sins the complement and perfection of mercy . From the pit ; for thou hast cast , &c. Obs. Where sin is forgiven , no fear of hell or the grave . All my sins behind thy back . Obs. God's pardons are universal and absolute . IV. The Acknowledgment . Where mark by the way . ( The Connexion : For the grave , &c. Obs. The only Return God expects for mercy is Praise . The Synonymy of Praise and Hope . Obs. To trust in God is to praise him . ) As 't is set Negatively , The grave cannot , &c. Obs. Death is a silent and hopeless state . Positively , The living shall . Obs. Our life to be spent in the giver's praise . Lastly , exemplified , As I do this day . Obs. Signal mercies require solemn Thanksgiving . HEZEKIAH's Return of PRAISE for his RECOVERY . Is A. xxxviii . 17 , 18 , and part of the 19 , ver . 17. Behold , for peace I had great bitterness ; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption : for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back . 18. For the grave cannot praise thee , death cannot celebrate thee : they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth . 19. The living , the living , he shall praise thee , as I do this day . — THESE Words are part , and indeed the principal part of Hezekiah's Song of Thanksgiving , after he was recover'd of a dangerous sickness ; as you finde in the ninth Verse , when all his thoughts were , as himself tells us from the 10th . to the 15th . Verse , that he should not live , that he should never escape this bout , never come abroad more . I said , that is , by an Hebraism , * I thought , in the cutting off of my dayes , ( or as some Versions render it , in the midst of my dayes ) I shall go to the gates of the grave : I am deprived of the residue of my years . I said , I shall not see the Lord , even the Lord in the land of the living . I shall never go more to Church , never have any further opportunities to wait upon God in his Sanctuary . I shall behold man no more with the Inhabitants of the World ; never go abroad again to converse with men any more , &c. So that in effect he gave himself up for lost , as to this world ; and perhaps the Physicians did so too . Nay , and which was more , when the Doctors belike had given him over , the Prophet brings him the unwelcom message , that he must prepare himself , For dye he should , and not live , v. 1. Yet after all , when he was in extremis , upon his prayer , God was intreated to renew his lease , and to lengthen his life . And so as in the former part of his Song he mournfully commemorates his Sickness : So in the latter part from the 15th . verse , to the end , he chearfully returns thanks for his Recovery . The words , we have made choice of , belong to this latter part ; and there are four things in them observable . 1. A sad heavy affliction . Behold for peace I had great bitterness . 2. A merciful deliverance out of this affliction , But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the put of corruption . 3. A blessed improvement of this mercy , For thou hast cast all my sins behinde thy back . 4. A thankful acknowledgement of this improved mercy , in the rest of the words . The Affliction aggravated , 1. By a description of it in its own nature , . both in the quality of it , 't was bitterness ; and in the quantity of it , 't was great bitterness . 2. By opposition of the contrary blessing which it remov'd , 't was for peace ; a word , that comprehends in the notion of it all our worldly enjoyments , all temporal blessings whatsoever ; and more particularly in Holy Writ is taken for health , a blessing , without which all other blessings have no rellish in them , give no true satisfaction to the enjoyer , For peace I had great bitterness , i. e. for the health which he had formerly enjoy'd , he had had a very bitter sickness . And then lastly the bitterness of this change is heightned by the surprize of it . Behold , as a strange thing ! Behold , how all on a sudden , upon my peace came great bitterness , as the Margin reads it . Bitterness , and great bitterness , and that in exchange for peace , for a state of health and prosperity ; and all this with a sudden strange surprize . Behold , for peace I had great bitterness . This was his Affliction . And this much further aggravated still , if we unde stand it as we must , in a spiritual sense too ; that his sickness calling his sins to remembrance , and causing some distrusts of God's love , instead of that peace of conscience , and quiet tranquillity of minde he had had heretofore , his spirit was now troubled , and greatly imbittered . And * a wounded grieved spirit who can bear ? On the other hand , the mercy of the Deliverance . wants not its heightning circumstances too : as , 1. From the efficient cause , 't was God deliver'd him , But thou hast deliver'd . 2. From the motive or impulsive cause , 't was out of Love ; not out of design , as men usually do courtesie : but out of a free kindeness , and that a love of the best sort ; 't was in love to his soul. And 3. From the danger he was deliver'd out of , and that no ordinary one ; it was a pit , and no ordinary pit neither , 't was the pit of corruption , even the Grave , the very state of death . But thou hast in love to my soul deliver'd it from the pit of corruption . So then , however he came by his sickness , he is sure 't was God recover'd him out of it ; and he did it out of Love , out of an especial love he bore to the soul of him , which was sufficiently manifested by this , that his life was precious in Gods sight , God delivering it from the pit of corruption . Nor is this all . You heard 't was a spiritual mercy , . for 't was in love to his soul ; and therefore the health of body was to be attended with the welfare of his soul : and so for a full Assurance of Divine love to his soul , and for a further Improvement of this temporal bodily mercy , 't is added ; for thou hast cast all my sins behinde thy back , that , as God had imbrac'd his soul in the arms of his love ; ( so the Interlinear Version , Amplexus es amore animam meam ) and as it were put her into his bosom ; so he had cast all his sins behinde his back , never to come more into remembrance . This is the Crown of Mercies , when temporals are thus accumulated with spirituals ; this a recovery indeed of the whole man , when health is improv'd into salvation , and strength of body accompanied with pardon of sins . This is right saving Health , and deserves the returns of a grateful Acknowledgment , which now follows in the last place . And that is set forth , first , by shewing the impossibility for the dead to perform this duty , . which is very elegantly express'd by three Synonymies . For the grave cannot praise thee . Death cannot celebrate thee . They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth . which all come to one meaning . And then on the contrary , shewing not the possibility only , but the probability that the living will , i. e. such as divine mercy continues in life , and especially such as are by that mercy preserv'd from imminent danger of death . — — The living , the living , he shall praise thee . And this probability exemplified in himself , made good by his own practice ; — — As I do this day . Thus having open'd the several scenes of our intended meditation , I shall now proceed to draw from them some useful Observations , interweaving their applications all along , with that brevity and clearness , as such copious heads of matter may in such straights of time admit ; and that rather in a cursory Explanation , then in an elaborate discourse . First , then for the Affliction , 't is not only bitter , but in the abstract bitterness it self . The sense of Taste is the most necessary of all our senses , it being that by which all Animals live , and take in their food and nourishment ; and therefore has in it a power to judge , what is grateful and convenient to the nature of each kinde , what not . Now there is no gust the palate so much dis-relishes as the bitter ; nothing , that nature shews a greater abhorrence to , or that is less welcome to her : whereupon the Psalmist in the person of Christ looks upon it as one of his enemies greatest unkindenesses , that they gave him * Gall and Vinegar to drink ; and Christ himself upon the Cross , ( I suppose , out of his meer natural aversation , as he was man ) when he had tasted of it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , * He would not drink it . Upon this score 't is , that by an usual Metaphor every thing that is highly displeasing to any of our affections and senses , either to the rational or sensitive appetite , is termed bitter : every thing , I say that is any way afflictive to flesh and blood , any thing that ails us in Minde , or Body , or Estate , or good name ; whether grief , or pain , or poverty , or reproach , and the like ; we may as Hezekiah here calls his sickness , give it the name of bitterness : nay , even though those afflictions come from the hand of God himself our gracious Father , by whose providential dispensations every particular event , be it good or bad , is so carefully managed , that not a Sparrow falls to the ground without his order . And yet this bitterness too , though never so unpleasant , may be made profitable , if we make a right use of it ; as we may learn two things from it here , 1. not to be impatient . 2. not to be insensible , When we are under Gods hand in any affliction . Fiezekiah's being in bitterness teacheth us one , and his complaining of it the other . Who ? Good King Hezekiah in bitterness ? sick , and that unto death ? this is bitterness indeed , that such a Prince , who was a National blessing ; that such a Saint , who had walkt before the Lord in truth , and in the sincerity of his heart , done that which was good in his sight , should be cut off in the midst of his dayes at XXXIX . ( for that was his age at this time ; the fifteen years which were now added , making up his * whole life LIV. ) and should by a bitter and untimely death be sent away to the gates of the Grave , after the languishment of a pining distemper . Hence we observe , that Gods dearest ones are not exempted from bitter afflictions . And what are we then , that we should repine , and murmur , and think our selves hardly dealt with ? Are we better then all those Saints , who have gone before us , who have pledg'd their Master in hearty draughts of his Passion-Cup , and have march'd after him in the dolorous way towards heaven ? This should teach us not only with patience , but even with chearfulness to take up our crosses , and to deny our selves in our healths , in our fortunes , in all our enjoyments . And to recommend this vertue the more to us , let us take along with us some considerations , why it pleases God to imbitter many times , as he does , the condition of his Children and Servants in this world . Now God does it upon such reasons as these ; for the chastisement . of sin , from which the very best are not free ; for tryal and exercise of their faith and other Graces , which else would lie idle upon their . hands : for what use of patience in time of health and prosperity ? and consequently for their amendment and improvement . The Furnace is heated over and over , that , having all their dross burnt up , their graces may be burnished and throughly refined , as Silver purified seven times in the fire . And tell me now , O impatient soul , whoever thou art , what reason hast thou to take Gods dealings unkindely ? Tell me ; canst thou say with any shew of reason , that he deals otherwise then justly and kindely by thee in all this ; who orders all so to thy good , that his greatest severities are , if thou wilt but rightly understand them , the most advantageous mercies ? Further , he does it to wean us from the world , and to take off that . hank , which the flesh has upon us ; to mortifie carnal lusts , and worldly desires ; and give us a heavenly relish . Thus when the Breast is imbittered , the Childe will of himself forsake it . And lastly , to prepare us for our great change : These . conflicts and encounters we have with all sorts of affliction , during our whole life , are but Essayes and Specimens of that conquest , which we must through Christ make at last of death ; that , as he has overcome the world , and swallowed up Death in victory , we may be made partakers of his triumphs ; and having fill'd up his sufferings , may in his name set up our banners and our trophies ; the banners of our confidence , and the trophies of our victory . And now , if we have any ingenuity to acknowledge our sins , any zeal to imploy our graces , any holy ambition to better and improve our selves , any desires towards heaven , or savour of spiritual things ; in a word , any thought or design of living holy , and dying happy : what reason have we with more then patience , even with kindeness and friendship , to entertain afflictions , which are to help us in all this . Yet let afflictions be as good as they will in the consequents and effects , they are afflictions still , and may be so resented . Hezekiah no question made very good use of his sickness , and found as great benefit by it ; and yet still after his recovery he complains of it , and calls it bitterness . We must be patient , and yet we may be sensible of our afflictions too . We are allow'd the apprehensions of nature , even in the exercises of Grace . A good man may be patient , and yet feel his pains , and complain of them too : or else indeed 't is not a genuine patience . I do not think him truly valiant , whom armour or amulet has made invulnerable ; but him , that feels the smart of his wounds , and yet fights on . Thus our Saviour , the Captain of our Salvation , in his Agony , prayes to have the Cup pass from him , sayes bemoaningly of himself , that his Soul was sad unto death ; that , as he hung on the Cross poor man at the stretch of every joynt , flouted by his Adversaries , deserted by his followers , forsaken by his Father , he cries out , My God , my God , &c. and being roasted with the scorching flames of Divine Wrath , he calls for drink to allay the raging heat of his thirst . For although the Divinity could have deaded all the pains , which the humane nature underwent , and have raptur'd it into a glorious impassibility : yet that was not to be , since the main merit of his passive obedience lay in this , that he had a quick sense of the wrath of God due to sin into the very heart of him ; and that , notwithstanding the natural sentiments of his humanity , which put him upon the desire of being excused , he yet with perfect submission went through all the sad stages of his bitter passion . Yet now the world is grown to that pass , as if Religion were turn'd Stoicism , and stupidity were Christian Valour ; that people generally take it for a kinde of bravery , to be insensible of God's Judgements , and to walk unconcern'd in the midst of publick or personal calamities : but sure those of this temper are no other , then such as the Apostle tells us of , Rom. 1. 31. Void of natural affection . Thus then Hezekiah's being in bitterness teacheth us to be patient , and his complaining of it allows us to be sensible . And no marvel , that he complains , for 't was not only bitterness , but great bitterness ; both extensively over all parts , all over bitterness ; and intensively , all kindes , all degrees of bitterness , and so as the Original doubles the word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one way in Hebrew to express the superlative● : so S. Hierom renders it , Amaritudo mea amarissima , my most bitter bitterness , superlatively bitter . Now , why God does thus at any time with any of us , to make our conditions bitter and bitter again , to put in great bitterness , more bitter ingredients still ; besides those reasons we gave before , ( this inlarging the dose being designed to perfect the cure ) we have two or three more to offer : as first , to beat us quite off from . carnal and secular confidences ; that being forc'd to let go our hold of all our worldly comforts , we may stick the closer to God in our dependences upon him . And that good Hezekiah's temper was a little too apt to be peccant in this , the next Chapter shews us , where out of * ostentation he shews Merodach-Baladan's Messengers , that came to congratulate his recovery , his treasury , and armoury , and spicery . And then to put the higher value upon the following mercy . How sweet would health . be after such a bitter sickness ? how soon are the pains and throws of Childe-birth forgotten for joy when the Man-childe is once born into the world ? the greatness of the danger serving to aggrandize and heighten the deliverance . And lastly to teach us a right estimate of our own graces , and . of that interest we have in God. Great Saints must look for great afflictions . A more then ordinary strength requires a more then ordinary tryal . Every Childe , every Novice in Religion can digest a little bitterness . Hezekiah is to be treated as a Man , to be put upon a becoming task . The Sons of Anak , and the Zanzummim are fit for such a champion as Joshua to incounter . Wherefore if God , who uses not to lay more upon us , then we are able to bear , has laid his hand heavy upon thee , has increased thy pains , and inraged thy smart : bear up , brave soul , be of good courage in thy conflicts , be strong in the Lord when he calls thee forth to such hard service , grudge not to lay out that strength God has given thee to bear thee up and to bear thee out in the greatest endurances . Thus Holy Job , when the whole world was against him , the Chaldeans and Sabeans , the Devil and his friends , and wife and all and God himself seem'd to be an indifferent looker on ; bore himself up stoutly against them all ; and by the power of God's Grace in him withstood the worst of Providences without him . The Saints are made glorious by their sufferings , and 't is their great afflictions put the lustre upon their victorious Graces , when patience has had its perfect work . Hezekiah was a man of great piety , and must therefore meet with great bitterness . And this bitterness in the next place is the greater too , because it comes in the place of Peace , Cujus ipsum nomen dulce est , as the great Orator tells us , whose very name is luscious in the mouth , and speaks sweetness . We say , Variety is delightful ; and 't is the condition of the sublunary world to be whirl'd about in perpetual vicifsitudes , to be as mutable and full of changes , as the Moon it self , who has the Dominion over it . And I confess , that the day-break brings comfortable tidings after telling the Clocks of a tedious and restless night ; the verdant Spring is welcome , that has been usher'd in by a hard Winter ; and the Sun-shine shews pleasant , which follows a bitter storm : But on the contrary ( which was Hezekiah's case here ) out of a prosperous state to be tumbled into adversity , to have new troubles tread upon the heels of our peace , out of health to be thrown upon a bed of bitter sickness ; this is a sad change , and must needs go to the heart of the stoutest and wisest : when the remembrance of their former good estate serves only to aggravate their present ills . Yet so it seems good to the all wise God to exercise his Children , to try their sincerity to the utmost , whether they have any by-ends in their service ; whether their piety be real , or only a pretense ; whether , when their conditions are alter'd , their resolutions will not change too , and when a storm comes , take to the hedge , and keep a dangerous persecuted profession company no longer ; whether they will go along with their Religion , when it goes as Christ did to be crucified , or with the Disciples desert him and leave him to himself . This was Satan's argument , * Doth Job serve God for nought ? and therefore strips him to the very skin , and makes that very skin uneasie too , by cloathing it all over with blisters and sores ; that by that time Job had done scraping with his pot-sheard , he had no skin at all left to cover him , but was * fain to get him a new covering out of the ashes he roll'd himself in . Yet Job , when he had lost all , would not let go his integrity , but prov'd in despight of the Devil's suggestions , that he serv'd God for God's sake , and could fairly trust him for his reward in the next world . Wherefore 't is a brave challenge of that Heroick Apostle , Rom. VIII . 35. Who , sayes he , shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation , or distress , or persecution , or nakedness , or peril , or sword ? as if he had said , Let me see that Man , or Devil , or Thing in the world , that can drive me from my just confidences , and blessed assurances of God's love . And for death , he makes nothing of it , vouchsafes it not the mention , but in a parenthesis in the next verse ; looks upon it as a meer scare-crow , a thing he has been used to , and now fears it not ; but gets him upon a place of Scripture , and defies it ; As it is written , sayes he , For thy sake we are killed all the day long , we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter . And then in the two last verses of that Chapter , 't is as bravely by him resolv'd upon the question ; I am perswaded that neither death , nor life , nor Angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , Nor heighth , nor depth , nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God , which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So then for peace let bitterness come ; nay , let great bitterness come ; yet such a resolution will weather the point of the worst change . But yet to aggravate this change , there is another consideration still behinde ; that 't was by way of surprize ; it came strangely and unexpectedly , Behold , for peace I had great bitterness . When Scripture bids us behold , 't is worth our while to stand and look about ; and this word gives us this lesson , that A Christian must stand upon his guard ; prepare for changes , and be provided in omnem eventum , for what ever may happen . In this posture Job stood , which made him bear the brunt , and receive the shock the better . The thing which I fear'd , * sayes he , is come upon me . But it should seem Hezekiah did not make that preparation , entertain'd no such jealousies . We read in the Chapter before , that the Angel had discomfited the Assyrian Host , and that Sennacherib himself the Monarch was assassin'd by his Sons : which quit the King of Judah utterly of all apprehensions ; he is wrapt up in security ; yet see , he is no sooner rid of this fear , but another arrest is serv'd upon him : In those dayes , sayes the first verse of this Chapter , was Hezekiah sick unto death . There surprizes him a bile worse then Rabshakeh , sticks close to him , and sends him once more to his prayers . So apt are good men upon little respite to forget themselves . Judgement comes like a thief in the night , and steals upon us : it concerns us therefore to watch , and to set a good centry , that we may not be caught unawares . But alas ! how do we generally sleep over our great concerns , and never heed evils , till they befal us ; which are with far more difficulty cured , then they might have been prevented ? Nothing can be more dreadful , then when judgements give us a camisade , set upon us in the dead of our security , beat up our quarters , and catch us unprovided . And still this affliction has a higher step , taking it in the spiritual sense , for the disquiet of minde , and trouble of Conscience , arising possibly from the sense of sin , or from the distrust of God's favour , in this his sickness ; to which the deliverance with its improvement hath reference . Hezekiah's minde as well as body was fore ; and the Bile was not so much , it should seem , in his side , as 't was in 's very heart . He had stitches and pains of Conscience ; and his inner man was more afflicted , then the outward ; and his spirit labour'd under no less distempers then his flesh did . And this is sure a very afflictive condition ; when not only the Cisterns of earthly comfort are filled with waters of Marah ; but even the spring of consolations from within , I mean a good conscience , runs in troubled streams of Meribah : when a godly man's thoughts work , and boyl , and , as the wicked man is compar'd by the * Prophet , he becomes like the troubled Sea , which casts up mire and dirt . And yet thus God deals sometime with his own ; to take their peace from them , to leave them as it were in a state of desertion to themselves ; that so they may put a higher estimate upon his favour , and walk humbly and carefully in the sense of it . A troubled conscience , then is not alwayes an evil conscience . The best of Saints are sometimes put upon these conflicts , to struggle under the burden of their sins , and the apprehension of wrath due to them : when God loosens and slacks their confidences , blots and obscures their evidences , staggers their assurances , fills them full of doubts , and perplexities , and jealousies of their own estate ; and so pursues them with legal terrors , that he drives them to fly before the face of the avenger , even unto their City of Refuge , the Merits of Christ : and likely sickness is God's time of Visiting iniquity in this manner ; and then sins come thick to remembrance . The wicked and the godly may in this respect little differ in their outward Symptoms , as to the trouble and quiet of Conscience : but in the grounds of either there is a vast difference . The ungodly man , when his Conscience is awak'd with some rouzing judgement , is possest with the frightful foresights of unavoidable vengeance : the godly are troubled at God's displeasure , at the withdrawings of his favour , and the hidings of his countenance . The one has no Sanctuary to betake himself to ; his troubles immerse him into the gulph of despair : the other when he is seiz'd with the arrests of the Law , can by Faith lay hold upon the terms of Evangelical mercy , and has a powerful advocate to plead for him , and a sufficient bail to fetch him off , even Christ Jesus , the Mediator of the Covenant . Nor again does their calm and tranquility of minde proceed from the same principle , or tend to the same practice ; the wicked man's quiet proceeds from his carnal security ; his conscience is cast into a dead sleep , and becomes insensible , by a kinde of spiritual lethargy , that 't is not so much want of trouble as want of sense ; wherefore he still runs on securely in his sinful course : whereas the in ward peace , which a godly man enjoyes , arises from the assurances of pardon , and the sense of God's favour ; and this puts him upon a careful walking with God , that he may not tempt him to remove his peace . And this his confidence in God , and resolution of his own integrity bears him up even in the midst of his dejections and disquiets ; that , when he goes mourning all the day , when he feeds himself with his tears , and in great anxiety and distress pours out his soul within him , he can say with the Psalmist , Psal. XLII . and XLIII . Why art thou cast down , O my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? hope in God , for I shall yet praise him , who is the health of my countenance and my God. For he knows that however , when God has taken and pursu'd all his advantages against him , when he has laid load upon him , he is sure at last to give him a good issue out of the temptation , and , be his affliction what it will , to procure him in the end a merciful Deliverance , which is our next Theme to treat of . And this a two-fold Deliverance , according to his two-fold distemper , Bodily , and Ghostly . His temporal affliction , his sickness , is cur'd by the temporal mercy of his recovery , that God has deliver'd his soul , i. e. his life , from the pit of corruption , from the Grave : and his spiritual malady or trouble of conscience by that spiritual mercy , the pardon of his sins , that God had cast all his sins behinde his back . First , Here 's the removal of his sickness , and the return of health ; and then , to improve that , here 's the removal of his sins , and the restitution of his peace . Behold , for peace I had great bitterness . But thou hast in love to my soul deliver'd it from the pit of corruption . For thou hast cast all my sins behinde thy back . Thou . 't was Thou deliveredst me . He imputes his Recovery here wholly to God. Hence we learn , that God is the sole Author of all our deliverances . His sickness might have come by some casualty , might proceed from natural causes in the general way of a permissive providence : but to be sure , God had a special hand in the restauration . That was the effect , and a peculiar disposition of a particular providence , and came with a Mandamus from heaven . I will not deny , but means may , and must be , and were here used ; but then 't is God's blessing that puts vertue into those means , and gives them an effectual operation . Practicioners of Physick will tell us , that a lump of Figs bruised and made up into a Plaister may be no unfit Cataplasm to be applied toa plague sore , to help to ripen and break the Bile ? yet here in this case 't was God himself by his Prophet gave the Receipt , and in all cases virtuates and succeeds the means . Wherefore the Syriack Interpreter transposes the two last Verses of this Chapter , setting the 22. verse before the 21. and that very appositely to the close of the Song in the 20th . verse , where he sayes he will Sing Songs to the tuned instruments all the dayes of his life in the house of the Lord. Now , as the Syriack brings it in , Hezekiah had said , What is the sign , that I shall go to the house of the Lord ? That I shall go abroad again , and wait upon God in his Temple . And Isaias gave this answer , sayes he , Let them take a lump of Figs , and spread it upon the Bile . ( Which verses in the common order they stand in , seem to be a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , out of their due place . ) So that the Lump of Figs should according to this Interpreter , be appointed here by God for a sign as well as a Plaister , nor only for a medicinal expedient , but also for a Symbolical token . Thus it is in all our troubles and afflictions , that befall us , be it what it will , or who it will , the malice of man or the Devil , Chance or Nature , our own negligence or indiscretion , that leads us on ; 't is God that brings us off ; and as we pray , that he will not Lead us into temptation , ( which he does but very rarely , and that only by way of permission ) so we must pray to him alone to deliver us from all evil . And yet this is not intended to lessen our gratitude to too men , whose skill or care has afforded us any help in our distress , as being instruments under God for our good . And so the Prophet here no question was concern'd in the good King's acknowledgements , and the very Recipe of Figs is fil'd up in the Records of Scripture . Further , besides the subordination , that men act as instruments , in what they do for us ; God is the sole principal Agent : there is usually this difference too ; that men , what kindeness or good office they may do us , they may do it for their own sake as well as ours ; not out of love to our person so much , as for some by-respect and self-end . The Physician proportions his attendance to his fee ; and scarce any the best friend we have will do ought for us for God-a-mercy . Some perhaps may by the sense of former obligations ; but most by the expectation of a future reward are excited and mov'd to serve us . But all God's mercies proceed from pure love ; out of love thou hast deliver'd me . I say , Divine mercy is gratuitous ; it flows as free , as the light from the Sun , as the stream from the Spring . For alas ! if we look into our selves , and consider how vile we are by nature , how more vile by sin ; what can we finde in our selves , that may any way deserve the kinde respects , and affectionate regards of an infinite and glorious Majesty ? what , that may be lookt upon , as a fit object of Divine Love ? Have not we just reason , the very best of us , with the Psalmist , to hold up our hands in admiration , and bless our selves , saying , * What is man that thou art mindeful of him , or takest any knowledge of him ? or the son of man , that thou visitest him , that thou makest any account of him ? He doth not want us , nor is our goodness any thing to him : neither can our welfare adde ought to his infinite glories , nor our miscarriage substract ought from them . It is our duty and our happiness to boot , to serve him ; nor is he a whit obliged to us : when we have done all we ought to do , we are to him still unprofitable Servants . If we are good , we are good to our selves ; and if we are otherwise , we shall have the worst on 't , And yet to see , how all his thoughts and cares run upon us , how he has made man the darling of heaven , and the charge of Angels ; what blessings he daily dispenses among us , and what unconceivable good things he has prepar'd for us , if we will but fit our selves for them ; how his providence waits upon us at our up-rising , and our down-lying , and in all our wayes constantly attends us , and takes that particular care of us , that he has the very hairs of his head in numerato ; will abundantly convince us of his undeserved love to us , and of that love we owe to him again . O may those passionate concernments , he has for us , move us at least to be concern'd for our selves ! The Apostle to justifie this Allegorical exposition of that Text in the old Law , * Thou shalt not muzzle the ox , which treadeth out the corn ; out of which he argues the maintenance of Gospel-Ministers ; seems to ask a strange question , to shew that those words could not well be taken literally , Doth God , * sayes he , take care of Oxen ? Why , learned Apostle , does not God take care of Oxen ? I sure , and of all his other creatures too : His meaning is , that God's thoughts and designs are so much busied and taken up about man , that He seems to be the only object of his care ; insomuch that this very Law of mercy towards the labouring Beast , ( witness ( to go no further ) the very * fourth Commandment , where the poor Ass as well as the Ox , comes in for his share in the priviledge of Sabbath-rest ) was by the Apostle's argument primarily and ultimately intended for the temporal support and incouragement of such men , as are set aside for spiritual ministrations , to labour in the word . Oves & boves & pecora campi , * Sheep and Oxen and all Beasts of the Field he has so absolutely put under man's feet , as if he took no further care of them , then as they may be for his use and service . If God so freely love us , how ought we to love one another , and to help one another with all kinde of courtesie and assistance ? but above all , in a due imitation of Divine Charity , not to let it be a carnal affection , or express it only in service to the outward man ; but to improve it spiritually , that it may be a love from the soul , and a love to the soul of one another . In love to my soul. This , Soul-love is the best of loves . This is to oblige a man into the other world with an immortal benefit , to do his soul any good , to serve him any way in that . 'T is the Christian complement , which the great preacher of love St. John uses in his Epistle to his friend Gaius ; * Beloved , I wish above things , that thou mayest prosper and be in health , even as thy soul prospereth . Let worldlings think what they will ; our health and prosperity is , as our soul prospers and does well : All our worldly enjoyments , unless we have the art to spiritualize them , and can by grace make them serviceable to our souls , are but dry chips , and can afford no true real comfort . The very Breasts of providence , from whence our peace , plenty , liberty , and all outward blessings flow , without this are but Winde-bags , and those that draw them most , will finde they get nothing but vanity and emptiness , fill themselves with vexation , and distemper ; if God by his Grace do not sanctifie his providences to the good of their souls . This is that , which makes blessings to be blessings indeed . And indeed God does design all his temporal mercies to our spiritual advantage , if we would but comply with his designs . And thus it was here with Hezekiah , whose soul was repriev'd from the Grave at once , and preserv'd from Hell ; for the pit of corruption in Scripture-style signifies both ; from the Grave by his recovery , and from Hell by his pardon . To take the words in either of those senses , or in both ; what a mercy of God is it to us all , to every one of us , that are here this day , that we are yet on this side Hell , yet on this side the Grave ? and what care are we oblig'd to in our walking , when we consider that All our life-time we walk upon the pit-brink ? We say , that those that are at Sea , are but so many inches remov'd from death ; but the * Psalmist tells us , that upon Land too , or whereever we are at the furthest distance , there is but the breadth of a span betwixt it and us . Now what a madness were it for any one to dance and frolick about the mouth of such a dangerous pit , where 't is so easie falling in , and impossible to get out again ? And yet , O desperate folly ! most people of the world are thus mad , pursuing the seeming sweets of a momentany life to the hazard of an eternal ruine , and the irreparable loss of their immortal souls . I have heard a story , and I suppose many of you have heard it too , of a man , that travelling late , and being in drink , rode over a narrow foot-Bridge , where there was a great deep water underneath , that the least trip of the Horses foot would have posted the rider to his long home : next morning , when he was come to himself , being askt which way he came , and brought to the place , the apprehension of his last nights adventure did so surprize and astonish his sober thoughts , that he fell down dead in the very place at the sight on 't . And when we look back upon the follies and vanities of our past lives , how can we but be justly startled , when almost every step we have trod , has been upon the pit's brink of destruction ? Those especially , whose desires seem to be as bottomless as this pit is , who cry , Give , give , and never think they have enough , and are immoderate in heaping up this world's goods ; may look upon this pit as a stop in their career : when they sit down and consider , that within a score or two of years hence , very likely in less time , all their toil and gain will come to no account : Go they must one time or other , and pack up they know not how soon , and yet carry nothing along with them of all that they have . Beauty , strength , riches , honour , profits , pleasures , will all be lost and spoil'd , and prove at last but care and refuse in this pit of corruption : this * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the Wardrobe of our old cast cloaths , and the store-hole of our worm-eaten Lumber . We are all journeying straight onward to the Grave , and sooner or later , every one in his appointed time , must arrive there : but happy , thrice happy those , who when they are laid down to rest in the Grave , are deliver'd from Hell , that other pit of corruption . And this Hezekiah was assur'd of , that God had deliver'd his soul from this pit ; because his sins were forgiven . And this is our third stage , the Assurance of God's love to him , and the Improvement of this bodily mercy : for thou hast cast all my sins behinde thy back . From whence we may make several Observs ; as first , that God uses to accumulate mercy ; to deal with us , as he commands us to deal with one another , to give us * good measure , pressed down , and shaken together , and running over into our bosom . Here upon Hezekiah's prayer , God gives more then is ask'd ; lengthens his life , secures him and his Kingdom from the Assyrians , recovers him from his sickness , and pardons his sins . Thus mercies grow like clusters in the vineyards of Engaddi , A great incouragement for prayer , which makes such ample returns . The best Husbandry we can use , to improve our selves , by praying often . A great comfort this too , to any good man upon the bed of sickness ; that God will both recover and pardon him , both restore him to health and accept him to favour . Thus our Saviour in those Miracles of Mercy he shew'd upon the bodies of men , was wont to regard their souls too , and wrought cures both upon the outward and inward man : as he did to the Paralytick , saying first , * Thy sins are forgiven thee ; then , Rise , take up thy bed , and walk . Thus easing him first of the heavy load of his sins , and then inabling him to bear the lighter burthen of his couch . 2. Pardon of sins is the complement and perfection of mercy . His recovery without this would have done him little good , and the renewing of his Lease have serv'd only for an opportunity of running farther on the score , and so of making his condition much worse then it had been . O infinitely happy that man , even in this life , whose sins are forgiven him ! all his enjoyments must needs have a pleasant relish ; whereas to the wicked this Coloquintida , the rank Hogo , which unpardon'd sin gives them , spoils all their comforts , and makes their condition , be it never so spangled and glorious , never so gay and jaunty to the outward shew , troublesome and vexatious within ; like the Emperour's Ermin-Cap , richly lin'd with pricking cares , and cutting fears : of which our good King had now clear'd both his Head and Crown ; for he had God's promise that neither the Assyrian should assault his Kingdom , nor Satan his soul. 3. He , whose sins are forgiven , needs not fear hell or the grave . Hezekiah here is assured , that God had deliver'd his soul from the pit of corruption , because he had cast all his sins behinde his back . The righteous man , say the * Proverbs , i. e. he that is justified by faith , and has his sins pardon'd , is as bold as a Lion , fearless , and undaunted : for indeed , what need such an one fear ? Let the Devil go about like a roaring Lion ; he has the Lion of the tribe of Judah to defend him : and for death , now the sting is pluck'd out , he plays with it as a harmless Snake ; and to take off even the natural apprehensions of it , makes it familiar to him by his daily meditation . Lastly , God's pardons are universal and absolute . They are all his sins ; and all cast behinde God's back , never more to be remembred . God pardons totally and finally , not by halves or half way , but wholly and out-right ; he forgives and forgets . We are too too apt to throw our sins behinde our own back , and to take no notice of them ; our great concern is to get them cast behinde God's back . O let us prize this pardoning Grace of God's ; endeavour to obtain it by confessing and forsaking our sins ; and especially in the time of sickness , or any other affliction , when God's hand lies upon us , to make our humble and earnest supplications then to the blessed Spirit , to bring home to our soul this comfort ; to renew our repentance , and to re-inforce our resolutions ; and having obtain'd forgiveness , never by any fresh wilful acts of sin to forfeit the comfort of such an assurance . Thus have we seen Hezekiah Afflicted , Recover'd , Pardon'd : we are now in the last place come to his Thanksgiving , and Acknowledgement , and that , as I noted before , set down . 1. Negatively , that , if he had miscarried in this his sickness , then he could not possibly have perform'd this duty of praise . 2. Positively , that being now recover'd , and in a state of life and health , he will make it his business , as he sayes in the 20. verse , All the dayes of his life to sing his songs in the house of the Lord. For the Grave cannot praise thee , &c. which words will help us to several useful observations . In the first place , that The only Return which God expects for his mercies is Praise . This is given here as the reason of this his deliverance ; FOR the Grave cannot praise thee ; the living shall . God the Jehovah being an Infinite Being , and consequently , in his Essence and Actions , independent of any other being , can have no Principle or End of his Actions without him . As in a Circle , the whole round being in it self compleat , the beginning and end meet but in an imaginary point , and admit not of a real distinction . And such a Circle is God , which comprehends all things , and is it self not comprehended . Wherefore he can have no other principle , but himself ; no other end , but himself , in all that he does or designs . He is the Alpha and Omega ; * From him and to him are all things . He acts all freely from his own will , and wisely to his own glory : and in this manner we his creatures are to act , if we will act regularly , from him and to him . He is , as the supreme cause which excites and impowers all subordinate agents to act ; so the Chiefest Good too , in which all their actions should terminate . And in this subordination all other creatures , in their several spheres of activity , comply with the rule and method of their Creator : man only to his shame stands out , who has most reason to be , and to act like his God , wearing his Image . Good and pious men however do endeavour after this , which is their perfection ; to live by the power to the praise of God , that is , to act by his Grace to his Glory . Should God require any greater matter of us , as * Naaman's servants tell him , when we lie on the bed of sickness , when we are incompass'd with distresses , would not we have done it ? and when for our deliverance all , that he looks for at our hands , is praise only ; he must be of an extraordinary disingenuous impiety , that should refuse to testifie his thanks in so cheap a Sacrifice . This civility we deny not to men ; 't is a Physician 's reputation , when his patient recovers ; and we usually , besides his Salary , allow him our good word . Let not us grudge God the honour of a poor acknowledgement . Again , praising and celebrating God , and hoping for his truth , ( his mercy , say the LXX ; his Salvation , the Chaldee Paraphrast ) are here made Synonyma's , to mean the same thing . If so , then a generous trust in God's mercy is the right celebration of it . To trust in God is to praise him . I have been afflicted ; God has deliver'd me ; I praise him for it : how ? by trusting that he will still deliver me . I have been exercised with grievous sickness ; God has visited me with his loving kindeness : I come to return him due praise for his goodness : how ? by entertaining and professing a just confidence in God , that he will never fail me , never leave me destitute . And this , as 't is a comfortable , so 't is a rational and a natural duty . We ordinarily do it to men : when we have had tryals of their fidelity in matters of any moment , we stick not to trust them farther , and by so doing recommend their honest just dealing to the world . Shall we not much more do so to God ? whose mercy and faithfulness we have so often experimented , when no one could help us out but He He that distrusts God , scandalizes his goodness , and calls his truth in question . David is not asham'd to make one of the first and earliest acts of God's common providence towards him , when he was an infant , an argument of his trusting God his whole life after . * Thou art he , that tookest me out of my Mothers Bowels . What then ? my praise shall be alwayes of thee . A little after upon the strength of this confidence , he prayes , * Cast me not off in the time of old age ; forsake me not , when my strength faileth . Further , in that the Grave cannot praise God , nor they that go down into the pit hope for his truth ; it appears , that Death is a silent and a hopeless state . The Grave indeed opens a wide mouth ; but 't is to swallow the man , not to praise God with . And how can Divine Praises be celebrated by death , which puts all the Organs and Instruments of Speech out of tune ? when , as the Preacher phrases it , all the daughters of musick are brought low : and then for those that go down into the pit , they together with their lives quit their hopes , and are lodg'd now in a remediless condition . No hope to be met with at the bottom of that pit , because the pit it self is bottomless : for so the Septuagint have it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Those that are in hell ; they that are in Gehenna , says the Arabick ; and by the Targum the pit is interpreted the lake of perdition . Hope is a vertue peculiar to life ; and when the man dies , hope fetches its last gasp , and dyes with him . After death there 's no recovery . Faith and repentance can now no longer exercise any vital acts . If thou dye in thy sins , thou will lie and rot in thy sins , and rise again in thy sins . No imbalming can preserve thy soul , or take from thee the stench of thy sins , in that pit of corruption . Death concludes thee to an unalterable condition . Here thou mayest manage thy resolutions , and shape thy course , to please thy self ; and , if thou wilt , to please thy God , if thou wilt let his grace pilot thy vessel : but when thou art once put into harbour , the ship then is laid up , and there 's no mending the miscarriages of thy past voyage . Be sure then to live godly , if thou wouldst dye comfortably ; and then thy grave will prove a bed of spices , and thy dust be preserv'd , as the Phoenix●ashes in hopes of a joyful resurrection . To draw to a conclusion , a 4th . Note may be this , that Life it self is a blessing to be spent in the giver's praise . From these words , The living , the living , he shall praise thee . The word is twice repeated , to shew we should do it with chearfulness , with a life ; and with constancy , through our whole life If we had a hundred lives , they would be all well spent in God's service . It will be the business and imploy of our eternity to praise him ; and we must aforehand acquaint our selves with it , and so practice this lesson here , that we may be found worthy to wait upon the Lamb , and sing Hallelujahs in heaven . But then if we would praise God to the life , we must live to his praise , by doing things praise-worthy . Further , consider what this life of ours is ; 't is but a breath We must begin this task then out of hand , presently . There 's nothing of our life ours , but the present , the Nunc instans , this very instant of time . For all , that 's past of our lives , was indeed ours once , but now is not ; nor can we recal what 's gone for improvement or amendment : and what is to come , is not ours yet , and we know not whether it will be in our power , or no ; and therefore the great duty & interest of life is the right husbanding of our present time . Upon this moment hangs our eternity ; and this infinite advantage our short-liv'd service has , that he , that lives to God's glory here , shall hereafter be made partaker of it . Thus have I as well as I could gather'd a posie of Observations , as they grew in this fragrant piece of Scripture : and if some Rue and Wormwood be found amongst the sweeter herbs , their wholesomeness will make amends for their bitterness . Myrrh and Aloes , as they are bitter drugs , so they are rich perfumes ; in either notion , great preservatives they are against corruption . The Psalmist tells us , Psal. XLV that * All the Churches garments smell of them , 'T is not amiss , if we have pounded and mix'd somewhat of them with the Frankincense of this days Thanksgiving . Which brings us to the close of all , the Exemplification ; as I do this day . And that will yield us a considerable remark , to make an end with ; that signal mercies require solemn thanksgiving . So Hezekiah is eager to go up to the house of the Lord , and closes this Ode of his with a resolution there to sing his songs all the days of his life . And this on purpose to draw in others by his example to partake in the duty . Thus David after such a deliverance , Psal. XXXIV . invites others ; O magnifie the Lord with me , and let us exalt his name together , In the 6th . verse as it were pointing to himself , This poor man cried , and the Lord heard him , and saved him out of all his troubles . Let us then shut up all with a Form of Praise , wherein we may all joyn , and every one of us bear a part : and I am sure there is not any one of this whole Congregation , that will not be particularly and personally concern'd . WE praise thee , O God ; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the world doth worship thee , the Father Everlasting . Heaven and earth are full of thy glory . Thou dost whatsoever thou pleasest , both in heaven and in earth : and yet dost by thy Providence order all events , as to thy own glory , so to the good and advantage of the children of men . Thou madest all things for the use of man , and man himself for thine own service . We bless thee for thy works of Creation . O Lord , how manifold are thy works ? in great wisdom and out of great goodness hast thou made them all . The heavens declare thy glory , and the earth is full of thy goodness . We stand obliged , as we are thy creatures and the work of thy hands , to do thee homage , and to pay thee the tribute of Praise ; together with all thy works , which bless thee in all places of thy dominion . Especially man is bound to praise thee for the dignity of his creation , being made little lower then the Angels . Thou hast crown'd him with honour and majesty , and hast put all things under his feet . We bless thee , that thou hast made us Men and Women , after thine own image , in thy likeness ; and hast breath'd into us the breath of life . We will sing unto thee therefore , as long as we live ; we will sing praises unto our God , while we have a being . That thou hast given us an immortal soul , capable of eternal felicity , and of a blessed communion with thy self : faculties of reason , to contemplate the glories of our Maker ; and of speech , to express and set forth thy praises . All our members were writ down in thy book , when as yet there was none of them : thou art our God , even from our Mothers womb : when we yet hung at the breast , thou tookest care of us : we have lived at thy charge , and been maintain'd by thy providence , ever since we were born . Oh , let us praise the Lord for his goodness , and for his wonderful works to the children of men . Thou hast all along sent forth thy sun , and powr'd down thy rain , to provide us our food in due season ; and all thy steps towards us have dropt fatness . Thou hast satisfied our mouth with good things , and hast surrounded us with loving kindness and tender mercies . Nor have thy preservations over us been less ; or less constant , then thy provisions for us . Thou securest us from the casualties of the day , and from the terrors of the night . Thou art at our uprising and our downlying ; who keepest us both sleeping and waking , and yet thy self neither slumbrest nor sleepest . Thou understandest and guardest all our way . Day by day we magnifie thee for these thy daily favours . We bless thee for preserving us from the perils of our infancy , and from the miscariages of our riper years . Then , when we were not able to help our selves , thou tookest us up , setst thy Angel-guardians about us , who continually behold thy face ; and didst graciously preserve us from those inconveniencies , which either the negligence of those about us , or our own infirmity , or the condition of humane nature , might have expos'd us to . Since , when we were grown up to discretion , and were apt enough by our intemperances & indiscretions to do our selves mischief ; 't was thou alone hast kept us from the injuries of weather , from the rage of merciless elements , from all ill chances and sad accidents , from the power of Devils , and from the malice of men , and from the calamities of ill times ; and hast often delivered us from the dangers and ill consequents of our own folly , even when by presumptuous sins we have put our selves out of thy protection . O the unspeakable mercies of a good God , which either we have forgot , or were never sensible of ! What is man , that thou art so mindful of him ? or the son of man that thou shouldst so regard us ? who scarce ever mind or regard thee , and those infinite obligations thou hast from time to time laid upon us . We thank thee for those early advantages of our Christian education , that we were born within the pale of the Church , under the sound of the Gospel , and not amidst Turks and Heathen people , which know not thy name ; and were betimes by holy Baptism ingrafted into Christ's mystical body . O inestimable benefit , and that which can never sufficiently be valued ! though such is our unthankful carriage for this peculiar favour , which thou hast denyed to millions of men , that deserve it better then we do ; that we loath thy Word , slight thy Ordinances , and scoff at thy Ministers ; and in effect , through our peevish ingratitude , shew our selves as arrant Turks and Infidels , as any of the Turks and Infidels themselves are . Further , we bless thee for the love of Friends , and the care of Tutors , which put us upon good courses ; for the vigour of parts , and the integrity of limbs and senses ; for our health and strength ; for our peace and plenty ; for blessings , both publick and private , personal and national , temporal and spiritual . For giving us further time and space of repentance ; that thou hast not cut us off in the strength of our years , and the height of our lusts ; that we are yet on this side hell and the grave , yet in a possibility of Salvation , and are yet alive to praise thee , as we do this day , and to speak well of thy name . We bless thee for all those opportunities and advantages , thou hast so liberally afforded us , of serving thee , and of saving our own souls ; that , if we miscarry either in this world or the next , 't is not thou by thy grace or thy providence hast been wanting to us , but we have been wanting both to thee and to our selves . Finally , we return thee our hearty thanks , and praise thy name , for all those afflictions , thou hast at any time laid upon us , and for thy merciful deliverances out of them . That , when thou hast visited our iniquities , and chastn'd us for sin , thou hast not dealt with us after our sins , nor rewarded us according to our iniquities , but hast remembred mercy in the midst of judgment , and hast pitied us like as a father pitieth his children ; ( for thou knowest our frame , thou remembrest that we are but dust . ) That thou hast laid no more upon us at any time , then we were inabled by thee well to bear , and by thy grace hast supported us in our sufferings ; and that , when thou hast seen fit to put any bitterness into our cup , thou hast design'd it for our soul's health , and to a spiritual advantage ; and lastly , that together with the temptation thou hast given a gracious and happy issue out of it . And here we humbly intreat thee , O Father of mercies , to accept the thanksgiving of every particular person in this Congregation , for all thy favours and merciful deliverances vouchsafed them through the course of their whole lives ; and more especially be graciously pleased to accept the thanks of that thy servant , who being by thy gracious providence recover'd of a grievous and dangerous sickness , this day in thy house presents his offering of praise . Grant , that both he and all of us may have that his sickness and all our afflictions so sanctified , and this his recovery and all our deliverances so improv'd to him and to us , that we may ill be fully assur'd , that out of love to our souls thou hast deliver'd them from the pit of corruption , and that thou hast cast all our sins behind thy back . Thus shall our meditation of thee be sweet ; we will be glad in the Lord , and rejoyce in thy salvation , who forgivest all our iniquities , and healest all our diseases , and redeemest our life from destruction . Who hidest not thy face from us in the day of trouble , but regardest the prayer of the destitute : who lookest down from the height of thy sanctuary , to hear the groaning of those that are confin'd , and to deliver them that are appointed unto death . To declare the name of the Lord in his temple , and his praise in the great assembly , when the people are gather'd together to serve the Lord. Let us give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name : Let us bring our offerings , and come into his courts : Let us sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving , and declare his works with rejoycing . The Lord hath chasten'd us sore , but he hath not given us over unto death . We shall not die , but live , and declare the works of the Lord. Thou art our God , and we will praise thee : thou art our God , and we will exalt thee . Let us give thanks unto the Lord , for he is good : for his mercy endureth for ever . The voice of rejoycing and salvasion is in the tabernacles of the righteous . The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him ; in those that hope in his mercy . O Lord , our hope is in thee ; Let us never be confounded . Amen . Glory be to thee , O God. FINIS . ERRATA . PAge 4. line 4. read understand . p. 9 l. 24 r. our carnal . p. 17. l. 19. r. a little . p. 18. l. 9 r. sore . p 21. l. 27. sor disposition , r. dispensation . p. 25. l. 6. r. of our head . l. 11. f. this r. his . l. 19. before His meaning put in line 24 , 25 , 26 , 27. ( witness — Sabbath-rest ) p. 26. l. 21. r. all things . p. 29. l. 6. for care , r. tare . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A48725-e1160 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , uti Graecè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , dicere & cogitare ; prout è contra , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meditari primùm , dein eloqui . * Prov. 18. 4. * Ps. 69. 21. * S. Matth. 27. 34. V. 3. * See 2. Chron. 29. 1. Obs. Obs. * 2 Chron. 32. 26. 't is call'd , The pride of his heart . S. John 16. 21. Obs. * Job 1. 9. * So himsèl● complains , Job 7. 5. My flesh is cloathed with worms , and clods of dust , my skin is broken , and become loathsome . Obs. The pious man serves God for God's sake . Obs. * Job 3. 25. * Isa. 57. 20 Obs. Obs. Obs. * Psal. 8. 4. * Deut. 25. 4. * 1 Cor. 9. 9. * Deut. 5 14. * Psal. 8. 7. Obs. * 3 John v. 2. Obs. * Ps. 39. 5. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad f 〈…〉 mam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ap . J 〈…〉 38. 11. 12 veterament 〈…〉 Ang. old ca●● cloats and rotten rags Obs. * S. Luke 6. 38. S. Mark 2. 9. Obs. Obs. * Prov. 28. 1 ▪ Obs. Obs. * Rom. 11. 36. * 2 Kings 5. 13. Obs. * Psal. 71. 6. * Ver. 9. Obs. Eccl. 12. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obs. * Ver. 8. Obs.