WISDOME does not only do her works well, but perceives that shee does so, delights in their Beauty, exults in re­membrance of the ma­ster'd difficulty, and triumphs ore the con­quer'd Opposition: Thus God stood-off, as [Page 2] 'twere, from his great worke of the Creation when he had finish'd it applauded, and bles'd it; prided himself, as I may say, in his noble performance; in that he had brought light out of darkness, Order out of Chaos, a World out of nothing. In the like manner, when he had here compos'd the Distractions and Confusions both in the Church and State of Israel, by establishing David literally, and Christ mystically, on the Throne of the Kingdome, he glorys in having brought a­bout his great Designe; laughs at the fruit­less Opposition of his Adversarys at home and abroad, of the Philistins, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Damascens, the Amalekites, of the King of Zoba, and of all the turbulent and ambitious spirits of the house of Saul: delights to recount their Might, and their Machinations, the more to signalize their Overthrow, and to make his Victory illu­strious. For after all their rage, their ma­lice, their Councells, their combinations, their seeming successes against him, the Issue was this. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion.

[Page 3]We may observe in the words these three things.

• 1. The Person establisht, My King, (i.e.) David literally so called, and Christ Mystically.
• 2. His Establishment, I have set my King upon my holy hill of Sion.
• 3. Gods Glorying in the fact, that he had done it with such a Non obstante, notwithstanding such Opposition and Contradiction. Yet have I set my King—

1. The Person establisht, My King, Gods King. Not only holy Scripture, but the writings of Heathens declare Kings to be sa­cred persons, descended more immediately from the Gods, and more particularly de­pending on them. Kings are from Iupiter, says Callimachus, and nothing ever descend­ed more sacred from him. And Theocri­tus, Kings are the special Care of the Gods. And this Epithete's affected by Homer, [...] [Page 4] [...] God-lov'd Kings. Indeed all Kings in general are Gods, derive their Authority from him, governe by his Per­mission and Providence, as himselfe testi­fies, By me Kings Reign. But then he delights in a more especiall manner to stile Good Kings, his; to appropriate their Persons, and own their Causes, to interpret all things done to them, as done to him­self, as at Verse 2. Why do-the Rulers take councell together against the Lord, and against his Anoynted? Conspiracys against the King, are reckoned Conspiracys against God; the resisting his Anoynted, the re­sisting himself. And thus, if it be a Glo­rious thing to be a King, 'tis a Blessed to be a Good King: for as splendor attends Majesty and Greatnesse; protection, and safety, and felicity, and the love of Heaven attend Righteousnesse. But let us see why David is here more particularly call'd Gods King then others.

The First Reason we may say was, be­cause he was a King of Gods Making, be­cause [Page 5] he brought him to the Throne, ha­ving no Title by Birth to it, à Cautis ovium tuli te, I called him from the Sheep-book to the Scepter. And as these Persons which are of our Election, preferring, or favour­ing, we call Ours; this is my Schollar, my Souldier, my Officer, because he was of my nomination, my choosing, my advancing: so David was called Gods King, because he was of his choosing and advancing; his Right to the Crown, was his immediate nomina­tion; he had no other Interest in the Roy­alty, but the Interest he had in Gods fa­vour; and if he had not been Gods King, he had not been King of Israel.

2. David was call'd Gods King more par­ticularly, by reason of his many Deliver­ances of him; he preserv'd him, from the time of his first anoynting by Samuel, from the jealousy of Saul, and the malice of Sauls house; conducted him through all the potent and perillous Oppositions of the Heathen, as I shew'd, and left him not till he had set him on his holy hill of Sion [Page 6] (i.e.) establish't him peaceably and Glo­riously on the United Throne of Israel and Judah. And for this reason David is not only call'd Gods King in my Text, but in the following Verse, his Sonne, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. The day of his Redemption and Promotion, being counted the day of his Creation. And the same words are apply'd to Christ in the like manner after his Resurrection, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. The day of his deliverance from death and the Grave, is call'd the day of his Na­tivity or Generation; the day in which God exalted him, and Invested him with Power, the day in which he begot him.

3. David was call'd Gods King more particularly, because he was a King of his likeing, as 'tis said, After his own heart. And in this sense also men say a thing is theirs, when they approve it, and are pleased with it above things of the like kind. Horace is my Poet, Tully is my Oratour, Tacitus is my Historian, because these hit my fancy and [Page 7] Genius. In the Books of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the Chronicles of their Acts, there's registed a long Catalogue of them; but though they were all Kings of Gods people, they were not all Gods Kings, in this last sense, Kings of his liking: he did not boast of many of them, or own their pro­ceedings, but of those only which executed Justice and Judgement, destroyed Idola­try, and restored the true Worship; the others though they wore the Crown, they wore not the Praise of being Kings of Gods liking; they were of the royal Vnction, but not of this divine Relation. And just af­ter this manner Christ esteemed his Kin­dred, not she that bare him, was his Mo­ther; nor those that descended of the same stock, were of his Alliance; but they that heard his sayings, and did them, were his Mo­ther, his Sisters, and his Bretheren. 'Tis not he that bears the Diadem and the Scepter, not he that is of the Race of Kings, that is anoynted by the Prophet, shooted for the people, praised by the hired Historian, that [Page 8] is Gods King but he that does that which is Righteous in his sight: the others may boast their Title from God, but they can boast no title to him, to his Approbation and liking, and consequently not to his Protection and Blessing. In the Hebrew Dialect, things that excell in Greatness or Height above others, are entitl'd to God, tall Ceders are thus stil'd Cedars of God, high Mountain, Mountain of God; great ri­ver, River of God, &c. And Kings that ex­cell only in might and magnificence, are but entitl'd to God as Trees and Mountains, and we may say unto them, as the Psalmist does to the high hills, Why leap ye so ye high hills? that is, why do ye insult, or lift up your proud heads unto the clouds? Sion is Gods hill, where he delights to dwell, Sion of an humbler and lower pitch, but more pleasant and fruitfull. 'Tis not the Bulke and large Demensions of any thing that commends it to God, but the Vertue of it; not the King, mighty in his Hosts, goodly in the Symmetry and Proportions of his [Page 9] Body, but the King that's mighty in Good­nesse, whose Actions hold a just Symmetry and Proportion with Gods Laws; 'twas not Saul higher than the People but Da­vid eminent in Piety, with whom God made his Covenant of mercy, and set upon his holy Hill. Which brings me to my second part, The Establishment of David.

I have set my King upon my holy hill of Sion. By four Circumstances observable in the words, may be seen the extraordinary se­curity in which God placed David after all his Troubles. He set him on Sion, and Sion was a Fortresse taken by David from the Jebusites, who had made it the chiefe strength and Seat of their Kingdome. and so, First, 'Twas a Fortification by Art. Secondly, 'Twas a Hill, and that's a Fortification by Nature; such as must be ascended, before it can be assaulted. Thirdly, 'Twas a holy Hill, and Holynesse is another Fortification, a Moral or Spiri­tual, stronger then either of the former, for here God is the watchman, and con­cern'd [Page 10] in the Defence. And therefore Fourthly, 'Tis said My (i.e.) Gods holy hill of Sion, the place where he dwelt, and had fixt his Tabernacle; God had other places of Religious worship in the land, but Sion was the Metropolis to which the rest pay'd homage, and to which all the Tribes came up thrice every year to offer their Oblation, and so was Gods by a more ex­cellent Title. And to storme this place was as vain an Enterprize (if God did not first forsake it, drove away by the sins of the Inhabitants) as to attempt to force Heaven it selfe: for he would sooner neglect the Government of the World, then forget the Place where his Honour dwelt. So that David being establisht on Sion, might defy all danger from the Princes his enemys a­broad, or from his ill-affected Subjects at home: nay he was so farre from Fearing from any of them, that he was Formidable to them, as the last Verse of this Psalm shews. Be wise now therefore, O ye Kings—Kisse the son (i.e.) pay subjection to David [Page 11] himself (for that's the first sense of the words) least he be angry, and ye perish—

Thus we see David, who for so many years together, fled from place to place (as he describes his own condition) like a Par­tridge upon the mountains, fixt and establisht like a Mountain, inviron'd with a fourfold Fortification, as if he had been within the Enclosures of Heaven it self: so that with a Pious presumption he might well say, as he does, Psal. 30. 6. I shall never be re­moved, thou Lord of thy goodness hast made my Hill so strong. And let no man think much, that there was a time that he was deprest and afflicted, as many are apt to take scandal when they read or hear such things as this,
‘Insignem pietate virum tot adire labores.’
That persons excelling in Piety, should excell also in Sufferings; for God by these wayes conducts his servants to the Noblest ends, hardens and prepares the Instruments [Page 12] of his Glory by afflictions, as men do those Tools which they design for the toughest Imployments, by several drench­ings of them in astringent Water. Prospera in plebem, ac vilia ingenia deveniunt, a constant even Prosperity is the lot of mean Persons and Spirits, the Noble and Magnanimous are oppos'd to the Storms and Outrages of Fortune; nor are they otherwise to be distinguisht from the Vulgar, then by these Encounters. That Great Person, sayes Senèca, that never prov'd Adversity, is like a Champion that enters the lists without an Antagonist; Coronam habet Victoriam non habet. He may gain a Crown, but he never got a Victory. In a still calm of affairs God also gets no Glory, he has no Field to shew his Power, his Wisdome, and his Goodness in, he cannot frustrate the Counsels of the wicked, and bring the preparations of the Mighty to nought. 'Tis true, He governs all things at all times, but every Act of his Providence, is not a Victory over his Ene­mies; and though he disposes Crowns and [Page 13] Scepters as he pleases; 'tis when the wicked resists that he sayes, Yet have I set my King—And so I pass to my Third Part, Gods glorying in his establishment of David.

The Holy Ghost in this Second Psalm, sets down the Method which the Enemies of David used, to prevent his succeeding in the Throne, which is also the Scheme ordinarily of all Sedition and Rebellion. First, The Heathen did rage, (i.e.) The Neighbour Princes were jealous and angry, out of apprehension of their own Estates; and this is commonly the ground of Trou­bles: For a Kings own Subjects, though they be male-content, and bear him ill-will in their hearts; yet they often want Cou­rage or Opportunity to execute it, till they are back't by a Foraign Power. But then Secondly, The People, (i.e.) Princes own People, begin to imagine vain things; which may either mean false things which shall not take effect; or Wicked which shall; for in both sences Vain is taken in [Page 14] the Hebrew. In the Third place, The Kings of the Earth, and the Rulers take coun­sell together, (i.e.) The Neighbour Kings, and the Magistrates, and Great ones of the Realm fall into Combinations, and Associati­ons. And then Fourthly, Nothing re­mains but open defection, the breach of all Covenants and Contracts, and Sedition is heard in every mans mouth, as Verse the 3. Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their Cords from us: Their bonds, and their cords, (i.e.) both of the Lord, and of his Anointed, all Obligations both Hu­mane and Divine are Cancell'd. By bonds, may be understood the softer and gentler Tyes of Natural Love and Loyalty, which every Subject owes unto his Soveraign: by Cords, the stronger Obligations of Oaths, those Sacramental Chains that bind men like Iron Shackles and Fetters. But both these are broken, and for fear they should be again united, cast quite from them. And why was all this? as the question is deservedly ask'd at v. the 1. with wonder [Page 15] and indignation: Why did the Heathen rage? Why did the People imagine a vain thing? Why did they take Counsell together? David was just to his Allies abroad, and gracious to his Subjects at home, God prosper'd him, and made him Victorious in all his Enter­prizes. Why Lord? To answer in the words of another in a like case, Odiorum causae acriores, quia iniquiores, their hatred was the sharper and more implacable, be­cause it was the unjuster; Innocence is ab­horr'd by the wicked, more than Injury and Violence; The Religion and Piety of David was more insupportable to his Enemies, than the Yoke of Tyranny and Oppression; and they chose rather to bear the Iron Scepter of the Nations, or of a base Usurper, than his holy and righteous Scepter. And this it was which made the Establishment of David so difficult, because there was no Why, no Just cause for the Aversion of his Enemies; had there been a Reason, it might have been re­mov'd; had there been a Wrong, there [Page 16] might have been a Reparation: but Per­versness and Impiety only govern'd, and God utters himself, as if he had broke through some great Obstruction in setting David on the Throne. Like one that for a long time roll'd a stone against a Hill, which often return'd upon him; or Row'd against a strong Tide, which forc'd his Boat back, and when at last by many a weary stretch and Strain of his Arms has got the better, fits down, and reflects on what has past, congratulates his labour, and tells himself what himself has done: Yet I have planted my Stone upon the top of the Hill; or, yet I have stemm'd this Churlish stream, and got my Boat a head of it. So God is pleas'd to speak in the Restoring of David, as if he had been hard put to it, and groan'd under the performance, and Glo­ry'd in having at last carry'd it through, Yet have I set my King—

But perhaps some will say, Is there any thing difficult to the Almighty? Could not he have crusht the Cockatrice in the Shell? Dasht [Page 17] the yet infant-Plot against the stones? Scatter'd his Enemies in their first Imaginations? Why did he suffer them to Combine, before he con­founded them? Confederate and grow to strength, before he cast them down, and had them in derision? as 'tis said, v. 4. Even for this very reason, That he might not spoyle such his Scene of Laughter, pre­vent the Glory of his Triumph, obscure the wise Dispensations of his Providence, that David might see the whole Wonder of his Deliverance, and his wicked Adversa­ries the whole Folly of their Enterprize. A wise General will not presently give on the Charge upon an Enemy passing a Foord, till a considerable Party have gain'd the Bank; that he may not only shew his Courage but his Conduct; and cut off the adverse Power as well as repulse it. Thus, though God had it in his hands to dissipate and discourage the first At­tempts of his own and Davids Opposers, he chose rather to let them proceed and prosper to a degree, that he might not [Page 18] only obstruct their wickedness but defeat it; disturb the Conspiracy, but confound the Conspirators. And our Blessed Lord practis'd this piece of Policy, when he suffer'd the Devil by his wicked Instru­ments, the Jews, to take away his Innocent Life, and lay him in the Grave: For after Satan flatter'd himself that he had sur­priz'd his strong Foe, he let him see he was surpriz'd by him; that instead of re­ceiving a Captive, he had receiv'd a Con­querer within his Gates: one that sack'd and despoyl'd his Kingdom, dismantl'd his Forts, and raz'd his Strong-holds. And this was a performance worthy of that Triumphant Speech, O Death where is thy Sting! O Grave where is thy Victory! A down-right defeat is not so renown'd to the Conquerer, or so grievous to the Conquer'd, as to turn his Stratagems up­on himself, and to overthrow him by his own subtlety and Treachery. Again, to Mock and Vex an Enemy, is a further de­gree of Revenge, than to destroy him. [Page 19] When the Pirates of Cilicia began to treat some Passengers of Italy with the cruelty they used unto their Prisoners, they cry'd out, They were Citizens of Rome, at which Venerable name the Pirates pretended to fear, and commanded presently Gowns to be brought, and put upon their Backs, and shooes on their feet; and then with a seeming lowly observance besought them, To walk over the sides of the Ship, and be free; telling them by way of excuse for their Violation of them, When they met them next in that Attire they should not be ignorant of their Quality; and with this derision threw them into the Sea, when the unfortunate men refus'd to cast themselves. And the Enemies of David were such, as God thought fit not only to destroy, but also to mock and vex, as 'tis said vers. the 4, and 5. The Lord had them in derision—And vext them in his sore displeasure. But How, and after What manner did he mock and vex them? By letting them a long time plot and strengthen themselves, make a profuse [Page 20] expence of Labour, money, and bloud, by letting them perswade themselves they had prevail'd, that David was utterly ex­cluded; and then after all, to shew them the despis'd and Rejected Son of Jesse set Gloriously on the Throne; their Machin of Usurped Government, made a Pageant for his Triumph; all their endeavours, all their glorying, serve but for this Oc­casion of Gods glorying over them, Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion.

I have done with the Words, which have been twice already eminently ful­fill'd; Once as I have shew'd, in the Per­son of David. And a Second time, in the Exaltation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into the Kingdom of Heaven, after his Resurrection, as likewise in the setting up his Spiritual Throne in the hearts of men. So that I may seem to assay an Impious thing, to make a Third Application to any Mortal King whatsoever. But while I shall not parallel the Divine and Mystical King, but at a distance adore the foot-steps [Page 21] of his Sufferings and Exaltation, and not compare them; their will be no danger to shew the Tracts and Lineaments that are between the Deliverance and Establish­ment of David, and of our Gracious So­veraign, for the awaking our Gratitude, and magnifying Gods mercies to this Na­tion.