THis Psalm was compiled by Moses as you may seé by the Title at what time the spies returned from the Land of Canaan, and God for the murmuring of the people pronounced that all which were above twenty years old should die in the wilderness, except Calib and Jo­shua that encouraged their brethren to go into Canaan, now when Moses heard the sen­tence of death pronounced against himself, and all the Jews, which came out of Egypt, except only two, Calib and Joshua, that all should die before they came to the land which [Page 2]they sought, he prayeth thus for himself and the rest, Teach us O Lord to number our dayes, that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdome.

That is séeing we must néeds dye, teach us to think of our death (that we may die in thy fear, to live for ever in thy favour, shew­ing us howthe consideration of our mortali­ty, will make us apply our hearts to godli­ness, therefore Moses thinking of his death runneth to Wisdome as a remedy against death, which intimates to us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdome, therefore we must come to some schoolmaster which teacheth us like John Baptist what we should do, that we may grow in knowledge as we grow in years.

Teach me to number my days (saith Moses) that I may apply my heart to Wisdome. As a man that hath a set time for his task listens to the Clock and counts his hours, so we have a set time to serve God, John 9. v. 4. Work while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work.

That is this life is the day wherein we should work, what work we have to do the Apostle tells us (work out your salvation) this is a long task, therefore we have néed to [Page 3]number our dayes not to lose a minute least we be benighted before our work be done (Teach me O LORD to number my days, &c.

That is, that we may still be numbring and counting our dayes, and hours, and mi­nutes, to see how fast we die, that every day and hour we may learn something of wis­dome, unless we think upon death we cannot fashion our selves to a godly life, though we were as well instructed as Moses, this we find dayly in our selves, that the forgetful­ness of death, makes us apply our hearts un­to folly and pleasure and voluptuousness, that contrary to his advice (work your salvati­on) we work our damnation, we are so far from numbring our dayes, that we do not number our wéeks, nor our months, nor our years, muchless number our dayes, Oh my beloved friends and Christians, who shall he present at the reading of this little book? my Prayers shall be to the throne of Grace, That we may be so taught to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts to Wisdome.

To pray, and fast, and watch, and hear, and do as becometh him which shall shortly give account of his Stewardship with cheer­fulness to his Lord and Master, and receive [Page 4]that blessed and joyful benediction of love, Well done thou good and faithful servant en­ter into the joy of thy Lord: this shall be the reward of those that apply their hearts to wisdome.

There is no such enemy to Repentance as to think we have time enough hereafter, which makes a man say when any good mo­tion cometh into his mind. I may stay yet a little longer and defer my Repentance, for I am Young in my Youth, if I do take a little pleasure, why God is a merciful God, and he will pardon my sins if I truly repent, I may stay yet like the sluggard, who turns upon his Bed like a Door upon the Hin­ges and saith as in Prov. 6. v. 10. Yet a lit­tle more sleep, a little more slumber, I may lye still a while, this is not to number our days, but to stretch our days, & to make them séem more then they are, and they that do so never apply their hearts to wisdome, so you sée what a preservative Moses used against sin and pleasure.

He kept a Kalendar as it were of his days which called upon him and said, be diligent for thou hast but a short time here. Five things I note in these words.

First, that Death is the Haven of every [Page 5]man and woman whether they sit in the throne, or live in a Cottage, at last we must knock at Deaths door as all our fathers have done before us.

Secondly, that man's time is set and his bounds appointed, beyond which he cannot pass.

Thirdly, that our dayes are but few as though we were sent into the world but to sée it: shewing that it is an easie thing for a man to number his dayes, they be so few.

Fourthly, the aptness of man to forget Death, as we have often experienced, when one man shall say to another, do you remem­ber where you are to go to morrow, the other shall answer again and say, I protest I thought no more of it then of my Dying day, and therefore Moses prayeth to the Lord to teach him to number his dayes.

Fifthly and Lastly, that to remember how short a time we have to live, we may ap­ply our hearts to that which is good, as every one had a day to come into this world: so surely they shall have a day to go out of this world. When Moses had spoken of some vvhich lived seven hundred years and another that lived eight hundred years, and [Page 6]another that lived nine hundred years, at last comes in Mortuus est, he died.

Therefore the Apostle saith, we have here no abiding City, but we look for one to come, as our Saviour saith, My Kingdome is not of this world, so we may say, our dwel­ling is not of this world, but the soul soareth upward whence she came, and the body stoop­eth downward whence it came, our taber­nacles are made to remove, every man is a tenant at will, and there is nothing sure in this life but death.

When Adam and Eve were thrust out of Paradice by reason of their sins, God cloa­thed them with the skins of dead Beasts, which shewed them that now they were cloa­thed with Death, and that as the beasts were dead, whose skins they wore (so they should dye also) As Job. 17. verse 14. I shall say to corruption thou art my father, and say to the Worm, thou art my Mother, and Sister. Which made Solomon to say, that he should go the way of all the Earth. To which Isaiah bears witness, crying all flesh is grass, chap. 49. vers. 6. that is, it falleth, and is cut down like grass. In this world we live and must dye. In Heaven we shall live and not dye; before Sin nothing could [Page 7]change us, and now every thing doth change us.

First, we war old, then we war Dry, then we wax weak, then we wax sick, so we melt away by Drops at last: as we carryed others, so others carry us to our Graves, that is the last bed that every man shall sleep in. We may well be called Earth­en Vessels, for we are soon broken, we are like the Ice that thaweth a great deal sooner then it froze, so these little worlds, our Earthly tabernacles are destroyed first, and at last the great world shall be destroyed too and all in it, which was made for us shall pe­rish with us, what do you learn when you think of this (but that which Moses saith) apply your hearts to wisdome.

The second note is, that the time of man is set, and his bounds appointed that be cannot pass, and Jeremiah saith, they could not stand because the day of their de­struction is come, as all the promises of God are conditional to take place if we repent not.

The third point is, that our life is but a short life, as many little sculls, are in Golgotha as great sculls, that is as many young Children go to their grave, as Old [Page 8]people the Parents mourn for the death of their Children as often as Children for the death of their Parents: What a great change is this, that in Fourscore years, no one of us here that are hearers of this little Book shall be left alive, but others shall fill our Rooms, and tread upon us as we tread upon others now: Man dyeth when he thinks his Sun is a rising: before his Eye is satisfyed with séeing, his Ear with hear­ing, or his heart with lusting, Death knocks at his door, and will not give him one mi­nutes respite to meditate an excuse before he comes to judgement: which shews the Shortness and Vncertainty of Man's Life.

This was the Arethmatique of Holy­men in former times to reckon their dayes, so that their time might seem short, to make them apply their Hearts to Wis­dome.

David numbred his days by a measure, My life saith he is like a span long, Psal. 39. v. 5. when he measured his life he took not a Pole or an Ell, nor a yard to measure it by, but a short measure, his short Span, My life is like a span long: As some came into the Vineyard in the Borning, some at Noon, [Page 9]and some at night, so some go out of this Vineyard in the Borning, some at Noon, and some at night, so that a pleasant life may be compared but to a glorious day, and a sorrowful life to a cloudy day, and a long life to a Summers day, and a short life to a winters day; now why hath God appointed such a short time to man in the world, surely least he should defer to do good as his man­ner is, for though his life be short, yet he thinks he hath time enough to repent, The Prophet saith our years are but threescore and ten, as though they were but a little time to live, if our life were but a year, yet a Year is more by fifty one weeks then we use, all the rest be lost, for we defer our repen­tance till the last wéek of the year: it is said of the Devil he is busie, because his time is short, but the time of man is shorter; and therefore Christ saith, in this thy day, as though no day could be called thy day, but this day, and therefore all that thou hast to do, thou must do this day. Consider this all ye which travel towards Heaven, had we not need to make hast, which must go such a long journey in so short a time, how can he chuse but run which remembreth that [Page 10]every day runneth away with his life, how often doth the scripture put us in mind of our death, and yet we no sooner remember it but in a very short time its forgot again; even so it is with us, as the Fooll saith in his heart there is no God, so we say in our hearts there is no death, or at least death will not come before we be old, of all numbers we cannot skill to number our dayes, we can number our Shéep, and our Oxen, and our Coyn, but we think that our dayes are infi­nite, and therefore we never go about to num­ber them, we can number other mens days and years, and think they will dye ere it be long, if we sée them sick, or sore, or old, but we cannot number our own.

Therefore the Devil doth never teach a man to number his dayes, because he gains by the forgetfulness of death, but the Lord which would have a man to apply his heart to Wisdome, it is he which teacheth us to number our dayes, and therefore Moses pray-unto him that he might apply his heart unto Wisdome, as if he should say, until men think upon death they never apply their hearts unto wisdome, but busies themselves with worldly matters as though they were feathering a nest that should never be pulled [Page 11]down, therefore the way to get wisdome is [...] apply your hearts unto it, as if it were [...]our Calling and Living, to which you are [...]ound Prentices, a man may apply his ears [...]nd his eyes, as many truants do their Books, and yet never prove schollars, but [...]rom that day which a man begins to apply his heart unto wisdome, he learns more in a moneth after, then he did in a year before, [...]ay than ever he did in his life; even as you [...]ee the wicked, because they apply their hearts [...]o wickedness how fast they proceed, how [...]asily and how quickly they become perfect Swearers, expert Drunkards, cunning De­ceivers.

So if we could apply our hearts as through­ly to knowledge and goodness, we might become like to the Apostle that teacheth us, therefore when Solomon sheweth men the way how to come by Wisdome, he speaks often of the Heart, Give thy heart to wis­dome, let wisdome enter into thy heart, get wisdome, keep wisdome, embrace wisdom, wisdome is like God's Daughter, that he giveth to the man that loveth her, and sueth for her, and meaneth to see her at his Heart, thus we have learned how to apply Know­ledge that it may do us good, not to our ears [Page] [Page 10] [...] [Page 11] [...] [Page 12]like them which hear Sermons only, nor to our tougues like them which make table-talk of Religion, but to our hearts that we may say with the Virgin, My Heart doth magni­fy the Lord, and the heart will apply it to the Ear, and to the tongue, as Christ saith, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

The last point is, that the remembrance of death makes us to apply our hearts to wisdome, Moses commanded not a many books to a wise man Learned, but as David commends one book instead of many Medi­tations in the Law of God day and night, for the reading of many books (saith Solo­mon) is but weariness to the flesh, therefore as though Moses had marked what did move him most to seek after God, he prayeth that that thought may run in his mind still the remembrance of death, as many benefits come unto us by death, so many benefits come unto us by the remembrance of death, and this is one, viz.

It maketh a man to apply his Heart to wisdome; for when he considereth that he hath but a short time to live, he is careful to spend it well, like Moses, of whom it is said, that when he considered how he had but a sea­son [Page 13]to live, he chose rather to suffer af­flictions with the Servants of God, then to injoy the pleasure of sin for a season, this is that which makes the old Men Fast and watch, & prepare themselves more then young Men, because they think themselves nearer the Grave, like old Isaac which when he was blind for Age, said unto Esau, Behold I am now old and know not the day of my death, that is, because I am old I look to dye short­ly, and therefore as Isaiah taught Ezechias to set all things in order before he died, so he called his eldest Son to whom he thought his Inheritance belonged that he might bless him before he dyed, this Wisdom the Fa­thers called the wisdom of the Cross which we call the best, because it was the dearest bought, it is hard for a man to think of a short life; and think evil, or to think of a long life, and think well, therefore when Jeremy had numbred all the Calamities and [...]ins of the Jews, at last he imputed all to his Lamentations the 1. and the 9. She re­membred not her end. So if I may judg why Natural Men care for nothing but their Pomp, why great men care for nothing but [Page 14]their Honor and Dignity, why covetous Worldlings care for nothing but their gain, why voluptious Epicures care for nothing but their pleasure; I may say with Jeremy, (they remember not their end) we never co­vet the same things living and dying, there­fore when Solomon had spoken of all the Va­nities of men, at last he tells them all, Ec­cles. 11. v. 9. Remember that for all these things thou shalt come to judgment, as if he should say, Men would never speak as they speak, nor do as they do, if they did but think their speeches and deeds should come to Iudgment, as the Bird guideth her flight with her Trian, so the Life of Man is best directed with a continual recourse unto his end.

Which is in the numbring of our days, let us consider what a Harvest we have lost which happyly before this time we never prayed with Moses that the Lord would teach us to number our days, so that we may apply our hearts to wisdom, but as the old year went, and a new year came, so we thought that a new year would follow [Page 15]that, and so we think that another will fol­low this, and so they thought that are dead long ago.

This is not to number our days, but to provoke God to shorten our days, there are but few here but have seen twenty years, novv if we had but every year learned one Vertue since vve were born, vve might by this time have béen like Saints among Men, but the time is yet to come, when vve shall apply our hearts to Wisdom, to Riches and Pleasure we have applyed our hearts, and our eyes and our ears, and our hands too, but to Wisdom vve have not applyed our hearts.

There be many causes, but there should be no cause if vve had numbred our days, for surely if a man could persuade him­self that this is the last day, as it may be he vvould not defer his Repentance until to morrovv, if he could think that this is his last Meal that ever he should eat, he vvould not surfeit of it, if he could believe that the vvords vvhich he doth speak to day, [Page 16]should be the last vvords that ever he should speak, he vvould not offend vvith his tongue, if he could be persuaded that this Sermon should be the last Sermon that ever he should hear, he vvould hear it better then ever he heard any yet, whilst breach is in the body, the heart may apply it self and the eye may apply it self, and the ear may apply itself, and the hand may apply it self. Work while it is light, I can but admonish you with words, as John baptized with Water, as Moses prayed the Lord to number his days, so you must pray the Lord to teach you to number your Days, it may be that thou hall but twenty years to serve God, wilt thou not live twenty years like a Christi­an, that thou maill live a thousand years like an Angel, it may be that thou hast but ten years to serve him, wilt not thou serve ten years for Heaven vvhich vvould serve twenty years for a Farm, it may be that thou hast but five years vvell to redeem all thy former mispent years vvhereby to gain an Eternal being in Heaven, yet God doth knovv vvhether many here present or any here present have so long to live, to [Page 17]repent for all the years vve have spent in [...]n, if thou wer't born to day, thy journey is not an hundred years, if thou be a Man half thy time is spent already, if thou be an old Man, then thou art drawing to thy Inn, and thy Race is but a Breach, therefore as Christ said to his Disciples, when he found them sléeping, (Could ye not Watch one hour) so I say to my self and to you all here present, can vve not pray, can vve not suf­fer a little vvhile, he vvhich is tired can tra­vel a little vvay, a little further, one step more for a Kingdom, for this God vvould not have Men knovv vvhen they shall dye (be­cause they should make Ready at all times having no more certainty of one hour then another, therefore our Savior saith, Watch, because ye know not when the Lord will come to take you, and judg you.

Happy are they vvhich hear the Word and keep it, thus you sée that Death is the last upon Earth, that the time of Man is set, that his Race is short, that he thinks not of it, that if he did remember it, it mould make him apply his mind to Good [Page 18]as he doth to Evil. and novv I end as I began.

The Lord teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to Wisdom. Amen.