A treatise made by Athanasius the Great, concerning the vse and vertue of the Psalmes.

A Treatise made by Athanasius the Great, concerning the vse and vertue of the Psalmes.

ALl holy Scripture is certainly the teacher of all vertue, and of the true faith: but the booke of the psalmes doth expresse after a certaine manner the very state and condition of the soule. For as he which intendeth to present himselfe to a King will first compound himselfe to set in good order both his gesture and his speech, lest als hee might be reputed rude and ignorant: euen so doth this godly booke in∣forme all such as be desirous to lead their life in vertue, and to know the life of our Sauiour, which he led in his conuersation, putting them in mind in the reading thereof, of all their affections and passions wher∣to the soule is inclined.

Moreouer, the psalmes informe and teach euery man with diuers in∣structions, whereby he may not onely spy the affections and state of his soule, and to winne a good paterne and discipline how hee may please God, but also with what forme of words he may amend himselfe, and how to giue God thanks, least if he should speake otherwise then were conuenient, he should fall into impiety by his vnreuerent estimation of God: for wee must all make account to the Iudge, as well of our idle words as our ill deserts.

IF therefore thou wouldest at any time describe a blessed man who he is, and what thing maketh him to be so, thou hast the 1.32.41.112.128. Psalmes.

2 If thou wouldest rebuke the Iewes for their spight they haue to Christ, thou hast the 2. psalme.

3 If thine owne familiars pursue thee; and if any rise against thee, say the 3.143. Psalmes.

4 If thus in trouble thou hast called on God, and hast tarri∣ed vpon his help, and wouldst giue him thanks for that he hath heard thee with his help sing the 4.40.116. psalmes.

5 If thou seest that euill men lay snares for thee, and there∣fore desirest Gods eares to heare thy prayer, sing the 5. psalme.

6 If thou feelest Gods dreadfull threats, and seest thy selfe a∣fraid of them, thou mayst say the 6.38.88. psalmes.

7 If any take counsell against thee, as Achitophel did against Dauid, if thou be admonished thereof, sing the 7. psalme.

8 If thou in beholding the grace of our Sauior spred on euery 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••ally for the restoring of mankind to ••••••••uation, would••st speake thereof in meditation to God, sing the 8. psalme.

9 If so againe thou wilt sing in giuing thanks to God for the prosperous gathering of thy fruites, vse the 8. psalme.

10 If thou wouldest haue thine aduersaries kept, backe & thy soule saued, trust not in thy selfe, but in the Son of God, singing the 9. psalme.

11 If thou perceiuest God to bee wroth with his people, as though he regarded them nothing, thou hast to pacifie him, to complaine thereof, the 10, 60.74. psalmes.

12 If any man would put thee in feare, haue thou thy hope in God, and sing the 11. psalme.

13 If thou beholdest the pride of many men, and seest malice to abound, so that there is no godlines among men, repaire then to God and say the 12. psalme.

14 If thine aduersarie lie long in wait against thee, dispaire not as though God had forgotten thee, but call vpon the Lord, and sing the 3.6.22. psalmes.

15 If thou hearest any to blaspheme God in his prouidence, be not partaker with them in wickednes, but make hast to God, and say the 14.55. psalmes.

16 If thou desirest to know who is a Cittizen of heauen, sing the 15. psalme.

17 If thou hast need of prayer for such as be against thee, and haue closed thy soule on euery side, sing the 16.17.86.141. psal.

18 If thou hast escaped from thine enemies, and art deliuered from them who pursued thee, sing thou the 18, 89. psalmes.

19 If thou dost wonder at the order of things created by God, considering the grace of the diuine prouidence, sing the 19.24. psalmes.

20 If thou seest any man in aduersity, comfort him, and pray for ••••im with the 20. psalme.

••1 If thou perceiuest thy selfe to be defended & fed by God, and to liue prosperously, reioyce therein, and sing the 23. psalm.

22 If thine enemies conspire against thee, lift vp thy soule to God, and say the 23. psalme, and thou shalt espy them to labour but in vaine against thee.

23 If thine enemies cluster against thee & go about with their bloudy hands to destroy thee, go not thou about by mans helpe to reuenge it, for all mens iudgements are not trusty, but require God to be iudge, for he alone is iudge, & say the 26.35, 43. psal.

24 If they pres••e more fiercely on thee, tho••gh they be in num∣bers like an armed host, feare them not which thus reiect thee, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••••ugh thou wert not anointed and elect by God; but sing the 27. psalme.

25 If they be yet so impudent that lay wait against thee, so that it is not lawfull for thee to haue any vocation by them, re∣gard them not, but sing to God the 48. psalme.

26 If thou wilt exhort and prouoke Kings & princes to sub∣mit their power to God, & regard his honor sing the 29.82, psa.

27 If thou renew and builde thine house, both of thy soule, whereto thou receiuest God to host, and of thy temporall habi∣tation, sing the 30.48.127. psalmes.

28 If thou seest thy selfe had in hate for the truths sake of thy friends and kinsfolke, leaue not off thy purpose, nor feare them which be against thee, but thinke on them which follow, & sing the 31. psalme.

29 If thou beholdest such as be baptised, & so deliuered from the corruption of their byrth, praise thou the bountiful grace of God, and sing the 32 psalme.

30 If thou delightest to sing among many, cal together righ∣teous men of godly life, and sing the 33. psalme.

31 If by chance thou fallest amongst thine enemies, and yet hast fortunately escaped them, if therfore thou wilt giue thanks, call together meeke men, and sing the 34. psalme.

32 If thou seest wicked men contend among themselues to do mischiefe, thinke not that their Nature doth impell them by ne∣cessity to worke sin against their will, as certaine heretikes sup∣pose, but consider the 36. psalme, and thou shalt perceiue that they be to themselues their owne occasion of sinning.

33 If thou seest how wicked men doe much wickednes, and that yet simple folke praise such, when thou wilt admonish and man not to follow them, to be like vnto them, because they shall bee shortly rooted out and destroyed; speake to thy selfe and to other the 37. psalme.

34 If thou hast decreed to take heed of thy selfe, & seest thine enemy approch nigh thee, as against one whom the aduersary is more prouoked to come with assault, and therefore wilt prepare thy selfe, sing the 39. psalme.

35 If thou seest many poore men to beg, & wilt shew pitty to them, thou mayst both thy selfe receiue them to mercy, and also exhort other to do the same, saying the 41. psalme.

36 If thou hast a desire to Godward, & hearest thine enemies to vpbraid thee, be not troubled, but consider what fruit of im∣mortality riseth to thee for this desire, comfort thy Soule vvith hope to God, and so therein relieuing and asswaging the heaui∣nesse of thy life say the 42. psalme.

37 If thou wilt remember Gods benefits which he did to the fathers both in their out-going from Egypt and in the desert, & how good God was vnto them, but they vnthankfull to him, thou hast the 44.78.89.102.106.114.117. psalmes.

38 If thou hast made thy refuge to God, & hast escaped such trouble 〈◊〉〈◊〉 was prepared against thee, if thou wilt giue thankes and shew out his kindnesse to thee, sing the 46. psalme.

39 If thou wilt know how to giue thanks to God when thou doest resort to him with sound vnderstanding, sing the 47.48. psalmes.

40 If thou wilt exhort men to put their trust in the liuing God, who ministreth all things aboundantly to good mens vse, and blame the madnesse of the world, which serueth their God Mammon so inordinately, sing the 49. psalme.

41 If thou wouldst call vpō the blind world for their wrong confidence of their bruit sacrifices, & shew them what sacrifice God most hath required of them, sing the 50. psalme.

42 If thou hast sinned, and art conuetted, and moued to doe penance, desirous to haue mercy, thou hast the words of confes∣sion in the 51. psalme.

43 If thou hast suffered false accusation before the King, and seest the deuill to triumph thereat, go aside & say the 52. psalm.

44 If they which persecute thee with accusations would be∣tray thee, as the Pharisies did Iesus, and as the Aliants did Da∣uid, discomfort not thy selfe there with, bue sing in good hope to God the 54.57.69 psalmes.

45 If thine aduersaries which trouble thee do vpbraid thee, and that they which seeme to be thy friends speak most against thee, whereupon if in thy meditation thou art somewhat griued thereat, thou mayst call on God, saying the 55. psalme.

46 If persecution come fierce on thee, & vnawares chance to enter into the caue wher thou hidest thy selfe, feare not: for in this strait thou hast expedient words both to comfort thee, & to put thee in remēbrance of his old mercy, with the 57.142. psal.

47 If thou wilt confound hypocrites which make glorious shewes out wardly, speake their conuersion with the 58. psalme.

48 If thy pursuers command thy house to be watched; when thou art escaped, giue thanks to God, & graue it in the tables of thine hart for a perpetuall remembance, and say the 59. psalme.

49 If thine enemies cruelly assault thee, and would catch thy life, offer thy subiection to God against them, and be of good comfort: for the more they rage, the more shall GOD subdue them: and say the 62. psalme.

50 If thou fliest persecution, and gettest thee into the wilder∣nes, fear thou not, as though thou wett there alone, but hauing God nigh vnto thee, rise to him early in the morning, singing the 63. psalme.

51 If thine enemies would put thee in feare, and neuer cease ••o lay traine•• ••o•• thee, and pick all maner quarrels against thee, though they be very many, giue no place to them: for the darts

of babes shall be their destruction, if thou sayst the 61.68.70.71. psalmes.

52 If thou wilt laud God with a psalm or hymne, sing the 65 66. psalmes.

53 If thou hast need to confesse God, sing the 67. Psalme.

54 If thou wouldst sing to the Lord, thou hast what to say in the 96.98. psalmes.

55 If thou hast need to confesse God with thankes, sing the 71.75.92.128, 111, 118.136.138.139. psalmes.

56 If thou seest wicked men prosper in peace, be not offen∣ded thereat, but say the 73. psalme.

57 If thine enemies haue beset the wayes whither thou fliest and art thereby in great anguish, yet in this trouble despaire not, but pray, and if thy praier be heard, giue God thankes, and say the 77. psalme.

58 If they preseuer still, and defile the house of God, kill the elect, and cast their bodies to the foules of the ayre, feare not their cruelty, but shew pitty to them which be in such agonie, and say the 29. psalme.

59 If thou wilt informe any man with the mistery of the re∣surrection, sing the 8. psalme.

60 If thou wilt sing to the Lord, call together Gods seruants on the sestinall day, and sing the 81.95.34. psalmes.

61 If thine aduersaries flock together on euery side, & thren∣ten to destroy the house of God, and make their conspiracies a∣gainst the Religion, let not their number and power trouble thee for thou hast an anker of the words of the 83, psalme.

62 If thou cast est an eye to Gods house and to his eternal ta∣bernacles, and hast a desire thereto, as the Apostle had, say thou also the 84. psalme.

63 If Gods wrath be ceased, and the captiuity ended, thou hast cause how to giue thanks to God with Dauid, recounting his goodnesse to thee and others, with the 96.85.116 psalmes.

64 If thou wilt rebuke Paynims and hereticks, for that they haue not the knowledge of God in them, thou mayest haue an vnderstanding to sing to God the 86.115. psalmes.

65 If thou wilt see and know the dissent that the Catholike Church hath from schisme, and wouldest conuert them; or to discerne the Church concerning the outwarde appearance and sonnes thereof, thou mayst say the 87. psalme.

66 If thou wouldst know how Moses prayed to God, and in his meditation, recounting the brittle state of mans life, desired God to direct so his short life that he might follow wisedome, read the 90. psalme.

67 If thou wouldst comfort thy selfe and others in ••••ne Reli∣gion, and reach them, that hope in God, will neuer suffer a fool

••o be confounded, but make ••hold and without feare of Gods protection, sing the 9. psalme.

68 If thou wilt sing on the Sabbath day, thou hast the 92 psal.

69 If thou wilt sing on the Sunday in Meditation of Gods word, desiring to be instructed therein, whereby thou mayst rest in Gods holy will, and cease from all the works and doctrines of vaine men, reuolue that notable psalme, 119.

70 If thou wilt sing in the second day of the Sabbath, thou hast the 95. psalme.

71 If thou wouldst sing to the Lord, thou hast what to say in the 69.98. psalmes.

72 If thou wilt sing the fourth day of the Sabbath, sing the psalm 94. for then when the Lord was betraied he began to take ve••gea••••ce on death, and to triumph of it: therefore when thou readest the Gospell, wherin thou hearest the Iewes to take coun∣sell against the Lord, and that he standeth bodily against the di∣uill, then sing the foresaid psalme.

73 If thou wilt sing on Good-friday, thou hast a commendati∣on of the psalme 63 for then was the house of Gods church buil∣ded and groundly founded, though the enemies went about to hinder it: for which cause sing to God the songs of triumphant victory, with the said psalme, and with the 98. and 129. psalmes.

74 If the••e be any captiuity wherein thy house is laide wast, and yet builded againe, sing the 96. psalme.

75 If the land be vext with enemies, & after come to any rest by the power of God, if thou wilt sing therfo••e, sing the 97. psal.

76 If thou considerest the prouidence of God in his gouer∣nance so ouer all, and wilt instruct any with true saith and obe∣dience when thou hast first perswaded them to confesse them∣selues, sing the 100.147. psalmes.

77 If thou doest acknowledge in God his iudiciall power, & that in iudgement he mixeth mercy, if thou wilt draw nigh vnto him, thou hast the words of the Psalme 101. to the end.

78 If for the imbicillity of thy nature thou art weary with the continuall miseries and griefes of this life, and wouldst comfort thy selfe, sing the 102. psalme.

79 If thou wilt giue thanks to God, as it is most conuenient and due, for all his gifts; when thou wilt so do, thou hast how to reioyce thy soule thereunto with the 103. and 104. psalmes.

80 If thou wilt praise God, and also know how and for what cause and with what words thou mayst best doe it, consider the 113.117, 133.146.147.148.149.150. psalmes.

81 If thou hast faith to such things as God speaketh, and be∣leeuest that which in prayer thou vtterest, say the psalme 116. to the end.

82 If thou seelest thy selfe to rise vpward in degrees of well

working as thogh thou saidst with S. Paul, I forget those things which he behinde me, and set mine eies on things which be be∣fore me, thou hast the 130. psalme.

83 If thou beest holden in thraldome vnder straying & wan∣dring thoughts, & feelest thy selfe drawen by them, wherof thou art sory, then stay thy selfe from henceforth, and tary where thou hast found thy selfe in fault, set thee down, and mourne thou also as the Hebrew people did, and say with them the 137. Psalme.

84 If thou perceiuest that temptations be sent to prooue thee, thou oughtest after such tentations to giue God the thanks, and sing the 139. psalme.

85 If yet thou be in bondage by thine enemies, and wouldest faine be deliuered, say the 140. psalme.

86 If thou wouldst pray and make supplication, say the 141.142.143. psalmes.

87 If any tyrannous enemy rise vp against the people, feare thou not, no more then Dauid did Goliah, but beleeue like Da∣uid, and sing the 144. psalme.

88 If thou art elect out of low degree, specially before other, to some vocation to serue thy brethren, aduance not thy selfe too high against them in thine own power, but giue God the glory, who did chuse thee, and sing thou the 119. psalme.

89 If thou wilt sing of obedience, praising God with Alleluia, thou hast the 105.106.107.111.112.113.114.115.117.135.136.146.147.148.149.150. psalmes.

90 If thou wilt sing specially of our Sauior Christ, thou hast of him in euery psalme, but most chiefly in the 25.45.100. psalms.

91 Such psalmes as shew his lawfull generation of his father, and hie corporall presence, be the 11.69. psalmes.

92 Such as doe prophecy before of his most holy Crosse and passion, telling how many deceitfull assaults he sustained for vs, and how much he suffered, be the 2.129. psalmes.

93 Such as expresse the malicious enemies of the Iewes, and the betraying of Iudas, are the 21.50.55.69.72, 109. psalms.

94 Such as describe his agony in his passion, death and sepul∣ture, be the 22.88. psalmes.

95 For his dominion & presenee in the flesh, read the 116. ps.

96 Such as shew the glorious resurrection of his body, be the 24.97. psalmes.

97 Such as set out his ascension into heauen, are the 93.96.98 99▪ Psalmes.

98 And that he sitteth on the right hand of his Father, the 110. psalme maketh manifest.

99 Such as shew that he hath authority of his father to iudge, expressing his iudiciall power, both in condemning the diuill, & all wicked Nations, are the 50.72, 82. psalmes.

FINIS.