La scala santa, or, A scale of devotions musical and gradual being descants on the fifteen Psalms of Degrees, in metre : with contemplations and collects upon them, in prose, 1670.

THE FIFTH Psalm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIV. PSALM,

Is entituled David's, according to the Tenor of that in Samuel,* 1.1 being a Commemoration of his wonderful deliverance from great and many Dangers; together with a thankful acknowledgment to God, the sole Author of Safety and Success, properly used at any time of eminent Preservation; (as on the Fifth of November, or Third of June.)

It may be called, David's Triumphs for more than one Victory, by God's special assistance, as may be gathered from the repetition of the first words, (nisi quod Dominus) which imply the iteration of God's Goodness, and Man's gratitude; for when he is pleased to manifest the largeness of Loving∣kindness to us, then especially ought we to make our return of Gratitude with a Non nobis.

This Divine Io Paean was composed (probably) after the Conquest of the Ammonites, who had beset David on every side, according to that expression of their force and inhumane Rage, Tunc homines (Adham per contemptum) vivos deglutiissent nos; or (as the word Adham seems to hint to me) upon his subduing of the Edomites, when he made the 60^th Psalm; or (as others think) after most of his Victories over the Philistines, &c. in Chron. when the Snare was broke by the Death of his Enemies, as (in the Prophecy) the Jews Bondage was, by the Per∣sians breaking the Chaldean Monarchy.

And so the late and former, the many and wonderful Deliverances of our Nation, are to own the immediate effect of God's gracious interposi∣tion; and as a signall Evidence of His all-swaying Power, (as the first Creation of the World was) that we might not Sacrifice to our Nets and Bulwarks, nor value our selves upon the store of deeper Waters (like once Proud, but now Desolate, Tyre;) but that our Trust, Succour, and Defence, may be founded on him, the Supreme of all Beings, on whom depends the whole Creation.

〈♫〉〈♫〉 HAd not the Lord been on our side, now may the wrastling Is╌rael say, when E╌sau did his Troops pro∣vide; our Flocks had been the Ly╌ons prey.

Had not the Lord been on our side, When Men against us rose (like Waves); The Surges of their Rage, and Pride, Had snatcht us quick into our Graves.

Like Whales upon Amittay's Son,* 1.2 Death's Jaws on us they open'd wide: Dathan's strange End,* 1.3 how could we shun? Had not the Lord been on our side.

When Seas of Rage swell'd to that height, As on our Souls to whelm their Tyde; Those Torrents had destroy'd us quite, Had not the Lord been on our side!

Then had the Streams our strength o're-pow'r'd, But we through Floods, through Foes did wade: And were not, as a Prey, devour'd; Nor of their cursed Teeth afraid.

Blessed be God! our Life's got free From all the Toyls, their Mischief set: As Birds out of a Snare, so we 'Scape strangely through the Fowler's Net.

Hell Snares are broke, our Souls are freed, For on God's help our Hearts are stay'd: God's Word speaks Heav'n, and Earth his Deed; His Hands preserve the Works they made.

God keep us all, as all he made; From him the Heavens and Earth proceed: Upon his Truth our Trust is stay'd; Hell's Snares are broke, and we are freed.

Gloria Patri, &c.

Glory be to the Father, Son, And Holy-Ghost, whom we adore In Persons three, in Essence one, Who was, is, shall be evermore.

CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifth PSALM of DEGREES, BEING The CXXIV. PSALM.

O Thou Lyon of the Tribe of Judah, thou Shepherd of Israel, that leadest thy People like a Flock, while we with thank∣fulness look up to thy strength for us, to thy stay of us, and thy staff over us, let us look down with Humility on our own unworthiness. We deserve not the least part of that care and watchfulness of thine, which defends us daily from the ravenous Bear of this World's Temptations, from the Uncircumcised Philistine our own Flesh, and from the roaring Lyon of the Abyss, that goes about seeking to devour, to swallow us up quick, as it were, at a Morsel: And yet, blessed be the Lord, he hath not given us up for a Prey to these Destroyers; and if we give not up our selves by our sinful fears, and easie submissions, though Satan's rage be like his Hell enflamed, he cannot have his will of us. That Lyon may come out against us with great wrath, and fright us by his vain Noises, but cannot fall

upon us at once, as he desires. He hath no part, no power of us, 'till we give it to him.

If therefore, O Lord, we are on thy side, or thou on ours, we need not fear what Devils, or what Man can do unto us, even when they rise never so proudly, never so powerfully against us. Let us but set the Lord our Righteousness at our right hands; let us but have righteous Hands, and innocent Hearts, and we shall not be so greatly moved or terri∣fied, as to let the Enemy triumph over our Souls; though yet we must confess with Grief, that many Waters have gone over them. The swelling Torrents of sinful Passions and Prosperity, the mighty Floods of worldly Cares and Vanities, the supersluities of naughty sensual Pleasures, have not only tossed and endangered, but even overwhel∣med and swallowed up our Lives. So that we have been sinking into destruction, like those that are howling in the Pit.

Alas! the bitter Streams of our vile imaginations and transgressions, have, like a deadly draught or Poyson, been suck'd in greedily, and sent to our very Hearts; so that we had been past all means of escape, or hope of succour, if thou hadst not stood by us, as thou didst by thy Servant Paul, and not only strengthened, but saved us, as thou didst the Prophet, by drawing us forth as thou didst the Pro∣phet of the dangerous Gulph of estrangement and infidelity, into which our triple Enemies would have thrown us. Their Power would be great, like their Malice: Didst not thou take our part, O holy Spirit! and plead our Cause. O sweetest Jesus! Blessed be thy omnipotent, and most glorious Mercy, that hath made our Souls as a Bird that may fly up to Heaven and be secure. We praise, and thank thee, dearest Father! for those Wings of Faith, Prayer, Love, and Devotion, whereby we can escape the Snare of the cunning Fow∣ler, and all his noysom Plagues and Temptations. O! still cover us, both with thy gracious Protection, and with the lovely Wings of the Holy of Holies, so that we may break the Bands of Satan asunder, and cast away his Cords from us, and neither have the Eyes of our Faith held from seeing thee, nor the Feet of our Affections from seeking thee, but like thy beloved and most loving Disciples, Peter and John, leave our Nets whereby we take others, and all those Entanglements where∣by we are so caught our selves, and throw off every Impediment for the better, following of our Master Christ, under the Patronage of whose Love and Power we would roost and nestle our Beings for ever: For it is he that hath made Heaven and Earth for us, for our Habitation, and will make a new Heaven and Earth about us for our Regeneration. And since this is a greater Blessing than the first Creation of Man, let our delivery from the Jaws of Hell bring him more Honour than all his other Dealings with us, even Glory for evermore. Amen.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Cap. 2. v. 22.
• * 1.2

  Jonas.
• * 1.3

  Numb. 16.29.