and to co-operate with us in all our Afpirations after him, till at length he accomplish his own Work in us, and to the immortal Praise of his Free Grace and Mercy, reward our Sincere and Persevering, though imperfect, Obedience with a Crown of Glory. Amen.

1

SER

PSALM 84.1.

O how amiable are thy Dwellings: Thou Lord of Hofts!

Hefe Words (I conceive) are a

of the

Royal Pfalmist, when he was unnaturally driven by his Rebellious Son AbSalom, from the House of God. He bears his other Afflictions with wonderful Patience and Refignation: The Revilings of his Enemies, the Revolts of his Friends, the Rebellion of his own Son, the Disgrace of his Family, and the Eclypse of his Glory. But to be banish'd from the Presence of the Lord, to be fore'd from the Place of

?

V. 2.

his peculiar Abode, to be depriv'd of the publick Worship of the Sanctuary: This is a Meditation that finks his Pious Soul almost into Impatience, and causeth him even to cry out for the Disquitness of his Heart. My Soul longeth, says he, yea, cven fainteth for the Courts of the Lord: My Heart and my Flesh cry out for the Living God. Yea, the Sparrow (he goes on in his Elegant Complaints ) hath found her an House, and the Swallow a Nest where she may lay her Young; even thine Altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King, and my God. But I am debarr'd that Liberty, which those little Birds, that know nothing of thee, enjoy. Whilst they securely fly about and fing, yea, build their Nests, and hatch their Young Ones in thy Ho

ly Place. Thy Servant wanders up (4)2Sam.and down in the Solitary (a) Moun17.22, 29. tains, overwhelm'd with Sorrows, overwhelm'd with Vexations, because

vastly remote from thy Dwelling-Place (b) Pfal. in Sion. (b) O then, Send out thy Light 43. 3.4. and thy Truth; let them lead me, let them guide me unto thy Holy Hill, and to thy Tabernacle. Then will I go unto the Altar of God, unto God my exceeding ceeding Joy; yea, upon the Harp will I praise thee, O God, my God. In a word; In all his Afflictions he seems to be griev'd at nothing else, but his unhappy Banishment from the Sanctuary of the Lord. This makes him sadly to call to mind his former happiness. How he went with the Pfal. 42. Multitude, and brought them forth into 4, s. the House of God, in the Voice of Praise and Thanksgiving; among Such as keep Holy Day. How his Soul was then fill'd, not with Heaviness, as now; but with Extasies, and Raptures, and Joys. How ravishing he always found the Beauty of Holiness, how transporting the Courts of the Lords House, and how unspeakable the Confolations and Refreshments of his Service. All which is elegantly compris'd in this most Affectionate and Seraphick Ejaculation: O how amiable are thy Dwellings: thou Lord of Hosts!

This (I say) was the Case of the Royal Pfalmist; nothing so lovely, nothing fo defirable, nothing so amiable in his Eyes, as the Beauty of Holiness. And thus is it likewise with all the Children of God. (c) As

G2

:

(c) Pfal. (c) As the Hart panteth after the Water 42.1, 2. brooks, so do their Souls pant after God. Their Souls are athirst for God, yea, even for the Living God: and they rejoyce to come publickly, and appear before the presence of God. And that,

Ist. Because here they are sure to meet him, whom their Soul loveth; to meet him with all his Endearments and Caresses, and to be wonderfully refrefht with the Solaces of his Love. Here especially they experience the kind Assistances of Angels, and the Extraordinary Visitations and Blandishments of the Holy Spirit. Here they are delighted with Anthems of Praise and Adoration, and feast upon Allelujah's, Here they melt in Calentures of Devotion, and feel the most Extatick Aspirations after God. Here they converse with the Brightest and Best Being, which oftentimes vouchsafes them such clear Perceptions, and lively Impressions of his Divine Beauty, that they seem to be with Saint Paul in Paradise, encircled and surrounded with Amazing Glories, lifting up their Voices with the