Psal Ixxxix 7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all that are abou
Sacramental Meditations.
Thatthebleffing of God, and thebreathingsofhisgood Spi rit, may accompany these poor labours to thy soul, is the heart's defireof, Thyfervant in Christ,
JOHN FLAVEL.
THE FIRST
MEDITATΙΟΝ,
UPON PSAL. lxxxix. 7. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his faints, and to be had in reverence of all that are about bim.
THERE are special seasons,wherein the saints approach nearuntoGod in this life,andwhereintheLord comes near unto them.
Itpleaseth the Majesty of heaven, sometimes to admit poor worms of the earth to such sensible and sweet perceptions of himself, as are found above all expression, and seem to be a tranfientglance upon that glory, which glorified eyes more steadily behold above:"Believing,werejoicewithjoyunspeak- " able, and full of glory; or, glorified joy ; as it is, i Pet. i. 8. And yet how sweet and excellent soever theseforetastes of heaven are, heaven itself will be an unspeakable surprise to the faints, when they shall come thither.
Now among all those ordinances, wherein the blessed God manifests himself to the children of men, none are found to set forthmoreofthejoyofhis presence, than that of the Lord's supper : at that blessed table, are such sensible embraces betwixt Christ and believers, as do afford delight and solace, beyondthejoyofthe whole earth.
And where such special manifestations of God are, suitable dispositions and preparations should be found on our part, to meet the Lord.
And, certainly, we shall find reason enough for it, if we will confider the importance of this scripture before us ; "God is
" greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints, and to be *Αγαλλιασεχαρα ἀνεκλαλητω και δεδοξασμενη. Innerrabili,&gloris ficato, Montanus.
Sacramental Meditations.
had in reverence of all that are round about him."
Wherein we have, r. The object ; 2. The subject ; 3. The mode of divine worship.
First, The object of worship, God; God is to be feared.
In all divine worship, men and angels have to do with God.
" All things (faith the apostle) are open and naked to the " eyes of him with whom we have to do," Heb. iv. 14. With whom we have speech, or business ; so it may be understood.
When we worship, we draw nigh to God ; and that about the greatest concerns, and weightiest business in the world.
Secondly, The subject, or the persons that approach unto God in his worship ; " His saints, and all that are about him ."
By faints, many interpreters do (in this place) understand the angels, called faints, from the purity and holiness of their nature; and so make the next clause exegetical of this.
Those that before were called saints in respect of their nature, are, in the next words said to be such as are round about him, his satellites, attendants, or those that stand as servants about him, to do his pleasure ; where they are described by their office.
Both these seem to be grounded upon the precedent verses :
" Who in heaven can be compared to the Lord ? Who among " the sons of the mighty," (or of God, fo the angels are called,
Job i. 6.) " can be likened to the Lord ?" And though it be true, that the angels worship, and serve the Lord with the greatest reverence and dread (for these are his nigh ones, or such as are round about him;) yet there is no necessity to limit this scripture so narrowly, by excluding the people of God on earth ; they also are his saints, and more frequently so stiled, though they be faints ofa lower class and order : and they also are round about him, as well as the angels ; and when they worship him, he is in the midst of them, Matth. xviii. 20.
And the place where they assemble to worship, is called the place of his feet, Ifa. lx. 13. But if we find not the saints on earth in the direct and immediate sense of this text, yet we must needs meet them in the rebound and consequence.
For if creatures so much above us, as the angels, do perform their service, and pay their homage to the highest Majesty with so much fear and reverence ; shall not inferior creatures, the poor worms of the earth, tremble at his presence ? And this brings us to the third thing ; namely, Thirdly, The mode, or manner, in which the worship of God is to be performed ; viz. with great fear and reverence :
VOL . VIII.
Sacramental Meditations.
"God is greatly to be feared "
Pifcator translates it, Vehementer formidandus, to be vehemently feared ; and opposes it to that formal, careless, trifling, vain spirit, which too often is found in those that approach the Lord in the duties of his worship.
The observation from hence will be this :
Observation. That the greatest composedness and seriousness of Spirit is due to God,from all those that draw nigh unto him in his worship.
And this is no more than what the Lord expresly requires at our hands ; Lev. x. 3. " I will be sanctified in them that " come nighunto me."
SoHeb xii. 28, 29. "Let us have grace,wherebywemayferveGod acceptably, with reverence
" and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire."
And as this disposition and temper of spirit is due to every act and part of God's worship ; fo (to accommodate this general to our particular occasion) it is especially due to this great and solemn ordinance of the Lord's supper.
It is the observation of the Cafuifts, that facramentum et mortis articulus aequiparantur : The sacrament of the Lord's supper, and the very point of death, require equal seriousness : am an's spirit should be as deeply solemn and composed at the Lord's table, as upon a death-bed. We should go to that ordinance, as if we werethengoing into another world.
The primitive Christians used to fit up whole nights in meditation and prayer, before their participation of the Lord's supper ; and these nights were called Vigiliae, their watches.
Such was the reverence the faints had for this ordinance (which they usually called mysterium tremendum, a tremendous mystery,) thattheywouldnotgive " sleep to their eyes, or slumber
" to their eye-lids," when fo great and solemn a day drew near.
Chryfoft. lib . 3. defacerdot, And that all this solemn preparation is no more than needs, will convincingly appear to us, upon the following grounds and reasons.
Reason 1. From the solemn nature and ends of this ordinance.
For what is the express design and use of it, but a lively representation of the Lord's death ?
1 Cor. xi. 26.
" As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, yedo shew "the Lord's death till he come." Jesus Christ is therein set forth crucified before us ; and not to make a bare representation of it to us, as a thing wherein we have no personal interest or concernment, but to represent.his death lively, and feal our title to it firmly : " This is mybody,which is broken for you,"
2.4