198 HUMAN POWER DEFEATED.
was established as a monument of praise in the days of Hezekiah, when, by the immediate hand of God, Jerusalem was delivered from the army of Sennacherib. For a return of which mercy though good Hezekiah came short of the obligation laid on him, rendering not again according to the benefit done unto him, yet the Lord himself takes care for his own glory, setting forth this psalm as a monument of the praise due to his name unto all generations.
The deliverance of Jerusalem, then, from so great ruin as that im- pending over it from the threatening army of Sennacherib under their walls, being the occasion of penning this psalm, it cannot but yield us a meet foundation of making mention of the name of the Lord in a suitable work this day.
In general the whole is eucharistical, and hath two parts: — first, Narratory, concerning the work of God for his people; secondly, Laudatory, or the praise of his people for those Avorks.
The first part hath three particulars: — 1. An exordium, by way of exultation and rejoicing, verses 1, 2. 2. A special narration of the work of God, for which the praise of the whole is intended, verses 3, 5, 6. 3. An apostrophe to the Lord concerning the one and the other, verse 4.
The latter contain eth, — 1. A doctrinal observation for the use of the church, from the whole, verse 7. 2. The reasons and confirma- tion of the doctrine so laid down, taken from the power and right- eousness of God in the actions recounted, verses 8, 9. 3. A threefold
Surrey, Oxford, Gloucester, Northampton, and so far north as Lancashire and the town of Newcastle. A small party of these Levellers came into contact with a de- tachment of the Pai'liamentary troops at Banbury,and were dispersed. Thesuppres- sion of the whole movement, however, was intrusted to Cromwell, who accom- plished the task with his characteristic energy. After an unsuccessful attempt on Oxford, the Levellers had taken up their position at Burford. Cromwell, by a rapid march of nearly fifty miles, took them by surprise during the night. Has the text of Owen's sermon any reference to the fact of this surprise? The poor Levellers, completely disconcerted by the vigour of their opponent, at once yielded when quarter was conceded to them. The mutiny was at an end; and, from the apparent ease and the rapidity with which it was suppressed, it is difficult now to understand the reason for all the alarm which it excited. Not a few of these Level- lers, however, as Owen intimates in the sermon, and as their conduct showed, were brave and desperate men. Some of them, on being tried, confessed that one of their objects was the restoration of Prince Charles; and one passage in the sermon is evidently based on the belief in some such strange conjunction of interests. But for the activity of Cromwell, the movement might have been the beginning of dis- astrous anarchy throughout England. An extract from Whitelocke will show what estimate was formed by the Parliament of the threatened danger, the sense enter- tained of Cromwell's services on the occasion, and the importance attached to the event in regard to which Owen was called at this time to preach before the House of Commons. " Report by Lieutenant-General Cromwell of the suppressing of the Levellers : The House gave him their hearty thanks for that great service, and ordered one of their members to attend the General with the hearty thanks of the House for his great service in that business; and ordered a general day of thanks- giving for that great mercy," p. 389. The sermon of Owen is altogether remark- able for the skill and tact with which he suits himself to the occasion. — Ed.
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use of the doctrine so confirmed: — of instruction, verse 10; of ex- hortation, verse 1 1 ; of establishment and consolation, verse 1 2.
The particulars preceding my text I shall a little touch upon, that the mind of the Holy Ghost therein may be the more clear unto you, and the doctrine from thence appear with the greater evidence : —
1. In the exordium, verses 1, 2, you have two things: — (1.) The names of the place wherein the work mentioned was wrought and the praise returned held forth ; — and these are, Judah, Israel, Salem, Zion. (2.) The relation of God unto this place, which lies at the bottom of the work he did for them and the praise they returned unto him. He was known, his name was great amongst them ; there was his tabernacle and his dwelling-place : which may be referred to two heads, — the knowledge of his will, verse 1 ; and the establishment of his worship, verse 2.
(1.) For the description of the place, by its several names and titles, I shall not insist upon it ; they are all but various expressions of the same thing. It is the church of God that is adorned with all these titles and names of singular endearment: — Judah, that single tribe of which the Messiah was to come ; Israel, a prevailing people, the posterity of him that prevailed with God; Salem, the place he chose above all the places of the earth to settle his name therein; and Zion, the choice ornament of that Salem, — a model wherein the beauty and excellency of all the other are contracted, whose gates were then so dear unto the Lord. Or perhaps you have the distribution of the whole into its several parts; — Judah, the govern- ing tribe ; Israel, the body of the people ; Salem, the chief place of their residence and glory; and Zion, the presence of God in his wor- ship amongst them all. Now, the mention of these titles of the church, so dear to the Lord, doth front the following narration, to afford us this observation: —