“Have mercy upon Zion (saith the Psalmist) for the time to have mercy upon her is come.” For thy servants (saith he) long for her to be built up again, and for the stones and cement to be made ready: that is, they long for that grace and that blessing to be revealed unto all nations, and to be preached in all kingdoms; that those who are captives and in chains under the power of the devil and of sin, and who are the sons of wrath and death, may be delivered; and that there may flow together into the true Zion, the church of God, those out of all nations and kingdoms, who may magnify the name of the Lord, and may preach and hear the gospel, and that all the rigid demands and ceremonies of the law, and the whole of the Old Testament dispensation, may cease. For out of and without Christ there is nothing but the kingdom of sin and death: that is, a continual misery and distress in this life, by various and hard temptations of the devil and the world: and also a shortness of life itself, and that life changeable and uncertain, full of sorrow and full of death; which life the godly consider it a “gain” to have shortened and finished: as the apostle saith, “to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” But amidst all this misery, in Christ is consolation and eternal life; for he is before every creature; he created the heaven and the earth, and by him all things consist; and he also, in the regeneration, will renew the heavens and the earth. Hence he is independent of and above all time and years, and of his years there is no end. He now dies no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For this kingdom of life and of salvation (saith the Psalmist) we pray and long. May this kingdom come. Amen. PSALM CIII. _An exhortation to bless God for his mercy, and for the constancy thereof._ A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, _bless_ his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good _things; so that_ thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all _that are_ oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The LORD _is_ merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not alway chide; neither will he keep _his anger_ for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, _so_ great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, _so_ far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth _his_ children, _so_ the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we _are_ dust.