which was a Song of Lamentation A Song of Lamentation so it is plainly exprespress'd in the Original and it is sufficiently rendred in the Septuagint but imperfectly in our English Translation He made on him a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Hebrews a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greeks call it he made a mourning Song or Psalm of Lamentation Which Song being as I have said the publick Office of the Church for that day he put it it into their hands by whom that Service was to be perform'd Now that was chiefly by singing Men and singing Women Yet not so but that all the People join'd with them in singing the Publick Office or Psalm in their Lamentations They do it still to this day saith the Writer of this Book who is thought to have been Ezra the Scribe Sure enough it was one that lived after the Babylonian Captivity for the last Chapter and Verse of this Book speak of their return from that Captivity and the same is the first Verse of the first Chapter of Ezra From hence it certainly appears that till after the Captivity that is for 140 years they still continued their Lamentation and still us'd this Form of Lamentation for the Death of Iosiah And they did it not arbitrarily but by a Lavv vvhich oblig'd them to it So my Text saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is they vvhich then governed made it a Lavv upon Israel that every year upon the day on vvhich Iosiah vvas slain these Offices should be used for the lamenting of Iosiah Thus Pagnin and Malvenda interpret my Text. And that which follows behold they are written in the Lamentations they understand not of those Lamentations in the Bible but the whole Body of the Iewish Lamentations that were used upon their solemn Fast-days Those now extant in the Bible were particularly composed for the Babylonian Captivity Which Captivity having occasioned so many Fast-days in the year one for the besieging of Ierusalem another for the taking of it another for the destrustion of the Temple another for the loss of the Remnant with Gedaliah these Lamentations in after-times swallowed up the remembranee of all other Lamentations and of this for Iosiah among the rest They remembred it as I have said until Ezra's time when tho' perhaps they observed not the day yet they continued the Office or Form for it But how They sung not this by it self but saith my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they used this Among their other Lamentations But since his time as it may seem for the shortning of the Office which was long upon those Fast-Days in remembrance of the Captivity they left out this particular Office for the loss of Iosiah and so probably by this means we came to lose the words of this Lamentation But these four things I have sufficiently prov'd from my Text First That there was a general Mourning for Josiah at his death Secondly That the Prophet Ieremy made a particular Office for it Thirdly That this Office was used among others upon the Day of Lamentation Fourthly That this Use was established by a Law upon Israel and that this Law was observed till Ezra's time that is for 140 Years even till the end of the Babylonian Captivity Next I am to proceed to the Reason of this Institution The Reason of it was not for his sake that was taken from them but for their sakes from whom he was taken As for him there was no cause to lament He died in Peace or else how could God's Promise to him be fulfilled 2 Chron. 34. 28. It was said to him from God by Hulda the Prophetess Behold I will gather thee to thy Fathers and thou shalt go to thy Grave in Peace But yet it is plain that he died in War What shall we say to this He that died in War did he go to his Grave in Peace Then surely Peace in Gods Language is something else than in ours It is so it is Peace with God Take it so and there is nothing strange in those Paradoxes of Scripture that there is no peace to the wicked but abundance of peace is to the righteous These and all the like Sayings are plain if you understand them aright of Peace with God It is certainly true that whether Peace or no Peace it must be judg'd by having God to our Friend or to our Enemy This is a sure way of judging as sure as it is that God is true only the truth of it does not appear in this life as it will in the future The Righteous in this life though he is in Friendship with God which nothing can break but wilful or habitual Sin yet his Peace is disturbed often times even with Sins of Infirmity 't is eclipst with troubles in this World it is clouded with melancholy Doubts which even good Men are subject to It is never perfect and clear while we live in Houses of Clay but when these are dissolv'd then the Righteous enters into peace that is into the perfection of it into that cleer Light the calm Sun-shine of Gods presence for ever more Now this blessed estate being that which Iosiah gain'd by his Death according to the promise of God a blessedness which none can obtain but by Death and which he could not have had so soon by dying otherwise What reason had they to lament for Iosiah that was such a Gainer by his Death There was no cause of lamentation for him They only had cause to lament for his Death that lost by it And that did all Iuda and Ierusalem They lost all they had to trust to they lost the Lease of their safety and well-being for they held it only by his Life the holy and good Life of Iosiah It was decreed against them in the Court of Heaven after a long Tryal for their National Sins that they should be carried away into Captivity There was no Remedy for the Lord had sworn it Amos 8. 7. I will remove Juda out of my sight I will cast off Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said my Name shall be there It was thus decreed but when was it to be executed Not in good Iosiah's days for it is against Gods Rule to punish the good Child for the wicked Father's sake And besides God had promis'd him in the fore-mentioned place that his Eye should not see all the evil that he would bring upon that place What then Should God for Iosiah's sake wholly reverse that Judgment which he had sworn to execute upon Israel He could not reverse it because his Oath was immutable And yet for his promise sake God could not execute it in his days Tho' in his days the People deserv'd it for they were then a wicked People notwithstanding all the good they derived from his Influence they serv'd God because he made them do it 2 Chron. 34. 33. they turn'd to God not with all their heart but feignedly Jer.
restor'd and establish'd the true Religion according to the Scriptures Which Scriptures were lost say the Iews through disuse in the Reign of King Amon his Father and it appears in his Story how he brought them to light and restor'd them unto their Authority and Dignity You read how Zealously and Industriously he provided for the Worship of God for the place of it by repairing and beautifying of the Temple for the Service by furnishing it with Vessels and Utensils for the Solemnity of it appointing Musick according to the Commandment of David for the Festivals of it he made all Israel and Iuda to be present at the Passover he brought all their Religions into one he had that Exercis'd in one manner and in one place he made all that were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God 2 Chron. xxxiv last verse All this the Scripture saith of him and approves in him and therefore we are sure he did well in it And as well one would think he might have expected at Gods hands especially if we consider those Scriptures of the Jewish Dispensation which stirred men up to Obedience with the Promise of Temporal Blessings and deterred them from sin with the threatning of temporal Punishments Among those promised Blessings are Peace and long Life for which who in Iosias's Case would not have thought he might have taken God's word But with this excellent Prince it seem'd to fall out on the contrary For great and just cause as I shall shew you but it may seem very strange the mean while when he had done all that in him lay to advance the Kingdom of God in an hour unlook'd for his Kingdom was at an end and his Life with it Both these were cut off in the 37th year of his Age which is but half the Age of Man the Noon of it as 't is term'd in that Prophesie Amos viii 8 9 10. 'T is a remarkable Prophesie I shall first read you the Words and then I shall shew you the Accomplishment The words are Shall not the Land tremble for this and every one Mourn that dwelleth therein And it shall rise up wholly as a Flood and it shall be cast out and drowned as by the Flood of Egypt And it shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord God that I will cause the Sun to go down at Noon and I will darken the Earth in the clear Day And I will turn your Feasts into Mourning and all your Songs into Lamentations and I will bring up Sackcloth upon all Loyns and baldness upon every head And I will make it as the mourning of an only Son and the end thereof as a bitter day All this Rabbi Salomon Iarchi observes was fulfil'd upon the death of Iosiah The King of Egyt there specified Pharaoh Necho or the Lame Wars with the King of Babylon and Iosiah's Country lying between them he marches through it with an Army without his leave nay against his Prohibition Which injurious attempt against his honour and safety while Iosiah endeavoured to oppose he engag'd himself in a War which soon after cost him his Life One Arrow puts an end to that Holy Life that good Reign that Righteous Government by which he thought he had secured a lasting peace to himself and his Kingdom So good Iosiah is gone and Iudah and Ierusalem with him Gone are all those Blessings they enjoy'd and hoped for by his means There was nothing more to be lookt for but a bitter day a day of Captivity a bitter day according to Amos's Prophecy which they knew and which if you read over again you cannot wonder at that which follows in my Text All Iuda and Ierusalem c. For the method of my Discourse upon this Text First I shall consider what the People of God did in that Age upon the Death of Iosiah Secondly I shall consider the Reasons of their doing it Thirdly I shall consider how it is applicable to our Occasion First What they did it appears in my Text they lamented him at present they laid up their Lamentations for future times They had a set Form drawn up for that purpose and they made a Law that that Form should be observed and so it was unto this day saith the Text that is for above 100 years how much longer we know not but so long we are sure it continued For it continued from Iosiah's Death at least till the writing of this Story and this was written much above a hundred years after Iosiahs's Death Secondly For the Reasons of it which are not in my Text they are easy to be collected out of this Chapter compared with other places of Scripture It appears they had great cause to lament the death of Iosiah and that not for any loss it was to him but for the great loss to Gods Church and People First And principally for the cause of it that was for their Sins And Secondly For the punishment of their Sins they were punish'd at present in the want of his good Example and Government and for the future great cause they had to fear it might portend and bring on the ruine of their Nation For the Third part of my Discourse that is what we are to do in our Circumstances it will be very easy to judge when we have consider'd what they did in theirs First At present they lamented King Iosiah's Death as being no doubt a great Calamity to their Church and to their Nation Saith my Text All Juda and Jerusalem mourned for Josias in the Arab. Translation they were cast down with vehement Grief for Josias in the Syriac Translation they laid up mourning and lamentation for Josiah it was a great a publick a lasting Calamity it deserv'd a great a publick a lasting lamentation Especially my Text saith the Prophet Jeremiah lamented for Josiah the vulgar Translation adds Ieremia's Maxime Ieremiah above all others No question but as he best knew the worth of Iosiah so he most grieved for the irreparable loss in his Death But was that all I suppose not for Ieremiah was a Prophet he foresaw the sad consequence of this loss to his Nation He felt how it Shook the Foundation of their Happiness He was concern'd not only for the present but for after times as a wise and good Man he lamented with them of the present Age as being also a Prophet he lamented for them of future Ages And to engage the whole Church to mourn and lament with him he provided a Form both for the present and for the future Their publick Forms in the time of Solomon's Temple were no other that I know but Hymns suited to their occasions whether ordinary on their Sabbaths and New Moons and other Festivals or extraordinary on their Fasts and Days of Thanksgiving For every Fast-day they had a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Song of Lamentation Iosiah deserv'd a yearly Fast up-upon the day of his Death Ieremiah compos'd the Office for it
3. 10. even in those days in the days of King Iosiah as you read in the 6th Verse of that Chapter Yet that hypocritical People was protected by this Religious Prince God's Judgment could not come at them till he was taken out of the way But when he was removed they lay bare to the Vengeance of God Then he would have a full blow at them then wrath was to be poured out upon them to the uttermost Then God's Judgments were to rush in upon them like the breaking in of the Sea Then they were to suffer those things which to hear of were enough to make ones Ears tingle 2 Kings xxi 12. Ier. xix 3. And if they understood this as we are certain they might and Jeremy did understand it we cannot wonder that all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah and Jeremy especially Since they saw and he saw it especially their Walls and Bulwarks were broken down by that good King Josia's death They had lost that good Prince of whom they were not worthy and were now to expect those things of which they were most worthy They had great cause therefore to lament themselves before God They could not but do it voluntarily that were sensible of their Condition And they did well to make a Law for it to oblige them that were not sensible But beside this Cause which was peculiar to them there was another in Common to them and us and all Nations that is considering their own Sin and God's punishment of it For the death of a good King is a great publick Calamity And such Calamities are always for the sins of the People I begin first with the Punishment for of that we are most apt to be sensible And yet many are not sensible of that not of a publick punishment till it comes home to themselves till it touches their own Persons and Families 't is pity that such should ever want such punishment But for such as have a sense of Publick Affairs they cannot but be deeply sensible of this that the loss of a good King is a great Calamity to a Nation The death of any King is a loss unless God change him for a better But he must be extream bad that is not better then none at all It was never worse with Israel then when there was no King amongst them for then every one did what was good in his own Eyes In the 4 last Chapters of the Book of Judges God says this four times over as fit for more than common Observation But specially there is a great loss of a good King a good Example a good Governour one that makes it his business to do all that can be done for the protecting and uniting of his People for the preserving and advancing of Truth and Peace of Religion and Righteousness among them Such a nursing Father to the Church such a Wise Manager of the State such a Fortress and Bulwark to his Nation when he is taken away from them what can they think of it If they are not lost to all Sense they cannot but be sensible of this A good King being so great a Blessing to a Nation vve have cause to impute the loss of him to our Sins We are taught so in sundry places of Scripture And therefore vve are taught to lament for those Sins both National and Personal for our ovvn sins and the sins of our Nation For our own sins in the first place It should be every ones care when we bewail the Publick Calamities to consider that such are for the sins of the Nation But the Nation is made up of Individual Persons and I am one of those Individuals therefore I am to search into my own sins I speak now as being one that lived and sinned in those times to lay my hand upon my breast to examin my own heart and seriously to consider how far I contributed to that publick Guilt which brought down this publick Judgment upon us And as far as I find I contributed to it to confess and bevvail my ovvn sins before God to ask pardon and that I may be capable of it to mourn deeply and heartily and to shew the proof of it in my real amendment that as I have throvvn in my Talent into the National sin so I may do my part in promoting the National Reformation If I have no sin of my own to mourn for vvhich in strict speaking is impossible but if I have no presumptuous and clamorous sin to answer for or if my sins are of a latter date which is the case of the greatest part of you that hear me yet for such they are all to consider themselves as Members of this Nation and mourn for the sins of the Nation for those Epidemical sins that brought down such a publick Judgment upon us For so doing we have the Examples of Ez. 9. 3. of Neh. 9. 16. of Daniel 10. 1. How did those Holy Men Mourn and humble themselves before God for the sins of Ages past that brought upon them the Babylonian Captivity And yet that Captivity also was past when they poured out their Souls before God in tears for the sins of their Fathers How much more have Holy Men lamented for the sins of their own Age The Prophet David on this account poured out Rivers of Tears Psal. 119. 136. The Prophet Ieremy 9. 1. Wish'd that his head were Water and his Eyes a Fountain of Tears to bewail the sins of his Nation But especially our blessed Saviour himself tho' he had no sin yet he had Tears for them that had Luke 19. 42. He beheld Ierusalem and wept over it saying Oh that thou hadst known even in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes Tears are of no use without hearty endeavours where endeavours may be used and we have reason to hope they may do good And therefore these also were applied by those Holy Men whom I have mentioned And these also are required of us even our utmost Endeavours every one within the Sphere of his Calling to bring others to a sight and sense of their Sins and to persuade them to join with us every one by his particular to help on the publick Reformation This is the end of all Judgments which are not to final Destruction Isaia 27. 9. This is the fruit of them to take away our sin And this is the end of our Sorrow 2 Cor. 7. 10. Godly Sorrow works Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of And this is the end of our Fast days as God teaches us Ioel 2. 12. Turn you to me with all your hearts with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your hearts and not your Garments and turn you to the Lord your God So Hosea xiv 1 2. O Israel turn unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity take with thee words and turn to the Lord say unto him take away
all our Iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render thee the Calves of our Lips This ought to have been the Fruit of their Lamentation for Iosia but for want of this it did them no good their Iniquity was their ruine That ours may not be so to us God grant we may mend that fault in our Lamentation 'T is our business on this day to lament our Iosiah above 40 years after as the Iewish Church did theirs 140 years after his Death I shall first consider the Cause of our Lamentation and then our Duty in consequence of it On both these Heads I have much more to say then I can bring within my time But if I do exceed I hope you will bear with me for I suppose I hinder nothing but what may well be spared on this day Our business on this day is to lament for the Death of our Iosiah that most excellent Prince on whose Name his greatest Adversaries have fastned no more nor indeed no other blame then God hath left upon the Memory of Iosiah But whatsoever good we read of in Iosiah it is known to all that knew him to have been eminently in that Prince whom we lament on this day They were both alike born and bred up in the true Religion But herein the advantage was on our Iosia's side that this was he true Christian Religion which as far excels the Iewish as the clear Sun-shine doth the light of a dark misty day And as we have reason to believe that Josiah had studied his Religion for he as well taught as commanded both his Priests and People their Duties so had our Josia He understood his Religion throughly It was his judgment that indear'd it to his Affection And with both these together like a true Defender of the Faith he maintain'd it all ways against all sorts of Adversaries Especially he was a most zealous observer and assertor of God's Worship as was Josia He was an heroick Pattern of all Virtues as was Josia He was like Iosias in all the Divine Perfections of his Life and for our Sins he was too like him in suffering an untimely and violent Death So the Parallel runs quite through between the two Persons and it doth not fall short in any part of that Duty that was paid to their Memories All that my Text saith was done upon the Death of Iosia we have seen and yet see the same done to the Memory of our King All true Servants of God in our Church do and will for ever bewail and lament for him We have a Set Form prescrib'd for it which was read to us upon this day And it is to be read yearly upon this day for as my Text saith it is made an Ordinance throughout Israel But in the Lamentation of the Iews for Iosia there was as I have shewn a just Reflection made by Ieremiah especially upon those Sins of the Nation for which God depriv'd them of that Blessing that they enioy'd in such an excellent Prince The like was made afterwards by Daniel and by Ezra and by Nehemia upon those Sins of their People in those Times which provoked God afresh to send down his Judgments upon them to their utter destruction This is that we have reason to fear and their way to prevent it must be ours Our Reflections upon the Sins of this Nation as well before the Kings Death as since even to this day in order to our Amendment these are the most useful and necessary Ingredients of our Lamentation And this will be more requir'd of Us then it was of the Iews in respect of that much greater Light which God hath given Us. We shall find in our Account that we are the Disciples of Christ and that in the upper Form of his School whatsoever we think of it We have his Religion in as great perfection as ever it was in any Nation This advantage we have had by our Reformation from Popery Ever since God hath given us the free use of the Scriptures and together with it those helps of Learning that never were before in any Age which singular Blessings of God to set forth to you as they deserve would be the business of a Book and not of the end of a Sermon Now what returns to God have we made for all this I must needs say for an Age after the Reformation of Religion there seem'd to be a great Reformation of Mens Lives There was then a zeal for Religion kindled in their hearts by seeing so many holy Men burn for it in Queen Mary's days But when that heat was over their first love I may call it as they cool'd to Religion so they went off by degrees from their Primitive Purity and Holiness It was but too visible in this blessed Monarch's Reign that they that had the Conduct then of Religion had not the same zeal for it that they had whom God made the Instruments of our Reformation They were indeed more concern'd than they for external things but not so much for that which is the Soul and Life of Religion This gave occasion to others to fly out another way They call'd every thing of external Worship Popery They were against all Imposition even in lawful things They made such a noise against it as turn'd Mens heads They so scar'd them with little things made great by false Lights that they run into the greatest Evils to avoid them Into a War the worst sort of it a Civil War a bloody Rebellion that drew a long Train of Calamities after it It came to this at last We lost the best King that God ever gave to this Nation How we lost him I tremble to say and yet we all know it is the saddest part of our Lamentation on this day It soon appeared what a blow this gave to Religion by the general dissolution of Order and of Discipline in the Church And to the Nation likewise by the Confusions that followed which if they had run a little further we should soon have ceas'd to be a Nation In this miserable condition when we lay as it were gasping for Life it pleased God out of the Cloud to look upon us He gave us as it were a New Life a Resurrection from the dead He restor'd us when it was visible that none but he could do it It was such a mercy to this Nation such a heap of Mercies together that all Nations stood amaz'd at it We cannot but be astonish'd our selves if we consider what opportunities God put then into their hands They that were at the Helm needed but ask and have whatsoever they thought fit to settle both Church and State To have secured Truth and Peace and Unity and Love and Holiness in a word all that pleases God and all that makes a People happy We have cause for ever to lament the loss of these Opportunities But how much more the wretched purposes to which they were misapplyed For the gratifying of Mens