Lord I dismay not for thou art my defence and in thine appointed time wilt lift vp my head againe for saluation belongeth vnto thee O God and thou wilt destroy the bloudy and deceitful men But blessed and preserued shall they bee that truly feare and trust in thee thy power is seene in weaknesse and thy helpe in affliction therefore O Lord let not mine enemies haue their lust of me I know thou wilt performe thy promise of my defence in thy good time therefore will I rest in hope I will patiently wait for yet a little while and these wicked men shall not appeare In the meane time I will commit my cause vnto thee my Lord my God my strength and my Redeemer VERSE 13. I should haue fainted except I had beleeued to see the goodnesse of thee in the land of the liuing ENemies troubles and afflictions are heauy to bee borne of such as are weake in faith and haue not perfect patience to beare them as may appeare by godly Dauid himselfe who acknowledgeth that himselfe though he were a man chosen after Gods owne heart should haue fainted vnder the malice and fury of his enemies and other afflictions but y t he beléeued to sée the goodnes of God namely his timely deliuery in the land of the liuing euen here before the sonnes of men where if hée had not found the goodnesse of God towards him all men would haue thought as his enemies did that God had vtterly forsaken him for euer and therfore prayed God in a liuely faith that his defence might here appeare before he were taken hence no more to be séene although he knew that after this life hée should bee in a farre more happy and blessed estate than his enemies but that hee might finde Gods fauour here to the end that other godly afflicted men séeing the mercies of God towards him in deliuering him out of his troubles might by his faith and patience take like godly resolution to depend vpon the power and prouidence of God for their like deliuery Why art thou cast downe O my soule saith Dauid in his troubles and so vnquiet within mee which argueth that troubles and afflictions euen to a faithfull man doe at the first much disquiet his heart like as they that first are committed to prison they are much disquieted their hearts faint and are much cast downe vntill they haue béene for a time enured to their restraint and then come by little and little to themselues againe so doe they that vpon a sudden fall into any affliction as Dauid did but hauing a little considered that it is the Lords doing hee could then say vnto his sad soule Wait on God for I will yet giue him thanks for the helpe of his presence This sheweth the strong faith and confidence of Dauid who although his troubles were so many and heauy euen at the present that he was ready to faint vnder them yet hee waited with a firme assurance that the time would come wherein hee should reioyce againe and praise God againe for his helpe and certaine deliuery which hee knew was not farre off This teacheth euery faithfull man in his afflictions and troubles to repaire vnto God in prayer not to bée daunted or dismaid nor to disquiet himselfe but in patience to possesse his soule waiting the time wherein God hath appointed to deliuer him for it is a vaine thing and vnprofitable for a man in affliction to goe before the Lords prouidence strugling and striuing by sinister and vncommanded meanes to frée himselfe he doth by that meanes the more intangle himselfe as the Bird in the Net warranted meanes hee may vse and those with faithfull prayer vnto GOD to blesse the meanes for lawfull meanes profit not vnlesse they be also lawfully done and that is when and where God is made not onely a party but the principall in the meanes It was a very weake weapon that Dauid vsed against Goliah who was compleatly armed from the foot to the head there was but one small part of his whole body vnarmed and that was the fore part of his head but God so directed the stone that came out of his sling that it found that open way to cast that monster of men to the earth If God had not added strength to Dauids armes and by his prouidence carried the stone aright Dauids aime might haue failed the marke so whatsoeuer means we vse either in preuenting or easing our selues in any kinde of affliction if our hearts be not seasoned with faith in God ioined with praier we may misse of our hope and so faint in the expectation of our deliuery and therefore saith Dauid I should haue fainted except I had beleeued to see the goodnesse of the Lord. Except I had depended on his prouidence for my deliuery from mine enemies and had taken hold and beene assured of the true performance of his promises to ease me of mine afflictions I should haue sunke vnder the burthen of my troubles God who is our Father is goodnesse it selfe of whom and from whom wee obtaine all things through faith in his Sonne by him we liue moue and haue our being and therefore there is none in whom or by whom wée should séeke helpe in troubles but in God alone He is our hope and strength and helpe in troubles ready to bee found Therefore saith Dauid I will neither faint nor feare and againe my defence is in God who preserueth the vpright in heart He is God and none besides he is mighty and none else Why then should we faint in any troubles Why should wee bee daunted though enemies rise vp against vs Séeing this God is our God whose goodnesse helpe and deliuery if we beléeue we shall sée and our very enemies shall sée it euen here here in this vale of misery amongst the sons of men he shall be our guide and defence vnto death Unbeléefe is a most dangerous disease in the heart of man nothing succeedeth comfortably vnto them that beléeue not in God good things vnto vnbeléeuers turne to euill As vnto a raw crude a stomack ouercome with superfluous humors the best meat turnes to increase their disease so to an vnfaithfull man all things worke together to the increase of Gods iudgements against him As to the sonnes in law of Lot in Sodome who would not beléeue the Word of God declared by Lot for the confusion of the City perished So the children of Israel to whom God had promised to giue the Land of Canaan in their iourney towards it did not onely not beléeue the Lord but murmured against him saying Who shall giue vs flesh to eat would God we had died in the land of Aegyt or in this Wildernesse would God wee were dead were it not better for vs to turne into Aegypt With many such reproachful murmurous faithlesse obiurgations as well against God himselfe as against Moses and Aaron but for their infidelity faintings murmurings God answered their impious
though his errors no way concerne the matter in controuersie betwéene them but méerely his frailty falling as a naturall man whereof Dauid being afraid he prayeth vnto God that he would teach him his way which is vncorrupt and to leade him in an vpright path not onely in his ordinary calling but in the sincerity of his religion and profession lest his enemies that are alwaies watchfull should haue cause to accuse him of some grosse sinne and so draw him into the censure and condemnation of the world Dauid was a man chosen of God but by nature apt and inclined to sinne like other men who all haue their peculiar faults No man liueth so sincerely but if his life in all points at all times be narrowly obserued and examined by his owne conscience he may be taxed or tax himselfe either for committing things which God hath forbidden or omitting things which God hath commanded And therefore as Dauid here prayeth God to teach him his way and to lead him in a right path and as Moses before him prayed vnto God saying If I haue found fauour in thy sight shew me now thy way that I may know thee and that I may finde grace in thy sight So ought euery Christian to pray that God would not onely teach him but lead him also not onely because of his enemies whose slanders hée feareth which yet is necessary but because God should not be dishonoured by his corrupt conuersation and sinne There is no man especially Gods children but haue enemies not onely corporall but spirituall among whom the subtillest and strongest is Satan who looketh not so much into what a man doth as into the inclination of his heart by the things hee doth for by his workes he findeth what is in man for thoughts are hid and by his outward actions he can collect whereunto hée is inclined and vpon that he workes and laies his plots accordingly and most commonly he obserueth in euery man some sinne that raigneth and ruleth aboue all other sinnes which he hugs as it were in his bosome there doth Satan apply his greatest battery knowing that if he vanquish him in it and sée him to continue in it it is as much as if he had inticed him to a thousand sins and therefore hee laieth baits according to a cunning Fowler or Fisherman that hath one especiall bait for each kinde of Fowle or Fish according to the desire of that peculiar sin wherein a man most delighteth entertaining euery occasion or fit opportunity to féed his desire which Satan finding vseth his instruments to féed him with varieties Euery raigning or rather raging sinne in man may be compared to the disease in mans body called the Wolfe which if it be not continually fed with some kinde of satisfactory matter will soone deuoure the very flesh of y t part of the body wherupon it hath seized so that sinne that a man holdeth so deare to which hee cannot but yeeld vpon euery opportunity afforded must be fed with the satisfying of those corrupt desires which best agree with the nature of that woluish disease otherwise it will euen eat vp their senses and they will become as mad men when they are restrained from what that sinne desireth As for example take game from the couetous man hee will become euen cut of his wits barre the drunkard of his liquor and he will rage like a shéebeare robbed of her whelps preuent the lasciuious man of his Harlots he will swagger sweare and aduenture his life to haue them and so of the rest If therefore a man fall into any of these dominant sinnes and liue in it what an aduantage is it vnto his enemies It is a double aduantage first it makes him scandalous in the world whose good opinion with the vertuous and religious hée loseth It offends GOD whose hand is alwaies ouer the righteous to defend them against the wicked to confound them How sottish then are these men that will giue entertainment at the first to such seruants as at last shall become their masters Sinne in the beginning is weake and with ease may be subdued but when it hath beene cherished and nursed vp awhile in our brests as beloued and fed as it will require it beconuneth predominant facing as it were a man and as if it should say I haue thus long ouerruled thée I will yet make thée my slaue O fearefull estate yet not a few liue in this miserable seruility and doth not that enemy Satan triumph to obserue his vassals thus subiected and doth he not stirre vp enemies to vpbraid them some to mocke and scorne them some to reproach and reuile them and finally doth hee not laugh at their destruction Had not holy Dauid thē good cause to be afraid to be thus carried away with the violence of his owne corrupt nature which no doubt hée felt something inclinable rather to goe astray than to goe on y e way the Lord taught him had he not good cause as eueryman hath instantly to pray vnto God Teach me thy way O Lord and leade me in thy right path because of mine enemies Where it appeareth that it is not enough to know the way of God vnlesse wee walke in it and what power haue we of our selues to walke aright vnlesse the spirit of God leade vs we may thinke wee are right when wee are cleane out of the way as many deceiued silly soules doe that thinke themselues right and others out of the way when indéed they walke in darknesse and haue no light at all Enemies are alwaies enuious against the prosperity good that the godly receiue and reioyce when any disgrace misery or misfortune befalls them When my foot slipt saith Dauid mine enemies reioyced So doth Satan and his instruments who neuer rest day nor night seeking to draw if it were possible Gods owne children into the waies of the wicked and then againe to moue and instigate the wicked to reproach vs for our sinnes so that wée must not looke to liue here securely euen in our séeming most quiet estate for when wée thinke of none and deserue least disgrace Satan will raise vp one railing and reuiling Shemei some one traiterous Iudas or one trecherous Achithophel or another to trouble vs. And if wee haue committed any knowne sin be it neuer so small whether in our place conuersation or profession wee shall be sure to heare it Let vs liue neuer so warily neuer so ciuily neuer so sincerely we haue enemies enow to espy out our secretest actions to heare our most priuate speech for in the most godly little sinnes seeme great and are soone discouered and great sinnes in the wicked séeme no sinnes therefore haue the wicked few enemies whom they feare to sée their waies but the godly many It is no disgrace to a wicked man to bée wicked it is his profession as it is no blemish to the beauty of an Aethiopian to be blacke it is his naturall
desires to die he destroyed them in the Wildernes in his heauy displeasure The frailty of a faithlesse man is great he can beare no troubles hee can endure no afflictions with any kinde of patience because hée hath no true and sound vnderstanding of God and his prouidence He thinkes if he prosper and by his naturall policy and meanes can preuent dangers and troubles or hauing them can vse sinister meanes to ease them hée ascribes it to his owne carnall wisdome but when that preuaileth not but that hée is pinched and déeply plunged in distresses and miseries which he cannot ease then hee begins to faint and to murmur and cry Who shall giue mee flesh to eat How shall I get mony to supply my wants Would God I had died when I was young would God I were dead and the like The troubles and afflictions of the wicked and the godly differ not in the outward shew the wicked may bee poore so may the most godly they may haue like outward crosses and afflictions but their bearing of them is vnequall the wicked as before is said faint and fume and murmur and grudge at euery small crosse or affliction and although they heare the promises of God who is ready to helpe yet they beléeue them not They can bee assured of nothing that hangs vpon Gods promises they would think and speake and obiect against God as that Prince in Samaria did when Elisha foretold from the mouth of God plenty to that distressed and besieged City Though the Lord said hee would make windowes in the Heauen could this come to passe So incredulous are men without sound faith that once downe they thinke they shall neuer rise once in trouble they shall neuer haue ease and this is the cause that men séeming faithfull faint vnder their crosses and despaire in their afflictions but it is otherwise with the truly faithfull indéed who know by the foretelling of the Spirit of God in his Word that troubles attend the godly as the shadow the body and therefore prepare themselues before hand for them and reioyce in them in as much as they are partakers here of Christs sufferings So they are likewise assured that when his glory shall appeare they also shall appeare with him in glory yet the most faithfull may haue a kinde of fearefulnesse and fainting for a time but not such as shall preuaile but they will soone ouercome all such faithlesse qualmes by a liuely apprehension of Gods ready helpe through faith and then they may indéed say as Dauid did I should haue fainted except I had beleeued to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the liuing There is none of himselfe so strong but when troubles and afflictions come will faint if faith in God faile them A Prayer that God will not forsake vs in our troubles and that our faith faile not HAd I not taken hold O God of thy louing promises and beleeued thy Word I should haue fainted and yet should faint vnder my troubles if I did not beleeue that thou O Lord knowest my troubles and that mine afflictions are not hid from thee thou hast promised to be a refuge for the poore a refuge in due time euen in affliction keepe me O Lord as the apple of thine eye according to thy promise hide me vnder the shadow of thy wings from the wicked that oppresse me I haue called vpon thee in my troubles O Lord and cried vnto thee my God and thou hast heard me and holpen mee yea when I haue beene ready vtterly to haue fainted I haue cried vnto thee and thou hast redeemed mee and deliuered me Those mercies of thine O Lord remember still renue them euermore towards mee for I stand in continuall need of thy continuall presence Thy goodnesse is great O Lord which thou hast laid vp for them that feare thee and done to them that trust in thee euen before the sonnes of men I haue felt thy fauour and formerly tasted of thy loue How could I but haue fainted but that I still beleeued to bee partaker of thy goodnesse and mercy in my troubles Thou O Lord art my secret place thou preseruest me in trouble and compassest me about with ioyfull deliuerance therefore will I not faint knowing that thine eies are vpon mee and thine eare open vnto my prayers I trust in thee I will not bee afraid what man can doe vnto me Thou Lord hast said concerning the faithfull hee shall call vpon mee and I will heare him so that both my prayers and thy hearing are both thine owne gifts Nay thou addest further Lord I will bee with him in trouble I will deliuer him and glorifie him O why should I feare then or faint seeing thou art pleased to be with me in my troubles as to take part as it were with me of mine afflictioÌ„s wonderfull and vnspeakable O Lord is the extent of thy power and wonderfull the limits of thy loue impossible it is to finde out the depth of thy compassions towards thy children thou hearest vs before we call thou giuest before wee aske thou helpest vs before wee cry thou giuest vs power to call thou teachest vs what to aske and thou euen meetest vs when we are but euen comming vnto thee Thus gracious hast thou euer beene O Lord thus gracious thou art and thus gracious wi lt thou shew thy selfe vnto them that beleeue to see and taste of thy goodnesse euen vnto the end of the world and as thou art gracious so art thou absolute in wisdome thou knowest how to releeue the distressed and how to comfort the afflicted yea when they are ready to faint and to giue ouer any more to call for helpe being as it were hoarse with crying as Dauid was thou giuest them of thy water of life and it reuiueth the fainting soules and strengthneth the weake spirits that gâ—oane vnder the burthen of any calamity or trouble Strengthen mee therefore with thy grace O Lord I shall not then faint nor feare for my sure defence is in thee who wilt in time bring the malice of mine enemies to an end and as I beleeue so shall I see thy goodnesse in the land of the liuing for thou that hast promised it art iust of thy promises and powerfull to performe what thou hast said Therefore euen here I doe meerely beleeue to receiue at thy hands free release and pardon of all that hath beene the ground of my troubles and cause of my miseries Grant mee Lord freedome from mine enemies and restitution of what I haue beene depriued of by any of them then shall they finde that I haue not onely not fainted but beleeued to see and haue seene thy goodnesse O Lord euen here in the Land of the liuing where euen mine enemies and my soes shall witnesse that I haue not beleeued in thee my God in vaine VERSE 14. Hope in the Lord be strong and he shall comfort thine heart and trust in the Lord. THis
with a speare purposing to haue nailed him to the wall suddenly which by Gods prouidence he auoided and after commanded Ionathan his sonne and other his seruants to murther him but God stirred vp the heart of Ionathan to affect Dauid so entirely that he reuealed vnto him his fathers malicious intention against the life of Dauid shewing thereby the wonderfull prouidence of God in preseruing his from most imminent dangers Dauid not yet secure for feare fled from Saul as not willing to tempt God by presuming vpon Gods deliuery and not to vse lawfull meanes to prouide for himselfe hid himselfe in the Mountaines where Saul his enemy with a great power pursued him suborning intelligencers to discouer Dauids abode wheresoeuer hee hid himselfe where may be noted the heat of the malice of an enemy and how ready some wicked wretches are to shew themselues officious to betray the innocent to please a Tyrant But note further the prouidence of God in finding secret vnexpected meanes to preserue the innocent for when Saul was in his most furious pursuit to kill Dauid his abode being discouered God found a meanes to put a Ring in Sauls nose in fauour of Dauid and for his owne glory inforcing him to retire from further following that innocent man and to hasten thâ— rescue and reléefe of his owne Territories which the Philistines had euen then by Gods prouidence inuaded and being sore beset with his enemies he desperatly fell on his own sword and died So it came to passe that when the wicked euen Dauids enemies and his foes came vpon him to eat vp his flesh namely to take away his lise they stumbled and fell God was euer with Dauid for Dauid alwaies depended on God which who so doth shall neuer stumble nor fall But euen his faith and integritie shall make his very enemâ—â—s to feare him As Saul feared Dauid because God was with him whose chiefe armour and weapons were his feare and trust in the name and assistance of Iehouah wherewith he fought diuers battels and slew with great slaughter many Philistines his enemies not onely before but after he was anointed King none preuailed against him but they that came vpon him stumbled and fell Séeing then that Faith and the feare of God and praier be approued of force so far to preuaile with God as to obtaine his helpe and defence against wicked enemies foes that when they assaile vs he causeth them to stumble and fall let vs imitate the faith and fight with that assurance that Dauid did for he is the same God still of the same power of the same prouidence and loue And we are not without like enemies as Dauid in his time had though without cause To relate all Dauids dangers troubles and deliueries battels and victories though profitable for our encouragement yet might séeme tedious not altogether impertinent because by them is the loue the power and prouidence of God séene in defending and reléeuing the faithfull and his iust iudgements against wicked enemies of their stumbling and fals Yet let his faâ—th and constancy moue all faithfull men to imitate his vertues not in that he was a King but in that hée was a godly King of whom God giues testimonie that hee was a man according to Gods owne heart not that he was so conformable by nature but so framed by the grace and good will of God For by nature he was no better in Gods acceptation than Saul who was also a King But God so seasoned Dauids heart of his owne frée mercy that he obeyed and conformed his actions according as God had wrought in his heart and left Saul to the corruption of his owne heart yet did not Dauid glory in any merit of his owne but gaue the praise to God saying Blessed is he whom thou choosest and causest to come vnto thee And againe The wicked are strangers from the wombe euen from the belly haue they erred Yet Saul after he was anointed King by Samuel was turned into another man and was numbred among the Prophets but no otherwise than Iudas among the Apostles God is the God of all that faithfully and constantly fly vnto him for succour For saluation belongeth vnto him alone not vnto the power of Kings bée they neuer so strong in multitudes of armed men with shipping or whatsoeuer military and warlike furniture but where Gods continuall blessing doth accompany a few they preuaile against many though sometimes God may suffer his owne dearest children to bée encountred and beaten by his owne and their enemies Especially when they presume to stand too much vpon their owne strength as vpon allies friends and multitudes preuailing with these God is not so glorified as when he by few ouercommeth a multitude As when Dauid by a few slew two and twentie thousand Aramites And Ioshua fiue combined Kings wherein yet he would not haue the whole victory to bée ascribed to Ioshuahs forces but was himselfe the principall in the ouerthrow not onely in aiding and directing Ioshuah but in powring downe haile-stones from heauen vpon his enemies wherby he slew more men than Ioshuahs Army did by the sword And sometimes hée taketh to himselfe the whole praise of the victory as when Senacherib came against good Hezekiah with a most inuincible supposed Army vnder the conduct of Tartan Rabsaris and Rabsakeh railing vpon and threatning Hezekiah and blaspheming God stiling himselfe the Great King of Ashur whom he thought God himselfe was not able to withstand flattering himselfe as proud Tyrants use to doe as wée haue seene that hée in despight of Hezekiahs God would depriue him of his Kingdome pretending that he came in the name of the Lord as some of late haue done Are wee come saith he or doe wee this without the Lord Whereat Hezekiah in déed according to humane frailtie was afraid But asking counsell of the Lord by faithfull praier the best refuge and defence in danger he became assured of Gods assistance and banisht feare And that night that God which that Tyrant blasphemed as not of power to resist him sent his destroying Angell and slew Senacheribs army one hundred foure score and fiue thousand men We may not forget our like deliueries fresh in our memories euen by the méere hand of God It is not superfluous to recount other famous Histories recorded in the Booke of God which for further confirmation of our Faith in God in like danger are plentifull Benadab that mightie King of Aram threatned Ahab King of Israel to depriue him not onely of his Kingdome but of all that hée had of his Siluer and Gold of his Women and faire children She wing hereby the insolency pride and securitie of Tyrants who by reason of their carnall strength force and multitudes will dispose of the lands and share the possessions of them whose Territories they thirst after and that before their arriuall as though the victory were theirs before the incounter As we with our eares haue
the loue of God the loue of the world could not stand together with his profession and that there is a kinde of enmity betwéene the children of God and the loue of the world or at least no agréement And that is the cause that the good are most afflicted and the worldlings prosper most The first are innocent in whom there is neither gall nor bitternesse the other as they are couetous so are they commonly proud and enuious The first is commonly iniured and beares it with patience the other triumphs ouer them that resist them not but haue onely in all their troubles recourse vnto God whose they are being assured that he in the time of trouble will be their defence and hide them in his Tabernacle which was onely godly Dauids refuge being often and many waies afflicted as at large before appeareth God sendeth affliction vpon his owne dearest children when oftentimes he letteth the wicked goe frée yet is not God vniust in this nor partiall in sparing the euill and punishing the good Hée hath his ends in both according to his heauenly wisdome who knoweth how to deale with both And he that séemeth most to be spared and thinkes himselfe in best case is in greatest danger and he that séemeth in most danger is néerest greatest happinesse Howsoeuer indiscréet men measure their felicity by this worlds fulnesse and fréedome from troubles and censure the dearest children of God to be surely out of his fauour by reason of their manifold afflictions And yet they sée that the simple nurse though she loue her Infant neuer so dearely she will weane it from the breast by some bitter thing when she thinkes her milke not good for the childe And that a Father if he loue his childe will with the rod of correction restraine him from things dangerous And thinke they that our heauenly Father thinkes it not fit to weane his owne children from this hurtfull world that they perish not with worldlings But when he striketh the wicked it is in his anger as the beginning of their perpetuall sorrowes by whose seuere punishments here his owne children may bee terrified from committing like sins by example of their punishments Hee that will liue godly must suffer affliction yet not aboue their strength for God putteth to his hand to moderate and mitigate the weight of their burden The troubles and afflictions of the faithfull séeme more intolerable to the beholders then to themselues that seele them and haue a liuely faith and constancy to beare them Great and many are the troubles euen of the righteous but God deliuereth them out of all In the time of trouble he hides them in his Tabernacle in the secret place of his Pauilion shall he hide them and set them vpon a Rocke He hid Dauid from Saul and Moses from Pharaohs murderers his Tabernacle is alwaies open to entertaine them that in their troubles fly for shelter to him His fauour is the Rocke that cannot be mooued his prouidence the mountaine of their rest and refuge Troubles are but for a moment and then commeth comfort therefore doe the children of God with patience great alacritie and ioy vndergoe them But contrary the comfort of the wicked is here short and momentany but theâ—r future miserie shall haue no end Séeing then that no man especially such as are Gods dearest children can liue here in this earthly Pilgrimage but he must looke for and endure troubles Who will not then prepare himselfe with constancy and patience to embrace them when they came The holy Ghost by the pen of godly Dauid hath assured the poore oppressed afflicted children of God neuer to be forgotten Their hope shall not perish for euer for God is not an idle obseruer or a carelesse spectator of the afflictions and miseries of those that are his Though he suffer theÌ„ to be oppressed long as some with enemies as Dauid some by losse of goods as Iob some by imprisonment as Ioseph some with sicknesse as Hezekiah and withall to permit the wicked to mocke and deride them for that they trusting in God are suffered thus to be afflicted and notwithstanding their praiers not to be deliuered or reléeued which is no small tentation But these men looke into the outward prosperity of men and commend them entertaine them embrace them as if all cause of loue were due to them that were loaden with lucre As for the poore they are despised contemned and had in continuall derision of such onely indeed as are blinde and sée not ignorant and know not dull and obserue not That there is a God that careth for such as worldlings cast off that hee embraceth his poore that the wealthy despise and that he loueth them that the worldlings hate And that in the time of trouble hee hideth them in his Tabernacle within the secret place of his Pauilion shall hee hide them Nay the very Angels of God whom man séeth not pitcheth round about them that feare him and call vpon him and deliuereth them therefore though the godly be poore the Lord thinketh on them Many a meane contenmed childe of God hauing little mâ—anes by the blessing of God doe eat with more contented and more salutary saturity than many times doe the most wealthy of the abundance of all their table dainties A little that the righteous hath is better than the abundance of the vngodly rich Let no man therefore faint nor feare when trouble affliction or persecution commeth but rather reioyce knowing that tribulation bringâ—th forth patience and patience experience and experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed but assureth the faithfull of the goodnesse and loue of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost so that howsoeuer we be scorned we néed not blush at our troubles and afflictions but at our sinnes that procure them yet are they vnto the children of God but wholesome medicines to cure them and to preuent them onely vnsauory to the carnall minde which also doe accustome to patience which by experience cherisheth and confirmeth our hope which through faith is an assured testimony vnto our conscience that we are beloued of God so much the more by how much he kéepeth vs vnder and in obedience through afflictions For if he leaueth vs vnto our owne corrupt conuersations without correction so much the stronger grow we in sinne therefore necessary it is that we should often féele his correcting rod lest at the last he should confound vs with his deuouring sword for if we should bée without trouble which is our correction whereof all Gods children are partakers we could not but account our selues bastards and no sonnes And if his corrections kéepe vs in obedience then wée may assure our selues he will hide vs in his Tabernacle that no power or policy of the wicked shall finde vs out to hurt vs. As men are in number many and their affections diuers none liueth without some trouble or affliction not all in one
Mephibosheth the sonne of Ionathan Sauls sonne who accused him most falsly to Dauid perswading him that Mephibosheth went about to take from Dauid the kingdome onely to get Mephibosheths patrimony as it is commonly the end of all the testimonies false witnesses giue to gaine outward reward thereby As the Iewes hired and suborned false witnesses against that most sanctified man Stephen to put him to death The like against innocent Naboth by wicked Iezabel who was likewise stoned to fulfill the lust of enemies It is a dangerous thing for the most innocent man in the world to fall vnder the testimony of false witnesses The accused seldome escapes vnlesse there be a Daniel to examine circumstances to finde out the truth A false witnesse is one of the six things that God himselfe abhorreth for of all men he is the most dangerous and therefore no maruell that Dauid hauing such enemies as made no conscience of whatsoeuer deuillish inuention to betray him and to haue their lust of him did pray Giue me not ouer to the lust of mine enemies for there are false witnesses risen vp against mee and such as speake cruelly Dauid feared more false witnesses than the open force of his enemies who when they came vpon him they stumbled and fell and therefore was not dismaied if an Host pitched against him Secret false combinations of enemies accompanied with false witnesses who can withstand or auoid The tongue which God made in the beginning good and to be a faithfull witnesse of the heart the Deuill hath made the instrument of falshood and lies For now in many the heart the tongue are so estranged as the one vttereth what y e other thinks not the other thinks what y e other vtters not The tongue becomes an instrument to deceiue which was made to explaine the true meaning of the heart But where the tongue speakes falsly the heart cannot be right and where the heart is corrupt the tongue cannot be sound There was once a confusion of tongues not of that part which moueth to frame the voice for the tongue it selfe remained as before it was but inforced to alter the language but now there séemeth to be a confusion betwéene the tongue and the heart which should be as one Both which being so farre disioyned in consent now as it séemeth to be another confusion of our language One knew not what another said when that one language became so changed and who vnderstands now what another speakes when he speakes what he meanes not How then can hee bee truly vnderstood what hée speakes Men indéed are become as it were false witnesses against themselues when the tongue beares witnesse against the heart and the heart against the tongue If then we become so confounded in our language when we call for one thing we bee offered another all good men had néed to craue a diuine Interpreter who knoweth the heart for by the tongue we cannot truly vnderstand what some men meane And that is the reason so many are at this day deceiued and vniustly many times condemned and therefore not vnfit for euery man though he obserue to haue no professed enemy as Dauid seemed to haue to pray as Dauid did vnto God the searcher and disposer of all hearts and she restrainer of all false tongues O giue me not ouer to the lust of mine enemies for there are false witnesses risen vp against mee and such as speake cruelly A Prayer that God will preserue vs from our enemies that they preuaile not against vs and to preuent vs of false witnesses O Most mighty God Defender of the faithfull the Protector of them that betake themselues vnder thy protecting hand the mightiest among men cannot hurt the least whom thou protectest the subtillest cannot circumuent them whom thou guidest in thine owne waies Saul could not hurt Dauid though he pursued him with deadly hatred pursuing him to take away his life Thou neuer leftest him to the lust of his enemies Thou art powerfull and in respect of thee my most powerfull and politickest Aduersaries are weake and foolish O let them not haue their wished desires against me though they suborne false witnesses against me let their false tongues falter in their mouthes Let their lying lips be shut vp with shame and let all those that take malicious counsell against me and combine together to hurt or to destroy me be turned enemies one to the other and let them doe each to other as they intend to doe vnto me Let their tongues wherewith they thinke to speake falsly against me cleaue to the roofes of their mouthes For thou hearest how proudly hatefully and disdainfully they speake against me falsly as if I were their enemy But thou art a righteous Iudge and markest theirs and my waies their thoughts and their practises and policies and my simplicitie None of their inward inuentions none of their wicked proiects policies and secret practises are hid from thee and therefore Lord leaue me not vnto their lust Confirme my faith in thee powre thy grace and holy spirit into the inward parts of my soule that I sincerely seruing thee may either win their vnfained friendship or that thou wilt preuent their malicious deuices against me and that I may possesse mine owne in peace Although they now stand vpon the open stage of the world and sound out the Trumpets of their enuious and slanderous tongues of reproach against me And although they suborne false witnesses against me let my vprightnesse approue them lyers Let my course of life so contrary to their false reports try and approue proue them false witnesses risen vp against me Though I cannot but confesse against my selfe not onely vnto thee in secret but vnto them openly that I come short of some duties that I ought to performe yet consider my willing minde to performe them without reproofe Lord I am weake in strength I am not wise enough to deale with the Politicians of this world I cannot withstand nor finde out the practises that mine enemies contriue against mee who haue a strong desire to haue their wills to execute their lust especially false witnesses being suborned against mee but giue me not ouer to the lust of mine aduersaries that speake so cruelly against me falsifying the cause of their hatred as if I had done them iniury extenuating their owne malice and mischiefe as if their wicked deuices were lawfull and grounded vpon Iustice and their violence rather charitable than malicious what they haue done and what they intend thou knowest and how vniustly they afflict me thou seest who art a God that iudgest right Rise vp therefore O Lord and take my cause into thine owne hand make their wicked counsells as Achithophels for haue they not said in their hearts Come let vs cut them off from being a people and let their name bee no more had in remembrance In so much as many of them say There is no helpe for me in thee Yet
within the same the fountaine of all perfect hope the giuer of patience and maintainer of our strength thou knowest my troubles and beholdest mine afflictions and what and how many they are and how burthensome vnto mee thy weake creature in stead therefore of my weake ability giue mee thy preuailing strength giue me hope in thee let mee be strong in thee let my comfort be of thee and let me truly trust in thee then shall I with patience beare these and whatsoeuer troubles it shall please thee to lay vpon me Arme mee with faith O Lord that I trusting in thy defence may not sinke vnder the weight of my troubles importable to flesh and bloud thou hast promised to bee the God of my saluation so shall nothing hurt mee my glory so nothing shall disgrace me my rocke and my strength so nothing shall moue mee nor remoue mee from my trust in thee I am thine saue mee keepe me as the apple of thine eye hide me vnder the shadow of thy protecting wings then shall no enemy annoy mee no trouble dismay mee nor affliction or feare shall cast mee downe by thee I shall withstand or escape the fury force fraud of all my foes by thee I shall bee timely releeued in all my necessities and in thee shall I bee comforted in all mine afflictions I will not feare thou art my God I will not faint thou art the comfort of my heart Let mee still taste of thy goodnesse and behold thy saluation in hope let mee hold fast by thee in faith let me be strong in thee with comfort let mee reioyce and be glad in thee Continue thy mercies towards mee O Lord for my soule trusteth in thee knowing and confessing that I haue no other Comforter but thee no Defender but thee nor any Helper but thee Forsake me not therefore O my God in my greatest need send from Heauen and saue me for all power belongeth vnto thee therefore doth my soule cleaue vnto thee it longeth and thirsteth for thy saluation O let mee plentifully taste how sweet thy goodnesse is thy goodnesse appeared in my creation more in my redemption but most in mine election thou formedst me in the wombe thou broughtest me thence giuing me hope euen from my Mothers brest and I was euen then cast vpon thy prouidence therefore leaue me not nor be farre from mee now trouble is befalne mee but as thou hast taken charge of me from the beginning so continue still to defend me for I haue none besides thee to helpe me therefore cast I my burthen vpon thee for thou hast taken vpon thee to nourish me In thee O Lord I trust let mee neuer be ashamed nor confounded deliuer me according to thy promise for thou art my hope O Lord in thee haue I trusted from my youth Let my prayers O Lord enter into thy presence heare me and helpe me let nothing hinder the worke of thy mercies towards me not mine vnworthinesse O Lord but accept me worthy in thy most worthy then shall not the weaknesse of my faith diminish my hope nor extenuate my strength nor depriue me of my comfort in thee but my faith hope strength and comfort shall increase more and more and patience shalâ— haue it perfect working in me to wait vntill thine appointed time come for my deliuery out of some of my troubles for I endure many O Lord and the least of them of weight more than sufficient to presse mee downe vnlesse thou support mee yet I acknowledge them easie in comparison of my euill deseruings O pardon mine offences cleanse me of my sinnes and make mee vpright in thy waies then shall I with perfect patience beare my troubles and rest in hope vntill it shall please thee to ease me of my troubles or to bring them to an end which grant gracious Lord God in Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be honour power and praise for euermore Amen A Prayer for forgiuenesse of sinnes reformation of life and comfort in affliction O My God my God hide not thy face from mee stop not thine eares at my prayers and refuse not to heare the words of my complaint though I cannot but confesse O Lord against my selfe that by reason of my sins I haue deserued thy displeasure and that in so high a measure as if thou shouldest vtterly confound me yet were there no iniustice in thee for the euills that I haue committed and the good duties I haue omitted in thy seuere iustice deserue the same but Lord looke not so narrowly into my waies as to obserue and register against me euery sinne committed and euery duty omitted by me knowing that I am by nature corrupt and sinfull as all my fathers were Lord what were Abraham Izaak Iaacob Iob Noah Lot Moses Eliah or Dauid though a man chosen after thine owne heart Paul that elect vessell but men by nature carnall and euen sold vnder sinne vntill thou of thine owne free mercy vouchsafedst to infuse heauenly wisdome into their hearts and diuine graces into their soules vntill thou diddest fully season them aboue others by thy holy Spirit yet Lord thou knowest that euen these select vessels of thine were not without their owne naturall infirmities They stood not vprightly by their owne strength but by thee if they had had will and power of and in themselues to worke righteousnes they might haue had whereof to boast but not with thee but being only supported by thee they gaue the sole glory to thee Seeing then gracious Father that all our most godly fore-fathers had their defects by nature and their perfection through thy grace I being corrupt as they were by nature borne corrupt and brought forth the fruits of corruption vntill thou begattest them anew by thy Spirit what differ I from them by nature And therefore Lord as they became holy not of themselues but by thee so canst thou make me holy as they were holy by the same grace There is none O Lord that by his owne wisdome is capable of that wisdome whereby to know thee aright how much lesse able by his owne power to performe that obedience which may make him accepted of thee If then it be as indeed it is of thine owne free mercy and grace that any man becomes wise in thee and righteous before thee who hath cause to boast of his owne merit Or who needs despaire of his owne vnworthinesse seeing thou art equally mercifull to all whom thou hast called and accepted into the number of them that shall be saued O send downe send downe from Heauen that thy sanctifying Spirit into my heart that that liuely faith whereby our most godly fore-fathers were accepted of thee may be more and more inkindled and breake forth into a holy flame of godlinesse and zeale and my whole man be changed into the same image of sanctity which appeared in them in whom thou most delightest then thou my God now deseruedly offended with me for