up nor any left nor any helper for Israel The meaning is as I take it that there was none left and reserved from the common calamity nor any other that might help them in this misery 2 Because God hath a speciall communion with his people so that (c) Isay 63.9 in all their affliction hee professeth himselfe to be afflicted and that (d) Acts 9.4 he that persecuteth them persecuteth him and that (e) Zach. 2.8 he who toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye And therefore the more they are afflicted the more himselfe suffereth in them and consequently the readier he will be both to succour them and to ease himselfe 3 Because when men are destitute of all help and hope and have neither friends nor meanes then God may gaine the greatest honour by their deliverance for it will then appeare to bee his worke So S. Paul saith of himselfe and Timothy that they were (f) 2 Cor. 1.8 9 pressed out of measure above strength in so much that they despaired even of life and that therefore they had the sentence of death in themselves that they should not trust in themselves but in God which raiseth the dead And the same Apostle saith of himselfe that God resused to free him from the buffettings of Satan at the present because (a) 2 Cor. 12.9 his strength was made perfect in weaknesse And wee reade of Gedcon that God would not save him from his enemies by an armie of two and thirty thousand men but he did save him by three hundred And the reason is given in the text (b) Iudg. 7.2 Lest Israel should vaunt themselves against God and say Mine owne hand hath saved me The meaning is that if they should have conquered when they had a great armie they might have ascribed the victory to their owne strength but if with an handfull of men they should overcome a great hoste of enemies all men might see that it was Gods doing and not their owne endeuour that got them the victorie And thus God doth use to doe still hee leaveth men to struggle with the crosse when their wants are but small and the meanes competent to provide against them but mans extremity is Gods opportunity when they have no power then hee sheweth his and when all helps and hopes from men do faile them then is he ready with reliefe from heaven that his power and strength and mercy may bee seene And hence we have an excellent meditation of great comfort For if our distresse be small our care for it should not be great and if our case grow desperate and remedilesse in respect of humane help then the Iudge is at the doores and then God is even at hand to relieve us and then may wee comfort our drooping soules as the Apostle did the afflicted Hebrewes (c) Heb. 10.37 Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tary 3 Thirdly Meditat. 3 it will not be unprofitable for easing of cares if amidst the evils that we suffer wee call to minde the good things which by Gods mercy wee do enjoy and if as we weigh our crosses by thinking on the greatnesse or grievousnesse of them so we lay in the other scale over against them the mercies that are still continued unto us For so wee may finde perhaps that our blessings do overweigh our crosses and therefore that we have greater cause to praise God that we are so well dealt with then to grudge or grieve that we are no better For example say that wee are sick or sore or maimed yet wee have meate and physick and attendance and a soft lodging which many others as good as our selves do want Or wee are oppressed with great ones or undermined by Conie-catchers or slandered by foule mouthes yet we have some kinde friends to comfortus and an obsequious family to observe us and a commodious house to dwell in al which may refresh us at home when we have beene molested abroad Or againe wee are impeverished in our estates and want meanes and maintenance and wee are crossed in our preferments and suffer repulse in our suites and are destitute of friends to supplie us but wee have soundnes of limmes health of bodie and a right and readie use of our senses so that wee can endure labour or serve in some places of employment and worke for the getting of an honest living Or yet againe say wee have all these crosses and none of the other comforts though who can say so truly yet we have the comfort of Gods word and peace of conscience and hope of eternall life and wee have God our father to protect us and Christ our Redeemer to pray for us and the holy Spirit of them both to comfort us and the blessed Angels to pitch their tents round about us and to guard us Or if wee have not these for our comfort it is our fault alone that we want them and then wee have greater cause to bee solicitous and carefull for the obtaining of these spirituall mercies then for the repairing of our worldly wants And hence wee have a meditation of great comfort For if wee consider our worldly state wee are not without the testimonies of Gods love towards us in many things but if wee looke upon our meanes of grace and our hopes of glory and Gods eternall favour in Christ then we have greater cause to cheare our selves against all worldly troubles For then as God comforted his people saying (a) Isai 30.20 Though the Lord give you the bread of adversitie and the water of affliction yet shall not thy Teachers bee removed into a corner any more but thine eyes shall see thy Teachers and thine eares shall heare a word behinde thee saying This is the way walke ye in it So may euery afflicted Christian comfort himselfe in the like manner Though the Lord have given mee bread of adversitie and waters of affliction though hee have laid on me sicknes or wants or disgraces or such like yet hee hath not taken from mee his Word his Sacraments his Ministers meanes of grace or peace of conscience or the light of his countenance and so I may have these it is no great matter though I want all other things For as David said (b) Psal 4.6 7. Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us and then addeth Thou hast put gladnes in my heart more then in the time that their corne and their wine increased so the Christian soule may say God hath put more cause of gladnes in my heart by the enjoying of his favour and the expectation of his glorie then if I had had corne and wine and oile honours and offices and preferments health and strength and libertie and whatsoever else appertaineth to the outward man 4 It may help to alaie our cares for the world Meditat. 4 if wee consider how God hath alaied and tempered these verie crosses whereof wee
complaine For say that God hath stricken us with sicknes yes but hee might justly have stricken us with death Or hee hath laied losses and wants upon us yes but hee might have left us without any ragge to our backs or crumme of bread for our bellies or a dropp of water to relieve our thirst Or hee hath suffered men to oppresse us and hale us into prison yes but he might have given way to the Devill to set upon us and hurrie us into hell And finally whatsoever wee suffer yet it is a great deale lesse then wee have deserved and then God might have laied upon us if he had rewarded us according to our sins And hence wee may have a good meditation for our comfort For in what distresses soever wee bee yet wee may bee glad that they are no worse And if our crosses seeme grievous to bee borne wee may cheare our selves in the Apostles words (c) 2 Cor. 4.8 9 Wee are troubled on every side yet not distressed wee are perplexed but not in despaire persecuted but not forsaken cast downe but not destroyed When Hezekiah considered this hee praised God for it (d) King 20.19 Good said hee is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken and Is it not good if peace and truth bee in my dayes which is as if hee should have said God might justly have laied this punishment both on mee and my children and his mercie it is that doth spare mee in mine owne person and deferre his judgment till afterward And the Church in the Lamentations (a) Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that wee are not consumed because his compassions faile not And so considering that all our crosses are farre lesse then our sinnes and that God hath mingled much mercie in our afflictions wee have great cause to blesse God that our sufferings are so casie when our deservings have beene so badd 5 Fiftly and lastly Meditat. 5 amidst our solicitous cares for the world we may thinke whether we have not greater cause of taking thought for our soules which yet doth seldome and little trouble our mindes For example say we have lost our goods or offended some great man or endangered our liberties and lives and this filleth us with anxietie and care Yea but have wee not lost some measure of Gods Spirit or offended the Lord of heaven and endangered our soules and salvation And where is the thought that we take for these things This Meditation may either serve to shame us for our worldly mindednes and that wee have so much care about these transitorie things or it may serve to worke in us a greater care for our soules and if that once bee increased our care for the world will in a like proportion be decreased with it These be the Meditations with which if we busie our selves when occasion shall require they may help to avert our minds from musing on our worldly griefe and may mitigate those cares that doe too much possesse our hearts And thus much may serve for this third rule which is to meditate on such things as may perswade to patience and equanimitie IIII. Rule 4 A fourth and last rule is that in all our pensive thoughts wee goe to God for comfort and still unloade our cares into his bosome by praier and supplication For if wee cast them upon God God will ease us of them Nor will any man think that hath not tryed it how much this course may availe to the quieting of a distracted soule and that either because having done his dutie hee may comfort his heart with the conscience of it or because having referred himselfe to Gods mercie hee may well hope that God will support him But what ever the reason bee certaine it is that Hannah gained great ease by it It is said of her (a) 1 Sa. 1.6 7 8 that being upbraided by her adversarie for her barrennesse she wept and did not eate and her heart was grieved Here was her care and thought-taking for want of children But then (b) ver 10 11. in the bitternesse of her soule she went and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore Here Hannah cast her burden upon the Lord and unloaded her cares into his bosom And then thirdly it is added after all that having done her prayers (c) ver 18. she went her way and did eate and her countenance was no more sad Where wee may see that shee had no sooner prayed but she was cheared she had cast her burden upon God and that cased her heart And so if wee by hearty prayer cast our burden upon God that will bee a readie way to unburden our selves And therefore when cares take hold on us in stead of musing wee should fall to praying And then (d) Philip. 4.7 the peace of God which passeth all understanding will preserve our hearts and mindes through Christ Iesus These bee the Rules it now remaineth to applic and make use of them for our selves And that wee may doe two waies 1 If wee have any cares upon us alreadie wee have hence direction how to worke them out and that is by opposing them as they do arise and by diverting our thoughts upon better objects and by considering what end the Lord maketh of such occasions and lastly by unloading our cares into Gods bosom by supplication and prayer And if thus wee finde not present ease yet wee must still waite for many have missed of help because they have made too much haste Of Abraham wee heard before that hee tooke his sonne and the knife and the wood and the fire and went his three dayes journey that hee might sacrifice his sonne where God had appointed and after hee had gone all the way and staied all the time and was now at the last cast of killing his sonne then and not till then hee found Gods help in the topp of the mount But now suppose that Abraham either wearied with the journey or ouercome with griefe or despairing of future help had turned back againe after a dayes journey or two Or say hee had sate himselfe downe at the foote of the hill and with impatient cries had bemoaned his uncomfortable condition what may we thinke would the issue have beene Sure it may well bee supposed that by detaining his sonne he might have lost him but certaine it is that by staying at the foote of the hill he had not found God in the topp of the mount And so if wee make too much haste and will not expect Gods time wee may outrunne Gods providence and faile of his protection and mercie But if wee holde on in using the meanes and resting on Gods worde wee shall in the end finde the Proverb to bee true In the mountaine will the Lord be seene 2 If dangers bee towards and when are they not wee may hereby learne how to prepare for them and how to arme against them that they may not affect us with immoderate cares when they come And that is that wee setle our selves aforehand so to deale in all our occasions as the wise husbandman dealeth in his businesse He diggeth and dungeth and ploweth and soweth and when hee hath done his daies worke betaketh himselfe to his nights rest and leaveth the growing of the corne and the ordering of the weather to Gods care and providence And so should wee resolve to doe For example thus If sicknesse shall befall us wee will goe to the Physician for counsell and use such druggs and diet as may bee convenient and provide such Attendants as may supply us with necessaries and this is as the sowing of our seede and when this is once done then we have done our dayes worke and therefore will laie our selves downe in peace and let God alone with the issue in whose hands only it is And the like course wee should resolve upon in all other the like cases if wee shall bee slandered by foule mouths undermined by cunning heads oppressed by potent neighbours endamaged in our worldly estates or whatsoever other crosse wee shall meete with wee will first sow our seede and then take our rest first use good meanes and then trust God with the successe and hee that hath promised help before wee did aske will not faile to peforme it when wee thinke not on it And if thus wee prepare our selves before the crosse commeth wee shall be the more free from cares when it is come For nothing is more availeable then courage in such cases and a resolution aforehand will by Gods help make us stedfast when the storme is upon us nor will God bee wanting to afford us his help if wee bee not wanting in using of the meanes For that belongeth to us also which was spoken to Solomon Vp be doing 1 Chron. 22.16 and the Lord will bee with thee Now the God of all mercie and goodnesse guide our hearts in the doing of our duties and blesse our labours with successe and comfort and so free us from cares of the world that we may serve him without distraction all our dayes Amen FINIS
not and if hee heare a Sermon hee understandeth not what is said And all this because the minde being full of thoughts already hath no roome for other things to enter in And this all men will say is too much and without reason and therefore if wee observe our selves and finde our cares thus possessing our heads wee may resolve these be very irregular and unlawfull cares This is the first signe II. A second is These cares may be knowne to bee irregular if they busie and take up a mans thoughts about such things as are not in his power to order or dispose or alter any way for his aduantage For the regular care maketh a man diligent to use good meanes for his honest ends and when once he hath done what is in his owne power and belongeth to his dutie to doe hee leaveth caring for that which hee cannot compasse But excessive and immoderate care doth not only busie men about the meanes which themselues may vse but about the event and successe of their labours which is in Gods hand only either to grant or to denie When they have done all that they can doe yet they rest not there but they feare and doubt and forecast dangers and difficulties and muse with themselues what the event may bee and if any thing fall out amisse they take thought for that which is alreadie past and cannot be recalled as if the Husbandman when hee hath plowed and sowed and weeded and done all that belongeth to the art of tillage should afterward beate his braines and busie his minde with thinking how the corne will grow and how the weather will prove and what a croppe he may have at the harvest And this is evident to bee foolish and superfluous and therefore if wee finde thoughts of of things without our compasse we may know that to be an irregular and unlawfull care III. A third signe of a sinfull care is if it vexe the minde and disquiet the man and bereave him of his inward peace and contentment For the orderly care maketh a man to advise and provide labour for that which may availe him and when hee hath once done working then hee leaveth caring glad that his worke is at an end Yea and he comforteth himselfe with the conscience of his well doing and because he hath done his owne endeavours hee laieth himselfe downe in peace and with patience expecteth Gods blessing according to his promise But anxious and distrustfull cares they worke vpon the man when they cannot worke about the thing they do not onely fill the head with thoughts but the heart with heaviness and breed sorow when they cannot further the successe For which cause the Greekes call this care 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cut and divide the minde in peeces And the Latines call it cura because it doth cor edere feede upon and consume the heart And in the Hebrew tongue the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 same word signifieth both to take thought or to be carefull and to sorow or bee grieved and our English Bibles do sometimes render it the (a) 1 Sam. 9.5 one way and sometimes the other (b) 1 Sam. 10. ◠Psal 38.18 the unitie of the word implying a neare affinity in the things And wee in our English tongue when wee see a man pine and waste and weare away without apparent cause we say He taketh eare or Hee taketh thought for some thing meaning that his cares breede sorow and his sorow sicknes And this must needes be a great deale too much when that which should help to speede our businesse doth serve to consume our selves IIII. A fourth signe may bee this If our care for earthly things do breede feares and suspitions without cause that is a signe that it doth affect us ouer much and aboue measure For ordinate care as it useth helps to effect his ends so it provideth against lets and dangers that might hinder them but both of them with moderation and as reason doth require But if a mans heart be set on the world his loue to earthly things and the care that hee hath of them doth make him feare every shadow and suspect every fancy much what like a skittish jade that starteth at every straw And as Cain said out of his discontent and diffidence (c) Gen. 4.14 Every one that findeth me shall slay mee when as there was never a one in the world but his owne father and mother so these men doubt lest every great man that they meete with will oppresse them and every poore man will steale from them and every passenger will robbe them and every chapman or customer wil overreach thē every man that they deale with will one way or other deprive them of their commodities riches nor dare they trust any man further then they see him For according as any mans love is to the world so will his feares be lest hee lose that which hee loveth These bee the signes and symptomes of an anxious diffident inordinate and immoderate care If any man feele them in himselfe or finde thē in others he may bee sure that such men are distempered with this sicknes of worldly cares and therefore have neede to seeke for and to make use of whatsoever cure may bee prescribed for their better ease and recoverie CHAP. III. What evils accompany this irregular care CAres such as have beene already described have many ill consequents and companions which may iustly move us with all care to remove them and to ridde our selves of them For example these I They busie and vexe men with excessive toile and yet they no way help him or make him any recompence for his paines And this appeareth by two things 1 because they are needlesse and without use and 2 because they are fruitlesse and without effect First they are needlesse and without use For if men would doe their parts God will bee sure to doe his that is if they use honest meanes as hee hath appointed he will procure a happy issue as himselfe hath promised This the Apostle teacheth us (a) 1 Pet. 5. ◠Cast all your care upon God for he careth for you And David (b) Psal 37.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord and trust in him and he will bring it to passe And our Saviour (c) Mat. 6.33 Seeke ye first the kingdome of God and his righteousnes and all these things of the world shall be added unto you And if God do take care of us and will bring to passe our desires and cast upon us all needefull things when we have done our dutie and do rest upon his providence what a vanity nay iniquity is it to beate our braines about those things which if wee would leave them to Gods disposing would without our care bee better done to our hands Secondly they are fruitlesse and without effect and do no way help forward or further the
befall us in the world wee have little cause to vexe our selves with care for that which doth doe us so much good 2 God doth many times make our present crosses to be meanes to prevent future evils which otherwise might doe us greater prejudice in our worldly estate and condition For example (b) Ier. 24.8 9. the Iewes in Ieremies time which escaped the captivity remained at home for their greater hurt For they were driven into all the kingdomes of the earth and were so tortured and consumed there that they became a proverb and a taunt and a curse in all places but those that were taken captives escaped these greater evils and at length were restored home againe and enjoyed their former liberties and lands And in the like manner God doth many times deale with us also For whereas we grieve at the untimely death of our children which wee hoped should have beene the staffe of our old age and should have inherited both our names and houses yet we may observe that many children of as good hope as they ever were have proved such crosses to their parents as that their fathers or mothers have not stuck to say of them Would God hee had never beene borne thus to afflict his friends and vndoe himselfe or I would I had caried him to his grave when I brought him to his nurse Surely Rachel who out of her desire of children said (a) Gen. 30.1 Give mee children or else I dye did afterward (b) Gen. 35.19 die indeed by child-bearing And that sonne which she (c) Gen. 30.24 joyed to think on aforehand proved afterward a (d) Gen. 35.18 Benoni a sonne of her sorow And so the children whose life we do so immoderately desire and for whose death we grieve without measure had they lived might have proved sonnes of sorow and such as wee would have wished that they had beene buried long before And againe we think it an heavy case if a man be diseased or dismembred and either full of paine or deprived of some limme and yet it is not unusuall that strength of body and soundnesse of limmes do give occasion of a farre greater mischiefe so that we may sometimes heare men say Would God I had beene sick in my bed or I would I had lost a legge or an arme when I went to such a place or began such a worke Thirdly we count it a lamentable thing if a man bee robbed by theeves or impoverished by ill debtors or undermined by cunning Lawyers or any way brought to penury or distresse and yet wee may note it in the world that many times riches prove * Eccles. 5.13 the hurt of the owners of them either they embolden them to some desperate attempt that may be their ruine or they whet others with envy to lay snares for their life or one way or other they breed men such woe that they will say of them Would God I had beene borne to never a foot of land or I would I had lived as such a Cobler or Water-bearer doth for then I had escaped these mischiefes and might have had some comfort in my life And the like may bee said of other the like cases concerning all which wee must consider that what we see afterward and wish for it when it is too late that God seeth aforehand and provideth for it before it come And hence we may have a good meditation to comfort us in all distresses For if God do take away our children that are deare unto us as our lifes we should think It is perhaps because he foreseeth that if they should survive they would work either woe to us or ruine to themselves And if he lay sicknesse or lamenesse or maimednesse upon our bodies it may bee hee doth it because he foreseeth that if wee had health and strength and soundnesse of limmes they would be an occasion of some greater mischiefe And if he send us want and poverty and losses in our estates and dealings it is because hee foreseeth that wealth would breede us more woe then it is worth But sure it is that most times God doth lay afflictions either because hee will procure us some good or prevent some evill by them And if so why should we mourne or take thought for that which tendeth to our welfare and greater comfort 2 A second meditation Meditat. 2 to worke patience and to mitigate cares is if wee consider the times and seasons that God taketh for delivering and relieving of his servants And that is this that when all other helps faile then God is most ready to help and then is he nearest to relieve when men are nearest to despaire (a) 1 Sam. 2.6 Hee saith Hannah bringeth downe to the grave and bringeth up againe And (b) Deut. 32.36 God saith Moses will judge his people and repent himselfe for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left And he saith S. Paul (c) 2 Cor. 7.6 comforteth those that be cast downe And hee saith (d) Psal 68.5 Psal 10.14 David is a Father of the fatherlesse and a Iudge of the widowes And (e) Psal 27.10 When my father and mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up In all which sayings wee may consider two things 1 Gods great mercy in helping the distressed hee bringeth men up out of the grave he judgeth his people that is he righteth them from their adversaries and he is a Father to pity them and a Iudge to defend their just cause 2 The objects of this mercy or who they be that God sends such help unto and they be those who are brought downe to the grave that is who are in the deepest misery and those whose power is gone that is who have no meanes to help themselves and those who are cast downe who are fatherlesse or widowes and who are forsaken of their parents and nearest kinred and are destitute of all friends and helpers And hereby wee may see that God doth especially shew mercy when men are in the greatest miserie And that hee doth upon three grounds or for three causes 1 Because he delighteth to shew mercy and mercy still hath misery for its object and is then most ready when there is the greatest need And from hence it is that when the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptians and (a) Exod. 2.23 sighed by reason of the bondage and cryed then their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage That which made them to cry made him to help that is the sore bondage which they suffered And (b) Exo. 22.23 If thou afflict the widow and the fatherlesse saith God and they cry unto me I will surely heare their cry And it is given for a reason of Gods speciall mercy towards Israel * 2 King 14.26 because he saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter for there was not any shut