Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	king_n	people_n	power_n	4,914	5	5.4287	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08277	The imitation of Dauid his godly and constant resolution in bearing all his trialls, troubles and afflictions being a king whose example of faith, patience, hope, obedience and deliueries, thankfulnesse and prayer, is left euen for princes, potentates, and all true Christians to imitate. Collected by way of meditations and prayers out of the 27. Psalme. By I.N.	Norden, John, 1548-1625?	1624 (1624)	STC 18610; ESTC S113324	90,720	456

heard that our enemies haue boasted through the false and forged benediction of him that is a deceiuer and yet taketh the falsly conceiued authority from heauen But our God laughed their pride insolency and security to scorne taking our cause into his owne hand confounded their deuices daunted their hearts weakned their armes abandoned their Nauies by his owne power euen as he gaue proud Benadab into Ahabs power though a wicked King and an Idolater therefore not for Ahabs sake but for his owne Names seke and his owne peoples safety And to shew his Omnipotent power in defending his owne and confounding his and their enemies So that the truly faithful in God being threatned beset and besieged by wicked multitudes néed not to be afraid for though war be raised against them that God that defended Dauid Hezekias and all that haue truly called vpon him in like danger will as hée hath euer hitherunto defend vs. They that haue the God of Hosts on their side néed not to feare though Kings combine and people rage as if they would eat vp their flesh Onely let them liue godly pray faithfully and vse ordinary meanes lawfully then if an Host pitch against them their hearts néed not be afraid though warre be raised against them let them trust in him and they shall sée the saluation of God They that fight against Gods people fight euen against God himselfe as Paul persecuting his children persecuted Christ. If therefore a mighty Host inuade vs we may boldly though in seeming weaknesse encounter them for there are more with the children of God though not séene than with the wicked God neuer faileth nor forsaketh his vnlesse they forsake him he leaueth them not vnlesse they leaue him Infinite are the examples hereof in holy Scriptures which might be also produced further to confirme our assurance And were it néedfull there might be inserted not a few examples of Gods like deliueries recorded in our owne Chronicles and in our own remembrances But where Gods Spirit speaketh by the pens of Gods owne Secretaries there néed no humane testimonies but onely to shew that God is still the same He is Alpha and Omega the same yesterday to day and for euer therefore may the man that is godly assure himselfe with holy Dauid If an Host of enemies pitch against him his heart need not bee afraid though war be raised against him he may trust in this That when the wicked euen his enemies and his foes come vpon him to eat vp his flesh they shall stumble and fall A Praier to God that he will defend vs from our Enemies O Holy and most mightie God of Hosts who dwellest in the heauens and yet art thou absolute also in the earth gouerning guiding directing and protecting those that feare thy name so that they need not feare the power or malice of whatsoeuer aduersaries for saluation belongeth vnto thee alone and thy blessing is euermore vpon them that faithfully depend vpon thee Therefore Lord though we be weake in power ignorant in carnall policies destitute of humane aid and beset with enemies who raise deadly warre against vs confirme our faith in thee and we shall be strong yea stronger than our enemies and wiser than our most politicke and subtill aduersaries and shall be either able to withstand their violence or escape their mischiefes though we haue no other defence but thy prouidence no other armour but thy loue no other weapons but true faith and a holy feare of thy name yet in this defence will we trust and in this saluation will we reioyce In this confidence Lord come we vnto thee powring out our hearts before thee not because thou knowest them not but because thou knowest them therefore come we vnto thee that thou maist bee pleased to remoue our feare and ease our griefe and to be strengthned and confirmed in a liuely assurance of our safetie and saluation in thee and of thy defence against these our enemies for there is none besides thee that can deliuer vs. Remember Lord thy goodnesse which thou vouchsafedst to our faithfull fore-fathers of old how thou deliueredst them from their enemies when they cried vnto thee Heare vs we pray thee O Lord and helpe vs for vaine is the helpe of man Turne our feare into assurance of thy fauour and helpe our mourning into reioycing in thee Loose our sorrowes and gird vs againe with gladnesse let not our sinnes hinder thy mercies wherein wee pray thee to turne the counsell of our wicked aduersaries into foolishnesse their strength into weaknesse and their hope into despaire Thou art the Lord of hosts high and mightie louing vnto those that feare thee helpfull vnto those that trust in thee and a terrible God vnto them that despise thee or thine What Tyrant can stand before thee What King can encounter thee or take thy children out of thy hands Pharaoh could not detaine Israell when thou wouldest transplant them Saul could not hurt Dauid thou defending him Senacherib could not haue his desire against Hez●kias thou fighting for him our enemies could not hurt vs thou curbing them O shew thy selfe now as thou hast euer done our defender With speed O'Lord reforme all our imperfections couer the multitude of our grosse and fearefull sins which call for enemies and other punishments in thy iustice to be inflicted vpon vs Turne thou vnto vs and we shall returne vnto thee Let our repentance appeare by the mortification of our sinfull desires Humble vs and we shall be humbled then shalt thou in compassion pardon vs and in thy fauour compasse vs about as with a shield Thou shalt bee our refuge in our greatest danger for there is no God besides thee no help but of thee Thou alone art able to command an Hoste of Angels from heauen to attend and guard vs Twentie thousand thousand Angels canst thou send from heauen to defend vs thy selfe the chiefe Leader of that celestiall army whereof one of them is sufficient to confound a million of thine and our wicked enemies when they assaile vs to cat vp our flesh thou in a moment canst make them to stumble and fall What then is man Or what is the force of Princes when thou takest part against them in the behalfe of them whom thou wilt defend Therefore cast we our burden and care vpon thee for thou hast promised to care for vs. O send therefore from heauen and saue vs haue mercy vpon vs O God haue mercy vpon vs for we trust in thee And vnder the shadow of thy wings will wee shelter our selues vntill our enemies bee either conuerted or confounded Then shall we praise thy name O Lord for that thou hast not left vs as a prey vnto the will of our enemies and though we walke in the midst of troubles yet we know and are assured that thou wilt take a conuenient time to finish the worke of our absolute deliuery For thy mercy and thy truth and thy power endure from

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 th● 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 enem●●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 fa●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

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