something of a publick nature but as to Aaron more of a private And truly as to a private temporal affliction this of Aarons was very heavy You all know that As Children are sometimes great Comforts So often times sad afflictions The sin of our Children's lifes and the suddennesse of our Children's deaths make sore afflictions Aaron might at present reflect upon both and that reflexion no doubt was his affliction But although he was troubled yet he carryed it wisely and well He covers his sadnesse with silence His practise is our Pattern upon it I build my Point And 'pray now mind it Let the dealings of Gods providence be never so sad we must be silent we must hold our peace What Aaron did now David did afterwards in Psal 39.9 I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it This therefore I would stand upon and oh that God would strengthen me to speak it to you That it is our great duty under the saddest providences to hold our peace I shall onely speak one word of caution to prevent a mistake about the Point and so go on And the Caution is but this I am not now speaking of all our duties that are incumbent upon us in the day of adversity in the hour of afflictions no my Brethren there are many duties besides this when the Lord afflâ—ct's there are many duties to be done Indeed here are two duties that I find are to be done in this Chapter in our afflictions and in a desire endeavour to do these duties by the light and strength of the Lord in this Scripture am I this day present which otherwise I had not been to Preach unto you For I find it was Aarons duty in his affliction to do his work and to be submissively silent before the Lord. These are the duties I meet with here as I said in this Chapter the one in the Text the other in the 12. ver where it is said and Moses spake unto Aaron and to Eleazar and unto Ithamar his sons that were left Take the meat-offering that remaineth of the offering of the Lord made by fire and eat it without leaven besides the Altar for it is most holy The meaning of it is They are dead but go thou about thy work do not keep off from the Lord's service do not let God lose that which thou owest to him This is a great duty indeed for us to go about the work of God in our place whether Minister or Magistrate or other It 's our fault and folly under our affliction we are apt Child-like to lye down and cry Joshua lay upon his face when he ought to have been up and doing his businesse Josh 7.10 O Sirs whatever God layes upon us let not us lay aside our duty Let us strive to do while we suffer Cast not off any duty that God requries and which our place calls for even under the greatest affliction This is one maine peece of Satans policy by affliction to make us cast off duty But certainly we must not say as it is Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain washed my hands in innocency for all the day long I have been plagued and chastned or as it is in the Hebrew my chastisement was every morning Psal 73.13 14. No we must not entertain such thoughts But whatever affliction the Lord brings morning or evening we must do our work all the day long That besides others is a great part of our duty in the day of adversity But I shall speak to this in the Text. Two things I would do First 1. Shew you wherein this duty lyeth what it is to be silent and to hold our peace under sad providences And 2. Why this is so great a duty For the first what 's this silence what 's this holding our peace We have mention'd in the Scripture a two fold silence the Phrase is used in a bad sense in a good sense there is a sinful and there is an obediential silence There is a sinful silence and a sinful holding the peace which is not our duty but sin and so is not required of us and this is four-fold 1. A sottish silence 2. A sullen silence 3. A Stoical silence 4. A self-soul secret afflicting silence But you and I must take heed of these and therefore I will shew you the rock that you might not come near it 1. There is a sottish silence Some hold their peace because like fools they know nothing observe nothing can do nothing This doth not become the Lord's people they should be sensible not sottish Jeremiah complaines of such a sottishuesse in the 4. Chap. 22. vers For my people are foolish they have not known me they are sottish Children they have no understanding c. What was this sottish silence will you look back to the 19. vers and that will open it where saith Jeremiah My bowels my bowels I am pained at the very heart my heart maketh a noise within me I cannot hold my peace because thou hast heard O my soul the sound of the Trumpet the Alarme of Warr. Jeremiah observed God he saw a Storm understood a Judgment he was not sottish his bowels melted for it but my people are sottish c. As if he should fay Though I am sensible they are sottish There is a sottish silence beware of that If the Lord smite be not as a Sott that sees nothing who therefore does not speak because indeed he cannot we must hold our peace not as dumb-men but as duty-men He is not wise nor dutiful that cannot speak and is therefore silent But he is both that can but yet refraines Sottish silence is a sin not a duty But then there is 2. A sullen silence A silence that as we say of some they are dumb because they are dogged they do not speak because they are sullen and will not speak That should not be our frame a sullen silence when we refrain from good word's that was David's fault in the 2 verse of the 39. Psal When he said I held my peace even from good We may say The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken and say Lord what 's my duty c But to say as Jeremiah once said in the 20. Chap. 8 9 I 'le speak no more in his name because the people took on at what he said that was a peece of his failing And truly its a great fault under our affliction not to speak at all we may and must speak to God and Man To God in duty to man both to ask advice and to open our case for counsel and comfort He that holds his peace as sullen and dogged sinneth and this silence is to be avoided I presse it not upon you Nay I advise you against it But 3. There is a Stoical Silence Schollars know what was the opinion of the Stoick's They were silent shall I say out of a high humour it was an humour
come to grieve us Death strikes but once and that stroke relieves us Therefore my parents dear take heed of weeping Crosse And mind my happinesse more then your own great Losse This is all I 'le say to make the reckoning eaven Your dearest mercy is not too good for heaven Hasten to me where now I am possest With joyes eternal in Christ my onely rest Secondly The designes of God in all the sharp afflictions He exercises his Children with are glorious As 1. the purging away of their sins Isa 1.25 2. The making of them more partakers of his holinesse Heb. 12.10 3. The tryal of their graces Job 23.10 4. The communication of more of Himself and of his love to their souls Hosea 1.14 5. The multiplying of their spiritual experiences 2 Cor. 1.4 5. 6. The crucifying of their hearts to the world Now finis dat amabilitatem facilitatem mediis and the world to their hearts Gal. 6.14 7. To draw them to look and six their souls upon the great concernment of another world John 14.1 2 3. 8. That heaven may be the more sweet and precious to them at last 2 Cor. 4.16 17 18. Rom. 8.17 18. How sweet is a calme after a storme and summer dayes after long winter nights 9. To make them more and more conformable to Christ their Head Rom. 8.17 10. That sinners may at the last be found dumb and speechlesse 1 Per. 4.17 18. Now Is there not enough in these glorious ends and designes of God to make his people sit mute under the sharpest tryals Surely there is Why then don't they sit silent before the Lord Thirdly All the mercies you enjoy were first the Lora's before they were yours and alwayes the Lora's more then they were yours 1 Chron. 29.14 All things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee The sweet of mercy is yours but the Sovereign right to dispose of your mercies is the Lora's Quicquid es debes creanti quicquid pores debes redimenti Bern. Whatsoever thou art thou owest to him that made thee and whatsoever thou hast thou owest to him that redeemed thee Say as Hierom adviseth a friend of his in the like cause Thou hast taken away whom thou hast given me I grieve not that thou hast taken them but praise the Lord that was pleased to give them You think it but just and reasonable that men should deal with their own as they please And is it not much more just and reasonable that God should do with his own as he pleases Fourthly That God that has taken one might have taken all there are several left though one be taken Job you know was a none-such in his generation and yet the sentence of death was past upon all his Children at a clap and under this sad clap Job does not blaspheme but blesse He does not murmur but worship's He accuses not God but cleares God of injustice under the saddest and severest stroaks of justice Job 1. Geographers write that the City of Syracuse in Sicily is so curiously sâ—ituated that the Sun is never out of sight The Sun of mercy is never out of your sight though one mercy be gone yet you have several that remain and this should make you mute Themistocles invited many Philosophers to supper the owner sends for one half of those necessaries that he was using Can you endure this disgrace said the Philosophers Yes said he very well for he might have sent justly for them all the application is easie Oh! let not nature do more then grace Fifthly and Eastly Under sharp afflictions we ought carefully to look that natural affections don't hinder the exercise of gracious dispositions though we may weep 1 Thes 4.13 yet we may not weep out either the eye of faith or the eye of hope though you may water your flowers yet you may not drown your flowers They that wep't yea that wep't much Acts 21.13 14. yet said The will of the Lord be done Jacob doted too much upon his Joseph and his affections were too strong for his Judgment when upon the sight of the bloody coat he refused to be comforted Gen. 37.33 34 35. and said I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning And David was too fond of his Absalom when like a puny-baby he wept and said O my son Absalom my son 2 Sam. 18.33 2. my son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my son my son The Egyptians mourned for Jacob 70 dayes but Joseph though he had more cause mourned but 7 dayes because he had more grace and better hopes of Jacob's eternal welfare then the Infidels had In the midst of all your tears keep up the exercise of grace and then you shall not mourn that you have mourned That your own is no sooner in your hand is onely from the remisness and delatoriness of him into whose hands you had ordered the Coppy To conclude That you and I and all others into whose hands this Sermon may fall may live up and live out the following discourse under all the changes that has or shall pass upon us is the earnest desire and hearty prayer of him who is your entire friend and servant in our dearest Lord Tho. Brooks THE Silent Soul UNDER Sorest Tryals The tenth Chapter of the book of Leviticus the last clause of the third verse And Aaron held his peace THese word 's they are a hint to us of the holy Carriage of Aaron under the hand of God The Lord had laid upon him an affliction very sad but the Lord gave him a carriage very sweet and sutable to it I think I may say God spake to Aaron bitterly but He made no reply at all Nay the Text saith Aaron held his peace I shall shall make no other preface Three things you may consider in the verse 1. The person which was Aaron the Lord's Minister But remember this by the way that Aaron must be look't upon not as a Minister but as a Saint so that what he did we must all do 2. The action which was this He held his peace 3. The occasion which is contain'd in the former part of the verse And which you may translate Then And truly the occasion is that which gives most light to the action Aaron had lost two Children at one blow and God told him He would be sanctified He would be glorified Aaron upon this message and upon this occasion layeth his mouth in the dust and held his peace So that there is this plain Point ariseth from the words Doct. That under the saddest afflictions that can befall us we must hold our peace or thus It 's the duty of the Lord's people whatever He doth to them to be silent Aaron held his peace Afflictions are of two sorts spiritual and temporal Temporal likewise are of two sorts publick private Now this was no spiritual affliction but rather temporal And it had in it
an earthly humour they must mind nothing I do not think it a good speech of that Heathen who when he heard of the death of his Child said I begat him mortal No my Brethren God hath given us affections that we might make use of them for he hath made nothing in vain we may mourn we may weep we may be sensible of the hand of God There are a company of poor Creatures amongst us you call them Quakers that are much infected with Stoicism most of ther principles and much of their practise is but a reviving of what some Philophers counted their glory long ago But truly it is the shame of Christians to turn Stoicks I may say Stocks To mind nothing be affected with or for nothing is a shame and not a glory I therefore reckon that as a sinful silence The Stoicks silence is the Saints shame Aarons was and ours must be of a higher a holier nature But to passe on 4. There is a secret soul-afflicting silence There are deep souls that run like deep water's they make no noise they are very silent I am apt to think it was Hezekiah's failing when he said He hath done it I shall go softly all my years in the bitternesse of my soul Isa 38.15 It was well he eyed God but to say he would go softly that is he would bleed within and not open the wound was his failing I know that speech Ille dolet verè qui sine teste dolet Secret silent sorrow is truest but not best It is sorrow with a witnesse as we say because without a witnesse To mourn in a corner silently to weep and not to word it To let Grief swallow up Language and not to speak but to be drowned and silent in a depth of grief this is an evil silence The Lord keep you and me from it I do mention it as the other three to be a voided not to be practised Aaron was not we must not in any of these senses be silent for this silence is an evil and therefore noted that it may be avoided Well this is the first silence and this sinful holding our peace is not our duty under any hand of God But Secondly 2. There is an obediential silence a silence that is founded in wisdome and manag'd with reverence and this silence is our duty It is said of Saul when the Children of Belial flouted him he held his peace in the 1 Sam. 10. ult that was a silence of wisdom And in the 13. Job 5. saith Job to his friends O that you would altogether hold your peace and it should be your wisdom My Brethren such a holding our peace as is our wisdom that 's our duty indeed under every providence a wisdom-silence a reverential silence Job speaks of this in 29. Chap. 9 10. where saith he The Princes refrained talking and laid their hands on their mouth the Nobles held their peace and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth that is out of reverence And what saith the Prophet in the 2. Zech. ult Be silent O all flesh before the Lord. Saith God to Moses I 'le be sanctified I 'le be glorified And Aaron held his peace but wherein doth that lye I 'le open that but in three words An obedientiall silence or holding our peace doth eminently lye in 3 particulars 1. It is a Soul-quieting silence I think so that phrase is to be understood in the 2 Kings 2.3 where it is said The sons of the Prophets which were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said to him Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy Master from thy head to day and he said yea I know it hold your peace As if they should say in our Language Do you know that the Prophet will dy to day Do you know your Wife your Child your Husband will dy to day Hold your peace saith the Prophet as if he should say Be not distracted O my Brethren We are ready to take on like frantick people but here 's our duty to hold our peace You know the story of Ammon and Tamar in 2 Sam. 13.20 where saith Absolom to Tamar Hath Ammon thy brother been with thee but hold now thy peace my Sister he is thy Brother regard not this thing It is in the Hebrew do not fix thy heart the meaning is Sister it is a sad thing but hold thy peace do not distract thy Soul do not set thine heart upon this thing Such a silence as to quiet our Spirits not to torment our souls that is our duty This silence is the Soul 's quiet in it the heart rests not tormenting its self with tumultuous thoughts nor foaming forth tempestuous words certainly Christians should in quietnesse possesse their Souls with patience A patient Soul-quieting silence is both commanded and commended So to be silent as not to stirr to our distraction but in our silence to quiet our Spirits is our duty and therefore I mention it Aaron was thus silent his childrens death was not his distraction But this is not all For I add 2. There is a sincere submitting Silence Silence you know is consent and to hold one's peace is a great phrase in Scripture to consent to what is done you have it twice in one Chapter in Numb 30.4 12. And surely my Brethren this is our duty such a holding our peace such a Silence which giveth our consent to what God doth is an obedientiall one Unto me saith Job 29.21 men gave ear and waited and kept silence at my Counsell Job was accounted a wise man and what he did they did viz. held their peace and gave their consent and that 's our duty God is a wise God when he strikes or speaks we must hold our peace at least our silence should be so submissive as not to wrangle You have a phrase in Tit. 2 9. It is spoken to Servants that they should be obedient not answering again You account it a fault if your Servants grumble O what a great fault is it in us when a God smites for us to grumble Without doubt silence in this sense is a great part of our duty in affliction Thereby we shew we consent to what the Lord dorh Will God take By silence give consent Doth God by providence say I 'le have that Child that Creature that Relation Oh! let us by silence declare our assent and consent to what the Lord doth Our silent suffering is an yielding to the Lord 's doing and 't is our duty so to do But lastly 3. There is a studying silence A great Schollar was wont to say when he would study such a thing I must be silent In our studies we don't use to talk a man cannot study and talk therefore one of the first Lessons Pythagoras gave to his Schollars was Silence Affliction is a School when the Lord brings an Affliction upon us and puts us into that School we must be silent as Scholars if ever we intend to
learn And thus I think the speech of Elihu to Job is to be understood Cap. 33. ult Hearken unto me and hold thy peace and I shall teach thee wisdom You know what the Scripture saith elsewhere in Psal 94. vers 12. Blessed is the man whom thou Lord chastens and teachest him out of thy Law Would you learn How will you learn unless you be silent we must be silent to study to understand the Lord's mind Thus you see what the duty is wherein especially this obediential silence lyeth In the day of affliction we must be silent But how Not as Sotts or sullen Stoicks not as those that are silent mourning in the Grave No but consider Truly in the day of adversity we must consider as it is Eccles 7.14 And amongst many things we must consider How to hold our peace how to be silent so as not to distract our Souls nor to grumble against God nor to hinder our learning in the affliction So to be silent as to compose our spirits and consent to the Lord's dealings and so as to study to hear the Rod and who hath appoynted it to learn our lesson in the school of affliction This is our duty and thus did Aaron here I have now opened the point and our practice What it must be Let me now inforce and establish it by Arguments Why this must be To come to it 2. Why must this be I shall give you the reasons of the Point very briefly My beloved though the Lord might deal with you and me upon term's of supream Majesty and bid us do a thing without a reason yet God bath laid no command's but there 's the highest Reason for them I 'le offer you three head 's of reason why this is our duty let the providence be never so sharp If we do but soberly consider a little with our selves even under the saddest providence Either 1. God or 2. Our selves or 3. Saran we may from each of these particulars see and be satisfied in the ground of this duty of silence I shall be short in opening but do you consider it by your selves more at large 1. Consider God Saies David in Psal 29.9 I held my peace because 't was Thou didst it He hath done it what shall I say was Hezekiah's saying Affliction doth not arise out of the dust Whatever befalls thee let the Tool be what it will it ' God that strikes Truly my brethren this is a large head of reason God doth it Why He may do whatsoever he will both in heaven and earth God doth it He is wise and just and holy and honourable God doth it pointing at the supream diety silences all Let all flesh be silent before the Lord. But I'â—e carry the reason onely upon one foot and that is this You cannot testifie your subjection to a God if you be not silent at what he doth You chastise your children you will not have them prate and take on while you are chastising Whenever God afflicts he doth but chastise and wilt thou reverence an earthly Father and not reverence the Father of Spirits Observe how the Apostle carries on this argument Heb. 12.9 Saith he we have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us we gave them reverence shal we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live A fine child a sweeet child reverences a Parent it speak's quietly under every dealing Do you deal thus with men and will not you deal so with God My brethren I said even now that this is a reverential silence and we can't shew our subjection unto God if under every providence we be not silent Verily our silence is our reverence To take on and fret to groan and grumble to be as a wilde bull in the net as the Scripture phrase is to roar and to bellow It is to dishonour God If we will acknowledge Him to be as he is a God we must be still as it is Psal 48. last In the day of adversity they do not consider but forget God who are not silent Nay men forget themselves who under affliction in the sense opened do not hold their peace For 2. Will you consider yuur selves and you will see there is reason you should be silent My brethren Self-knowledge in most points hath abundance in it to carry us through all lessons if ye do not hold your peace you will hurt your selv's To be silent is good for Self and self-love is a good motive You will say What good is it for me to be silent it is an case to take on I answer that which is easie is not alwayes best 1. For first If you be not silent you will never exercise any grace If a man's hand shake he will not write well when the man talk's he can't study well So except we be silent we cannot shew any grace no grace of faith no grace of patience no grace of humility All these graces are exercised and appear eminently in an obediential silence He that believeth speaks not much He that is patient holds his peace And the humble soul in every affliction lies in the dust submissively silent You forget your selves Oh Saints as to the exercise of these graces if with Aaron you do not hold your peace Besides consider 2. If you speak you will sin and will you afflict your selves by speaking Now my brethren mark it Under affliction we are apt to speak more sinfully and God observes it You have a great evidence of a good man who in the way of his affliction spake sinfully and the Lord took notice of it in Jer. 45.3 Thou didst say wo is me now for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow I fainted in my sighing and I find no rest here is the passionate speech of a man under affliction I remember a very fine observation of Dr. Stoughton long ago from this very passage saith he It is very facile very easy but not free to offend in word's Thou didst say saith the Lord to Baruch We are apt to say and forget what we say in sorrow But saith God Thou didst say thus or thus The Lord minds our sinful sad words It is good therefore to hold our peace mark that Thou didst say c. Oh soul the Lord observes all our words in a day of affliction and because we are apt to forget our selves to speak sin in a passion certainly if we consider our selves we shall hold our peace Mind what David saies I said I 'le take heed to my wayes that I sin not with my tongue Psal 39.1 If you consider your selves you 'l be silent for if you speak much in the multitude of speech there will be sin and that is to be avoided especially under suffering But 3. You will but increase your trouble at least you will not decrease it that way Sorrow hath bin compared to a great flood and if you draw up the hatch it will run Unlesse we hold our