haue no natural affection but the Deuil so carrieth them away that they are altogether blinded And suche are to be rekened as vnnaturall monsters in whom al the order of nature is changed To be short it is most assured that death shalbe alwaye to vs terrible and not onely because we are enclined to desire to to lyue but also for so muche as God hath lefte a certeine marke in suche sorte that the Heathen thē selues the vnfaithfull are constrained to fele that death is a curse of God which was pronūced vpon Adam and al his linage For asmuch then as death is come vpon the world by sinne that it is a witnes of the wrath of God that by it we are as it were cast of from him banished from his kingdome which is the kingdome of life it must nedes be although we haue no light of faith neyther euer had any one word of doctrine that this be imprinted in our mindes that it is naturallye vnpleasant vnto vs. Behold then by what meanes we are brought to flie death to withdrawe our selues from it so muche as we possibly maye Fyrst bicause we are desirous to be secondly for that we conceyue death to be a certeine signe of Gods wrath yea althoughe we harde thereof no certaine instruction yet God hath printed a certaine naturall instinction and feling thereof within oure hertes Yet notwithstandynge it is also trew that the faithfull do ouercome those feares and do prepare them selues to die when it pleaseth God but not as the place speaketh whiche we haue alledged out of S. Paule in suche sort that thei simply without other cōsideratiō desire to die for y t wer y e doing of mē in desperatiō but thei prepare thē selues for asmuch as thei know y t after they haue bene vnclothed they shalbe clothed againe y t this body which is but a ruinous lodgyng is nothing but rottēnes y t they shalbe restored to y e kingdō of god For asmuch as thē we behold this hope y t is geuē vs thus we ouercome the feares of deth Besid this on y e other side we know y t our lord Iesus Chrst hath repared this desolatiō ruine y t fel vpō vs by y e sinne of our father Adā So because we take hold of life in the middest of deth y t maketh vs y t we are not afraid to w tdraw our selues hēce whē god calleth vs to him for we know y t death is but a passage to life moreouer we know what is our true being It is not to dwel in this world for this is but a thorow fare we must alwai haue in remēbrāce y t which is spokē y t god placeth men here onely to mānage thē to make thē to fetch their cōpasses as thei say sodenly to turne againe Thē whē we are taught y t our life is nothing els but a course the the world is but a shadow which passeth vanisheth awai we know y t our true beyng our permanēt estate is in heuē not here by low Thus se we how we ought not to flie deth but y t more is we haue occasiō to desire it bicause on the one side we ar fraile being holden vnder the bondage of sin we se so mani corruptiōs in our selues y t it is wofull when we desire to serue God we draw vp our legs whē we lift vp one fote thinking to set forward one step we slip backward oft it cōmeth to passe y t we stūble or fall Se now how iust a cause we haue to lamēt our life not in way of despeir but bicause we ought to hate abhorre sin We ought also to desire god to draw vs out of this so miserable captiuitie wherin we ar as s Paul sheweth vs exāple He cōfesseth him self to be vnhappy bicause he dwelleth in his bodi as a prison He asketh howe he shalbe deliuered On the other side we know y t we ought to desire death y e more y t we might come nere to our God For as it is saide in this place y t we haue alledged while we liue by faith we are as it were absent frō God Thē where is our felicitie perfect ioye but in this y t we cleaue to oure God in perfectiō Far asmuch thē as by death we come nere to him it is a thing to vs happy and whiche ought to make vs ioyfull And therfore he saieth in the first chap. to the Philip. that as touchinge him self it should be more auaūtage to him to die then to liue although his life was profitable to the church yet in hauing no other regard but to his own person he was desirous to be drawē away frō this place by low mark thē what ought to be y e affectiō of y e faithful Now let vs come to king Ezechias It semeth y t he had lost al maner tast of y e goodnes of God y t he knew nothing of y e resurrectiō y t he was ignorāt y t he shold be restored by meane of y e redemer he conceiued nothing but the wrath curse of God wher is his faith where is his obeidiēce wher is this cōsolatiō of the holy Gost this ioy inestimable whiche we ought to receiue whē God certifieth vs of y e loue which he beareth vs In dede if he had had this perswasiō deply roted in hī y t he was one of y e childrē of god doth not y e adoptiō brīg y e īheritāce to what end hath god chosē vs for his childrē but y t we shold be partakers of y e heuēly life wherunto he guideth vs ▪ but we se none of al this in Ezec. It semeth thē that he was altogether distraught from sense and reason that he hath forgottē God that all the good doctrine that euer he heard before is vtterly blotted oute and that he thinketh no more of it These thinges at the firste shew seme very straunge Trew it is that at that time he had no suche reuelation of the heauenly life as we haue at this day by the gospel But yet Ezechias and all the other holy kinges and Prophetes and all the rest of the faithfull dyd well conceiue that God had not chosen them in vaine For though this sētēce of our lord Iesus Christ was not pronoūced yet was it engraued in the herts of all the faithfull that God is not the God of the dead All they then that are cōprised in the number of his people haue bene assured to haue an abidyng life and that shall endure for euer And on the other side it is said that God calleth him selfe the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Iacob long after their death It must nedes be thē that they then lyued So therefore the faithfull haue this assuraūce that God did not nourishe them in this world as brute beastes but he gaue them a
certeine taste of hys goodnes vntyll suche time as they myghte haue full enioyinge thereof after their death Euen Balaam himselfe whiche neuer knew any thing of the lawe yet he failed not to say I wishe my soule to dye the death of the righteous and my end to be such as theirs shalbe He desireth to ioyne him selfe with the race of Abraham and yet he was a wicked refused man And who maketh him to speake thus euē this that he is there as vpon the racke God wringeth out of him this confession Now if Balaam which was possessed of the Deuill and gaue oute his tonge to hyre to curse the people of God hath bene constreined to say thus what shall we think of them that had trewlye profyted in the lawe of God But howsoeuer it be trew it is that thold fathers had not so cleare and manifest knowledge of the heauenlye life as we haue at this daye in the Gospell and in dede the same was reserued vntill the comming of our Lorde Iesus Christ And with good reason for we haue a good gage of our life in our sauiour Iesus Christ in that he is risen againe and that it was not for him selfe alone but for all his body This is the full assuraunce that God hath geuen in the parson of our Lorde Iesus Christ that we passe through this world to come to the life that lasteth euer The auncient fathers came not to suche degree they were not so auaunsed But howesoeuer it were it is so that the tast which they had of the heauēlye life so suffised them that they rendred them selues peaseably to God And we reade not that they were greatly tourmented in theyr death as whan Abraham departed he made not lamentations wayling and complaintes as the king Ezechias did but he was fylled and satisfyed wyth lyfe saieth the scripture In like maner was it of Isaac and Iacob who rendring the laste groane saith I wyll put my truste in thy saluation my God Thoughe Iesus Christ had not yet appered vnto the world yet Iacob had in him selfe a stedfast and vndoubted hope and made him selfe as sure of his saluation as if he held it in his hād So then we see that the holy fathers were not in doubt or suche mistrust that they did not alwaye aspire vnto the heauēly life but that it was their chiefe desire to atteine thereunto Now let vs retourne to the king Ezechias We must conclude that he had some speciall reason in him selfe why he so complayned of death which we shall better see in the person of Dauid Dauid is sometimes in suche anguyshes that he crieth alas my God who is he that shal acknowledge thee in death And when I shalbe a poore rotten carion what profite shalt thou haue whē thou shalt haue brought me into ashes what is it that thou shalt haue gained He made there hys cōplaints neuertheles in the end he dyed peaseably For no man saw that he was so passioned in his departyng but that he rendred him self mildly into the handes of God Howe came it then to passe that he wrote thus It is bicause he cōceiued the wrath of God whether it were in sickenes or in any other affliction and that is asmuch as if the very hels were presently set before him The affliction then that he conceyued was not of symple death but y t God gaue him some signe that he punished him bicause of his sinnes Now seyng y t we se this same disputatiō in the parson of Dauid it shalbe easy for vs to cōclud touching the king Ezechias y t he was also greuously vexed in his death but that was not for that he was loth to depart out of this worlde neither that he was tourmented as the poore Infidels whiche aspire not to a better life which are also as it wer drowned in theyr delites and bringe them selues on slepe in such sort that they set nothynge by the heauenly life We see that Ezechias was not so striken downe and yet he thought that God was against him as we shall se yet more largely And in dede it was not without cause that the Prophet Esay was sente vnto him for he was as a Heralde of armes to make him defiaunce and to declare vnto him Beholde God is thine enemy thou muste susteine his extreme rigour for thou haste offended him When Ezechias heard that he had no regard to y e simple death by the which he muste of necessitie passe but he hathe an other ende of consideration y t he should be cut of from the worlde as an accursed creature as one vnworthy whō the earth should beare And when God stroke him that gaue a tokē to him that the land should be made desolate for he knewe what should be the estate of the people he sawe that all should be destroyed after his death yf God dyd not remedi it by miracles And he thought thus My death shall not be onely to sende me into the throte of hell but it shall be to brynge a generall ouerflowyng ouer all so that in all the land there shalbe nothing but desolation Shall the seruice of God then be throwen dowen and shall al this be cast vpon my neck bicause I haue offended my God Alas and what shall this be Let vs not nowe thinke it straunge if Ezechias speake thus as we heare but let vs hold this alway that it is not the simple death whiche dyd affraye him so What then the wrath of God when he behelde his sinnes and that God toke away from him all sauor of his goodnes turned his back vnto him as if he had sene him armed against him lifted vp his arme as if he would bring him to nought When Ezechias sawe that he was so confoūded that his mouth was stopped not without cause Nowe this is right worthy to be noted for there are many blockish persons and the mooste part which feare death but it is not because they fele the curse of God appeare to them It is true as we haue saide before that God leaueth alway this point in the conscience of man but they haue not all alike consideration therof Wherfore is it then that death is dreadfull vnto them bycause euery one will say I desire to be Truely when they speake in this maner it is as much as if they said I would be a calfe or an asse or a dogge for the beyng of brute beastes is in this world the beynge of men where is it but in this that they are ioyned to theyr God But now we are as it were in prison for in steade that this world shold haue bene vnto vs as an earthlye paradise if we had continued in the obeidience of God now we are as in a straunge countrey wherein we be as lockt vp and banished It is trew that yet we se many times some yea many trackes of the goodnes of God but how so euer it
euen as I wishe your grace continuall health of life and soule for your preseruation not onely for this newe yeare but also for the tyme that shall excede all extent of yeares besechinge you to accepte bothe my worke and prayer Concernyng my translation of this boke it may please you to vnderstand that I haue reÌ„dred it so nere as I possibly might to the very wordes of his text and that in so plaine Englishe as I could expresse Suche as it is I beseche your grace to take it good parte Your graces humble A. L. ☞ The writinge of Ezechia kinge of Iuda when he had bene sicke and was recouered of his sicknes I said in the cuttyng shorte of my daies I shall go downe to the gates of the graue I haue sought the residue of my yeares I sayd I shall not see the Lorde the Lorde in the land of the liuing I shall not beholde man any more nor those that dwell in the world My life is withdrawen and is chaunged like a shepeherdes lodge AS the name of God is immortall and we oughte to trauaill that they which come after vs do cal vpon it and that it be honored and glorified in all times So is it not enoughe that during oure lyfe we endeuor oure selues to honor God but as I haue said before our care should extende it selfe to the time to come to the end we may haue in store some continuyng seede of religion in suche sort as the trueth of God may neuer be abolished But speacilly they whom God hath ordeined in anye estate to guide other ought therfore so much the more to applie themselues vnto it As also we se that S. Peter declaryng his ende to be nere and that he should depart out of this worlde addeth that somuch as he possibly may he woulde make the doctrine whiche he preached to remayne alwayes in force and memory that meÌ„ might take profit after his death Behold now wherfore Ezechias was not coÌ„tented to make this protestation whiche we reade here with his mouth but wold also wryte it that to the ende of the worlde men might knowe how he had ben vexed in hys affliction and that the same myght serue for doctrine to all the worlde so as at this day we may take profyt thereof He saythe expressely that this wrytinge was made after he was recouered For oftentimes when we ar touched eyther with sicknes or anye other â—od of God we make protestations enow but we do nothing els but shake our cares as the prouerbe is when we ar escaped we by and by forget al those thinges which we made a shew as if we knewe But here it is shewed vs that the kinge Ezechias beinge recouered forgat not the correction whiche he had receiued at the hand of god nether the anguishes which he felt but minded to make a memoriall of the whole that those which come after might be enstructed therby But it appereth at the first shew that this writing serueth not for any instruction of them that shold rede it but shold rather be an offeÌ„se For we see the outragious passions of a man as it were rauished in minde which so abhorreth death that he thought all to be lost when god shold take him out of the worlde and in this we see nothing but the sinne of infidelitie He tormenteth and rageth with himself as it semeth with a rebelling vncomely for a seruaÌ„t of god to be short it appeareth that we can gather nothing of this song but y t al the faithe whiche Ezechias had was only in hys prosperitie and quiet also that he gaue the bridle to much vnto him selfe in his heauinesse in so muche that he complayned of god as we see that he compared him to a Lyon But wheÌ„ all shal be wel coÌ„sidered we shal see that there is no instruction better or more profitable for vs than this For when we shal haue well examined al that is in vs then we shall knowe that the same is also propre vnto our selues But first let vs note how the good king Ezechias did not here set fourthe his owne vertues to be praised of the world for he might haue kept in sileÌ„ce that which he hath declared of his owne waywardnesse in place therof he mought haue spoken of hys request made to God and the constance of his faythe So then he sayth not that he was of valiant courage that he ouercame al tentations without any stoppe or strife he sayth not that he had a faith so stedfaste that it nothing trobled him to be corrected of y e hand of god nothing of al thys â–ª what then we see a poore man tormeÌ„ted euen to the extremitye and so striken downe that he wiste not what myghte become of hym We se a maÌ„ astonished with reare of the wrath of God lokyng on nothyng but his own affliction Then seyng Ezechias doeth discouer him selfe and sticketh not to confesse his owne faultes in this we perceiue that he was not led of ambitioÌ„ nether of any vaine glory to be praised of meÌ„ or to get reputatioÌ„ but he rather was willing him self to be coÌ„fouÌ„ded w t shame y e god might be glorified What is then his purpose It is in one parte to make vs know howe he had bene afflicted then when he thought that God was against him and moreouer that therin men might know somuche the more howe great the goodnes of God was when he receiued him to mercy and woulde not forsake him in necessitie We haue then to beholde here as in a loking glasse our owne wekenes to the ende that euery man may prepare himselfe against the time when his faith shalbe proued as the fayth of Ezechias was and when God shall shew vs some tokens of his wrath so as if then we seme in maner destroyed yet we cease not therfore to truste that God will geue to vs an end of our troubles as he did to this good king Next to this that we may learne to geue al praise of our safetie to the mercy of God knowledging that so sone as he forsaketh vs we are vtterly vndone and that then we become more then miserable And nowe we see howe and wherfore the good king Ezechias was thus tourmented that is because he sawe death so nere at hande It semeth at the first face that suche passion besemeth not a faithful maÌ„ Trew it is that of nature death is dreadfull to vs al. For there is no man but as they saye desireth to be and in death we thinke that we perishe y t we be broughte to nought and cease to be Thus of nature we flie froÌ„ abhorre death â–ª and therfore also S. Paule saith in the v. chapter of the seconde epistle to the Corinthians that we do not desire to be vnclothed of this body for it is impossible for man to desire to change his estate I meane as concernynge thys lyfe And those that do kyll them selues
offence Doth argue vaine my not auailyng crye With woefull sighes and bitter penitence To him from whom the endlesse mercy flowes I cry for mercy to releue my woes And then not daring with presuming eye Once to beholde the angry heauens face From troubled sprite I send confused crye Tâ— craue the crummes of all sufficing grace With foltring knee I fallyng to the ground Bendyng my yelding handes to heauens throne Poure forth my piteous plaint w t woefull sound With smoking sighes oft repeted grone Before the Lord the Lord whom synner I I cursed wretch I haue offended so That dredyng in his wrekefull wrath to dye And damned downe to depth of hell to go Thus tost with panges and passions of despeir Thus craue I mercy with repentant chere ⧠A Meditation of à penitent sinner vpon the 51. Psalme HAue mercy God for thy great mercies sake O God my God vnto my shame I say Beynge fled from thee so as I dred to take Thy name in wretched mouth and feare to pray Or aske the mercy that I haue abusde But God of mercy let me come to thee Not for iustice that iustly am accusde Which selfe word Iustice so amaseth me That scarce I dare thy mercy sound againe But mercie Lord yet suffer me to craue Mercie is thine Let me not crye in vaine Thy great mercie for my great fault to haue Haue mercie God pitie my penitence With greater mercie than my great offence My many sinnes in nomber are encreast With weight wherof in sea of depe despeire My sinking soule is now so sore opprest That now in peril and in present fere I crye susteine me Lord and Lord I pray â–ª With endlesse nomber of thy mercies take The endlesse nomber of my sinnes away So by thy mercie for thy mercies sake Rue on me Lord releue me with thy grace My sinne is cause that I so nede to haue Thy mercies ayde in my so woefull case My synne is cause that scarce I dare to craue Thy mercie manyfolde whiche onely may Releue my soule and take my sinnes away So soule is sinne and lothesome in thy sighte So foule with sinne I see my selfe to be That till from sinne I may be washed white So foule I dare not Lord approche to thee Ofte hath thy mercie washed me before Thou madest me cleane but I am foule againe Yet washe me Lord againe and washe me more Washe me O Lord and do away the staine Of vggly sinnes that in my soule appere Let flow thy pleÌ„tuous streames of clensing grace Washe me againe yea washe me euery where Bothe leprous bodie and defiled face Yea washe me all for I am all vncleane And from my sin Lord cleanse me ones againe Haue mercie Lord haue mercie for I know How muche I nede thy mercie in this case The horror of my gilt doth dayly growe And growing weares my feble hope of grace I fele and suffer in my thralled brest Secret remorse and gnawing of my hart I fele my sinne my sinne that hath opprest My soule with sorrow and surmounting smart Drawe me to mercie for so oft as I Presume to mercy to direct my sight My Chaos and my heape of sinne doth lie Betwene me and thy mercies shining light What euer way I gaze about for grace My filth and fault are euer in my face Graunt thou me mercy Lord thee thee alone I haue offended and offendyng thee For mercy loe how I do lye and grone Thou with allpearcing eye beheldest me Without regard that sinned in thy sight Beholde againe how now my spirite it rues And wailes the tyme when I with foule delight Thy swete forbearing mercy did abuse My cruell conscience with sharpned knife Doth splat my ripped hert and layes abrode The lothâ—some secretes of my filthy life And spredes them forth before the face of God WhoÌ„ shame froÌ„ dede shamelesse cold not restrain Shame for my dede is added to my paine But therey Lord O Lord some pitie take Withdraw my soule from the deserued hell â–ª O Lord of glory for thy glories sake That I may saued of thy mercy tell And shew how thou which mercy hast behight To sighyng sinners that haue broke thy lawes Performest mercy so as in the sight Of them that iudge the iustice of thy cause Thou onely iust be demed and no moe The worldes vniustice wholy to confound That damning me to depth of during woe Iust in thy iudgement shouldest thou be found And from deserued â—laâ—es releuyng me Iust in thy mercy mayst thou also be For lo in sinne Lord I begotten was With sede and shape my sinne I toke also Sinne is my nature and my kinde alas In sinne my mother me conceiued Lo I am but sinne and sinfull ought to dye Dye in his wrath that hath forbydden sinne Such bloome and frute loe sinne doth multiplie Such was my roote such is my iuyse within I plead not this as to excuse my blame On kynde or parentes myne owne gilt to lay But by disclosing of my sinne my shame And nede of helpe the plainer to displaye Thy mightie mercy if with plenteous grace My plenteous sinnes it please thee to deface Thou louest simple sooth not hidden face With trutheles visour of deceiuing showe Lo simplie Lord I do confesse my case And simplie craue thy mercy in my woe This secrete wisedom hast thou graunted me To se my sinnes whence my sinnes do growe This hidden knowledge haue I learnd of thee To fele my sinnes and howe my sinnes do flowe With such excesse that with vnfained hert Dreding to drowne my Lorde lo howe I flee Simply with teares bewailyng my desert Releued simply by thy hand to be Thou louest truth thou taughtest me the same Helpe Lord of truth for glory of thy name With swete Hysope besprinkle thou my sprite Not such hysope nor so besprinkle me As law vnperfect shade of perfect lyght Did vse as an apointed signe to be Foreshewing figure of thy grace behight With death and bloodshed of thine only sonne â–ª The swete hysope cleanse me defyled wyght Sprinkle my soule And when thou so haste done Bedeawd with droppes of mercy and of grace â–ª I shalbe cleane as cleansed of my synne Ah wash me Lord for I am foule alas That only canst Lord wash me well within Wash me O Lord when I am washed soe I shalbe whiter than the whitest snowe Long haue I heard yet I heare the soundes Of dredfull threates and thonders of the law Which Eccho of my gylty minde resoundes And with redoubled horror doth so draw My listening soule from mercies gentle voice That louder Lorde I am constraynde to call Lorde pearce myne eares make me to reioyse â–ª When I shall heare and when thy mercy shall Sounde in my hart the gospell of thy grace Then shalt thou geue my hearing ioy againe The ioy that onely may releue my case And then my broosed bones that thou