go to heaven that had all his time served the Devil on earth and therefore of the two he thought his own case best and that he was most fit to die and so if God had so pleased chose to die I would God I had died for thee From whence we learn Obs That death which to the ungodly is the King of terrors Job 18. 14. to the righteous is a welcom guest at all times Absalom may be afraid to die because the wages of his wickedness are alwayes ready to be paid him which is eternal death of body and soul for ever Rom. 6. 23. When good David shall willingly resign up his soul into the hands of his Creator for he knows his end will be peace Psal 37. 37. Oecolampadius being ready to depart as old Simeons Phrase is comforted his friends that stood howling about him with these words Non mori timeo quia bonum habeo Dominum I am not afraid to die because I have served a good God He that fears God shall never need to fear death for Christ hath pulled out the sting thereof that he may tryumphantly singwith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 57. O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin but thanks be unto God which hath given me victory through our Lord Jesus Christ The Reasons why death is welcome to the godly at all times are Reas 1. Because it is an end of their sorrows and the beginning and entrance into the joy of their Lord Matth. 25. 23. It is the Exodus of their miseries and Genesis of their comforts It is as a Bridge over which they must passe into life as the Israelites must go thorow the red Sea before they can get into Canaan a Land flowing with milk and hony and all good things wherefore they rejoice to see that day as old Simeon did when he embraced Christ in his arms Luke 2. â—8 Reas 2. Because they are a people ready prepared for the Lord Luk. 1. 17. they are not fool-hardy like others who put far away from them the evil dayes that they may boldly approach unto the seat of iniquity Amos 6. 3. but they are still thinking of death and looking for death and providing for death that whensoever it comes early or late at the Cock crowing at midnight or the dawning of the day they may enter into the rest remaines for the people of God Heb. 4. 9. Reas 3 Because they have Jachin and Boaz faith and a good conscience to support them from sinking under the pains of death And this made the thief on the Crosse to die joyfully believing Christs words that he should that day be with him in Paradise Luk. 23. 43. this made St. Steven to laugh in death beholding the heavens opened and Christ standing at the right hand of the Father ready to receive his spirit Acts 7. 55 56. and this made David so willing to die for Absalom because he believed that his sinnes were covered Psal 32. 1. Obj. Did David well to wish for death or to die for his sonne Answ 1. Mortem optare malum formidare pejus It is not good to wish for death but worse to fear it It is an argument of great weakness to dispute with God much more to quarrel with God and most of all to seem to be wiser than God We pray and David prayed Thy will O Father be done and yet here he seems to prefer his own will before Gods Would God I had died for thee Absalom So that as the Apostle speaks James 3. 10. This thing ought not to be 2ly David did savour much more in this wish of flesh and blood than of spirit for that altogether submits with patience to suffer and bear what the good pleasure of the Lord is to bring to passe when the other grumbles and murmurs and repines at every thing contraries their humours This was Davids case and was his failing as the best want not theirs Vse Speaks the true happy state of a godly man He will not be afraid of evil tidings for his heart is fixed and he believeth in the Lord Psal 112. 7. when the wicked trepidant ad arundinis umbram tremble at the shaking of a leaf and flee when none pursueth then the righteous are as bold as a Lion Prov. 28. 1. The very thought of death strikes the ungodly as dead when they that fear the Lord like the Swan sing the sweetest song in death and the song of the Saints Rev. 22. 20. Come Lord Jesus come quickly The wicked when they are visited with sickness which is deaths Paratour to summon them into the Court for to give up their great accompt like the unjust Steward Luk. 16. 2. they roar and howl and crie like the hog which thinks he is never taken but to have his throat cut when the upright and just look up and lift up their heads with joy and comfort for their redemption draweth near Luke 21. 28. When the wicked call to the mountaines to fall upon them and to the hills to cover them and hide them from the presence of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb Rev. 6. 16. The righteous shout for joy like those that divide the spoyl and rejoyce according to joy in harvest Isa 9. 3. for they shall be gathered like wheat into the Lords Garner when the chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire Mat. 3. 12. And as Balaam said Numb 23. 10. O that my latter end might be like his And so thus much of the first person spoken of in the text David with his passion and compassion 2ly The next person is Absalom And in him let us consider 1. His Name 2ly His Person 3ly His Life 4ly His Death Of these in order 1. His Name and that was Abishalom which signifies his fathers peace He was so sweet a Babe that his father promised himself great matters and hope in him but he proved the greatest crosse that ever he did bear So that we cannot say Vt nomen sic natura as Abigail did of Nabal As his name was so was he For he was a moth a canker a thorn in his fathers eye and the greatest disturber of his quiet and rest and ease and peace that ever he was acquainted with that he is constrained to flee and shift for his life lest he be devoured by his Sonnes sword 2 Sam. 13. 14. 2ly His person And so he was the fairest of ten thousand for from the sole of the foot to the top of his head there was no blemish in him 2 Sam. 14. 25. He had a fair body but a foul soul and heart like the Swan which hath a white feather but a black skin Or like Mausolus his tombe or the painted Sepulchres in the Gospel glorious and beautiful without but full of rottenness and stinking bones within Or like a white glove over a scabby hand Or like the Pharisees
4. and moreover every mans affection almost extending more propter sua than propter se for his private profit or preferment than for any parts or goodnesse he finds in him like drones which haunt the Hive for the honny sake but to love him dead when he can do him neither good nor harm is rara avis nigroque similima cygno a rare quality hardly to be found among the sons of men and yet this was Davids case Israels case for Abner and ought to be our case for our Prince and great man that is this day fallen in our Israel And so this leads me to the next particular 4ly The place where he fell and that is said to be Israel he fell not amongst the barbarous Gothes and Vandals amongst the Turks and Cannibals amongst the inhuman Switzers in the Conquest of the Thuricences in battel Anno Dom. 1443. or amongst the Numantines who vowed not to break their fast but with the flesh of a Roman nor drink till they had tasted of the blood of an Enemie or amongst the heathen and uncircumcised but in Israel where God was known in her Palaces Psal 48. 3. but in Israel where his wonderfull acts were manifested but in Israel a peculiar people chosen to himself but in Israel where his Prophets taught and his name was called upon Quis talia fando temperet à lacrimis who can restrain tears that where there was such gracious means there should be such gracelesse practices by a brotherhood like Simeon and Levi brethren in evil Gen. 49. 5. If this had been done at Rome where degrading of Princes murthering of heretical Princes with their whole families is a warrantable and meritorious tenet the world would not have trembled at it nor wondered or admired it but to be practiced in Israel the wonder of the world for as it is Deut. 47 8. What Nation is so great unto whom the Gods come so near unto them in all that they call unto the Lord for And what Nation is so great that hath ordinances and Laws so righteous Surely this makes Israels condition equivalent to Chorozins and Bethsaidaes Mat. 11. 21. Wo to thee Corazin wo to thee Bethsaida for if the great works which were done in you had been done in Tyrus and Sidon they had repented long agone in Sackeloth and Ashes Wherefore it shall be easier for Tyrus and Sidon at the day of judgement than for you than for Israel Joab and Abishai his brother were men of War and so the lesse marvell they neither respected the person nor place where they shed blood but the hunters of our Prince and great man to death were not only Sword-men but Gown-men even wolves in sheeps clothing and if God spared not the old world nor Sodom nor Gomorrah 2 Pet. 2. 5 6. how shall they escape the judgement of God to come and the judgement of God is according to truth against them that commit such things Rom. 2. 2. Wherefore as Daniel counselled King Nebuchadnezzar 4. 27. Break off thysins by righteousness and thine iniquities by mercy towards the poor that there be a healing of thine errour even so my counsel to all Israel that have had a hand in the Princes death and great mans fall is according to that we read of Amos 4. 12. Prepare to meet thy God O Israel For repentance may heal where thy sin hath wounded 5ly Davids Proclamation throughout all Israel and Judah to take notice of his losse and their losse his and their losse as if they had with him lost the brightest star in the Firmament or had lost their right eyes right hands or their right feet or as the Church complained Lam. 4 20. The breath of our Nostrils the Anointed of the Lord is taken from us of whom we said Vnder his shadow we shall be preserved alive among the Heathen How hath the Lord darkened the Daughter of Zion in his wrath and hath cast down from Heaven unto earth the beauty of Israel draw near behold and see what a Prince what a great man is this day fallen Know ye not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel 1. The causes moving David to publish this Proclamation were v. 37. his Innocency to clear him in the face of all the people that he had no hand in spilling this innocent blood finding no fault in the man of those things whereof others accused him as Pilate said of Christ although with a better mind Lu. 23. 14. 2ly To make Joab the more odious to the people for executing such a rash and malicious and unnatural fact As Jeroboam is stigmatized with this brand-mark lying in his Grave Jeroboam the Son of Nebat who made Israel to sin and as Judas the Traytor with this Judas Iscariot who betrayed his Master So Joab hath this spot and blot upon his Coat of Arms to be seen read of all ages Joab that in the time of peace slew Abner in the Gate v. 27. And for this David and let all Israel curse him in the words verse 29. Let the blood of Abner fall on the head of Joab and on all his Fathers House that the House of Joab be never without some that have running Issues or Leper or that leaneth on a staff or that doth fall on the sword or that lacketh bread 3ly That Joab by the sight of the publick mourning and vent which the King and People gave to their full hearts might be convinced of his sin and so brought to repentance Know ye not and thou Joab too that there is a Prince and a great man this day fallen in Israel The Observations from what hath been said are Observ 1. That great mens death and Princes fall ought to be lamented by all This David confirms both by Precept and Example and it is said Praecepta ducunt Exempla trahunt Precepts do sweetly allure but examples do violently draw men to obedience So that if the one or the other be of force to work upon our hearts and eyes to weep with Jeremiah day and night for our Abner then look upon David Lissen to his charge to all the people that were with him vers 31 32. Rent your clothes and put on Sackcloth and mourn before Abner and King David himself followed the Beer And the King lift up his voice and wept besides the Sepulchre of Abner and all the people wept and vers 33 34. The King lamented over Abner and all the people wept again for him As if such a mans death can never be over-lamented Know ye not saith David as if no man should be ignorant of this his duty to his Prince to his Country When Josiah was buried there was so great mone made for him 2 Chron. 35. 22. that it grew into a Proverb Zech. 12. 11. Like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon Yea when Jacob but a mean man although father to a Prince was buried they made so great such an
so near to a man or go so near to his heart as bene facere male audire to do well and to be rewarded ill by a Servant or any other ingratefull wretches The Oxe knoweth his owner Isay 1. 3. and for a man not to know his master and maker is worse than brutish and deserves nigro carbone notari to be branded for a vile man indeed A houshold enemie is noted by Christ for a sharp plague Mat. 10. 36. and yet such is our Abners condition to fall by such Joab had Zimri peace that slew his Master 2 Kin. 9. 31. then look for no peace living or dying Obs Occidit is fallen from whence may be observed that death is no deâ—th to them that die in the Lord. It is but as a sleep from which they shall be awakened at the sound of the last Trumpet And in this sence saith Christ to his disciples John 11. 11. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth but I go to wake him up It is but as a falling to the earth from whence we through Gods might recover our selves and rise again It is but as Requietorium a Bed of rest as Isay shews 57. 2 They shall rest in their Beds every one that walketh before him and men go not to bed to lie there for ever but some short time It was said by a Jester unto a great man If I fall I can rise again but if thou fallest thou wilt never rise more but this holds true of the faithfull in general Dan. 12. 2. they shall rise to everlasting life thus David tells not his servants A Prince or a great man is dead but is fallen being assured that he should rise again like Antheus with greater strength and courage and honour and glory than ever he enjoyed before like Damascens wise yet deposed King as we read of in M. Bunnyes resolutions Vse Here is comfort for Abners friends that although his body is sown in corrupion yet it shall be raised in incorruption If it be sown in dishonour yet it shall be raised in glory 1 Cor. 15. 42 43. that although he was conquered by Treason yet he is Conquerour over all his enemies and greatest Traytors death sin and Satan that although he be fallen yet he is mounted up aloft upon the wings of Cherubims and glorious angels like Lazarus into the bosome of his father that although he be losse to them yet their losse is his gain for instead of war he finds peace instead of sorrow joy unspeakable instead of vexation of spirit The things which eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither have entred into the heart of man 1 Cor. 2. 9. instead of a corruptible Crown an incorruptible Chap. 9. 25. Instead of a Crown of thorns a Crown of ease instead of an earthly Kingdome a Kingdome which endureth for ever even the Kingdom of God and of Christ instead of earthly treasures heavenly instead of buffetings reproaches spittings in the face kisses with sweet embracings Instead of Apage Euge be gone We will not have this man reign longer over us welcome and well done good and faithfull servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord Matth. 25. 23. instead of the society of beasts such as Paul fought withall at Ephesus the fellowship of glorified Saints and Angels Iacob in his dream saw a Ladder the foot thereof stood upon earth but the top reached up to heaven Gen. 28 12. and by this Ladder our Abner our Prince like an Angel of God is ascended up thither Question not this O man whosoever thou art for he was living a living pattern of vertue and godlinesse to all 1 For sobriety for who could detect him of drunkennesse 2ly of chastity for who could blemish him of uncleanesse Posse nolle nobile What Castle by promotion or bribes or command cannot a great man scale and not to subdue it to his power and lust is Prince-like indeed 3ly Of Piety Religion being diligent in Prayer sincere in his devotions and admirably attentive in hearing of Sermons and that sometimes in my eye 4ly Of knowledge and learning witness his Book entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which few Bishops with all their learning and reading could outrun and witness his Disputation with the Scotch Minister who shall be nameless and whom he so foiled by arguments that whereas before he was his bitter enemy in Pulpit and out of it he set forth unto the world his own recantation and his Princes vindication to undeceive his people 5ly Of bounty and liberality to his followers I and to some ingratefull and undeserving followers 6ly Of patience for after the example of Christ 1 Pet. 2. 23. Being reviled he reviled not a-again when he suffered he threatned not but committed it to him that judgeth righteously 7ly Of magnanimity being as daring as a lion as some of his own Captains can speak and would have proved it in red letters if he might have been suffered wrote with a pen of iron 8ly Of compassion lamenting the losse of his enemies as if their blood had been drawn from his own heart Iulian honoured those Souldiers that died in his war and service but he those that died in the war against him 9ly Of affection to his wife so that as Solomon speaks of the good woman I may truly aver of him Prov. 31. 29. Many husbands have done vertuously but thou surmountest them all 1. For fidelity to her bed a rare thing to be found in great men 2. For affability and kindness to her â—â—ving her as his own soul 3 For indulgencie over his and her children Now laying all these together as so many steps or stairs or stakes of the Ladder doubtlesse his works follow him Rev. 14. 13 and he is passed and gone to your father and his father to his God and your God Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words 1 Thes 4 18. And as Christ said to the daughters of Ierusalem Luke 23. 28 Weep not for him but for your selves left as a prey to the wolf hurrying and worrying Christs flock Vse 2. Abner is fallen As the Widow of Zarephath spake to Elijah 1 Kings 17. 18. O thou man of God art thou come to call my sins to remembrance and to slay my son Even so Abners fall should put Israel in mind of their sins which have pulled him down from his Throne and of a sudden Repentance lest they follow him to the grave If old Eli was punished for the iniquity of his sons 1 Sam. 3. 12 13 14. then by the same rule a Father of his Countrey may suffer for the wickedness of his children and people Obs 3. Hoc die This day from whence I observe that all men have their falling day The Sun that now shines will set the Moon that now is at Full will wain the see that now flows will ebbe After a Spring will follow an Autumn after a Summer comes a hard Winter and after the green blade comes a
had stood in his place Would God I had died for thee Absolom my son my son 3ly He had repenting tears being assured that his own sinne so well as his sons hastened him to the grave 4ly He had whining murmuring tears as may be gathered by his excessive impatience and immoderate weeping And the king was moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept and as he went thus he said O my son Absolom c. And so I passe to the next particular in the first general point 3ly The effect of his passion and as he went thus he said wherein let us consider these two particulars 1. Quod dixit that he said 2ly Quid dixit what he said 1. The vessel of his body was so overcharged with grief that if he had not given it vent his heart would have burst But his own words best speak it Ps 39. 3. Mine heart was hot within me and while I was missing the fire kindled and I spake with my tongue David was an expert and skilful Musician and here he sheweth it For first he begins with still Musick And the king was moved Then he strikes a note higher And he went up to the chamber over the gate and wept 3ly Then he played upon loud Musick and loud Cymbals and as he went thus he said O Absalom my son my son Absalom and so I am fallen upon the next particular 2ly What he said A man would have thought that David had more cause to blesse God for his great deliverance from the hands of his enemy than to whine and murmur and weep and hang down his head like a bull-rush I but thinks David if he were mine enemy yet he was filius meus my childe my son But if he were thy son yet he was cast into a wretched mould like one of those that the Apostle speaks of 2 Tim. 3. 2 3 4 5. A Lover of himself proud unthankful disobedient to parent without natural affection intemperate fierce no lover at all of them which are good a traitor heady high-minded having a shew of godliness but denying the power thereof I But saith David love covereth a multitude of faults for he was filius meus dilectus in quo mihi complacui my beloved son in whom I was well pleased But if he were thy son and thy beloved son yet why should'st thou cast such a pearl to such a swine and be more prodigal of thy love to him than to Solomon Adonijah and the rest of thy children better deserving I but saith David he was filius iste meus the prettiest man that ever eye beheld there was none in all Israel like him and therefore I cannot but sigh and sobb and eccho forth this sad lamentation for him O Absalom my son my son Absalom From whence we learn Obs 1. That love is blinde according to that of the Poet Quisquis amot ranam ranam putat esse Dianam Quisquis amat servam servam putat esse Minervam Quisquis amat luscam luscam putat esse venustam David beheld his son with the eye of flesh and blood but was blind to look into the deformities of his soul his body was not so lovely as his soul was filthy and therefore it was a wonder how good David should so much forget himself who was a man after Gods own heart and knew what God affected most Prov. 23. 26. to be transported with love to the outward man not regarding how leprous and diseased the inward man was Surely David for the present was not David and as the Philosopher told his old Concubine so he might have said of himself Ego non sum ego the which I may interpret by that which is said of the Prodigal in his ranting and ruffling fit and humour he was not himself Luk. 15. he was as blind as Bartimeus the Begger neither was this his case alone but Adams for he and his wife Hevab rejoiced exceedingly in their first-born child but as for their second they called him Habel which signifies vanity as if he were lightly esteemed of by them in competition to Cain but whom they accepted God rejected and whom they rejected God accepted For God seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart 1 Sam. 16. 7. And after the pattern of God himself Parents should love their children for their vertue and godlinesse more than for their painted outside Samuel was a good man and a Prophet and he was enamoured with Eliabs feature and stature and goodly proportion of body and said surely the Lords anointed is before him v. 6. but how blind he was in judgement and affection the Sequel sheweth For a father not to love his child is unnatural for a father to love his body more than his soul is unchristian-like for a father to over-love him is not to love him nor himself for God commonly crosseth him in his inordinate love David render a reason why thou delightedst in Absalom more than in the rest wert thou taken with his goodly head of hair Alas that is a sorrie excrement Wert thou captivated with his fair face Alas that the Pox or age quickly defaceth Wert thou ravished with his straight body Alas every wrinch decrepits it Wert thou overcome with the lustre and splendor of his eyes as Christ was wounded with one of the eyes of his Spouse Cant. 4. 9 Alas they are haughty and will soon wax dim and cease to look out at their Windows Eccles 12. 3. Wert thou delighted in his legs Alas as God Psal 117. 10. So shouldest not thou take pleasure in the legs of a man Speak David speak what was the object of thy love and if thou canst give no better reasons than these surely thy love to Absalom was blind Beware lest any of you with the Aramites be smitten with this blindness Obs 2. Carnal Passion breaks all bounds of reason and true Religion If God question Jonah chap. 4. 4. Dost thou well to be angry he will justifie himself and stand it out I do well to be angry to the death v. 9. Jonah had pity on a Gourd and yet he quarrels with God for having pity on Niniveh and shewing mercy to that City Wherein were six score thousand persons that could not discern between the right hand and the left Jonah What was thy Gourd to a great stately and eminent City What was thy Gourd to the treasures in that City What was thy Gourd to much cattel in that City What was thy Gourd to the men women and children in that City truly but as a straw to the Gold in Ophir Here then passion makes thee to break the bounds of reason ut to take one step and measure more What was thy Gourd to all the souls in that City and in having more compassion on that than on them thou breakest the bounds of true Religion Job was a good man an upright and just man and as a lillie
art not given over to a reprobate sense Rom. 1. 28. then these things cannot but melt thee relent thee and dam up thy way from prosecuting thy devilish purposes any farther I but thinks Absalom that is not the way to the Kingdom and Sceptre and to reign and therefore be it never so foul I will thorow it and as Caesar said Vel inveniam vel faciam I will hack and hew it out with my sword and so having gathered together all the men of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and made him self strong for the battel he prepares to divide the spoil Oh unparalleld traytor for 1. He sought the death of the Lords anointed and that it is aggravated in these Circumstances 1. His anointed child And right dear and precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Psal 116. 15. 2ly His Prophet who was as the apple of Gods eye very tender to him Zech. 2. 8. and concerning whom he hath given so strict a chatge Psal 105. 15 Touch not mine anointed nor do my Prophets no harm 3ly That he was anointed his King a King of Gods own pointing out 1 Sam. 16. 12. a King after Gods own heart 1 Sam. 13. 14 A typical King of Christ a King-father and a father to his people so well as to his own children a nursing father Isa 49. 23. And for Absalom to rob God and men of such a King who would not should not fight it out to the death like Zebulun and Nephtali Judg. 5. 18. to save him but Absalom and some of his Faction who love to fish in troubled waters but hence we learn Obs That one sin if not in time stifled makes way for a bigger as a little wedge doth for a greater Read backward and ye shall find that his sin grew like a snow-ball to a very great pitch and height and so I may compare it to Elijahs cloud 1 Kin. 18. 44. the which at first seemed no bigger than a mans hand but by and by it overspread the heaven or like to Ezekiels waters chap. 47. 3 4 5. which came to the ancles then up to the knees then to the loins and afterward waxed so deep that they could not be passed oveâ— or like to that fountain which became a river Ezek. 10. 6. and as our Proverb is Give the Devil an inch and he will take an ell We read Matth. 12. 43 44 45. of an unclean spirit in a man Which goeth forth and taketh seven other spirits worse than himself and they enter in and dwell there Even so if we give way to one unclean spirit one sin yea and as Lot sayd of Zoar a little sin we make way for all sin that we may say as Jacob did of Gad A Troop cometh As the Sea making the least breach be it thorow a mole-hole presently grows bigger and bigger upon it and pours in an inundation to the destruction of man and beast and as the Story goeth of Hatchet which begging a withered bough of an Ash to make it a helve instantly falls to work and cuts down the tall Cedar and strong Oke and green Elm and Ash which stood before secure and as Pompey marching with his Souldiers to take a great and rich City and finding the gates shut and the opposition strong he craves leave of the Citizens to give entertainment to some few of his wounded and sickly men and he would passe away without their least disturbance the which having obtained they in the night opened the gates to the General and the stronger men to the sacking and utter undoing of a famous City Even so if the Devil can but beg a helve for a hatchet or make a breach in mans heart to get in his little finger he will strain hard to make room for his head and if he can get in his head he will draw in his whole body or if he can procure the favour from us to give entertainment to some weakling and puling sins then he cries out with Moah now Moah to the spoil now Devil to thy prey and therefore Vse Is for our instruction to kill the Crocodile in the egge lest it grow to be a serpent and so kill us to quench the fire whilst it is but a spark lest it get head and so consume us Obsta Principiis withstand the beginnings of sin lest they grow to be so mountainous that they crush thee down to hell Venienti occurre morbo faith the Physician Prevent the disease by taking Physick in time lest it run on and destroy thee before thy time If Absolom had observed this rule he had never fallen so shamefully so suddenly like a child new born so wonderfully like Jerusalem Lam. 1. 9. 2ly Absaloms Treason is aggravated in that he sought the death of his father his father that begat him and his father that so well loved him He was troubled with a new disease at that time for he was sick of his father and nothing could cure him but his removal out of his eye that he might sit at Helm an steer the ship from whence we learn Obs That when Kings Princes Governors and Magistrates shall suffer sin to go unpunished in others God will make them so spared instruments to punish them David permitting Absalom to run on in sin out of one sin into another not executing the Law or justice upon him God makes him as the Canaanite to the Israelite Num. 33. 55. A prick in his eye and a thorn in his side We have a Proverb Save a Thief from the Gallows and he will hang thee at last if he can Amnons Murther deserved severe punishment by the Law of God but David out of foolish pity omitting it and winking at it God sets him home to him at last and raiseth up the son of his bowels and love too to hunt after his life Absalom may grieve God and yet that doth not much grieve David wherefore God takes his own quarrel in hand and causeth him to be the greatest grief that ever he encountred withall and so hear him roaring and howling forth this sad lamentation and Dittie for him O Absalom my son my son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my son my son And so I passe to the last point 4ly Which is Absaloms death The two Generals Absalom and Joab joyned Battel to dispute the Controversie about the Crown and at last Absalom being worsted flieth and flying the Mule came under a great thick Oke And his head caught hold on the Oke and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth and Joab took three darts and thrust them thorow Absalom and so he died verse 9. 14. Died between heaven and earth as unworthy by reason of his debauchednesse to go to the one or to have a burial place in the other the which is a most terrible and fearfull example of Gods vengeance 1. Against Rebels to their King 2ly Against those that are disobedient to
over his Chamber door now after a little time some discontented people hired a rude lewd fellow to stab the King and going about his work with a heart full of mischief and reading this superscription his countenance changed and falls trembling and shaking as if he had an ague fit the which being perceived and he examined confessed the whole matter and what diverted him from it Even so if men would but seriously consider that with what measure they mete shall be measured to them again or that nothing surer than their sins would find them out or that the end of sin and wages of sin is death Rom 6. 23. How would this Meditation stop the current of their vile affections and divert them from sinning It was an excellent Speech of one Cave quid agis te videt Deus Beware what thou doest for God seeth thee and all things are naked and open to his eyes with whom thou hast to do saith Paul Heb. 4. 13. and Homer speaking of a Frog and a Mouse who having a sharp contestation and bitter Skirmish the party grieved tells the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God had a revenging eye to right him even so if men would but remember whatsoever they are about or doing God looked upon them and had a revenging eye to requite it in the same measure and nature it would stifle all treason against heaven and earth Vse 3. This may teach us that seeing with what measure we mete shall be measured to us again to walk circumspectly and warily not as fools but as wise Eph. 5. 115. the Law of God and nature should be our rule to square our lives and all our actions by and that is Quod tibi non vis alteri non feceris to do as we would be done unto Matth. 7. 12. and saith Paul Gal. 6. 16. To as many as walk according to this rule peace shall be upon them and mercy as upon the true Israel of God Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap Gal. 6. 7. He that soweth righteousness shall receive a good and sure reward Prov. 11. 18. But he that soweth iniquiry shall reap affliction and the rod of his anger shall fail chap. 22. 8. God hath a twofold measure 1. Either a measure of glory and that is for those that abound in the works of the Lord 1 Cor. 15. 58. 2ly A measure of wrath and sorrow and that is for those that plough iniquity and sow wickedness Job 4. 8. and with this measure did God mete Athaliah Doct. 3. Is Qualis vita finis ita As we live so commonly we die as we speak in another kind Mali principii malns exitus an ill beginning hath an ill end even so an ungodly life is accompanied usually with a sad death Look upon Haman behold Judas cast an eye upon Julian the grand Apostate who died cursing and banning crying out in defiance of Christ Vicisti Galilaeo O thou Galilean thou hast conquered and overcome me Turn over the Chronicle of Athaliah and thou shalt find that as she sâ—ank living in the nostrils of the people for her idolatry pride usurping of anothers Crown blood-thirstinesse so in her death she was abhorred by all and had not power to cry out with Peter Lord save me or with the Publican God be mercifull to me a sinner The Husbandman can tell us that which way the tree leaneth that way it will fall if it be not prevented by art and I have often observed in visiting the sick that as the Proverb is quod in corde sobrii id in lingua ebrii what lies close hid in the heart of a sober man is revealed by his tongue when he is drunk even so as men lean and are affected living so their hearts and tongues run of it dying and what hopes can there be that they who had not God in all their thoughts Psal 10. 4. when they were in health should go to God when they are dead Vse As the tree standeth so it falleth and saith Solomon Eccl. 11. 3. As the tree doth fall so in the place that the tree falleth there it shall lie So that this doth much concern us to denie ungodlinesse and worldly lust and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and appearing of that glory of that mighty God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ Tit. 2. 12 13. labouring to fall to the South of his mercy and not to the North of his Justice Death is not so fearfull and terrible in it self as is the sting of it which is sin 1 Cor. 15. 56. And therefore let it be our care to be every day weakning and puling out this serpents sting that we may with old Simeon depart in peace Luke 2. 29. And blessed shall be the dead that die in the Lord for their works follow them Rev. 14. 13. Thus ye have heard 1. what Athaliab was 2ly What her Treason and 3ly what her end was She rent her clothes and cryed Treason Treason and was slain by the way which the horses go to the Kings house FINIS A Prayer for the Morning O Thou mighty Almighty Creator and Preserver of men We thy poor Creatures protected this night from Fire Sword Sicknesse Death and those manifold evils that might have befallen us and overtaken us by reason of the multitude of our sins for man suffers for his sins cannot but ascribe all praise with the Samaritan Leper due unto thy holy name for this unspeakable mercy of thine towards us miserable sinners unworthy to tast of the least drop much lesse that Ocean of thy love daily streaming and flowing home to our doors to the great comfort of our souls For what is man that thou art mindfull of him or the Son of man that thou shouldest regard him there is nothing in man but deserves open shame and confusision of face continually Wherefore we deny our selves and all our own unrighteousness as filthy clouts and menstruous rags and flee unto thee in thy Christ that in him by him and through him both now and ever we may be acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our Redeemer And as thy mercies have been great towards us this night past so we beseech thee to continue the same mercy unto us this day and so to the end of our dayes Defend us from our Ghostly and bodily enemies Shield us with thy grace that we fall not this day into any manner of evil of sin that we may never grieve thy good Spirit any more by sin and so prevent another day the evil of punishment for sin Direct us in thy mercie in our going out and coming in that whatsoever we shall take in hand it may prosper like Joseph O prosper thou our handie work upon us Instruct us in the heavenly wisdome that above all things we may be wise unto the salvation of our poor souls And teach us with the night past to cast away
great Leviathan Our friends to help us are like Jobs miserable comforters our footing on this sea of glasse very slipperie but when all our other trust is but as a spiders web this is our comfort in our afflictions that although our father and mother and all the world forsake us yet the Lord will then gather us up and will not leave us comfortless Wherefore in all humble acknowledgement of all thankfulness due unto thee vve offer up unto thee our selves our souls and bodies a quick and living sacrifice that the God in whom we live move have our being may be glorified in and by our being This is our day therfore it is our duty whilst it is called to day to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him whilst he is near This is our day wherein we are to work and so let it be our sole wisdome to work out our salvation lest the night come and overtake us when no man can work This is our day and how ill doth it become us to trewant and loiter it away like those that stood idle in the market place or to riot it and revelling it eating and drinking and cursing Abimelech lest we be in hell to morrow yelling and howling and roring with Dives Devils and damned ones Let the Sun which cometh as a Bridegroom out of his chamber and rejoiceth to run his race Ever teach us to be active in spiritual duties and heavenlie exercises Let the Sun which encreaseth from glorie to glorie teach us to encrease in vertue goodnesse and godlinesse adding to vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience to patience brotherlie kindnesse and so one grace to another that we may be complete Christians like unto our head and Lord and Master Let the morning instruct us to remember our Creator in the daies of our youth Let the Noon tutour us to be strong in the faith Let the Evening admonish us to think of the end of our life and shutting in of our daies Let all teach us so to number our daies that we may applie our hearts unto wisdome Let a waterie daie ever mind us of the sorrows afflictions and troubles attend us in this life Let a pleasant day mind us of the pleasures to come when these are faded and forgotten Let a short daie mind us of the shortnesse of this life which is but as a span long and swifter than a Weavers Shuttle Let a long daie mind us of Eternitie of life either in blisse or bane and so read us a continual Lecture to labour for that meat which endures unto everlasting life and not after that bread which perisheth with us the which that we may do the Lord grant unto us for the Lord Jesus Christs sake our blessed Saviour and redeemer Amen A Prayer for the Evening I Will lay me down and also sleep in peace for thou Lord makest me dwell in safety saith David Now good God grant that as we lie down in thy love so we may rise by thy power and glorifie thee for thy mercy O most gracious God and in thy son Jesus Christ our loving Father we miserable sinners dust and ashes worms and not men do prostrate our selves before the footstool of thy Throne of grace beseeching thee that seeing thou hast made the night for man to rest so well as the day for him to labour so that thou wouldest be pleased to blesse us this night and keep us from fire sword sicknesse death and those manifold evils may befall us and overtake us by reason of our manifold sins and wickednesses Thou art about their beds and givest thy Angels charge over them that seek unto thee for succour thou knowest their down-lying and uprising and art near unto those that call upon thee in truth and syncerity of heart wherefore graciously good God spread thou the wings of thy loving kendnesse and favour over us this night and let not this house be as a tomb and Sepulchre erected over our heads let not our beds be as our graves our blankets as the mold of the earth and our sheefs as our winding-sheets but let them all serve to minister comfort and refreshment to our wearied bodies and senses that the day following we may be the better enabled to set forth thy praise and thy glorie Let not our sleep be insatiable according to the desires of the flesh but onely so as that it may revive our dull and heavy drooping spirits and make them active in thy service and in the works of our calling Teach us by our unclothing and uncovering of our selves and casting away our garments from us continually to think of casting away every weight and casting off that old man which is corrupt through his deceivable works Teach us by our nakednesse when our garments are from us continually to think of harmlesnesse and innocency of life endevouring our selves daily to live void of offence towards God and towards man Teach us by going out of our warm clothes into our cold beds continually to think on a change of life how that we shall one day leave this sinfull world and passe into another there to receive according to our several works Teach us by our sleep continuallie to think on death and by our waking from sleep again continually to think of resurrection of life how that we shall one day wake and rise out of the dust of the earth and behold our God not with other but with these same eyes O let everie thing be our instruction to shew us the right way to heaven and everlasting blisse Father blesse us bodily yea and blesse us spiritually give unto our bodies a happie rest in Christ Jesus whensoever as we know not how soon thou maiest call them out of this sinful world and say unto our souls that he was the redemption thereof and paid the ransom of them with his dearest blood that under the shadow of his wings we may flie to thy heavenly Sanctuary Father bless us inwardlie and blesse us outwardly blesse us inwardly with all these graces which are fit and needfull for our several places conditions and callings and blesse us outwardlie with all those things we want and stand in need of as health strength ease wealth blesse us likewise in everie thing belongs unto us that they yielding forth their strength and encrease unto us we may yield forth unto thee our God the strength of our obedience praise and thanksgiving O father thou art great and therefore to be feared thou art good and therefore to be praised according therefore to thy greatnesse and according to thy goodnesse be thy praise and we entreat thee to continue this thy loving kindnesse to us unto our lives end and to life eternal And that we may obtain this mercy we beseech thee to give us grace to walk worthie of thy mercies that we may find and feel the fruits of thy favour budding in our souls O give us grace that
Childhood wept Gen. 21. 17. Esau in juventute in his youth wept Gen. 27. 38. Jacob in Senectute wept 37. 35. that we are little or no time free from mourning All this shews that as the Sea is alwaies boyling and moving so sorrow upon sorrow follows as close at the heels as one wave pursueth another and as Jobs sad Messengers traced the other So that in this respect we may say with David Psal 8. 4. Quid est homo what a miserable creature is man 2ly There are fellow-feeling tears which is a sympathizing in our Brethrens calamities As Christ our head suffers when the Members of his body suffer and as it is in the natural body If one Member suffer all suffer with it 1 Cor. 12. 26. As in a throng of people one treads upon anothers foot the which causeth him to cry out Cur me calâ—as why dost thou tread upon me The foot was hurt and not the tongue and yet the tongue complaineth by reason of that amiable sympathie and friend ship that is between the Members Now as it is in the mystical body and natural body even so should it be in the spiritual body weeping for Josephs afflictions so well as our own St. Paul Vas electionis the chosen Vessel did not only by precept but by pattern teach us our duty in this 2 Cor. 11. 29. Is any weak and I am not weak who is offended and I burn not Brethren be ye followers of him and look on them which walk so as ye have them for an ensample Phil. 3. 17. Christ Jesus did the like for he appropriated all the mischief done to the Church as done to himself Acts 9. 4. Saul Saul why persecutest thou me So that if ye will not be followers of Paul nor of the Saints Yet be followers of God as dear Children 3ly There are repenting tears which are poured forth for our sins and for our own and other mens punishments and chastisements by reason of them for man suffers for his sins Lam. 3. 39. If sin breaks our head tears lend us a plaister to heal where sin hath wounded and the more tears the sooner the cure is wrought Mary Magdalen Peccatrix a sinner was so prodigal of them that she washed Christs feet with her tears her sins were many and her tears did correspond to her sins and therefore her Lord did forgive her all her sins Luke 7. 47. What a sweet voice was it sounded in the Palsie mans ears Mat. 9. 2. Be of good comfort thy sins are forgiven thee And that I might hear the like I speak from my soul let Ziba take all and let me tell you the readiest course we can take to obtain remission and forgivenesse is to swim to God in a flood of tears as the Ark was carried to mount Ararat upon the waters where it rested peaceably Gen. 8. 4. This was the means which Peter used to make his atonement with his master after his lying and denying and forswearing of him Mat. 26. 75. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He wept bitterly and this course the Israelites took when the Text tells us that they poured out water before the Lord that is they wept abundantly for their sins they were as free of their tears as of water their heads were full of water and their eyes as a fountain of tears they humbled themselves very low that God might receive them into favour again And this was Davids practise Psal 6. 6. I cause my bed every night to swim I water my Couch with my tears And then follows vers 8. Away from me ye workers of Iniquitie for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping It was a sweet saying of one Never any came to Gods door weeping that ever went away sorrowing The Ninevites were a sinful people and there was wrath proclamed against them and the execution thereof denounced within 40. daies yet upon their repenting tears and crying mightily unto God and turning from their evil waies God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not Jon. 3. 8 10. And to this effect speaks Hierome Oratio deum lenit sed lacryma angit haec ungit sed illa pungit Prayer is of great force and power with God for what cannot a fervent praying man do Jam. 5. 16. but when tears accompany and are joyned with prayer then what can be denyed to such a melting soul The Canaanitish woman Mat. 15. 22. and the Father of him that was possessed with a dumb Devil Mark 9. 24. did both by crying and tears and crying tears obtain their long wished for desires and drew pity and compassion and a compassionate pity from Christ In which respect Austin said Vincunt invisibilem ligant omnipotentem they conquer him that is unconquerable and bind the almighty power of God to yield to our requests as we see in Jacob Gen. 32. 28. And so sweetly was it uttered by a sweet Divine Repenting eyes are Cellars of Angels and penitent tears their choicest wine which the Savour of life perfumes the tast of grace sweetneth and the purest colours of returning innocencie highly beautifieth And I would God as David speaks that our hearts were such a Limbeck evermore distilling so pure a Quintessence drawn out from the weeds of our offences by the fire of Contrition that Heaven might mourn at the absence of so precious a water and earth lament the loss of such fruitfull showers We have all sinned and our sins are many and great and a great many and so we ought with Christ Heb. 5. 7. to powr out strong cries and tears unto him that is able to save us from death Every one of us when we come to die would gladly go to Heaven but if we so intend in good earnest lacrymae paenitentiae repenting tears must be our guide thither as the star was to the wise men to bring them to Christ Mat. 2. 9. 4ly There are grumbling murmuring and muttering tears the which are shed in discontent that God should lay this or that evil upon them or rob them of their Izaak Joseph Absolom joy or delight of their heart or pleasure of their eyes and of these the Sonnes and daughters of men are more free than the rest but saith the Prophet Isay 45. 9. Wo to him that striveth with his Maker shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it what makest thou or shall man say to God what dost thou O peace peace O murmuring soul be whist be silent and murmur not as some of them murmured lest thou be destroyed of the destroyer 1 Cor. 10. 10. peace O murmuring soul be dumb because it is the Lord hath done it Psal 39. 9. David had tears of all sorts 1. He had grief tears for the losse of his darling Absolom 2ly He had fellow-feeling tears in his misery as knowing that so bad a life he lived could have no good end or death and therefore he wisheth that he