So are the yeares of a man especially if we compare them with things aboue and with the daies and yeares that we are to liue in heauen So that let a man looke backe to the time passed and wisely judge of it and set to it the uttermost of the time to come and all will appeare to passe away from vs either as the time wherein a tale is told or those things passe away that are told in a tale which is very quickly and speedily 1. This shewes the vanitie of them that make such a-doe for states and titles and tenures for this life Oh they thinke it a goodly matter if they haue and hold a thing for so many liues and for theirs and their childrens liues And yet alas it is if it be compared with the life of Heauen but as if it were a tenure for the space of a tale telling or a word spoken And what madnesse then is it that most men shew to hazzard the one to get the other that they care not almost how they breake the Lawes of God and Man for it Surely the little faith and hope or none that we haue of the life to come makes persons so dote and mad vpon the titles and tenures of this life which are of the same nature that our dayes and yeares are they passe away all alike 2. It shewes also the vanitie of such who as though their dayes and yeares would never come vnto an end spend day after day and yeare after yeare in that they call pas-time whereas time passeth away of it selfe swift enough and that in Gods wrath It were more agreeable to reason if it could bee to use meanes to hold and continue time rather then to passe it away 3. Let this teach vs whilst we haue it to make the best use wee can of it When our yeares are gone we cannot reuoke them How soone they are gone the holy Ghost here teacheth and wee may feele by our owne experience Therefore whilst we liue here let vs not so much trouble our thoughts about the meanes of this life as about devising how we may imploy our time and spend our life to best purpose 4. Though we are to count the shortnesse of our liues in regard of the misery thereof and in regard of the life which followes a blessing Yet in it selfe we should not so account of it but tho it be miserable and the longer it is the longer it keepes vs from a better yet the very shortnesse of this miserable life is to be considered as an effect of Gods wrath And therefore it is a blessing of God if wee know how to use it to liue long here though we should liue as miserable a life as any euer lived Neither should wee endevour or desire to doe any thing to shorten the same VERS 10. The dayes of our yeares are seuentie yeares and if by reason of strength they be eightie yeares yet is their strength then labour and sorrow for it is soone cut off and we fly away IN these words the Prophet proues that which he sayd before that wee spend our yeares as a tale that is told The yeares of them which ordinarily liue the uttermost of their dayes is but threescore and ten and if any liue till eightie through strength yet is their strength then labour and sorrow c. Now if the longest period of dayes that men ordinarily liue be so short a time and the longest time flyeth so fast then well might the Prophet say That our dayes passe away as a tale that is tould For those who by reason of their strength liue till eightie yeares either they are men that vnder-goe in this life many labours and trauels and then their very strength brings nothing vnto them but matter of labour and sorrow For the stronger a man hath beene and the greater labours and trauels he hath vndergone the more full of aches and paines is his old age wont to be Or they liue merrily and chearefully free from ordinary passions and grievances And then their life flyeth away and when they are brought to these yeares their daies are but daies of sorrow and that with them the rather because they cannot follow those delights then that formerly they haue done Howsoeuer it be there are none cōmonly whose dayes haue seemed to them to passe swifter away then those that lived the longest None are lesse weary of life nor more unwilling to die commonly then they The life therefore of such though full of never so much sorrow and trouble flyes away And such is the loue that ordinarily we beare to this life that though death come not till eightie yeares yet it seemes then to fly vnto us The Doctrine is plaine That our dayes are now but seventie yeares that is to say The time that ordinarily man doe not passe in this life is no more or if more their life after is but a Death and Death comes flying 1. This then should teach vs also to remember our Creator betimes in the dayes of our youth Alas not one of a hundred of us liue till sixtie or seuentie years or if we liue longer and haue spent that time in prophanenesse except the Lord shew more then ordinary mercy wee shall bee no more fit then to honour our Creator then so many dead men The longest that wee can hope to liue and not be children againe is eightie yeares and then commonly we are as children againe mewed vp and our children are either Parents or Lords ouer vs vsing vs as innocents 2. It shewes the strange folly of so many of us as are come to the height and middle of our Age yea to be fistie and vpward yea to be sixtie c. Wee can talke of our dayes past and of things we did fortie yeares since as if they were done but yesterday and for the time to come though wee haue no reason to hope it should be as much as we haue spent and though wee may presume it will flie as fast away as that which is past in the whole though not in the parts yet we liue as though we had a 100 yeares yea a 1060 yeares to come Yea You shall haue many that are of 60. 70. yea 80. years that haue no more care to fit them to death but put the houre thereof as farre from them as if they were in their freshest youth If some liued a 100. some 500. some a 1000. some 10000. yeares amongst vs as now they liue some 5. some 10. some 40. some 60. some 70. c. there might bee some colour for this folly but seeing one of 500. liues not til 60. one of 5000. til 80. one of 100000. till a hundred None till 200. what madnesse it is then especially in those that haue passed the greatest time they can expect to haue no care of the houre of death and of the account they shall then make when their whole time is but short as a tale that
persons would thinke how mortall they and their children are how short a time they haue to liue here how they are carryed away as it were with a flood they and their children and all else these matters would neuer so much run in their heads neither would they vexe and trouble themselues and others so much about them as they do But now we dreame of immortalitie in this life and put from vs as much as we can the houre of our death So liuing and desiring to liue here as if we should liue euer here or there were no liuing els where Were not they starke mad that seeing their children carried away with a flood strugling and breathing in the waters for life and readie to be drown'd and no hope of pulling them out would be carking and caring and vexing themselues how they should prouide for them Nay let Christians seeing their liues are so short here comfort themselues in their wants and their childrens and labour so that small time they haue to liue that after this short and transitorie life they and their children may liue eternally in Heauen They are as a sleepe THE second Comparison followeth wherein the Prophet compares the life of man all the pleasures and sorrowes accompanying the same to a sleepe Alas what sooner passeth away What is easier broken off then sleepe how short also are the pleasures and sorrowes that are in sleepe Surely the whole state and condition of a man in this life is but like the state and condition of a man in sleepe all things fall out so like in either Our life may be compared to sleepe in foure respects 1. In regard of the shortnesse of it 2. In regard of the easinesse of being put out of it 3. In regard of the many meanes to disquiet and breake it off 4. In regard of the many errors in it For the first three sleepe is but short and the sweeter it is the shorter it seemes to be And as it is but short of it selfe though it should last the full swinge of nature So the soundest sleepe is easily broken the least knock the lowest call puts men out of it and a number of meanes and occasions there be to interrupt and breake it off And is not it so with the life of man Is not the longest life short Is it not the shorter the sweeter and fuller of contents it is And is it not easily taken away Are there not many meanes to bring vs vnto our ends Euen as many as there are to waken vs out of sleepe For the fourth how many errors are we subiect to in sleepe In sleepe the Prisoner many times dreames that he is at libertie he that is at libertie that he is in Prison he that is hungry that he is feeding daintily He that is in want that he is in great aboundance He that abounds that he is in great want How many in their sleepe haue thought they haue gotten that which they shall be better for for euer and when they are even in the hope of present possessing some such goodly matter or beginning to enioy it or in the midst of their ioy they are suddainly awaked and then all is gone with them and their golden fancies vanish away in an instant So for euill and sorrow as well And is it not just so in the life of Man Whose life passeth sooner away or swifter then theirs that haue most comforts and sweetest Whose life is longer then theirs in seeming that liue least at ease Who are ordinarily more bound more in trouble haue greater vexation and disquiet then those that haue most libertie and aboundance Who are freer and more at libertie and want least then they that haue least How ordinarie a thing is it for men in the most aboundance to bee least satisfied And in the poorest cottage to find the greatest content And how suddenly are men even as if they had beene in a dreame cut off from all their hopes all their delights and pleasures that in this world they enjoyed The use hereof then is 1. To teach vs to account of the things that meerely concerne this life the profits the pleasures the honors of it but as of dreames such as are transitorie and passe away as a sleepe that we can haue no certaintie or assurement of but such as we may be depriued of even as easily as we may be broken of our sleepe 2. To watch and take heed how we looke to place any setled comfort in this life or the things of this life For we shall find as many errours in it and the things thereof as we doe in sleepe Men may fancie this and that but the issue will be nothing no more then of him who going to bed hungry dreames he eates c. 3. This should teach Christians not to enuie and malice the comforts honors and prosperity of wicked men for they are but as dreames thou hast much cause hast thou not to enuie a poore man that he should fare daintily in a dreame 4. It should make vs thinke the lesse of the sorrowes and miseries of this life that either our selues or others endure Our selues here are but as a sleepe The sorrowes that we endure here especially for righteousnesse are but as a dreame Our sleepe will soone end and our sorrowes will end with them and wee shall see that we were but deluded herein 5. Neuer to thinke that we doe the actions of Men that are truely waking but when we doe the actions that concerne the life to come where we shall euer watch and need no sleepe where wee shall euer reioyce and neuer be deluded In the morning they are like grasse that groweth VERS 6. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth vp in the euening it is cut downe and withereth THE third Comparison followeth wherein the life of Man is compared to grasse That as it is with grasse A man shall see it flourishing in the morning and the same day cut downe and withered So is man This day flourishing and lustie and to morrow laid in the dust Nay as it were in the morning well and before night hee and all his strength and glory vanished and gone 1. The consideration of this should teach men in the midst of all their glory and state in this life to thinke what a fading thing it is how soone it is cut downe and withered And therfore we should take heed how we set our hearts vpon these transitorie things for as Medowes when they are most pleasant and fullest of varietie of flowers they are then sodainly cut downe and all the beautie of them vanished So it shall be with all things that in this world wee delight in whether life or honor and riches though a man flourish neuer so much in them yet as it were the same day they shall be taken from him and he from them and then their hearts will be as gone with them that had their hearts before set on
strength and yeares the neerer we draw still to the place from whence we came In so much that there be none of vs but are neerer to our end to day then yesterday and this houre then the houre that is past And though some walke backward more slowly somwhat then others doe yet all goe one way and no bodie knowes how swiftly or how soone he shall come to his end The use hereof 1. This should teach vs euery day to meditate and thinke seriously of our death and the graue It is the place that wee are continually trauailing unto All the dayes and yeares we liue goe backward as it were with us and carry us backward thither So that which way soever our faces are we moue and goe thitherward Since Adams fall all men are condemned and adjudged vnto one death at the least and our life here is nothing else but a going to the place of execution How then should we not thinke of our end Is it possible for condemned Malefactors whilst they are going to the place of death to forget wher-about they go And yet though all our life bee nought else but a leading to death yet ordinarily nothing lesse troubles our minds and we so liue as if death should neuer come neare vs or we it Nay though we see many both neare vs and farre off vs die before vs and wee know that our condition is the same yet we lay it little to heart as if wee alone were exempted from the common condition of all Adams issue 2. This should teach vs also whilst we do liue here to behaue our selues in that manner that wee may die with comfort And this should bee it that in this life should most trouble us and about which we should most beat our braines how wee should so die that wee might eternally liue But alas that which runs altogether in our minds whilst we liue here is about the meanes of our living here how we shall doe for this yeare and the next and the other yeare after that and how our children should do after us never taking thought for the maine which is as if parents and children being altogether drawne vpon a Sled or carryed in a Cart for diuers dayes to execution and the meanes of this life being left them onely for this end to bring them thither they should never trouble their mindes about that that they were drawne unto but should bee carking and caring how they should doe and their children for this thing and that thing concerning this life The second point is that our dayes goe thus backward in the wrath of God that is to say through the iust judgement of God vpon the sin of Man it comes to passe that our dayes thus returne and goe backward and passe away This then is our lesson That euery day whilst wee liue here is a day of wrath an euill day subiect to some judgement or other Few and euill sayeth old Iacob be the daies of my Pilgrimage All things vnder the Sunne are nothing but matter of vanitie and vexation of spirit The best of Gods Saints haue found nothing here that this life and world hath brought forth but matter of sorrow What day is it that passeth ouer our heads but wee might easily perceiue it if we were not besotted marked with Gods wrath bringing with it some judgement and Memorandum or other of Gods anger for sin There is not a day nor houre that passeth ouer our heads but that wee might if wee looked about us and considered the judgements that some way or other cleaue to vs See that it is in some respect or other passed away in wrath The use of this serues 1. To reproue those that haue no sence and fecling thereof but so passe away their time and dayes whilst they haue them as though they were vnder no wrath and judgement at all But all were well and sure betweene God and them That glory in their daies past how merrily they haue liued and how many comforts they haue had such as never felt any wrath of God past nor feare any to come but say ordinarily in their madd moods Away with sorrow let the world slide c. 2. It should teach vs to labour euery day that passeth to marke and obserue wherein God hath manifested unto us his wrath for sinne For there is no day but bringeth terrible remembrance thereof not in others onely but in our selues So that if we consider the Revolution of times wee shall be able to say that there is not a day nor an houre passed over our heads but it is mark'd with the wrath of God by some judgement or other for sinne yea and the very passing of it away it vseth to goe in such a manner is in wrath 3. The more our dayes that are gone are passed in wrath the more in those that are to come wee should labour to appease and pacifie that wrath and seeke after the meanes of our attonment with God It s a desperate madnesse when wee shall perceiue that God for the time past hath shewed himselfe angry with vs to haue no care for the time to come to prevent further indignation 4. This should make the children of God that haue any grounded hope for life to come to lessen their stay on and delight in this life and delight in their hope and meanes of that life wherin never a day shall passe away in wrath but all in loue fauour and glory and wherein the dayes of our life shall not be a returning to death but a going on from life to life and ioy to ioy when we shall liue to liue and the longer wee shall liue the longer we shall haue to liue and that in all happinesse and glory which daies and times shall never wast Whilst we liue here if we had hearts to consider of things as they are there is never a day goes over our head but yeeldeth matter of sighing and groaning vnder some act or other of Gods wrath doe wee the best wee can Yea let a man haue the greatest causes of comfort both for this world and the world to come that the world can afford or that any man euer had yet when he shall sum vp his accounts he shall find the dayes hee liues here are but dayes of euill and he shall see more cause of sorrow and mourning then of joy Let this therefore win vs from this life and the dayes thereof And let the bitter of Gods wrath here make vs the more seeke after the daies of eternitie wherein there shall be no sence thereof in the least crosse or affliction Wee spend our yeares as a tale that is told THe Prophet here further amplifieth the aforesayd effect of Gods wrath shewing in what manner our dayes passe away even as a tale that is told a meditation or thought that is conceived and gone A tale is quickly told a word is soone spoken and a thought or meditation is soone conceiued
is told As you shall haue old men in a tale of lesse then an houre long runne over all their life VERS 11. Who knoweth the power of thine anger Euen according to thy feare so is thy wrath THE Prophet in this 11. verse concludes his Complaint and in the same complaineth of the dulnesse of Mankinde that whereas GOD shews such signes of his wrath they haue no sence or vnderstanding of the power thereof The second part of this verse is somewhat doubtfull word for word in the Hebrue it is thus And according to thy feare thy wrath Our Translatours as you heare translate it otherwise and therin follow learned men that went before them And the words if necessitie require it will beare such a construction and teach a profitable truth to wit That howsoeuer the wicked do not know the 〈◊〉 of Gods wrath Yet those that feare God know and vnderstand the same But I had rather here take the words more simply and read them thus Who knoweth the 〈◊〉 of thine anger and of thy wrath according to thy feare That is to say How rare a thing is it to finde a man that hath any true sense and vnderstanding of this thy mightie wrath or that makes any religious use thereof The first Doctrine we hence obserue is That Christians ought to marke and obserue the power and force of Gods wrath in all those particulars wherein hee sheweth it It is not enough for vs to know that God is a mercifull God and louing and gracious but we must know also that hee is an angry and a wrathfull God yea that he is exceedingly angry when he is prouoked the vnto And therefore we must not onely consider and vnderstand the signes tokens and effects of his loue and kindnesse in the world but the signes of his wrath also For in both he manifests himselfe and from both he lookes to reape glory and he is no lesse powerfull in the one then in the other And in our liues and conversations there is as much use of the one as of the other Yea a man shall never be able to discerne or make any good and true use of Gods loue That doth not first regard marke and labour to vnderstand his wrath The second Doctrine is That it is not enough to know that God is angry but that his anger is powerfull hee is mightie in his wrath Vanae sine viribus irae That anger that is without strength is nothing and therefore to bee feared and trembled at Many of vs can talke of and obserue the wrath of God in this or that particular but we use to make a matter of nothing of it we are not ordinarily affected with it so much as with the anger of any man that hath but the least power to hurt vs. But the lesse we marke and know it here the more we shall know and feele it hereafter The third Doctrine That the greatnesse and force of Gods wrath shines and shewes it selfe in the mortalitie of mankinde aforesayd So that if there were no other Argument to shew that God is angry and that his anger is exceeding powerfull The generall mortalitie of mankinde is sufficient to shew the same Who can deny that hee was angry when hee drown'd the whole world when he destroyed the first borne in Egypt when hee over-whelmed the hoste of the Egyptians in the red Sea when hee destroyed all his owne people in the Wildernesse that came out of Egypt Verily if we could well consider of the matter It can bee no lesse signe of Gods wrath that at some time or other after after some manner or other euery man in the world must die And that so many Ages before vs are dead The fourth Doctrine That it is a rare thing for any man to conceiue aright or to vnderstand that God is angry or that there is any such feare in his anger Many so liue and follow such courses as if they were perswaded that God could not be angry or that if hee were angry it were as easie a matter to please him as a childe Hence when they haue over-shot themselues in any sinne if they say God forgiue me or I cry God mercie they thinke all is well and they shall never heare more of the matter When men trespasse against a man if they thinke they haue hindred themselues by it how carefull how diligent are they to pacifie his anger and to seeke to regaine his fauour and good will againe Whereas the neglect hereof to God-ward when they haue offended him sheweth euidently that they little regard his anger or esteeme it not preiudiciall at all to them The fift Doctrine That it is not enough to know the force of Gods wrath but we must make a right use thereof Wee must thereby bee stirred vp to feare the Lord and to tremble before his Maiestie and take heed how any thing may either incense or continue his anger And we should take heede also how his anger prouokes vs to anger or to any sinne whatsoeuer that may further prouoke him VERS 12. So teach vs to number our dayes that we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome HItherto of the Prophets Complaint of the mortalitie of Mankinde Now vnto this Complaint hee annexeth certaine petitions wherein he craueth of God such gifts and graces as are most needfull for men in respect of their mortalitie aforesayd In which Petitions the Prophet prayeth 1. For divine Instruction 2. For divine Consolation His Petition for divine Instruction is contained in this twelfth verse and there are foure thinges therein expressed 1. The gift desired 2. The persons for whom it is desired 3. The meanes whereby the gift desired may be obtained 4. The end for which it is desired 1. The gift and grace desired is that we might so number our dayes c. Now to number our dayes is rightly to judge and discerne of that time that we haue to liue in this world This numbring of our dayes consisteth in these particulars 1. In a due consideration of the uttermost time that we can hope to liue here which is but till we be 70. or 80. yeares of Age. Not one of fiue thousand liues longer or if he liue some few dayes or yeares longer his life is vnto him but as death the world growes weary of him and hee of the world So that we so liue here as men that make account to liue no longer 2. In comparing the smallnesse of this number with that number of dayes that wee shall liue in another world Alas what is eightie yeares to eternitie When we shall lie a thousand thousand yeares and bee as farre from death as the first day we began to liue 3. In considering how much of our time is alreadie past that cannot be revoked and that wee must deduct and draw out of that number of 70. or 80. some of vs haue spent of the maine summe 10. 20. 30. 40. yeares and so the one and
turne vs againe vnto dust And this should teach vs to take heed how wee place our maine and principall hope in Man who is but the child of dust who must returne to dust as soone as God calls him and bids him returne 4 This sheweth the absolute power which the Lord hath ouer these bodies of ours A Potter hath not more power ouer the vessell of clay that he maketh Which as it should teach vs to take heede how we murmur and repine against GOD for ought he doth in this kind so it should likewise admonish vs to use our bodies whilest wee haue them and before wee and they returne to dust againe to his glory That so from dust they may be raised againe by him to immortalitie VERS 4. For a thousand yeares in thy sight are but as yesterday that is past and as a Watch in the night THe Prophet sheweth further in this part of his complaint that God doth as it were suddainly raise vp a man and breake him againe because that in his eyes a thousand yeares are but as yesterday that is passed and as a watch in the night Now if it be so with God in regard of his eternity that a thousand yeares are but as yesterday and the fourth part of a night then surely in his eyes the life of man though he should liue to threescore and ten is but short as short as if a man should make a thing and marre it within a quarter of an houre yea in the very same minute or moment almost Hence we learne 1. Not to measure length of time by the time we spend here though wee were sure to liue till eightie or a hundred yeares but to measure it by Gods eternitie to consider what it is in respect of God and of theirs that liue with God and are in grace and fauour with him For surely when they haue enioyed his presence a thousand yeares in all blisse they are no whit then weary thereof nor is it but as if they had beene with him but an houre 2. This is a terror to the wicked for though they be a thousand yeares in hell yet with God it is but as yesterday Which shewes the extreame folly of them that for a little pleasure in this life which is so vncertaine and so momentary do so little regard eternall woe 3. The consideration of this should perswade that God hath made vs for another end then to liue here For we may not thinke he would with such endeuour make Man in his owne Image to destroy it suddainly againe and to no other purpose But he destroys man and makes him returne to dust againe that he may translate him to another condition of life And therefore our life here is but a way to another VERS 5. Thou carryest them away as with a Floud THE Prophet hauing before shewed what mortality God hath subiected the sonnes of Adam unto how he doth make them and as it were the same day yea the same houre that he hath made them marre and destroy them againe a thousand yeares in his sight being as yesterday or but as it were the eyghth part of a day He proceedes now to set forth this condition of Man more plainly by three Comparisons In the first Comparison he resembles him in respect of his life to those things that are violently carryed-away in an Invndation As we see in great and extraordinary floods invndations all that is in the way Beast and Cattell and all that are within the force of the streame are carryed violently away so it is with man God doth as it were set open certaine flood-gats against him and by violent streames and inundations of waters as it were he sweepes him away For as he shewed vs before the time that we liue here though we live more then the ordinary period of mans daies is with God but a very short time but as a watch in the night the fourth part of the night It continually flowes and flowes faster swifter and with greater violence then the strongest streame and it carryeth vs with it and the course thereof wee cannot stay no more then the ebbing and flowing of the Sea or the courses of the Sunne and Moone Against this streame we cannot swimme but the more we shall striue against it the faster we shall be carryed away with it Hence the Prophet teacheth vs. To meditate seriously of the swift passage of our dayes how our life runnes away like a streame of waters and carryeth vs with it our condition in the eyes of God in regard of our life in this world being but as if a man that knowes not how to swimme should be cast into a great streame of water and headlong carryed downe in it so that he may sprawle sometime lift vp his head or his hands cry for helpe catch hold of this thing and that for a time but his end will be drowning and it is but a small time that he can hold out but that as it carries him away so it will swallow him vp And surely our life here if it be rightly considered is but like the life of such a person as is violently carryed downe a streame All the actions and motions of our life and for it are but like vnto the striuings and struglings of a man in that case Our eating our drinking our Physicke our sports and all other meanes they are but like his motions that is violently carryed downe the streame When we haue done what we can die we must and be drown'd in this Deluge The use of this consideration may be to teach us 1. The vanitie of Men that thinke here vpon earth to build them euerlasting habitations and neuer to be remooued and that trouble their minds about nothing but how they may get sure houlds and tenures here Alas what vanitie were in this man that is carried down a violent streame of water that hath no hope to recouer himselfe but is sure howsoeuer for some small time hee breathes and hath his sences to bee drowned out of hand yet whilst he breaths and hath his sences to be thinking and fore-casting of building of houses of purchasing lands of planting orchards and of prouiding this thing and that thing for his use for fortie or sixtie yeares to come 2. This should teach vs in the want of the meanes of this life for our selues and posteritie to be content to take it lesse to heart then worldly and couetous persons vse to doe Who in feares and distrusts in regard of the time to come how they shall doe when they are old and not able to worke how they shall liue when such and such friends be gone how their children shall do when they are dead many times in the abundance for the present of those things which others before their eyes doe want liue most miserably and vncomfortably yea a life worse then death and that onely for thinking of the time to come whereas if these