David and the Amalekite Upon the DEATH of SAUL A SERMON Preached on Jan. 30. 1682. Being the Anniversary of the MARTYRDOM OF King Charles I. Of Blessed Memory By EDWARD PELLING Rector of St. Martins Ludgate and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Somerset Tell it not in Gath publish it not in the Streets of Askelon c. 2 Sam. 1. 10. LONDON Printed by J. Redmayne Jun. for William Abington at the three Silk-Worms in Ludgate-street 1683. To my most Honoured Lord Charles Duke of Somerset Marquess and Earl of Hertford Viscount Beauchamp and Baron of Trowbridge May it please your Grace IT is no small part of your Honour that you are descended of such Noble Ancestors as have been Great and Eminent both for their Alliance to the Royal Family and for their continual Fidelity to the Interest of the Crown He that shall peruse only the History of the Late Rebellion and the Letters which did pass between his Late Majesty and the Queen may easily see how Confident that Blessed Prince was of the Loyalty and how Faithfully he was served all along by the Wisdom and Courage of your Noble Grand-Father the Lord Seymour and your Great Vncle the Marquess of Hertford who was the First General of the Kings Forces against the Parliament and lived to see the happy times of Restitution and Dyed Duke of Somerset full of years and Honour since the Restauration of his present Majesty But that which greatly addeth to your Honour is that as you inherit the Titles so God be blessed you inherit the Loyalty of all your Honourable Predecessors Which I say My Lord not by way of Complement but to do you Justice And I must beg your Graces Pardon if that Expression seems to Derogate from your Virtue in making your Loyalty to be not a thing of Choice as all Virtue is but a Principle cleaving to your very Nature which cannot be overcome It is this that hath indear'd you to the King who has given you an Earnest of his Favour in Reposing in you so Great a Trust in the North for Conducting your affairs with so much Judgment and Integrity assoon as ever Providence brought you to bear such a great Figure in the World It is this that has made you to lie so deep in the Hearts and Affections of Good Men wbo take Heart and Courage by seeing your Grace to act so in all things like a good Subject notwithstanding those Temptations which have Mis-led some whose longer Experience should have taught them Wisdom It is this My Lord which I must crave Leave still to put you in mind of that above all things you be careful to have a most Tender regard of your Virtue and to be ever as you are Faithful and True to your Prince For hereby you will do right to the memory of your Honourable Progenitors you will maintain your Honour Clean and Vnspotted you will be useful to the King to the Church and to your Country you will be an Honour and Comfort to your Friends and an Excellent Example to the World It is for these Ends My Lord that I take upon me to present to your Grace this following Discourse begging your Lordships Kind acceptance of it and beseeching God whose Providence hath been so Gracious to you hitherto to Guide Govern and Preserve your self and Noble Consort and to Bless Both your Graces with the long Happiness of an undivided Heart and with a Numerous and Flourishing Issue which is the Hearty Prayer of My Lord Your Grace's most Humble Faithful and truly Affectionate Servant and Chaplain Edw. Pelling 2 SAM 1. 14. And David said unto him How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed BEfore we enter upon the consideration of this place of Scripture we must come fairly to it by making our way through the Context to which the Text doth relate and thus it was There had been now a War between Saul and the Philistines a War that was founded on the Law of God whereby the Children of Israel were forbidden to make any Covenant with the Inhabitants of Canaan or to shew them mercy Deut. 7. 2. This War ended in the Death of Saul and the overthrow of his People though he was made King by God's own appointment though he was God's own Vicegerent over God's own Inheritance and undertook a quarrel pursuant to God's own Will yet in the Conclusion both He and his Forces Good Jonathan himself not excepted are routed upon Mount Gilboa by the Vncircumcised Philistines To shew that Success in War is not an Argument of the Righteousness of a Cause or of the Righteousness of a Party but of the unsearchable Wisdom and Righteousness of God Saul being defeated was full of Horror and Desperation and resolved to hasten out of the World since he had fled before the Philistines and because his Armour-bearer could not be entreated by reason of that Awful regard he bore to Majesty to befriend his undone Soveraign with a Mortal Blow Saul gives Himself his Deaths-wound with his own hands An Amalekite happening to be there took off his Royal Diadem and Bracelet and with great Speed carryed them to Ziklag to David who by Common Fame was known to have been Anointed next Heir to the Crown of Israel David received the news of Saul's and Jonathan's Death with excess of Sorrow But hearing that this Amalekite had had an hand in Saul's destruction his Heart was struck through with Amazement and Indignation Though Saul had been his Bloud-thirsty Enemy yet his Soul was on a Flame at the sad Tidings of his being Murder'd and though this young man was not one of Saul's Subjects but a Stranger yet for the Sake of God whose Impress the Unfortunate King bore for the Honour of Majesty and out of respect to Saul's Divine Vnction and Character he was resolved to revenge the Kings Death with every drop of this Amalekites Bloud and this was the Preamble to his just Sentence How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed In which words we are to consider by way of Explication 1. First the matter of Fact which this Amalekite own'd himself to have been guilty of 2. Davids deep Resentment of the Relation which this Amalekite made of the matter 1. The matter of Fact was that he had stretched out his hand to destroy the King of Israel this he acknowledg'd and seemed to boast of as a Meritorious office which he had done for David who was to be Saul's Successor in the Throne Now it has been a great doubt both among Jews and Christians whether this was a Reality or only a Pretence Many of the Hebrew Doctors affirm which is also the general sense of Sunt apud Hebraeos qui putant hunc Amalekiten adulatorum more mentitum fuisse quando se dixit Saul interfecisse Munster Antiquit. Judaic lib. 6. Christian Writers that Saul killed himself
and that the Amalekite was a Liar as to that particular Nor doth this opinion want its Reasons For in the last Chapter of the First Book of Samuel where the manner of Sauls Death is related no mention is made of the Amalekite but the Text saith that Saul took a Sword and fell upon it v. 4. On the other side Josephus and some more tell us that Saul had not the Onely hand in the case but that the Amalekite was the Principal actor Nor doth this opinion want its Reasons neither For the Amalekites were as much Enemies to Israel as the Philistines were and this Amalekite was on Mount Gilboa when Saul fell and he did not only post away to David as a Messenger of the Fact but persisted in the story as an Agent that had been concern'd in it and persisted to the end too without owning his Folly or excusing his Lye which probably he would have done when he saw that a Sentence of Death against himself was the Onely Welcome and Reward that he was to receive Now for the Solution of this doubt there seem to be some grounds for a Third opinion yet which will make the whole story to Agree viz. that Saul and this Amalekite did Both of them jointly Concurr in the carrying of this Sad Tragedy on For that Saul fell upon his Sword and so gave himself his Deaths-wound is clear That his Armour-bearer might look upon him as Dead though indeed he was not may be Probable That being incumbered with his Arms and So some understand that place agreeable to what we find in the Margin of our Bibles v. 9. Inclusus teneor vestibus Armis ut gladius in quem rui non potuerit me perdere Coat of Mail he did not dispatch himself Fully is not incredible And then 't is likely enough both that Saul did beg a Bloudy Kindness of the Amalekite for fear of falling alive into the hands of the Philistines and that this Amalekite did readily gratify him in hopes of a Richer booty than the price of the Crown and the Bracelet came to But it is not much material whether this Amalekite was Really Guilty or had a mind only to Father the action We will now as David did take his own Word for it and Suppose him to have spoken Truth For none can be better believed then he that confesseth against Himself Every man will be sure to make the best of his own story and though an Evidence may Swear away other mens Lives he will be tender of his own and beware of being his own Accuser though he deposeth to a Lye We will not therefore contrast the Credit of his own Testimony but acquiesce in what he said and look upon him as a Criminal and proceed to 2. The second thing which is most pertinent to the business of this day Davids deep Resentment of this Amalekites relation it was a Dreadful story a most Horrible and Fearful thing in the account of this good man How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed Had it not been a Sin of a most Horrid nature and a clamorous voice He who was so near the Throne would at least have forgiven the man that did so readily help him to the actual possession of it especially being an Heir that had waited with so much Suffering and been provoked by Saul with so many Indignities But King-Killing is a Crime that is Odious and Abominable in the eyes even of those that fare well by the Regicide To which purpose the Learned Grotius has rightly observed out of one of the Roman Tacit. Hist lib. 1. Histories that when the Emperor Galba was Murder'd Vitellius though Humanly speaking he had reason enough to be glad of the Fact having thereby got the power into his hands yet out of a due sense he had of the Horridness of the Villany he commanded those Traitors who had served his turn to be slain all of them when they had the confidence to Address for a Reward An instance not much unlike King David's dealing with this Amalekite when he brought Saul's Bloud upon his own head because he had stretched forth his hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed Those Words the Lord 's Anointed denote the great nay the Sole thing which we find here and in other places to have made such a deep and continual Impression upon David's Spirit So that when he had cut off the skirt of Saul's robe his Heart Smote him When he was tempted to Kill him in the Cave he abhorr'd the very thoughts of it when Abishai would have destroyed him at one blow as he was asleep David with-held him with a strong hand When Abner was so careless of his Masters safety as to let him fall into David's power David reprehended him And at last when this Amalekite had smote him him who had so long hunted after David's Soul He presently smote the Amalekite all this was grounded upon this Great and Weighty consideration that Saul was the Lord's Anointed A King is said to be the Lord 's Anointed in a Two-fold respect 1. In respect of that outward Ceremonial Unction whereby for Sate-sake he is by the Priest separated from the People or rather Declared Notified and Acknowledg'd to be a Sacred person Now this is not the great thing considerable because it is but a Rite and Form that is not absolutely necessary For many Princes at this day are not thus Anointed at all I know not whether this Unction was ever used to Pagan Kings who yet were Gods Ministers and had Gods Authority as well as others it was a long time before it came to be used even in the Christian World anciently and originally it was a rite peculiar to the Jews alone and among them it was not used constantly neither but when the Succession was broken or a dispute arose about a Successors Title commonly one of a Family was Anointed for all his Posterity and Issue and even then the man was not made King because he was Anointed but he was Anointed because he was King Though there be neither Horn nor Cruse of Oyl in the case yet he is Gods Anointed nevertheless and that upon an Higher and more Noble account viz 2. In respect of that inward and essential Unction which he receives at the very first minute of his Kingship and by which he is Sanctified and set apart and above all others in that very Article of time and which from that day forward is inseparable from his Person Now this Unction consisteth in that Supreme Power which is given unto him in that Sacred Authority which is vested in him in that inviolable Majesty which is inseparable from him in that Divine Image and Impress whereby he bears a different and singular Character and becomes Hallowed And because he receives all this at the hands of God alone because he oweth all this neither to Priest nor People but to God
come to the Crown 3. That when the Men were come David used them rather as a Friendly Retinue then as a Formidable Army to secure his own Life from the hands of Pick-thanks who otherwise might be ready to shed his Bloud to curry favour with Saul and without Saul's Order and Commission 4. That when David imployed his Retinue to Military purposes and after a Military manner it was against those People who were Enemies to Israel and who by the Command of God were to be destroyed and even then too David acted under King Achish as his chief Commissioner and General 5. That from the beginning to the end of the whole matter though David had so many Swords at his command yet he never once Resisted his own Dread Soveraign but only Fled from him and Fled with more security then he could have done otherwise Nay though David had two the fairest opportunities of making Saul his Prisoner and of taking away his Life one in the Cave at Engedi 1 Sam. 24. and another on the Hill of Hachilah 1 Sam. 26. yet still he forbore all manner of violence at both times using this Heroick and Loyal Expression The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my Master the Lord 's Anointed to stretch forth mine hand against him seeing he is the Anointed of the Lord. 2. Whence I proceed to the next conclusion that the Destruction of the Lord 's Anointed the stretching forth the hand to Invade his Life is of all other acts of violence the most Fearful and Horrid Crime The Lord forbid that I should do this thing saith David for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord 's Anointed and be guiltless As he said to Abishai 1 Sam. 26. 9. For Subjects to draw Bloud out of the Sacred Heart of their Prince to cut his Head off as though he had not been Anointed with Oyl to Invade the Life of Gods Vice-gerent and especially to do it as did the Regicides of this day not in a Cave but before the Face of the Sun and at his own Palace door and all this with the utmost Pomp of Villany under colour of Justice by formal Proceedings after a Judicial manner with an unheard of Pageantry of Conscience and Religion After they had taken off his Crown and as it were cut off his Hands after they had Hunted him from his House to the Camp and from Field to Field at last to Arraign the best of Kings as a Malefactor to Condemn him as a Tyrant to Dragg him to the Scaffold as a Traitor and there to cut off his Neck as a Dog Blessed Jesu Since the foundations of the World were laid the like instance with all its circumstances was never known no Humane History can afford us a Parallel nothing that can come near it unless it be that instance lately observed of Conradine the King of Naples who after such a manner but upon different pretensions was Dr. Turners's Sermon before the King 1680 1. Arraigned and Murdered in his own City upon a Scaffold And as that was done by pretending Catholicks so this was done by pretending Protestants They set the Copy and these took it out and in as Bloudy a Character so true is that observation that there was hardly so much as a pair of Sheers between theâ— no more difference indeed than between Judas and Iscariot When David had privily cut off the skirt of Saul's robe though it was only with a design to let him see that he had been in his Power his Heart soon Smote him as if he had made a Breach upon Gods Law and had been guilty of a very Vnworthy and Disloyal Act for the Oyl upon a Kings Head like the Ointment upon the Head of Aaron that descended upon his skirts makes even his Vestments Sacred But with what Agonies and Convulsions would his Soul have been Tortured had the King of Israel been mocked by such a Juncto of Jews as on this day Butcher'd the King of England and in the name of the Lord vied for Wickedness with all the Devils in Hell The story of Saul's Death is a very sad relation all the Parts and Appurtenances thereof together with Saul's own Guilt and the Sin of his Armour-bearer and this Amalekite being rightly considered But yet there are some passages in the story which it may not be amiss for us to observe 1. Concerning the Armour-bearer Saul Commanded him to draw his Sword and to thrust him through therewith being desirous rather to Dye by the hands of his own Servant than to be Abused by the Uncircumcised Philistines But notwithstanding the Kings own Command the Armour-bearer refused to hearken in that particular he durst not obey the King to the Destruction of Majesty he was sore afraid saith the Text 1 Sam. 31. 4. Read on now to the next v. and you will find that this Armour-bearer feared not to Kill himself though he was sore afraid to Kill his Soveraign By which instance it is clear not only that he valued his Prince his Life far above his own but also that he thought it much a more pardonable Sin to be a self Murderer than to be a Regicide though tempted to be so by his Soveraigns Command Doubtless for a Man to Kill himself is a very Horrid Sin because it is his last Act whereby in Humane probability he hurryeth himself off the Earth into Hell Yet this Armour-bearer chose rather to Dye with the Guilt of his own Bloud upon his hands than to Live Guilty of the Bloud of the Lord 's Anointed and before he would be such a Traitor ran a sad venture of being Damned for ever by being Felo de se 2. And then as for the Amalekite that did effectually help on the Destruction of Saul though he did it not of Malice but upon Saul's intreaty though he did it when Saul was now half breathless and when he was sure otherwise to be Killed by the Philistines though he did it to rid him of his present Fear and Pains and struck him more like a Friend than an Enemy doing no other than what Saul himself had already done in part yet this Regicides Conscience seems to have been troubled presently at an excessive rate His breast was filled with Remorse and Anguish and Bitterness of Spirit so that he could not but put on a Mournful and Penitential Habit for he ran to David with his Clothes Rent and with Earth upon his Head Confessing by his Actions that he had committed an Abominable Crime when his Lying Tongue pretended that he had done a meritorious Act. And yet which is observable this Regicide was no Subject of Saul's but a Stranger an Alien from the Common-wealth of Israel an Amalekite Lord What Soul is able I do not say to Aggravate but to Measure the Guilt of the Regicides of this day Regicides that acted not only without any pretended Commands or Allowance of Just Authority though all the Powers on
require that Sacred Bloud of us so as to make us smoak under that Wrath which is the vengeance of another life Vs especially who cannot Read nor so much as Think of that Dismal Tragedy without the deepest Sorrow Hatred and Abomination yet we have too great Reason to suspect that the Sin is not Forgotten in Heaven that there is no such Act of Oblivion There but that as we have Smarted for that Sin already so we may Smart still under those Plagues and Judgments which are the Discipline of this life We are to distinguish between a Sin and its Punishment The Sin may be forgiven and upon true Repentance is certainly forgiven so that it shall not Rise up in Judgment against the Sinner at the last day But seldom does the Cry of a Vocal Sin cease before God letteth loose some Temporal Judgments upon it either for the warning and Admonition of other Men or for the Correction and Reformation of the Sinners themselves or for the exercising of their Patience or for the like Holy and Gracious purposes The thing is clear from that Instance concerning David whom God visited with the Death of his Child and with other Sharp and Poynant Evils for the Wickedness acted upon Bathsheba and her Husband though the Sin it self was forgiven him The Lord hath put away thy Sin thou shalt not die said Nathan Howbeit because by this deed thou hast given great Occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to Blaspheme the Child that is born unto thee shall surely die 2 Sam. 12. Nor is it a just Ground for our Confidence and Security to consider that the Sin of this day was acted by a Few in comparison and that several years agoe too For the Sin of One Man and much rather of an Army may be so Odious and Abominable in Gods Account that by Occasion thereof he may visit the Iniquities of a whole Nation Let us go to Achan for an Instance Upon the Destruction of Jericho Achan found a Babylonish Garment a wedge of Gold and two hundred Sheckles of Silver and because He took of the Accursed thing the Anger of the Lord was kindled against the whole Body of the Children of Israel so that at the very next Battel they were all Routed by their Enemies Josh 7. 2. Again God is not wont to punish a Nation to the Full assoon as the Sin is committed but usually leaves a great part of the Burden many Talents of Judgment to fall down in after-times to put Men still in mind of that Guilt which otherwise they would bury in perpetual Oblivion Let us go for an Instance hereof to the Jews in the days of Moses At Shittim they joyn themselves to Baal-Peor and a Plague ensueth thereupon But though for Phinehas his Zeal the Plague was soon stayed and the Wrath of God was turned away from Israel for that time yet afterwards in the days of Joshua when the Israelites had been Possessed of the Holy Land Phinehas himself Remembred the Iniquity of Peor and told the People that they were not cleansed from that Iniquity unto that day Josh 22. 17. Now to draw down this Consideration to our selves if God be wont by way of Discipline to chastize Evil Men as a Governour even after he has taken away the Guilt of their Wickedness as a Judg if by Occasion of One crying Sin committed by a Few or perhaps by One only he doth sometimes bring Calamities upon a whole Nation and if this be often done some Considerable time some years after the Sin was acted Then truly we of all People living have most Reason to call to mind the Calamities we have groaned under and to Interpret Providence the Right way and not only to mistrust that God hath visited us hitherto but moreover to Fear that he will visit us still especially if we Repent not from the bottom of our Hearts for that Loud and Clamorous Sin of this day the Destruction of the Lords Anointed and a Man according to Gods own Heart too though he was Destroyed and Murder'd not by our own Hands but by the Hands of a Few Amalekites and that above Thirty years ago To come a little closer yet Of all the People of this Land You of this City are very deeply concern'd to lay your Hands upon your Breasts and your Mouths in the Dust and the Sin of this day to every one of your Hearts For though God be blessed we can truly say and Boast That this City nay this Kingdom was never more Happy than it is this day for that great Number we have here of Brave Heroick and Right Loyal Spirits witness their Generous and Successful when they were thought Desperate Adventures of Late to stop that Torrent of Wickedness which was coming in afresh upon us and God alone Knows how far it would have gone and how many it would have swept away had it not been stopt Yet all this notwithstanding it is necessary for you to Remember the days of old and the years that are past and not suffer the Horrid Sin of this day or the Judgments which God hath executed upon this City to slip out of your minds or to be past over lightly without a due Sense and Application thereof Now what if we should conceive that when this City was turned into a Flaming pile the righteous God came to purge it from the Bloud of his Anointed When the Jews of old were in any sharp afflictions the business of the Golden Calf usually came fresh into their Minds and on every turn they mistrusted that God afflicted them for the iniquity of their Fathers in making a Golden Calf The story of it you have at large in Exod. 32. the People would have some Representation to go before them instead of Moses their proper Captain and Leader they prevailed with Aaron to consent and concurr with them and they contributed their Riches their Gold and their Ear-rings to carry on the Work of the day and at last out came a Calf a little Similitude of the Great Idol which was Worshipped in the House of Bondage whence they had now been delivered so that though they had escaped out of Egypt yet they espoused the Egyptian Religion To Accomodate this story a little We must acknowledg that God had marvellously delivered us too out of Our House of Bondage changing only the names Rome for Egypt we had a Moses too set over us Meek and Good and one that was Learned in all the Wisdom of the Egyptians But the People were Sick to have an Idol of their own makeing in the room of their Moses and some that waited at the Altar had a Stomach that way too and the Zealots of this City would not fail of their utmost help but brought their Riches into Guild-Hall their Money Plate and Rings and even their Thimbles and Bodkins and what came of this at last Why truly out came a Calf a Golden Calf a Dainty thing that had cost great Sums but yielded no Milk a Religion like that Idol which we had been Delivered from full of Superstition and Jesuitism in the belly of it and differing no more from Popery than a Calf differeth from an Ox. And why should we not think now that when God visited us with his Judgments he did not remember Peoples Ingratitude to him and his Anointed Or why should we not Fear that he will remember us again and that with more Sore and more Dreadful Judgments if People persist in their Ingratitude still For this is a Sin of no ordinary rate but one of the First Magnitude the Kings Authority being a Donative of Heaven and a Ray of Gods Majesty and his Power to Govern and Punish being given by Gods own Warranty the Sin of Rebellion must necessarily be of a Daâ—â—â—â—g Nature and of a Clamorous Tongue however forme whose Consciences are Armour-proof against all Arguments from Scripture and Antiquity have begun again to speak of the Lawfulness of Resistance as if their hands were already laid upon the Hilts of their Swords Take heed therefore you especially of this Great City that ye join not in the Confederacies of Korah lest ye utterly Perish in his gainsaying Is the Iniquity of Peor and the Sin of the Golden Calf too little for us Are not the Judgments which we have groaned under heavy enough yet but do we sollicite God to add more Talents to the weight still Assure your selves that if People Repeat their Sins God will not fail to Repeat and Double his Blows and he hath more Judgments in Treasure besides the Plague and the Fire and the Posterity that cometh after us will as we our selves have done see the Follies and smart greatly for the Impieties of their Fathers for as Ezra said upon the Return out of Captivity After all that is come upon us for our Evil deeds and for our Great trespass seeing that God hath punished us less than our iniquities deserve and hath given us a Deliverance a miraculous deliverance out of our Thraldom should we again break his Commandments and join with the People of these abominations would not God be Angry with us till he had Consumed us so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping For the preventing of the worst of Evils it is our great Concernment and ought to be our great Care and 't will be found to be our best Interest when all is done to lay aside all Unnatural Animosities and Heart-burnings which Evil Men make use of to Distract this Kingdom and to tear all our Establishments in Church and State into pieces and to be filled with the True and Primitive Spirit of Christianity to be Meek and Gentle and of Humble Minds to Act according to that Wisdom which is Pure and Peaceable to Study to be Quiet to endeavour by all possible means to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace to be Tractable and Honest in Heart to be subject to the Higher Powers and that not for fear of the Laws only but readily and ingenuously and for Conscience-sake to Fear God to Honour the King and to Love the Brother-hood to be in perfect Charity and Vnity among our selves as becometh Brethren and so in all manner of well-doing to commit our selves to God to whom be Glory Dominion and Praise Amen FINIS