should come that some should think they did God good service in killing them Paul during his Pharisaism persecuted the Church of God out of zeal Men may give their bodies to be burned and yet die not as Martyrs but as malefactors An Heretick may seal his heresy with his Blood as Servetus at Geneva I Doubt not but many Mahumetans would Dy rather then renounce their religion The glory of Martyrdom requires a just and righteous cause to be suffered for as well as a good intent in them that suffer Martial law excuseth not a Captain exceeding his commission notwithstanding he did it out of a good intention and with good successe Subjects should not be injurious to their Prince either for the sake of Religion or civill Liberty Davids intention smiting Sauls Skirt was Honourable yet the Act it self is Condemned by himself I come now to the Second part of the Text. Davids Loyal detestation of cutting off the Royall head of the Lords Anointed manifested in his excellent Oration Part. II. 1. The Occasion whereof first presents it self to our consideration which was two-fold First the fit Opportunity Secondly The great Importunity he had to slay Saul from whence note these two fundamentall principles of loyalty 1. That the fittest opportunity wherein to offer violence to a Prince is to be rejected 2. That the greatest importunity thereunto is to be resisted First Obs 1. That the fittest opportunity wherein to offer violence to a King is to be rejected Opportunity is the Touchstone of Loyalty David might have effected the death of Saul with the greatest certainty and with the greatest security 1. 1 Sam. 24.4 With the greatest certainty David and his men had so incompassed Saul in the Cave that his men cryed out unto him behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand that thou mayest do to him as shall seem good unto thee Saul being asleep in the Trench Abishai said unto David 1 Sam. 26.8 let me smite him I pray thee with the spear even to the Earth at once and I will not smite him the second time David finding Saul in the Cave might have smote off his Head as well as the Skirt of his Robe and turned the Cave into his Grave And finding him asleep in the Trench he might have took away instead of the Cruise of water from his Bolster so much blood from his Heart and made it his last sleep courting him with that Complement wherewith a Captain once courted his Souldier whom he found asleep on the watch when he thrust his Sword into his bowels saying Dead I found thee and dead I leave thee But this was the Crown and Glory of Davids loyalty that he was Opportunity-proof As the Salamander remaineth unscorched in the Fire and as a man in a Pest-house escapeth the infection of the Plague so David preserves his loyal breast untainted with these temptations instead of improving opportunityes for the acting of murther he converts them into Trophyes of his fidelity had David abstained from an attempt on Sauls life only while the Successe was Dubious it would have been an argument of his Policy But to forbear it when he had such an opportune season at one blow to make this Royal Lyon that was so rampant not only couchant but also a Dead Carkasse was a Monument of his Loyalty 2. With the greatest security Had David been the Object of the Peoples Envy a desire of self-preservation was enough to restrain him from the Murder of Saul lest the Noise of such a Fact should have given an Alarm to the People to rise up as one man to avenge the bloud of their King and like Lions robbed of their Whelps to tear him into pieces as a destroyer of their Countrey But David was so far from the danger of being exposed to the rage and fury of the Israelites that he was even their Idol Insomuch that Saul being slain he might have expected their Acclamations rather than Exclamations their Congratulations for his Safety rather than their condoling of Sauls death Peruse the History and it will appear what great interest he had in the Affections and what great applause from the mouths of the Children of Israel 1 Sam. 18.5 He behaved himself so wisely that he was accepted of all the people and of Sauls Servants And v. 6 7. VVith Tabrets and with Harps they sang Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands How willingly did the men of Judah anoint him King after Sauls death 2 Sam. 3.4 Deservedly was David thus esteemed of his Countrey-men For never did any gallant Romans not Regulus or Cato themselves merit better of their Countrey than David of his Now how different was Loyal David from the mind of his Son Absalom The Son by fair Speeches and courteous behaviour stole away the hearts of the Israelites and then employed them in rebellion 2 Sam. 15.2 to 7. But the Father not only abstained from all subtil Insinuations and horrid Calumniations of Sauls Person and Government but when his Deserts like the Sun drew all eyes and affections unto him yet disdained to pervert his popular interest and favour to any rebellious Design This Self-denial condemneth our English Absaloms who by Machivilian dissimulation and slandering the Footsteps of the Lords Anointed sought to render his Person odious and his Restauration impossible themselves amiable and their Usurped Power impregnable Likewise it admonisheth all Persons of Renown and Interest in their Countrey to employ themselves in extinguishing rather than fomenting that Turbulency which is a Chronical disease in the Vulgar Now Davids abhorrence of Revenge when he might so certainly and so securely have dispatched his Enemy sets such an Emphasis on his Loyalty 1 Sam. 24.17 18 19. that it struck Saul himself into an admiration and adoration of it It is nothing for a Beggar who hath not sufficient for necessity to abstain from supersluity but to fit at a Rulers Table swimming with all manner of Dainties and to put a Knife to the throat to be temperate with Timothy among luxurious Asians enhaunceth the worth of Tempetance As it was the Glory of Joseph that he rejected a fair opportunity and great importunity to commit adultery Gen. 39.7 8 9. As it was the Honour of Joseph afterward in Pharoah's Court of Obadiah in Ahabs of Daniel in Nebuchadnezzars of Nehemiah when Cup-bearer to Artaxerxes of Lot in Sodom and of the Saints in Nero's House a monster of men Phil. 4.22 that they retained their Piety notwithstanding the manifold Temptations and opportunities unto sin wherewith they were assaulted so like a Diamond in a Ring it sets a great price on Davids Loyalty that at the Cave he did not violate it Not to seek an opportunity for revenge is honourable but to reject it when offered is double honour Many are not disloyal because they cannot rather then because they would not As Tully saith
unto this day and made them an ordinance in Israel Zac. 12.10 compared with Acts. 2.36 37. Yea so great was their sorrow that the holy Ghost accounts it a fit pattern and resemblance of that grief which should possesse the hearts of the converted Jews for their crucifying the Lord of glory They shal mourn over him whom they have pierced as a Father mourneth for his only Son And in that day there shall be mourning as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon which was the place where Josiah was slain If the Israsites thus lamented the death of Josiah 2 Chron. 35.22 notwithstanding he was slain in battle by enemies in open hostility against him which might have mitigated their grief How inexcusable would the neglect of a sorrowful resentment of murder of our English Josiah be seeing he was not slain in the heat of War which would have excused a tanto though not a toto but butchered in cold Blood in time of peace by his own Subjects or at least those that ought to have been such It was the saying of our Martyred Sovereign himself That it is more honourable for a King to be invaded almost destroyed by Forreigners then to be dispised at home Psal 55.12 13 14. Had it been an enemy I could have borne But it was thou O Man my friend and mine acquaintance The Dagger of Brutus peirced Caesars heart more then any of the rest which he intimated to him in his last words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Scipio was wont to say that he had rather Hannibal should ear his Heart with salt then Lelius his friend offer him the least unkindnesse How did David weep over the Hearse of Abner being perfidiously murthered by Joab He commanded the people to rent their cloathes 2 Sam. 3.31.32 33 35. and gird them with sackcloth and mourn before Abner And King David himself followed the Bier and lift up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner saying Died Abner as a fool Dieth and all the people wept again over him And David would not tast bread or ought else till the Sun was down whereby all Israel understood that day that it was not of the King to slay Abner the Son of Ner. Did David a King so much lament the murder of Abner his subject How much more should we Subjects lament the murder of our Sovereign that all the world may know that it was not of us to slay Charles King of England That funeral oration and mournful Elegy which David pronounced for the death of Saul with a little variation will serve for our occasion 2 Sa. 1.17 to the end England laments with this lamentation over King Charles the first ver 17. The beauty of England is slain upon thy high places how is the mighty faln ver 19 Tell it not in Gath publish it not in Askelon least the daughters of the Philistines rejoice least the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph ver 20. How was the crown yea blood of the mighty vilely cast away the blood Charles of as if he had not been the Anointed of the Lord ver 21. Ye daughters of England weep for Charles who cloathed you with Scarlet with other delights who put on ornaments of Gold upon your apparel ver 24. O Charles thou wast slain at the Gate of thy Palace ver 25. we are distressed for thee Oh King Charles very pleasant hast thou been unto us thy love to us was wonderful passing the love of Women ver 26. How did the mighty Prince fall and the Royal Crown perish That the horrid nature of this cruel Regicide may be more fully represented unto you as an argument for humiliation Consider First the Act it self Secondly the manner of its commission Thirdly The Object thereof Fourthly the Authors Fifthly The effects and consequents 1. Consider the nature of the act it self It was not only contempt imprisonment but murther The Superlative love of Abraham unto God was amplified in that he was willing not only to chastise Disinherit or banish his Son Isaack but also to kill him by cutting his throat ripping open his bowels and burning his quarters on the Altaâ— so it is on the contrary the high aggravation of the high Treason for which we mourn this day that it was not terminated in some smal affronts but proceeded to the effusion of the Royal blood of his Sacred Majesty 2. Murder Purposed though not perpetrated is of an infinite guilt Sin conceived in the heart is damnable though it never come to the birth or be brought forth Was it not a cursed and Diabolical design in Faux and the rest of the Gunpouder-Traytors at one blow to blow up King Prince and Nobles notwithstanding it proved Abortive how villanous then were those bloody consultations and resolutions which came to Maturity and ripened unto the execution of the Lords Anointed 3. It was a voluminous and bigbellied sin a sin in folio which containeth a great litter of other sins in the belly of it Ingratitude envy malice covetousnesse ambition rebellion perjury Treason blasphemy were the bitter ingredients whereof this confection of porson was compounded 4. It was a sin that admitted of no reparation An imprisoned Prince might have been set at liberty a dethroned Prince inthroned againe but a murdered Prince cannot be revived Secondly Consider the manner how the Death of our Royal Sovereign was effected It was no casual or involuntary act no chance-medly nor man-slaughter but wilful murther How studiously and Deliberately was it acted with what Impudence and malice with what boasting and triumph with what impenitency and Remorslesnesse and with what a fixed resolution against all admonitions and supplications was it committed Murders of Kings in former ages being done privately were modestly acted in comparison of this It was the aggravation as of Absaloms incest 2 Sa. 16.22 that he spread a tent on the house top and went into his Fathers Concubines in the sight of all Israel So of our King-slayers treason that they built a Scaffold before the Royal Palace and adventured on the Decollation of the father of the Nation in the face of the Sun before thousands of spectators in the most populous City of London Thirdly Consider the object of this cruelty or the subject whereon it was acted Not a private person but a King whose person is sacred by the Law of God of Nature and of Nations yea not only a King but a Christian a Protestant King Jesus Christ his Apostles acknowledged subjection unto the primitive Christians prayed for heathen Emâ—â—rors The Jews were commanded to seek the peace of the King of Babylon to whom they were captives Mordicai discovered the treason plotted against the life of Ahasuerus by his two Chamberlaines Esth 3.21 22 23. If the lives of Pagan Emperors and bloedy Butchers of the Church were precious in the eyes of the primitive Christians then certainly the murder of a Gracious
hath given thee a Kingdom Those Nations that will not serve Jer. 27.6 8 9. and put their necks under the yoke of the King of Babylon shall be punished with the Sword and with Famine and with Pestilence until they be consumed Therefore hearken not to your Diviners nor to your Dreamers nor to your Enchanters nor to your Sorcerers which say unto you ye shall not serve the King of Babylon The holy Apostles Peter and Paul command Subjection to heathen Emperors Rom. 13.1 2 3. 1 Pet. 2.13 17. For it was about 300 years after Christ and consequently a long time after the death of the Apostles before any Magistrates became Christians The Primitive Christians were wont to pray for Pagan Princes Exoptantes ipsis vitam prolixam imperium securum domum tutam exercitus fortes Senatum fidelem populum probum orbem quietum Tertul. Apologet. Cap. 30. Eminent was the example of Mephibosheths Loyal deportment toward David notwithstanding he 〈◊〉 unjustly sequestred half his estate The King said 2 Sam. 19.29 30. why speakest thou any more of thy matters I have said thou and Ziba divide the Land And Mephibosheth saith yea let him take all forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again to his House in peace Our Saviour Jesus Christ commandeth the payment of Tribute unto Caesar Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars Mat. 22.21 And acknowledgeth that Pilate an unjust Judge had his Commission from Heaven Thou couldest have no power against me John 19.11 unless it were given thee of God The barbarous Jews themselves who crucified the Lord of Life being asked by Pilate whether they would have their King to be crucified answered we have no King but Caesar intimating that if they had believed that Christ was their King no violence should have been offered unto him Rehoboam threatned Tyranny unto Israel saying my little finger shall be thicker than my Fathers Loyns my Father chastised you with whips but I will chastise you with Scorpions yet the Revolt of the ten Tribes from him is called Rebellion 2 Chron. 13.4 5 7. and the Promoters thereof Sons of Belial Ahab and Jezebel were as great Oppressors and as bloody Persecutors of the Prophets as ever held Scepter yet God threatneth to punish Jehn for destroying them and their Posterity Hos 1.4 I will avenge the bloud of Jezreel on the House of Jehu and will cause the Kingdom to cease from the House of Israel Though the defection of the ten Tribes from the House of David was the punishment of Solomons Idolatry and the destruction of Ahab and Iezebel 1 Kin. 11.11 the Judgment of God on them for their Cruelty to Naboth Yet this did no more excuse the Treason of the ten Tribes and Jehu 1 Kings 21.19 21. who out of rebellions minds executed these Judgments than Gods predetermination of the death of Christ did justifie Judas betraying him or the Jews crucifying him So then we conclude that in case of private and personal or publick and National Injuries received from a King Subjects ought to lay aside all Malice Guile Envy Evil Speakings 1 Pet. 2.1 and all weapons of War and Instruments of death Jesus saith to one of his Disciples resisting the Officers of the Chief Priests and Elders of the Jews that were sent to apprehend him Put up thy sword into its place for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword Mat. 26.52 Preces Lachrima were the only Arms that the Primitive Christians used when they were oppressed and persecuted Humiliation Refâ—â—â—â—ion and Supplication unto God who judgeth among the gods and in whose hands are the hearts of Kings Prov. 21.1 who turneth them as Rivers of water are better Expedients for the removal of Pressures from a Nation than Rebellion Samuel having in the precedent verses foretold to the Israelites the rigorous carriage of their King towards them 1 Sam. 8.18 he saith ye shall cry out in that day because of your King but the Lord will not hear you he doth not say ye shall rise up and depose your King but ye shall cry unto the Lord for Relief A provoked Prince ought to be pacified by Submission not irritated by Revenge which is not lawful against a Private Person much less against the Head of a Nation For a Subject lying under groundless suspitions to infer from thence that it is better to be suspected for somthing than nothing is the Devils Logick and to exercise Rebellion correspondent to such a Principle is a diabolical Fact Mens submissive deportment and sedulous endeavours to remove even the causless Jealousies of their Prince is the most probable means to stir up the Embers of Ingenuity in his heart A Flint will break upon a Featherbed No heart can be so Adamantine as to withstand the force of an Argument drawn from doing good for evil This like a Sun-beam melted the spirit of Saul himself Saul said is this thy voice my Son David and he lift up his voice and wept 1 Sam. 24.16 17 18 19. And said to David thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded me good whereas I have rewarded thee evil and thou hast shewed this day that thou hast dealt well with me forasmuch as when the Lord delivered me into thy hands thou killedst me not For if a man find his enemy will he let him go free 1 Sa. 26.21 Again I have sinned return my Son David for I will no more do thee harm because my soul was precious in thine eyes Behold I have played the fool and erred exceedingly Herein the words of Solomon are verified By long for bearing a Prince is best perswaded Prov. 25.15 But a revengeful retaliation of Injuries will exasperate the Spirits of Princes who being Cedars in Lebanon will disdain to receive affronts from Thistles in Lebanon Wherefore that Admonition in Eccles 10.4 is not only most pious and Christian but also most prudential If the spirit of a Ruler rise up against thee leave not thy place i. e. flee not away in rage and passion for yielding pacifieth great offences Now this Prerogative of Princes to wit their exemption from the violence of their Subjects should be a golden Bridle to restrain them from all actions exorbitant and excentrical from Justice and equity and a golden spur to quicken them to such Heroical actions for the publick good that may argue them to be of Noble and Prince-like spirits as well as of Noble and Princely Blood and Dignity But blessed be the Lord who hath set over England not a Scratching Bramble but a Royal Olive whose Fatness and Sweetness doth rejoyce and exhilerate our hearts A Prince that is as it was said of Titus the Roman Emperor Deliciae generis humani the delight of mankind in whom Clemency Wisdom and all other Royal endowments and Princely vertues are concentricated Upon this account I had almost
a Nation forbearance is no acquirtance The Lord avenged the slaughter of the Gibeonites by Saul many years after the commission thereof 2 Sam. 21.1 2. 2 Chron. 35.25 even in the Reign of David with three years famine on Israel Those words They spake of Josiah in their lamentations unto this day do denote the continuation of their sorrow for him a long time after his death Secondly notwithstanding this sin was contrived and actually committed but by few and detested by the majority of the Nation yet I fear mosst of the people of England have contracted the guilt thereof upon these two grounds 1. Because they did not rise up as one man with an unanimous resolution to rescue their captived Sovereign out of the hands of those roaring Lyons and destroying Bears which devoured him even as all Israel did to rescue their beloved Jonathan who cried out shall Jonathan Dy God forbid as the Lord liveth there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground This should have been Englands voice resolution and indeavour in behalf of their King Causae non impedientes are numbered by Phylosophers among moral efficient causes Qui non prohibet quod potest jubet 2. For defect of sufficient humiliation General insensiblenesse renders a sin national as well as common practice I doubt Eng. sorrow hath not been proportionable to the degree of Englands sin Sins that have been buried a long time in the grave of oblivion may revive in their punishment It was a pious desire of a Reverend Divine that a National fast might be solemnly observed for the innocent blood of Holy Martyrs shed in Queen Maryes Reign Achan only took of the accursed thing and yet it is said Josh 7. ve 6. 11. all Israel sinned and committed a trespasse before the Lord And all Israel suffered for the sin of Achan Beloved the murder of King Charles may be an Achan in England to bring down the curse of God upon it unlesse we acquit our selves by serious humiliation from the guilt thereof All the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of Righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias slain between the Temple and the Altar is charged by Christ on the Pharisees If the blood of Abel might justly be imputed to a people that never had finger in it 4000. years after it was shed Much more may that innocent Royal blood which was shed but 12 years since be a Moth and a Canker to England unlesse we offer up the Sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart unto the Lord. Wherefore let us hang our harps upon the Willowes and mourn when we remember King Charles the first as the Israelites sate down by the rivers of Babylon Psa 137.1 2. and wept when they remembred Zion Let us breath out our sorrow in the words of the Prophet Jeremiahs Lamentations for the captivity of Zedechiah The breath of our nostrels the anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits Lam. 4.20 of whom we said under the shadow of his wings we shall live and flourish Naturalists relate that the hard Adamant it self being bathed in the blood of a Goat will be softned and dissolved So were your hearts of a Rock-like Flint-like Adamantine nature yet methinks being bathed in the blood of a King they should be dissolved into tears of Godly sorrow O cursed Ax that at one blow cut off the head of three Kingdomes and left them as Dead carkasses O Glorious Prince with what Kisses of dissimulation did English Judasses betray thee How was thy sacred person in imitation of our blessed Saviour who was crowned with Thorns spit on scourged buffeted reviled exposed to scorn and ignomy How were thy Nobles and Peeres who were wont to attend thy royal Person Exchanged for Jaylors thy Palace for a prison thy Throne for a scaffold and a Block Did not the adversaries of King Charles cry out Execution Execution as the Jews against Christ Crucifie him Crucifie him Finally his royal head was cut off with a cruel Ax as the blessed heart of Christ was pierced with a cruel Spear Was not this the most monstrous and barbarous act the most bloody tragedy of all tragedies that ever were acted since the crucifying of the Son of God for a company of abjects not only to abuse vilifie their Sovereign with the opprobrious names of malefactor Traytor and the like but also to arraigne condemn and execute him Had they touched only his royall robes it had been a violation of their duty but they devested themselves of christianity Loyalty yea Humanity it self and cut off his royall head Hear O Heavens give Ear O Earth gather blacknesse and be astonished for a great evil hath been committed amongst us O Sun in thy race throughout the whole world even the most barbarous corners thereof didst thou ever take notice of a more inhumane murder O that we had some Jeremiah with Eyes as water and an head as a fountain of teares to lament the death and sing the obsequies of our Mattyred King yea to write a book of lamentations for him as he did for the captivity of King Zedechiah Again from Davide humiliation for and intention in smiting Sauls Robe compared together Observe That a good intention doth not justify an evil Observ and disloyal action Davids designe was to procure a testimony of his innocency that Saul beholding the skirt of his robe in Davids hand might be fully convinced that David had no design against his life then which he could never have proposed a better end to himself next to the glory of God and salvation of his soul and yet being conscious of ataxy in his action his heart smites him for it An Act for the matter and substance thereof Lawfull may for Defect of a right modification a good end be but splendidum peccatum but it is impossible that an act materially evil should be rectified by the best end aimed at therein A garment of good cloath may be marred in the making but a good garment can never be made of bad cloath The prevention of evil doth not justify the commission of evil in order thereunto Lots desire to prevent Sodomy did not authorize him to permit Adultery by prostituting his daughters to the lust of the Sodomites Herod was not to be excused when he rushed on the Rock of murther in beheading John the Baptist at the request of his Dancing minion to avoid the sands of perjury Math. 14.10 Neither doth the attainment of the greatest good change the nature of an evil action The preservation of Lots posterity did not excuse his Daughters incest nor the procurement of the blessing Rebekahs treachery and Jacobs lying The Lord smote Uzzah that he died for touching the Ark though out of an in ention to keep it from falling when the Oxen stumbled 1 Chro. 13.9.10 Joh. 16.2 Phil. 3. Christ tells his Disciples that the time
of the Catalinarians aliis Facultas defuit aliis Occasio voluntas profectò nemini As the Tap to the Vessel and the Spark to dry Tinder as the fire to benummed fingers and Aquavitae to a fainting person such is a fit opportunity to a disloyal heart Many who have been good Subjects have proved bad Emperors and many who have been tolerable Cardinals when advanced to the Papal Chair have proved Luxurious Sodomites Aegyptian Magicians devouring Abaddons and Incurable Babylonians so difficult is it to withstand the Force of an inviting opportunity unto sin Wherefore Job Ch. 31. V. 1. made a Covenant with his eyes that he would not look upon a woman lest he should lust after her And Solomon admonisheth us not to look on the Wine when it is red when it giveth its colour in the Cup and moveth it self aright lest by the pleasant colour we should be allured to an excessive use thereof Prov. 23.31 But Vertues how much the more difficult are so much the more honourable It was an Impeachment of Jacobs Fraternal affection to Esau that he took the opportunity of his hunger to buy him out of the Prerogatives of Primogeniture Gen. 25.31 33. Though in other cales David was easily overcome by Temptations the sight of a naked Bathshoha provoked him to violate his Chastity and the unkindness of Nabal to meditate revenge and Murder yet so great an Influence had the sacred Office of a King on his heart that the sight of Saul in a Cave could not wound his Loyalty As the skill of a Pilot is tried in a storm and the valour of a Souldier in a Battel so an opportunity of sin is the proof of vertue It is frequent with men to exclaim against a Fact before they are in a capacity to commit it and yet afterward to become notoriously guilty of that against which they exclaimed With what indignation did Hazael answer the Prophet Elisha telling him that he should rip up women with Child and dash out the Brains of Children 2 Kings 8.13 But what is thy Servant a Dog that I should do this great thing But when he became King of Syria the Prophesie of Elisha was fulfilled Magistratus indicat virum The greatest Importunity to offer violence to a King is to be resisted Observ 2. Davids Souldiers did importunately solicite him to slay Saul 1 Sam. 24.4 10. Some bade me kill thee 2 Sam. 26.8 Abisha◠said now let me smite him I pray thee with the spear unto the earth These words do virtually include such like Expostulations as these O David Thou hast for a long time been hunted as a Partridge in the Mountains we thy stedfast Friends even in advensity have hazarded our Lives and dearest blood for thy defence VVherefore embrace this opportunity and make it the death of Saul and our own Miseries betray as not by thy vain scruples and foolish lenity into the hands of an implacable and deceitful Adversary VVhat strong Obligations had Davids Souldiers laid on him to gratiste their request by the denial whereof he might fear left they should revolt from him and upbraid him with preferring his enemies before his Friends as Joab did when he mourned for the death of Absalom 2 Sam. 19.5 6. Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants which have saved thy life and the lives of thy Wives and Concubines in that thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy frituds For thou hast declared this day that thou regardest neither Prinors nor fervants for I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day it would have pleased thee well Besides what plausible Reasons for and what seeming necessity of the death of Saul might have been suggested to David But he looking more to present duty than future danger chose rather to hazard all his concernments then to condiscend to a sinful act though cloaked with such specious pretences as might have drowned the harsh sound of Murder Importunity is no Apology for Impiety VVere this Rule observed it would save many Thieves and Traytors from the Gallows How frequently do malefactors at the time of execution complain against their evil Companions who seduced them Adams Plea The woman gave me and I did eat Gen. 3.12 Nor Eves The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat Gen. 3.13 were not accepted by God for their tasting the Forbidden Fruit. Moses would not acquit Aaron from the guilt of Idolatry when he made the Golden Calf though he pleaded the importunity of the people Exod. 32.22 Thou knowest this people is set on mischief and they said unto me make us gods Samuel urgeth on Saul his sin in sparing Agag and the best of the spoil until he confessed I have sinned I have transgressed because I feared the people and obeyed their voice 1 Sam. 15.24 An evil action is to be fathered on the Actor and not to be translated to the Tempter Temptations resisted are the Tempters sins and not ours but if embraced they become our sins as well as the Tempters The fire of temptation would do no hurt without the dry Tinder of our own lusts For where there is no wood the fire goeth out Prov. 26.20 But as Coals are to burning Coals so is a vitiated nature to corrupt suggestions Solicitations have no constraining or compulsive power over the will but only an enticing and alluring vertue they cannot infuse any vicious quality into the mind but only stir up that Lust which is in it already they work not in a physical but in a moral way There can be no Adulteress without an Adulterer VVere there not a formative vertue in the womb of the corrupt heart giving life unto sinful injections they would prove abortive births though an Enticer may be said to be the Father begetting yet the corrupt heart is the mother conceiving and bringing forth the Bastard-brood of sin Should a man rob or stab you and plead that he was tempted to it would you be satisfied with such an excuse Importunity is no cloak for disloyalty forasmuch as the counter-perswasions of God in his Word from it are greater than mens solicitations unto it Now as Peter and John answered the Jewish Rulers Whether is it right in the sight of God to hearken unto men more than unto God judge ye The violent Clamours of the Jews against Christ Acts 4.19 Crucifie him Crucifie him did not acquit Pilate from the guilt of his bloud but according to their imprecation of judgment on and execration of themselves it hath been on the heads of them and their children this 1600 years The Petitioners which were suborned against King Charles like Jezabels false Witnesses against Naboth did not discharge the Actors of that Fatal Tragedy from the guilt of his Royal Blood All the plausible Remonstances specious pretences and sophistical Pleas which our late Juglers raised to delude the injudicious Vulgar vanish before this evident testimony deduced from Davids Loyalty notwithstanding the
Princes to the Church in protecting the Ministry from the fury of grossely prophane and giddy Fanatick people to whom it is an eye-sore in supplying the Church with maintenance in order to the carrying on the Worship of God in providing Universities and Colledges to be Seminaries of Learning in backing the Laws of God with their secular Authority doth lay strong Obligations on Ministers to make their Churches Schools as of Piety toward God so of Loyalty toward their King What horrid ingratitude would Ministers be guilty of by proving fire-brands of Sedition Trumpeters of Rebellion and by making their Sermons an Alarm unto war It would be to rip up the bowels of their Nursing Fathers and to cut off the Breasts of their Nursing Mothers Furthermore as Simeon and Levi made the Name of their Father Jacob to stink Gen. 34.30 Num. 13.32 by their perfidious Murder of the Shechemites as the Spies brought an evil report on the Land of Canaan and as Judas delivered his Master unto the Scoffes of his enemies so disloyalty in Ecclesiastical persons scandalizeth Religion The sins of Elies Sons caused the Sacrifices of the Lord to be abhorred 1 Sam. 2.17 The Prophet Davids Adultery with Bathsheba and Murder of Uriah Rom. 2.17 to 25. gave great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme For Ministers to prostitute their Sacred Function unto Ambition and Rebellion is a great provocation unto Magistrates to root them out of their Kingdoms yea to put them to death as Saul did Ahimelech and the Priests of the Lord of whom he slew fourscore and five persons upon Doegs false and malicious information that they conspired with David 1 Sa. 22.18 Let Sermons be Exclamations against sins not against Kings against the Prince of the power of the Air not against the Princes of the earth The Lord teach the Clergy of England not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may neither procure the accusation of disloyalty to themselves nor derive any scandal unto Religion Let no man be lifted up with pride by reason of the dignity of his Office Judas cast Devils out of others Luke 22.3 but could not keep the Devil out of himself Then Satan entred into Judas and so as Luther saith there was one Devil in another As water cleanseth other things and then is crst into the sink as many who laboured in building Noahs Ark were drowned in the Floud so a Minister may teach others and yet be himself a cast-away without true Piety which is inconsistent with disloyalty The Scripture hath linked them both together My Son fear thou God and the King It was the honour of Zadok and Abiathar Prov. 24. that they turned not aside unto Absalom but faithfully cleaved unto David their rightful Soveraign 2. David was anointed to the Office of a King The Lord said unto Samuel how long wilt thou mourn for Saul 1 Sam. 16.1 seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel Fill thine Horn with Oyl and go I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided me a King among his Sons 1. David by vertue of this Unction had a plausible Argument to have justified the Murder of Saul being rejected by God and himself elected in his room and to have represented such an act as the execution of Justice as Jehu did the destruction of Ahabt posterity But David abhorred this obvious plece of Policy 2 Kin. 10.10 because it would have been a breach of Piety Forasmuch as Comminations are no Commissions Gen. 4.15 Whosoever shall slay accursed Cain vengeince shall be taken on him seven fold So the bloud of rejected Saul would have brought down vengeance on the head of David if he had shed it The crucifying of Christ was an Act of Glorious Mercy in God but of barbarous Cruelty in the Jews Joseph tels his Brethren that it was not they but God that sent him into Egypt and yet they were guilty of the most unbrotherly act next to actual Fratricide that ever was committed Gen. 45.8 One and the same action may be righteous as it proceedeth from the first cause and unrighteous in respect of the Second Gods bidding Shimei to curse David 2 Sam. 12.11 12. and permission of Absalom to ravish his Fathers Concubines were acts of Justice in God but acts of Treason and Incest in Shimel and Absalom Wherefore let such be accounted Instruments of the Devil Ch. 16.10 who dare offer violence to Kings under pretence of being Instruments to execute divine Justice 2. David by vertue of his Unction might have produced a specious Title unto the Kingdom of Israel if he had been of an ambitious spirit but he knew that he was anointed only to the reversion of the Kingdom and that as a last Will and Testament is of no force until the death of the Testator So his Unction was of no force until the death of Saul A Loyal Subject will wave obvious Pleas for his Right unto a Kingdom 3. David being anointed to the reversion of the Kingdom by the death of Saul might have took Livery and Seisin of it But as Moses cast the Kingdom of Egypt with all the Honours and Treasures thereof at his heels chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Heb. 11. So David preserred the prolongation of his undeserved persecution before the unjust acceleration of the day of his Inauguration unto the Office of a King he esteemed a Turfe in the wilderness with a clear Conscience a better seat than a Throne in a Palace with a Conscience laden with Royal Blood-guiltiness he accounted it a greater honour to be a Loyal Subject than an unlawful King Crowns Scepters and Kingdoms are cogent Temptations Caesar said If Justice may be broken in any case it is regnandi causa Mat. 21.38 The Husbandmen cry out This is the Heir come let us kill him and the Inheritance will be ours But David abhorred to swim unto a Throne through the Blood of his Master having taken the resolution of Ferdinand the first Emperor of Germany Fiat Justitia pereat mundus Let Right be done and come what will of it The gain of a Kingdom will not countervail the loss of a good Conscience What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own Soul Or what will be given in exchange for the Soul There is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the words What will it profit i. e. What an hard bargain will it be What infinite Damage and Detriment shall a man sustain thereby For put the whole world into one ballance and the Soul into another and this little spark of Divinity will out-weigh the whole Globe of the Earth the vast Fabrick of the Creation It is far better to be upbraided as Balaam was by Balak The Lord hath kept thee
unto Jeremiah Jer. 1.10 I have set thee over Nations and Kingdoms to root out and to pluck down and to destroy These words are to be understood of the denunciation of Gods Judgments by the mouth of Jeremiah against wicked Nations Kings shall bow down to thee with their Faces toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy Feet Isa 49.23 These Metaphorical Expressions do not signifie the subordination of Civil Power unto Ecclesiastical but only that Princes shall submit unto the Laws of God and account it their honour to be Patrons of Religion and Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers unto the Church The two-edged sword in the hands of the Saints Psal 139.9 to bind Kings in Chains and Nobles in Fetters of Iron is to be understood not of a Weapon of War or Instrument of violence but of the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God which is said to be quick and powerful Heb. 4.12 sharper than any two-edged sword It is a Spiritual not a Martial a Theological not a Polemical sword that is given to the Church to bind Kings in Chains and Nobles in Fetters of Iron What by corporal Imprisonment God forbid but by awakening their Consciences and convincing them of the evil guilt and danger of sin which in Scripture is set forth by spiritual Captivity Isa 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to proclaim Liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Prison doors to them that are bound that is to file asunder the Fetters and to knock off the Chains of the guilt of sins from the Conscience by the promulgation of Gospel-Grace and pardoning Mercy 2. The Second Reason of Davids detestation against stretching forth his hand against Saul is taken from Sauls Relation to God the Lords Anointed Which is ingeminated in the Text. Ingeminations do augment the force and signification of expressions In blessing I will bless thee Gen. 22.17 and in multiplying I will multiply thee that is I will certainly and greatly bless and multiply thee As David by the frequent Iteration of Absaloms name 2 Sa. 18.33 O my Son Absalom my Son my Son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son did signifie his great sorrow for his death So by his duplication of these words the Lords Anointed he doth shew the great and awful reverence due to Saul by reason of his Relation unto God This expression the Lords Anointed may be considered in a threefold respect 1. As it is a Title of Honour 2. As it signifieth Gods Qualification of Saul for this Office 3. As it imports the Divine Original and Institution of his Office 1. As it is a Title of Honour It is an Epithere which is given to Jesus Christ himself Psalm 2. Christ is a word that signifieth Anointed David doth not exclaim against Saul as a Tyrant a Persecutor as a devouring Lion and a destroying Bear though he received as much Injury from him as ever any Subject did from a Prince but maketh mention of him in a very reverent and honourable manner He was so far from wounding Sanls heart with the Sword of violence that he would not wound his good Name with the Sword of his Tongue From whence note That the Language of Subjects of and to their Soveraign Observ ought not to savour of Contempt and Insolency but of honour and reverence toward his Person and Office Thou shalt not revile the gods nor curse the Ruler of thy people Ex. 22.28 The August Names of Kings ought not to be besooted with the opprobrions and ignominious Titles of Traytors Tyrants and Usurpers Is it sit to say to a King thou art wicked or to Princes Job 34.18 ye are ungodly Take heed of painting such in the shape of the Devil who wear the Livery of God I have said ye are gods Psalm 82. Isa 49. Ezek. 34.23 Psal 78.71 72. Rom. 13. Ps 82.6 Jude v. 8. 2 Sa. 21.17 Lam. 4.20 With what honourable Titles hath the Holy Ghost adorned Rulers They are called Fathers yea and Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers to a Nation Pastors and Shepherds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sons of the most High Dignities the Light of Israel or the Lamp or Candle of Israel As the Sun is to the world so is a King to his Kingdom even the Fountain of Light and Life The Breath of our Nostrils And here in my Text the Lords Anointed The Lord hath purposely dignified Princes with these Names betokening Majesty and Preheminence as with so many orient Pearls and shining Diamonds and Jewels to beget a reverence in us toward them and to guard them from the virulent and insolent Tongues of cursing Shimei's Wherefore take heed that ye slander not the Footsteps of the Lords Anointed nor reproach the Father of your Nation For the eye that mocketh his Father and despiseth to obey his Mother the Ravens of the Valleys shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it Beware of reviling those sacred persons on whom God hath accumulated so many Titles of Honour Yea the Lord foreseeing how many Malicious Doegs and blasphemous Rabshekahs Kings would meet withal Exod. 21.6 Ex. 22.28 Psal 82.1 Ps 138.1 2 Thes 2.4 hath baptized them with his own most Reverent and Glorious Name The Lord standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he judgeth among the gods Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee This venerable Appellation given to Magistrates should teach the Cynical Quaker and the morose Anabaptist with all other ejusdem farinae not to scruple at expressions of reverence such as His Maâ—esty Dread Soveraign and the like toward them and instruct them in better Manners Breeding and Civility than to court the Lords Vicegerents and Deputies with such blunt and rustical Language as if they were their Equals or Inferiours Piety is no enemy to Civility not Christianity to Humanity Religion doth not forbid good Manners The Apostle Paul accounted it nothing unbeseeming his Apostolical Office to use some Courtship in his Apologetical Oration before King Agrippa Murder may be committed by the Tongue as well as by the Hand As the Seventh Commandment doth forbid not only the gross act of Adultery but also 1. Heart-adultery as unclean Thoughts 2. Eye-adultery as wanton Glances 3. Ear-adulterie as hearkening to obscene discourse 4. Hand-adultery wanton Dalliances 5. Lip-adultery as unholy Kisses 6. Tongue-adultery Lascivious speech and uttering Ribaldry So the Sixth Commandment Thou shalt not kill doth extend not only to the actual embruing the hands in the bloud of men but also 1. Mat. 5.22 1 John 3.15 To Heart-murder rash anger envy hatred and all inordinate passions and degrees of Murder Wherefore saith Solomon curse not the King in thy thought for a Bird of the Air shall carry the voice Eccl. 10.20 and that which hath wings shall tell the Matter 2.
Mat. 5.22 To Tongue-murder But I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto his Brother Racha i. e. shall thou him saith Chrysostom shall call him silly shallow Fellow that wanteth Brains saith Irenaeus shall be in danger of the Council and whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell-sire So that scornful and reproachful Speeches of or unto a King do amount to a kind of Murder of him There are three things of King Sauls which David seems to account Sacred His Life His Good Name and His Robes We read of some that despised Saul 1 Sa. 10.27 and brought him no Presents but they are called Sons of Belial for it How inexcusable are those whose teeth are as spears and arrows and their tongues as sharp swords to wound the Reputation of Princes The Apostle Jude ranketh those among the Black Hereticks of the last daies who despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities or blaspheme Glories as the Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie and condemneth them by the example of Michael the Archangel who when contending with the Devil he disputed about the Body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation but said The Lord rebuke thee If an Angel of Heaven would not rail at the Devil of Hell then surely such are a kind of devils incarnate who rail at Angels For so Kings are called in Scripture As an Angel of God so is my Lord the King 2 Sa. 14.17 How was our Dread Soveraign King Charles the first reviled by his Adversaries They said unto him as Shimei to David 2 Sam. 16.7 Come out thou bloudy man thou man of Belial As the Papists cloathed that Holy Martyr John Husse with a coat full of painted Devils when they bro ght him to the Stake that he might appear odious in the eye of the Spectators so was our Royal Martyr represented in monstrous shapes that his death might neither be prevented not lamented O Blessed King How was thy Good name wounded with the poysoned daggers of enemie tongues set on fire in Hell even as Queen Elizabeths was by Jesuites who called her an English Wolf and Lioness far surpassing in cruelty all the Athaliahs Maachas Jezebels and Herodiasses that ever were Os durum And Davids by Shimei whom Abishai calleth a dead Dog for reproaching the Lords Anointed And again Shall not Shimei be put to death because he cursed the Lords Anointed David himself deeply resented the grievous curse 2 Sam. 16.9 2 Sa. 19.21 wherewith this Benjamite of Bahurim cursed him Though out of Policy David reprieved him during his own Reign because his Kingly Authority being like a broken Bone newly set and like a man newly recovered from a desperate fit of Sickness he durst not shed Blood though in a way of Justice lest the noise thereof should have caused a second Revolt of the people and so broke the Bâ—ne again in the same place and brought a Relapse into the former distempers which would have been doubly dangerous yet he retained the memory of this Offence unto his dying Day and in his Last Will and Testament gave a strict Charge unto his Son Solomon not to hold Shimei guiltless but to bring down his hoary head to the Grave with Blood Famous was the example of old Quintus Fabius who 1 Kings 2. his Son being Consul laid aside the Robes of his Paternal Dignity and in stead of demanding Reverence from him as his Son yielded reverence to him as a Roman Consul Though a Son being a Magistrate is not thereby divested of his Filial Relation nor priviledged from Subjection to his Father a private man in all domestical and personal transactions between them yet in all publick and Political Actions the Prerogative of Honour is due from the Father a private person to the Son a Magistrate Solomon indeed rose up to meet his Mother Bathsheba bowed unto her 1 Kings 2. and caused her to sit down on his Right hand but not on his Throne that he reserved for himself Oeconomical Relations must give place to Political Honour and Reverence being due 〈◊〉 Kings it ought to be manifested by sutable Expressions and Gestures Fear God 1 Pet. 2.17 Rom. 13.7 honour the King Render unto every one their dues Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour belongeth The Apostle saith render not give honour to shew that it is an indispensible not an arbitrary act a matter of necessity not of gratuity of duty not of Curtesie The Vulgar Tremellius and Beza render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reddite non date which signifies debitum quoddam inexcusabile Subditis impositum esse as Marlorat observes and praestationem horum officiorum ad Justitiam negationem ad injustitiam pertinere Pareus in locum 2. This Title The Lords Anointed doth signifie Gods furnishing and qualifying of Saul with all Gifts and Endowments requisite for the discharge of his Office Assoon as Saul was anointed he was turned into another man and God gave him another heart 1 Sa. 10.6 9. The most fragrant and odoriferous Spices Myrrhe Cynamon Calamus and Cassia were the Ingredients whereof the Anointing Oyl was compounded Ex. 30.23 to shew the composition of the sweetest Gifts and Graces in him on whom it was poured When the Lord calleth persons unto an Office he will furnish them with Gifts sutable hereunto When Elisha was called from the Plow to be a Prophet a double portion of the Spirit of Elias rested on him When the Apostles were called from their Fishing-nets to be Fishers of men Acts 2. the Holy Ghost descends upon them When God took David from following the Ewes great with young to feed Jacob his people 1 Sa. 16.13 Ps 78. ult 2 Sa. 14.17 and Israel his inheritance and turned his shepherds Crook into a Royal Scepter he caused also his Spirit to descend upon him and gave him skilfulness to wield his Scopter and made him wise as an Angel of God to descern between good and evil And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much 1 Kin. 4.19 and largeness of heart as the sand of the Sea shore 3. This title the Lords Anomted signifieth the divine designation and consecration of Saul unto his Office for Unction with holy oyl was an usual ceremony at the instalment of Prophets Priests and Kings as of David Solomon Jehu In allusion whereunto Jesus Christ in respect of Gods designation of him unto the Mediatorial Office is said to be anointed Isa 61.1 The Office of a King is Divine and his person sacred Observ 1. By the Divine Office of Kings I understand that the Royal function hath its Original and Institution from God that it is not only lawfull but sacred not only allowed but ordained The Delegation of God not the Election and Donation of the people is the foundation of Regal authority Civil Polity is established by a Divine sanction Kings reign not only by the