person in the day of Battail but managed all his Wars with Abner Absolom and Sheba by the hand of Ioab Which gave him means and opportunity to provide for himself though all his Forces had been routed and their General taken But our great Master put himself into the head of his Army ventured his life for the Redemption of his people charged and recharged through the thickest of his enemies the first that came into the field and the last that left it and thereby gained the honour though he lost the victory of the day By what miraculous means he was preserved from death in that fatal Overthrow and with what Loyal secrecy conveyed from one place to another is not so clearly and distinctly known as the cause deserves therefore to be wished that it may publickly be declared by his Sacred Majesty that God might have the glory of his own great Mercies and all good men the honour of their brave fidelity In the mean time we may with piety believe that he was either carryed off by God on the wings of Angels so that none could reach him or else inveloped round about with a cloud of darkness so that none could see him Cernere ne quis eum ne quis contingere poss it as Virgil telleth us of Aeneas in the last condition 31. And then again the hand of God was far more visible in his Restitution For was it not a marvellous kindness that God was pleased to preserve a strong party for him which had not been infected with the errors and corruptions which then reigned amongst us that in a time of such a general defection from the rules of the Church so many thousands should be found of all sorts and sexes which had not bowed the knee to Baal nor to the golden Calves of Dan and Bethel nor the more guilded Calves that grazed and bleated upon these mountains of the Lord. And that far more should keep their hearts intire and loyal in those times of danger when they could find no means to signifie it by their tongues and hands And this not only was a kindness and a marvellous kindness but misericordia sua the Lords kindness also most properly to be called the work of God who did both bow their Hearts and advance their Hands and use them both for the facilitating of the Kings Reduction 32. In which conjuncture of affairs a little cloud ariseth from the Northern Sea after the heavens had been shut up for some years together Which though it were no bigger then a mans hand in the first appearance yet brought along with it such abundance of rain as did not only comfort and refresh the afflicted Land but forced our politick Ahabs and their followers too to take their Chariots and make haste away to some other place before the storm should overtake them And certainly this must needs be misericordia sua as well Gods mercy in it self as to be reckoned for a mavellous mercy in the eyes of men For neither the Party was so weak nor the Cause so desperate as to be broken by the coming of so small a power as rather seemed to be a Guard to their Generals person then of sufficient force to oppose that Army before which two great Kings were not able to stand And then it is to be observed that such as draw their Swords upon God's Anointed use commonly to throw away the scabbards also and find no way of doing better but by doing worse Nil medium inter summa praecipitia No middle way for them to walke in but either to bear up like Princes or to die like Traytors But it was otherwise in the case which we have before us God so prevailing on the hearts of the men of war that they became no less ready to receive their King then his own party to invite him And they which first ingaged in the War against him expulsed him hence and voted him uncapable of the Regal Dignity are now as zealous as the best to advance him to it Nay they contended eagerly with the rest of the Subjects as once the men of Israel did with the men of Iudah which of the two should shew most zeal for his Restitution and did not only send word to him that he should return both he and his servants with him but some of them passed over the Flood that they might bring him back unto his Countrey with the greater glory Et certant ipsi secum utrùm contumeliosius eum expulerint an honorabilius revocaverint as in the case of Alcibiades is observed by Iustin. 33. But possibly our Gideon with such a handful of men might not have been of power sufficient to effect the enterprise if our great City had not openly appeared in favour of it and thereby given encouragement to the rest of the Subjects whose hearts stood firm unto the King A treble City of three Towns together but all of them united in one common name as Ierusalem was and no less strong then that in regard on the multitude but stronger in respect of the power and riches of the people of it For here it was in this strong City the principal City of our Nation the abstract or Epitomie of all Britain In Britanniarum compendio as my Author cals it that the design was most advanced though not there contrived And here it was in this strong City that this great miracle of mercy did receive accomplishment by opening both their Gates and Hearts and Hands to receive their Soveraign Let them continue in that obedience to our Lord the King they shal wipe away the memory of their former Errors Nay our Posterity shall behold them with a cheerful gratitude as the restorers and preservers of our common happiness by giving good example to the rest of the Kingdom For certainly the practice of great Cities is exemplary not only in their Morals but their Politicks too According to the motion of the Primum mobile the lower Stars and Planets move in their several Spheres and think it no disgrace to be sometimes retrograde or in their motus trepidationis when the first Orbe begins to be irregular or seems to be left destitute of those Intelligences which are said to move it 34. And therefore it concerns great Towns and populous Cities upon whose actions all mens eyes are fixed and busied to be a pattern of good works of Loyalty and of due obedience to the rest of the people Faction and Opposition to Authority are two dangerous plagues more fatal and destructive to the greatest Empire than the Sword Pestilence or Famine Which if they get into a City or a Town of note Non ibi consistunt ubi caeperunt infect not there alone where they first brake out but as the nature of the Plague is observed to be from thence it springs into the Villages adjoyning and in the end to all the quarters of the Kingdom It cannot be denied but that
God and to enquire his will and pleasure in all difficult cases The want whereof necessitated the unhappy Tyrant to have recourse for counsel to the Witch of Endor as if he had been forced upon that desperate resolution in the antient Poet Flectere si nequeo superos Acheronta movebo that since he could not move the Gods he would trie the Devil 15. Nor was all this a kindeness only or a great kindeness as the old Translation and misericordia mirabilis a marvellous great kindeness in the eyes of all men but it was misericordia sua the Lords own kindeness factum Domini the Lords own doing to which no humane prudence could pretend a title This David understood none better And therefore attributes his safety and deliverance to the Lord alone Ipse sit licèt magna unique cura industria usus as Musculus hath night-well observed though he himself had used all possible industry and care for his own preservation He had his agents and intelligeneers in the Court of Saul to give him notice of the secret purposes of his mortal enemy He entertained Abiathar in a place both of trust and nearness that by his means he might maintain a correspondence with the rest of that Order And when necessity compelled him to ingage in battail he sent out Ioab a man of most undaunted courage to incounter Abner with whom he was competitor for the Palm of victory More providence and care could no man use then David did and yet he calleth it misericordiam Domini only Gods mercy and his marvellous kindeness by which he was preserved in the day of trouble 16. And so indeed it was meerly Gods mercy and his marvellous great kindness by which he was preserved in the dayes of Saul and raised to the Throne of Israel on the death of Ishbosheth For what could David have effected with all his diligence had not God secretly forwarned him of those dangers which were near at hand or what advantage could Abiathars discoveries have procured unto him had not God sent the spirit of infatuation amongst the Princes of Sauls house supplanted their designes and turned their wisdom into foolishness Or what could Ioab with all his valour have atchieved against so many enemies had not God broken them in pieces had not God throwen amongst them such a Ball of discord such a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as made them turn their Swords upon one another In which dissention the Royal Nothing is dispatched on his bed of ease and dispossessed at once both of Crown and Life before he had served out his Indentures in the Trade of Government which also must be factum Domini the Lord 's doing only as to the ordering permitting and disposing of it though Abner and the sons of Riâ—mon had their own vile ends For who but God could turn his own Sword upon him and so infatuate the Counsels of his chief Commanders as to contrive the ruines of their nearest kinsman by whose sole power they stood and might have longer stood in all apparent probability in their former greatness 17. Except the Lord doth keep the City saith the Royal Psalmist the watchman watcheth but in vain Except the Lord doth build the house their labour is but lost that build it What then Shall then the Workman play and the Watchman sleep Not so saith Origen â—mpendant ipsi quantum in se est laboris et sollicitudinis c. Let them continue their indevours in the name of God and let the Watchman watch and the Workman labour Though God be all and that our safety is from him and from him alone yet he hath told us that the lazie person shall not eat and the careless person shall not prosper It is the hand of the diligent which maketh rich and he becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand faith the wiseman Solomon God in the ordering and disposing of humane affairs is like the Pilot in a Ship It is the Pilot only which doth steer and guid the Vessel and bringeth it safe into the Haven yet it is expected that every several Mariner do discharge his duty and yield obedience to the whistle of the Boat-swain 18. But on the other side it is not therefore to be thought that we may warrantably intitle either our industry or strength or wisdom to the rights of God The wisdom of the wise saith Paul is it not foolishness with the Lord What Man is there saith David that can save himself by his much strength Yea or by taking thought saith the Son of David can add one cubit to his stature Man purposeth but God disposeth And when we have most spent our spirits and consumed our bodies in the well ordering of our fortunes yet it is all in vain and fruitless and of no effect except the Lord even our own God doth give us his blessing Ascribe we therefore to the Lord the glory of his own exployts and let us not presume to say in any of our prosperous actions that This my own right hand hath done or my wit effected Though David did as much as care and wisdom could perform for his own security yet he refers it all to God and reckons it His mercy only and his marvellous kindeness whereby he was preserved from danger made Master of Hierusalem and setled after all his troubles in so strong a City 19. In a strong City That 's the next In civitate munita In a fenced City saith the Latin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a City walled and ditched about as the Greek Text reads it In civitate robusta firmata A City strong in men and as strongly fortified in St. Hierom's Gloss. Only Tremelius with some notable difference from all men else doth translate it thus Benedictus Dominus Blessed be the Lord for she hath shewed his marvellous kindeness to me in as great a measure ut in civitate munita collocans me as if he had inclosed and kept me safe in a Town of War as if I had been billited and strongly garrison'd in a Fort and City T is true indeed Gods mercy is the surest Hold to which we may commit our safety the strongest Castle of defence to which we may intrust our persons A fortress against all our foes an Antidote against all Plagues a Remedy against all Diseases He that is so defended need no other Arms. Non eget Mauri Iaoulis nec arcu Not shield nor bow nor poysoned arrows Gods mercy is all kinde of weapons to him both for annoyance and defence No armour is so sure of proof but it may be broken nor Town so strong but may be taken nor wals so high and close to keep our contagion Put if Gods mercy doth protect us and his power defend us if we be compassed round about with his deliverance as with a wall we will not be affraid through war and poverty and sickness do conspire against us For we are sure that
then we are in such a City which neither enemy can force nor want of trade impoverish nor disease infect Deus meus omnia Let God be mine and I am strong enough against all the world against all violence against all practices against all misfortunes I could inlarge my self on this general Topick as to the moral of my Text but that I am to keep my self to the literal sense to the strong City herein meant by the Royal Psalmist 20. And if I keep my self to the literal sense we must inquire what City is here meant by David And we shall finde upon a very short inquiry that it was either Ziglag Hebron or Hierusalem and the last most likely St. Austin and St. Hierome so resolve for certain with whom the Moderns do agree as to that particular all telling us That God declared his marvellous mercies unto David by setling his affairs in Civitate Ierusalem in the strong City of Hierusalem in the Fort of Sion For there he found an end of his former sorrows thither he brought the Ark to that place he removed the Trabernacle and there did he fix his Royal Palace with the Courts of Iustice and thereby drew unto it by degrees all the wealth of the Kingdom and there he reigned in greater glory and renown then any of the Kings and Princes which were round about him 21. Now Cities are accounted strong in two respects first in the strength of situation or of art and next in the multitudes and natural courage of the people and in both these Ierusalem as it flourished in the time of David might worthily be called a strong City as indeed it was Civitas munitissima as my Author hath it For first it was well situated and strongly fortified three Towns in one of them seated on steep Hills and all of them invironed with high Walls strong Bullwarks and unpassable Ditches But none to be compared with the City of Sion which made the Iebusites presume so far upon the strength of the place that in contempt of Davids Forces they mann'd their walls with none but their blind and lame as Iosephus tells us and then sent word whether with greater pride or folly it is hard to say that except he took away the blind and the lame he could not come thither Which was to tell him in effect that those poor wretches were sufficient to make good the Fort against all his Army and therefore must be first removed before he could expect to be Master of it Such confidence saith he they had in their Walls and Trenches that they conceived them able without further help to keep out the Enemy 22. But Walls we see by this example are but simple strengths if there be any want of people or in the people any want of courage to make good the place The honour of a King consists not in the strength of Towns and frequency of Garrisons but in the multitude and courage and good affection of his Subjects Kings are then safest when they trust rather to their Castles of bones then their Castles of stones according to the Aphorism of Sir Henry Savage an old English Souldier Lycurgus also seemed to be of the same opinion when he prohibited the Spartans to immure their City or to use any of the Arts of Fortification And in this sense lerusalem was strong because it was as populous and no less capacious then either Nineveh or Babylon or Eckbatana or any other Cities in the Eastern Countries So populous that at the siege thereof by Titus there perished by the Sword and Famine of all sorts and sexes 1100000. and above as Iosephus telleth us And so prodigiously capacious that once the High-Priest at the request of Cestius a Roman President numbering the people which came thither to observe the Passover found them to be two millions and seven hundred thousand men besides women and children all sound and purified and fitted by the Law for that Sacred Ceremony A number numberless and not indeed to be believed were not Iosephus generally reckoned for a true Historian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the good Father Iustin Martyr hath assured us of him And though these numberings of the people in that mighty City happened long after David's time yet the City after David's time received small inlargements Ten of the Tribes revolting on the death of Solomon and never afterwards returning to the Kings of Iudah 23. As for the courage of the People and Inhabitants of it in the time of David we may conceive it equal at the least if it were not greater then that of their posterity in the times succeeding Which was so eminent that he which reads the Story of their final ruine when besieged by Titus will find the Romans so put to it that they never purchased any City at a dearer rate And hereupon may say in the word of Iustin Et tanta animorum virtus fuit c. That though they had just cause at all times to despair of safety yet for the most part they presumed and came off with safety till God was pleased to give them over for a prey to the Sword of their Enemies 24. And yet there might be somewhat in it which more assured David of his peace and happiness than either the Courage of the people or the Strength of the place which was their good Affection and fidelity to him And this appears plainly by their carriage towards him when he was forced to give way to the Treason of Absolom For when he left them to the power of the Enemy the people followed him in great numbers to express their loyalty and followed him in tears to express their affection So as it cannot be affirmed that either they betrayed or forsook their King but that the King rather in a Royal pity did withdraw from them left otherwise he might have brought some evil on the City as the Text informs us Lay all that hath been said together of the strength of this City and we shall find that David had good reason to extol Gods Name for giving him possession of a place so strong so populous and so replenished with a loyal and couragious people 25. And thus I have run over all the parts of my Text as they declare God's marvellous kindness unto David so that it can be no hard matter to remove the vail and to behold the face of our own affairs the mercies of this day and the glories of it A day in which we solemnize the memory of as great a kindness a kindness as remarkable in respect of the Person as marvellous in its own condition no less peculiar to the Lord as the Author of it and in a place as notable our Principal City our strongest City of descence To which by Gods assistance and your Christian Patience I shall now proceed and then descend unto the duties of the dayes where we shall meet with David's thankfulness and our own to boot