wise seruant is carefull to aduertise his Mistresse of the danger his prudent Mistresse is carefull to preuent it THE liues of all his family were now in hazard she dares not commit this businesse to the fidelity of a messenger but forgetting her sex puts herselfe into the errand Her foot is not slow her hand is not empty According to the offence shee frames her satisfaction Her husband refused to giue shee brings a bountiful gift her husband gaue ill words shee sweetens them with a meeke and humble deprecation Her husband could say Who is Dauid she fals at his feet her husband dismisses Dauids men empty she brings her seruants laden with prouision as if it had been only meant to ease the repelled messengers of the carriage not to scant them of the required beneuolence No wit no art could deuise a more pithy and powerfull Oratory As all satisfaction so hers begins with a confession wherein shee deeply blameth the folly of her husband She could not haue been a good wife if shee had not honoured her vnworthy head If a stranger should haue termed him foole in her hearing hee could not haue gone away in peace Now to saue his life she is bold to acknowledge his folly It is a good disparagement that preserueth There is the same way to our peace in heauen the only meanes to escape judgement is to complaine of our owne vilenesse shee pleadeth her ignorance of the fact and therein her freedome from the offence she humbly craueth acceptation of her present with pardon of the fault she professeth Dauids honorable acts and merits shee foretels his future successe and glory she layes before him the happy peace of his soule in refraining from innocent bloud Dauids brest which could not through the seeds of grace grow to a stubbornesse in ill resolutions cannot but relent with these powerfull and feasonable perswasions and now in steed of reuenge hee blesseth God for sending Abigail to meet him he blesseth Abigail for her councell hee blesseth the councell for so wholsome efficacy and now reioyceth more in being ouercome with a wise and gracious aduice then he would haue reioyced in a reuengefull victory A good heart is easily stayed from sinning and is glad when it findes occasion to bee crossed in ill purposes Those secret checks which are raised within it selfe do readily conspire with all outward retentiues It neuer yeelded to a wicked motion without much reluctation and when it is ouercome it is but with halfe a consent whereas peruerse and obdurate sinners by reason they take full delight in euill and haue already in their conceit swallowed the pleasure of sin abide not to bee resisted running on headily in those wicked courses they haue propounded in spight of opposition and if they bee forcibly stopped in their way they grow sullen and mutinous Dauid had not only vowed but deeply sworne the death of Nabal and all his family to the very dog that lay at his doore yet now he praiseth God that hath giuen the occasion and grace to violate it Wicked vowes are ill made but worse kept Our tongue cannot tye vs to commit sinne Good men thinke themselues happy that since they had not the grace to deny sin yet they had not the opportunity to accomplish it If Abigail had fit still at home Dauid had sinned and she had dyed Now her discreet admonition hath preserued her from the sword and diuerted him from bloudshed And now what thankes what benedictons hath shee for this seasonable Councell How should it encourage vs to admonish our brethren to see that if wee preuaile wee haue blessings from them if we preuaile not we haue yet blessings from God and thankes of our owne hearts How neere was Nabal to a mischeefe and perceiues it not Dauid was comming at the foot of the hill to cut his throat while hee was feasting in his house without feare Little doe sinners know how neere their iollity is to perdition Many time judgement is at the threshold whiles drunkennesse and surfet are at the boord Had he beene any other then â— Nabal he had not sate downe to feast till he had beene sure of his peace with Dauid either not to expect danger or not to cleare it was sottish So foolish are carnall men that giue themselues ouer to their pleasures whiles there are deadly quarrels depending against them in Heauen There is nothing wherein wisdome is more seene then in the temperate vse of prosperity A Nabal cannot abound but he must be drunke and surfet Excesse is a true argument of folly We vse to say that When drinke is in wit is out but if wit were not out drinke would not be in It was no time to aduise Nabal while his reason was drowned in a deluge of wine A beast or a stone is as capable of good councell as a Drunkard Oh that the noblest Creature should so farre abase himselfe as for a little liquor to lose the vse of those faculties whereby he is a Man Those that haue to doe with drinke or phrenzy must be glad to watch times So did Abigail who the next morning presents to her husband the view of his faults of his danger He then sees how neere hee was to death and felt it not That worldly minde is so apprehensiue of the death that should haue beene as that hee dies to thinke he had like to haue dyed Who would think a man could bee so affected with a danger past and yet so sencelesse of a future yea imminent He that was yester-night as a beast is now as a stone hee was then ouer-merry now dead and lumpish Carnall hearts are euer in extremity If they bee once downe their desection is desperate because they haue no inward comfort to mitigate their sorrow What difference there was betwixt the disposition of Dauid and Nabal How oft had Dauid beene in the valley of the shadow of death and feared no euill Nabal is but once put in minde of a death that might haue been and is stricken dead It is just with God that they who liue without grace should dye without comfort neither can we expect better while wee goe on in our sins The speech of Abigail smote Nabal into a qualme that tongue had doubtlesse oft aduised him well and preuailed not now occasions his death whose reformation it could not effect shee meant nothing but his amendment God meant to make that louing Instrument the meanes of his reuenge she speakes and God strikes within ten dayes that swound ends in death And now Nabal payes deare for his vncharitable reproch for his riotous excesse That God which would not suffer Dauid to right himselfe by his owne sword takes the quarrell of his Seruant into his owne hand Dauid hath now his ends without sin reioycing in the just executions of God who would neither suffer him to sinne in reuenging nor suffer his aduersary to sin vnreuenged Our louing God is more angry with
in offending is misplaced in disclosing of our offence Howeuer sure I am that God hath need euen of racks to draw out confessions and scarce in death it selfe are we wrought to a discouery of our errors There is no one thing wherin our folly shewes it selfe more then in these hurtfull concealements Contrary to the proceedings of humane Iustice it is with God Confesse and liue no sooner can Dauid say I haue sinned then Nathan infers The Lord also hath put away thy sin He that hides his sins shall not prosper but hee that confesseth and forsaketh them shall finde mercy Who would not accuse himselfe to be acquitted of God O God who would not tell his wickednes to thee that knowst it better then his owne heart that his heart may bee eased of that wickednesse which being not told killeth Since we haue sinned why should we be niggardly of that action wherein wee may at once giue glory to thee and releefe to our soules Dauid had sworne in a zeale of Iustice that the rich Oppressour for but taking his poore neighbours lambe should dye the death God by Nathan is more fauourable to Dauid then to take him at his word Thou shalt not dye O the maruellous power of repentance Besides adultery Dauid had shed the bloud of innocent Vriah The strict law was eye for tye tooth for tooth He that smiteth with the sword shall perish with the sword Yet as if a penitent confession had dispensed with the rigor of Iustice now God saies Thou shalt not dye Dauid was the voyce of the Law awarding death vnto sin Nathan was the voyce of the Gospell awarding life vnto the repentance for sin Whatsoeuer the sore bee neuer any soule applyed this remedy and dyed neuer any soule escaped death that applyed it not Dauid himselfe shall not dye for this fact but his mis-begotten childe shall dye for him He that sayd The Lord hath put away thy sin yet sayd also The sword shall not depart from thine house The same mouth with one breath pronounces the sentence both of absolution and death Absolution to the person death to the issue Pardon may well stand with temporall afflictions Where God hath forgiuen though he doe not punish yet he may chastize and that vnto bloud neither doth he alwaies forbeare correction where hee remits reuenge So long as he smites vs not as an angry Iudge wee may indure to smart from him as a louing father Yet euen this rod did Dauid deprecate with teares how faine would he shake off so easie a lode The childe is stricken the father fasts and prayes and weepes and lyes all night vpon the earth and abhors the noyse of comfort That childe which was the fruit and monument of his odious adultery whom hee could neuer haue looked vpon without a recognition of his sin in whose face he could not but haue still read the records of his own shame is thus mourned for thus sued for It is easie to obserue that good man ouer-passionately affected to his children Who would not haue thought that Dauid might haue held himselfe well appayd that his soule escaped an eternall death his body a violent though God should punish his sin in that childe in whom hee sinned Yet euen against this crosse he bends his prayers as if nothing had been forgiuen him There is no childe that would be scourged if he might escape for crying No affliction is for the time other then greeuous neither is therfore yeelded vnto without some kinde of reluctation Far yet was it from the heart of Dauid to make any opposition to the will of God he sued he strugled not There is no impatience in entreaties He wel knew that the threats of tēporal euils ran commonly with a secret condition and therfore might perhaps bee auoyded by humble importunity If any meanes vnder Heauen can auert judgements it is our prayers God Could not chuse but like well the boldnesse of Dauids faith who after the apprehension of so heauy a displeasure is so far from doubting of the forgiuenesse of his sin that hee dares become a Sutor vnto God for his sicke childe Sinne doth not make vs more strange then faith confident But it is not in the power of the strongest faith to preserue vs from all afflictions After all Dauids prayers and teares the childe must dye The carefull seruants dare but whisper this sad newes They who had found their Master so auerse from the motion of comfort in the sicknesse of the childe feared him vncapable of comfort in his death Suspition is quick-witted Euery occasion makes vs misdoubt that euent which wee feare This secrecy proclaymes that which they were so loth to vtter Dauid perceiues his childe dead and now he rises vp from the earth whereon hee lay and washes himselfe and changeth his apparrell and goes first into Gods house to worship and then into his owne to eat now he refuses no comfort who before would take none The issue of things doth more fully shew the will of God then the prediction God neuer did any thing but what hee would hee hath sometimes foretold that for triall which his secret will intended not hee would foretell it hee would not effect it because hee would therfore foretell it that he might not effect it His predictions of outward euils are not alwayes absolute his actions are Dauid well sees by the euent what the decree of God was concerning his childe which now he could not striue against without a vaine impatience Till wee know the determinations of the Almighty it is free for vs to striue in our prayers to striue with him not against him when once wee know them it is our duty to sit downe in a silent contentation Whiles the childe was yet aliue I fasted and wept for I sayd Who can tell whether the Lord will bee gracious to mee that the childe may liue but now hee is dead Wherefore should I fast Can I bring him backe againe The greefe that goes before an euill for remedy can hardly bee too much but that which followes an euill past remedy cannot bee too little Euen in the saddest accident death we may yeeld something to nature nothing to impatience Immoderation of sorrow for losses past hope of recouery is more sullen then vse-full our stomach may be bewrayed by it not our wisdome Amnon and Tamar IT is not possible that any word of God should fall to the ground Dauid is not more sure of forgiuenesse then smart Three maine sins passed him in this businesse of Vriah Adultery murder dissimulation for all which he receiues present payment for adultery in the deflouring of his daughter Thamar for murder in the killing of his son Amnon for dissimulation in the contriuing of both Yet all this was but the beginning of euils Where the father of the family brings sinne home to the house it is not easily swept out Vnlawfull lust propagates it selfe by example How iustly is Dauid scourged
them vnder whose shelter they liue but how vnnaturall is the villany of those miscreants that can be content to bee actors in the capitall wrongs offred to soueraigne authority It were a wonder if after the death of a Prince there should want some Pick-thanke to insinuate himselfe into his Successour An Amalekite young manrides post to Ziklag to find out Dauid whom euen common rumor had notified for the anoynted heyre to the Kingdome of Israel to bee the first messenger of that newes which hee thought could bee no other then acceptable the death of Saul and that the tydings might be so much more meritorious he addes to the report what he thinkes might carry the greatest retribution In hope of reward or honour the man is content to bely himselfe to Dauid It was not the speare but the sword of Saul that was the instrument of his death neither could this stranger finde Saul but dying since the Armour-bearer of Saul saw him dead ere he offred that violence to himselfe The hand of this Amalekite therfore was not guilty his tongue was Had not this messenger measur'd Dauids foot by his owne last hee had forborne this peece of the newes and not hoped to aduantage himselfe by this falshood Now he thinks The tydings of a Kingdome cannot but please None but Saul and Ionathan stood in Dauids way Hee cannot chuse but like to heare of their remouall Especially since Saul did so tyrannously persecute his innocence If I shall onely report the fact done by another I shall goe away but with the recompence of a lucky Post wheras if I take vpon mee the action I am the man to whom Dauid is beholden for the Kingdome he cannot but honour and requite me as the author of his deliuerance and happinesse Worldly mindes thinke no man can be of any other then their owne diet and because they finde the respects of selfe-loue and priuate profit so strongly preuailing with themselues they cannot conceiue how these should bee capable of a repulse from others How much was this Amalekite mocked of his hopes whiles he imagined that Dauid would now triumph and feast in the assured expectation of the Kingdome and possession of the Crowne of Israel hee findes him renting his clothes and wringing his hands and weeping and mourning as if all his comfort had been dead with Saul and Ionathan and yet perhaps he thought This sorrow of Dauid is but fashionable such as great heyres make shew of in the fatall day they haue longed for These teares will soone be dry the sight of a Crowne will soon breed a succession of other passions But this error is soon corrected For when Dauid had entertained this Bearer with a sad fast all the day he cals him forth in the euening to executiō How wast thou not afrayd saith he to put forth thy hand to destroy the Anoynted of the Lord Doubtlesse the Amalekite made many faire pleas for himselfe out of the grounds of his owne report Alas Saul was before falne vpon his owne speare It was but mercy to kill him that was halfe dead that he might die the shorter Besides his entreaty and importunate prayers moued mee to hasten him through those painfull gates of death had I striken him as an enemy I had deserued the blow I had giuen now I sent him the hand of a frend why am I punished for obeying the voyce of a King and for perfiting what himselfe begun and could not finish And if neither his own wound nor mine had dispatched him the Philistims were at his heeles ready to doe this same act with insultation which I did in fauour and if my hand had not preuented them wherehad been the Crowne of Israel which I now haue here presented to thee I could haue deliuered that to King Achish and haue beene rewarded with honour let mee not dye for an act well meant to thee how euer construed by thee But no pretence can make his owne tale not deadly Thy bloud bee vpon thine owne head for thine owne mouth hath testified against thee saying I haue slaine the Lords Anoynted It is a iust supposition that euery man is so great a Fauourer of himselfe that he will not mis-report his owne actions nor say the worst of himselfe In matter of confession men may without iniury be taken at their words If he did it his fact was capitall If he did it not his lye It is pittyany other recompence should befall those false flatterers that can be content to father a sinne to get thankes Euery drop of royall bloud is sacred For a man to say that he hath shed it is mortall Of how farre different spirits from this of Dauid are those men which suborne the death of Princes and celebrate and canonize the murtherers Into their secret let not my soule come my glory be thou not joyned to their assembly Abner and Joab HOw mercifull and seasonable are the prouisions of God Ziglag was now nothing but ruines and ashes Dauid might returne to the soyle where it stood to the roofes and walls he could not No sooner is he disapointed of that harbour then God prouides him Cities of Hebron Saul shall dye to giue him elbow-roome Now doth Dauid finde the comfort that his extremity sought in the Lord his God Now are his clowdes for a time passed ouer and the Sun breaks gloriously forth Dauid shall raigne after his sufferings So shall we if we indure to the end finde a Crowne of righteousnes which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue vs at that day But though Dauid well knew that his head was long before anoynted and had heard Saul himselfe confidently auouching his succession yet he will not stirre from the heapes of Ziglag till hee haue consulted with the Lord It did not content him that he had Gods warrant for the kingdome but hee must haue his instructions for the taking possession of it How safe and happie is the man that is resolued to do nothing without God Neither will generalities of direction be sufficient euen particular circumstances must looke for a word still is God a piller of fire and cloude to the eye of euery Israelite neither may there be any motion or stay but from him That action cannot but succeed which proceeds vpon so sure a warrant God sends him to Hebron a city of Iudah Neither will Dauid goe vp thither alone but he takes with him all his men with their whole housholds they shall take such part as himselfe As they had shared with him in his misery so they shall now in his prosperity Neither doth he take aduantage of their late mutinye which was yet fresh and greene to cashier those vnthankefull and vngracious followers but pardoning their secret rebellions he makes them partakers of his good successe Thus doth our heauenly leader whom Dauid prefigured take vs to raigne with him who haue suffered with him passing by our manyfold infirmities as if they had not
our God that can raise vp an aduersary to deliuer out of those euils which our frends cannot That by the sword of an enemy can let out that apostume which no Physician could tell how to cure It would be wide with vs somtimes if it were not for others malice There could not bee a more just question then this of the Philistim Princes What doe these Hebrewes here An Israelite is out of his element when he is in an army of Philistims The true seruants of God are in their due places when they are in opposition to his enemies Profession of hostility becomes them better then leagues of amity YET Achish likes Dauids conuersation and presence so well that he professeth himselfe pleased with him as with an Angell of God How strange it is to heare that a Philistim should delight in that holy man whom an Israelite abhors and should be loth to be quit of Dauid whom Saul hath expelled Termes of ciuility be equally open to all religions to all professions The common graces of Gods children are able to attract loue from the most obstinate enemies of goodnesse If we affect them for by-respects of valour wisdome discourse wit it is their praise not ours But if for diuine grace and religion it is our praise with theirs SVCH now was Dauids condition that hee must plead for that he feared and argue against that which hee desired What haue I done and what hast thou found in thy seruant that I may not goe and fight against the enemies of my Lord the King Neuer any newes could bee more cordiall to him then this of his dismission yet must he seeme to striue against it with an importunate profession of his forwardnesse to that act which hee most detested One degree of dissimulation drawes on another those which haue once giuen way to a faulty course cannot easily either stop or turne backe but are in a sort forced to second their ill beginnings with worse proceedings It is a dangerous and miserable thing to cast our selues into those actions which draw with them a necessity either of offending or miscarriage Saul and the Witch of Endor EVEN the worst men may somtimes make head against some sinnes Saul hath expelled the Sorcerers out of the land of Israel and hath forbidden magicke vpon paine of death He that had no care to expell Satan out of his owne heart yet will seeme to driue him out of his kingdome That wee see wicked men oppose themselues to some sinnes there is neither maruell nor comfort in it No doubt Satan made sport at this edict of Saul what cares he to be banished in sorcery whiles he is entertained in malice He knew and found Saul his whiles he resisted and smiled to yeeld thus farre vnto his vassall if wee quit not all sinnes he will be content wee should either abandon or persecute some Where is no place for holy feare there will be place for the seruile The gracelesse heart of Saul was astonied at the Philistims yet was neuer moued at the frowns of that God whose anger sent them nor of those sinnes of his which procured them Those that cannot feare for loue shall tremble for feare and how much better is awe then terror preuention then confusion There is nothing more lamentable to see a man laugh when hee should feare God shall laugh when such a ones feare commeth Extremiry of distresse will send euen the prophanest man to God like as the drowning man reacheth out his hand to that bow which he contemned whiles hee stood safe on the banke Saul now asketh counsell of the Lord whose Prophet he hated whose priests he slue whose anoynted he persecutes Had Saul consulted with God when he should this euill had not beene but now if this euill had not beene he had consulted with God The thanke of this act is due not him but to his affection A forced piety is thankelesse and vnprofitable God will not answere him neither by dreames nor by vrim nor by Prophets Why should God answer that man by dreames who had resisted him waking Why should he answer him by vrim that had slaine his Priests Why should he answer him by Prophets who hated the Father of the Prophets rebelled against the word of the Prophets It is an vnreasonable vnequality to hope to finde God at our command when wee would not be at his To looke that God should regard our voyce in trouble when wee would not regard his in peace Vnto what mad shiftes are men driuen by despaire If God will not answer Satan shall Saul said to his seruants seeke me a woman that hath a familiar spirit If Saul had not known this course Diuelish why did he decree to banish it to mulct it with death yet now against the streame of his conscience he will seeke to those whom he had condemned There needs no other iudge of Sauls act then himselfe had hee not before opposed this sinne he had not so haynously sinned in committing it There cannot bee a more fearefull signe of an heart giuen vp to a reprobate sence then to cast it selfe wilfully into those sinnes which it hath proclaimed to detest The declinations to euill are many times insensible but when it breakes forth into such apparant effects euen others eies may discerne it What was Saul the better to fore-know the issue of his approaching battaile If this consultation could haue strengthned him against his enemies or promoted his victory there might haue bene some colour for so foule an act Now what could hee gaine but the satisfying of his bootlesse curiosity in fore-seeing that which hee should not be able to auoyd Foolish men giue a way their soules for nothing The itch of impertinent and vnprofitable knowledge hath beene the heriditary distroyer of the sonnes of Adam and Eue How many haue perished to know that which hath procured their perishing How ambitious should wee bee to know those things the knowledge wherof is eternall life Many a leud office are they put to which serue wicked masters one while Sauls seruants are set to kill innocent Dauid another while to shed the blood of Gods Priests and now they must goe seeke for a Witch It is no small happinesse to attend them from whom we may receiue precepts and examples of vertue Had Saul bene good he had needed no disguise Honest actions neuer shame the doers Now that hee goeth about a sinfull businesse hee changeth himselfe he seekes the shelter of the night he takes but two followers with him It is true that if Saul had comne in the port of a King the Witch had as much dissembled her condition as now he dissembleth his yet it was not only desire to speed but guiltinesse that thus altred his habit such is the power of conscience that euen those who are most affected to euill yet are ashamed to bee thought such as they desire to be Saul needed another face to fit that tongue which should say
his designes against Israel yet was kinde to Dauid perhaps for no cause so much as Sauls opposition And yet euen this fauour is held worthy both of memory retribution where we haue the acts of courtesie it is not necessary wee should enter into a strict examination of the grounds of it whiles the benefit is ours let the intention be their owne What euer the hearts of men are we must look at their hands and repay not what they meant but what they did Nahash is dead Dauid sends Ambassadours to condole his losse and to comfort his sonne Hanun No Ammonite but is sadly affected with the death of a father though it gaine him a Kingdome Euen Esau could say the dayes of mourning for my father will come No earthly aduantage can fill vp the gap of nature Those children are worse then Ammonites that can thinke either gaine or liberty worthy to counteruaile a parents losse Carnall men are wont to measure anothers foot by their owne last their owne falshood makes them vniustly suspitious of others The Princes of Ammon because they are guilty to their owne hollownesse and doublenesse of heart are ready so to iudge of Dauid and his messengers Thinkest thou that Dauid doth honour thy father that hee hath sent comforters vnto thee Hath not Dauid rather sent his owne seruants to thee to search the City and to spye it out to ouerthrow it It is hard for a wicked heart to think well of any other because it can thinke none better then it selfe and knowes it selfe euill The freer a man is from vice himselfe the more charitable he vses to be vnto others Whatsoeuer Dauid was particularly in his owne person it was ground enough of preiudice that he was an Israelite It was an hereditary and deep setled hatred that the Ammonites had conceiued against their brethren of Israel neither can they forget that shamefull and fearefull foyle which they receiued from the rescuers of Iabesh-Gilead and now still doe they stomach at the name of Israel Malice once conciued in worldly hearts is not easily extinguished but vpon all occasions is ready to break forth into a flame of reuengefull actions Nothing can be more dangerous then for young Princes to meet with ill counsell in the entrance of their gouernment for both then are they most prone to take it and most difficultly recouered from it If we be set out of our way in the beginning of our journey wee wander all the day How happy is that state where both the Counsellors are faithfull to giue only good aduice and the King wise to discerne good aduice from euill The young King of Ammon is easily drawne to beleeue his Peeres and to mistrust the messengers and hauing now in his conceit turned them into Spies entertaines them with a scornefull disgrace hee shaues off one halfe of their beards cuts off one halfe of their garments exposing them to the derision of all beholders The Israelites were forbidden either a shauen beard or a short garment in despight perhaps of their Law these Ambassadours are sent away with both Certainly in a despight of their Master and a scorne of their persons King Dauid is not a little sensible of the abuse of his Messengers and of himselfe in them first therefore he desires to hide their shame then to reuenge it Man hath but a double ornament of body the one of nature the other of Art The naturall ornament is the haire the artificiall is apparrell Dauids Messengers are deformed in both The one is easily supplyed by a new suit the other can onely bee supplyed out of the ward-robe of Time Tarry at Iericho till your beards be growne How easily had this deformity beene remooued if as Hanun had shauen one side of their faces so they had shauen the other what had this beene but to resemble their younger age or that other sex in neither of which doe wee vse to place any imagination of vnbeseeming neither did their want some of their neighbour Nations whose faces age it selfe had not wont to couer with this shade of haire But so respectiue is good Dauid and his wise Senators of their country-formes that they shall by appoyntment rather tarry abroad till time haue wrought their conformity then vary from the receiued fashions of their owne people Alas into what a licentious variety of strange disguises are wee falne the glory of attire is sought in nouelty in mishapennesse in monstrousnesse There is much latitude much liberty in the vse of these indifferent things but because wee are free wee may not run wilde and neuer thinke wee haue scope enough vnlesse wee out-run modesty It is lawfull for publique persons to feele their owne indignities and to endeauour their reuenge Now Dauid sends all the host of the mighty men to punish Ammon for so foule an abuse Those that receiued the Messengers of his loue with scorne and insolency shall now bee seuerely saluted with the Messengers of his wrath It is just both with God and men that they who know not how to take fauours aright should smart with judgements Kindnesse repulsed breakes forth into indignation how much more when it is repayd with an iniurious affront Dauid cannot but feele his owne cheekes shauen and his owne cotes cut in his Ambassadors They did but carry his person to Hanun neither can hee therfore but appropriate to himselfe the kindnesse or iniury offered vnto them He that did so take to heart the cutting off but the lap of King Sauls garment when it was layd aside from him how must hee needes bee affected with this disdainefull haluing of his haire and robes in the person of his Deputies The name of Ambassadours hath beene euer sacred and by the vniuersall Law of Nations hath carried in it sufficient protection from all publique wrongs nether hath it euer beene violated without a reuenge Oh God what shall wee say to those notorious contempts which are dayly cast vpon thy spirituall messengers Is it possible thou shouldst not feele them thou shouldst not auenge them Wee are made a gazing stocke to the world to Angels and to men wee are despised and trodden downe in the dust Who hath beleeued our report and to whom is the arme of the Lord reuealed How obstinate are wicked men in their peruerse resolutions These foolish Ammonites had rather hyre Syrians to maintaine a warre against Israel in so foule a quarrell besides the hazard of their owne liues then confesse the error of their iealous mis-construction It is one of the madde principles of wickednesse that it is a weakenesse to relent and rather to Dye then yeild Euen ill causes once vndertaken must bee vpheld although with bloud whereas the gracious hart finding his owne mis-taking doth not only remit of an vngrounded displeasure but studies to bee reuenged of it selfe and to giue satisfaction to the offended The mercenary Syrians are drawne to venture their liues for a fee twenty thousand of them
beholder His eyes recoyle vpon his hart and haue smitten him with a sinfull desire There can bee no safety to that Soule where the senses are let loose He can neuer keep his couenant with God that makes not a couenant with his eyes It is an Idle presumption to thinke the outward man may be free whiles the inward is safe He is more then a man whose hart is not led by his eies he is no regenerate man whose eyes are not restrayned by his hart Oh Bathsheba how wert thou washed from thine vncleanenesse when thou yeildedst to goe into an adulterous bed Neuer wert thou so foule as now when thou wert new washed The worst of nature is cleanlinesse to the best of sinne thou hadst beene cleane if thou hadst not washed yet for thee I know how to plead infirmity of sexe and the importunity of a King But what shall I say for thee O thou royall Prophet and propheticall King of Israel where shall I finde ought to extenuate that crime for which God himselfe hath noted thee Did not thine holy profession teach thee to abhorre such a sin more then death Was not thy iustice wont to punish this sin with no lesse then death Did not thy very calling call thee to a protection and preseruation of iustice of chastity in thy subiects Didst thou want store of wines of thine owne wert thou restrayned from taking more was there no beauty in Israel but in a subiects mariage-bed Wert thou ouercome by the vehement solicitations of an adulteresse wert thou not the tempter the prosecutor of this vncleanenesse I should accuse thee deeply if thou hadst not accused thy selfe Nothing wanted to greaten thy sinne or our wonder and feare O God whither doe wee goe if thou stay vs not Who euer amongst the millions of thy seruants could finde himselfe furnished with stronger preseruatiues against sinne Against whom could such a sinne finde lesse pretence of preuailing Oh keep thou vs that presumtuous sins preuaile not ouer vs So only shall wee be free from great offences The suites of Kings are imperatiue Ambition did now proue a bawd to lust Bathsheba yeildeth to offend God to dishonour her husband to clogge and wound her owne Soule to abuse her body Dishonesty growes bold when it is countenanced with greatnesse Eminent persons had need be carefull of their demaunds they sinne by authority that are solicited by the mighty Had Bathsheba beene mindefull of her matrimonial fidelity perhaps Dauid had beene soone checked in his inordinate desire her facility furthers the sinne The first motioner of euill is most faulty but as in quarels so in offences the second blow which is the consent makes the fray Good Ioseph was moued to folly by his great and beautifull mistres this fire fell vpon wet tinder and therefore soone went out Sinne is not acted alone if but one party bee wise both escape It is no excuse to say I was tempted though by the great though by the holy and learned Almost all sinners are misled by that transformed Angel of light The action is that wee must regard not the person Let the mouer be neuer so glorious if he stirre vs to euill hee must be intertained with defiance The God that knowes how to raise good out of euill blesses an adulterous copulation with that increase which hee denyes to the chast imbracements of honest wedlock Bathsheba hath conceiued by Dauid and now at once conceiues a sorrow and care how to smother the shame of her conception He that did the fact must hide it Oh Dauid where is thy repentance Where is thy tendernesse and compunction of hart Where are those holy meditations which had wont to take vp thy Soule Alas in steed of clearing thy sinne thou labourest to cloke it and spendest those thoughts in the concealing of thy wickednesse which thou shouldst rather haue bestowed in preuenting it The best of Gods children may not onely bee drenched in the waues of sin but lye in them for the time and perhaps sinke twice to the bottome What hypocrite could haue done worse then study how to couer the face of his sin from the eyes of men whiles heregarded not the sting of sin in his soule As there are some acts wherein the Hypocrite is a Saint so there are some wherin the greatest Saint vpon earth may be an Hypocrite Saul did thus goe about to colour his sin and is cursed The vessels of mercy and wrath are not euer distinguishable by their actions Hee makes the difference that will haue mercy on whom he will and whom he will hee hardeneth It is rare and hard to commit a single sinne Dauid hath abused the wife of Vriah now hee would abuse his person in causing him to father a false seede That worthy Hittite is sent for from the wars and now after some cunning and far-fetcht questions is dismissed to his house not without a present of fauour Dauid could not but imagine that the beauty of his Bathsheba must needes be attractiue enough to an husband whom long absence in wars had with-held all that while from so pleasing a bed neither could he thinke that since that face and those brests had power to allure himselfe to an vnlawfull lust it could bee possible that Vriah should not bee inuited by them to an allowed and warrantable fruition That Dauids heart might now the rather strike him in comparing the chaste resolutions of his seruant with his owne light incontinence good Vriah sleeps at the doore of the Kings palace making choyce of a stony pillow vnder the canopy of Heauen rather then the delicate bed of her whom hee thought as honest as he knew faire The Arke saith he and Israel and Iudah dwell in tents and my Lord Ioab and the seruants of my Lord abide in the open fields shall I then goe into mine house to eat and drinke and lye with my wife by thy life and by the life of thy soule I will not doe this thing Who can but bee astonished at this change to see a Souldier austere and a Prophet wanton And how doth that Souldiers austerity shame the Prophets wantonnesse Oh zealous and mortified soule worthy of a more faithfull wife of a more iust master how didst thou ouer-looke all base sensuality and hatedst to be happy alone War and lust had wont to bee reputed frends thy brest is not more full of courage then chastity and is so far from wandring after forbidden pleasures that it refuseth lawfull There is a time to laugh and a time to mourne a time to embrace and a time to be far from embracing euen the best actions are not alwayes seasonable much lesse the indifferent He that euer takes liberty to doe what he may shall offend no lesse then he that sometimes takes liberty to doe what he may not If any thing the Arke of God is fittest to lead our times according as that is either distressed or prospereth should we frame our mirth
or mourning To dwell in sieled houses whiles the Temple lyes waste is the ground of Gods iust quarrell How shall wee sing a song of the Lord in a strange land If I forget thee ô Ierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth yea if I prefer not Hierusalem to my cheefe ioy As euery man is a limme of the community so must hee be affected with the estate of the vniuersal body whether healthfull or languishing It did not more aggrauate Dauids sin that whiles the Arke and Israel was in hazard and distresse he could finde time to loose the reynes to wanton desires and actions then it magnifies the religious zeale of Vriah that he abandons comfort till he see the Arke and Israel victorious Common dangers or calamities must like the rapt motion carry our hearts contrary to to the wayes of our priuate occasions Hee that cannot bee mooued with words shall be tryed with wine Vriah had equally protested against feasting at home and society with his wife To the one the authority of a King forces him abroad in hope that the excesse thereof shall force him to the other It is like that holy Captaine intended onely to yeeld so much obedience as might consist with his course of austerity But wine is a mocker when it goes plausibly in no man can imagine how it will rage and tyrannize he that receiues that Traytor within his gates shall too late complaine of a surprizall Like vnto that ill spirit it insinuates sweetly but in the end it bites like a Serpent hurts like a Cockatrice Euen good Vrias is made drunk the holyest soule may bee ouertaken It is hard gaine-saying where a King begins an health to a subiect Where oh where will this wickednesse end Dauid will now procure the sin of another to hide his owne Vriahs drunkennesse is more Dauids offence then his It is weakly yeelded to of the one which was wilfully intended of the other The one was as the sinner the other as the tempter Had not Dauid knowne that wine was an inducement to lust he had spared those superfluous cups Experience had taught him that the eye debauched with wine will looke vpon strange women The Drunkard may bee any thing saue good Yet in this the ayme failed Grace is stronger then wine Whiles that with-holds in vaine shall the fury of the grape attempt to carry Vriah to his own bed Sober Dauid is now worse then drunken Vriah Had not the King of Israel beene more intoxicate with sin then Vriah with drinke he had not in a sober intemperance climbed vp into that bed which the drunken temperance of Vriah refused If Dauid had beene but himself how had he loued how had he honoured this honest and religious zeale in his so faithfull seruant whom now he cruelly seekes to reward with death That fact which wine cannot hide the sword shall Vriah shall beare his owne Mittimus vnto Ioab Put yee Vriah in the fore front of the strength of the battle and recule backe from him that he may bee smitten and die What is becomne of thee ô thou good Spirit that hadst wont to guide thy chosen seruant in his former wayes Is not this the man whom wee lately saw so heart-smitten for but cutting off the lap of the garment of a wicked Master that is now thus lauish of the bloud of a gracious and well-deseruing Seruant Could it be likely that so worthy a Captaine could fall alone Could Dauid haue expiated this sinne with his owne bloud it had beene but well spent but to couer his sinne with the innocent bloud of others was a crime aboue astonishment Oh the deepe deceitfulnesse of sinne If the Deuill should haue comne to Dauid in the most louely forme of Bathsheba her selfe and at the first should haue directly and in termes solicited him to murder his best seruant I doubt not but hee would haue spat scorne in that face on which he should otherwise haue doted now by many cunning windings Satan rises vp to that tentation preuailes that shall be done for a colour of guiltinesse whreof the soule would haue hated to be immediately guilty Euen those that find a iust horrour in leaping downe from some hie tower yet may be perswaded to descend by stayres to the bottome Hee knowes not where hee shall stay that hath willingly slipt into a knowne wickednesse How many doth an eminent offender draw with him into euill It could not be but that diuers of the attendants both of Dauid and Bathsheba must be conscious to that adultery Great mens sinnes are seldome secret And now Ioab must bee fetcht in as accessary to the murder How must this example needes harden Ioab against the conscience of Abners blood Whiles he cannot but thinke Dauid cannot auenge that in me which he acteth himselfe Honor is pretended to poore Vriah death is meant This man was one of the worthies of Dauid their courage sought glory in the difficultest exploits That reputation had neuer bene purchased without attempts of equall danger Had not the leader and followers of Vriah beene more trecherous then his enemies were strong hee had comne off with victory Now he was not the first or last that perished by his frends Dauid hath forgotten that himselfe was in like sort betrayed in his masters intention vpon the dowry of the Philistim-foreskins I feare to aske Who euer noted so foule a plot in Dauids reiected predecessour Vriah must be the messenger of his owne death Ioab must be a traytor to his frend the host of God must shamefully turne their backs vpon the Ammonites all that Israelitish blood must bee shed that murder must bee seconded with dissimulation and all this to hide one adultery O God thou hadst neuer suffered so deare a fauorite of thine to fall so fearefully if thou hadst not meant to make him an vniuersall example to mankinde of not presuming of not despayring How can wee presume of not sinning or despaire for sinning when we finde so great a Saint thus fallen thus risen Nathan and Dauid YEt Bathsheba mourned for the death of that husband whō she had bene drawn to dishonor How could shee bestowe teares enow vpon that funerall whereof her sinne was the cause If shee had but a suspicion of the plot of his death the fountaines of her eyes could not yeild water enough to wash off her husbands blood Her sin was more worthy of sorrow then her losse If this griefe had beene right placed the hope of hiding her shame and the ambition to be a Queene had not so soone mittigated it neither had she vpon any termes beene drawne into the bed of her husbands murtherer Euery gleame of earthly comfort can drye vp the teares of worldly sorrow Bathsheba hath soone lost her griefe at the Court The remembrance of an husband is buryed in the iollity and state of a Princesse
Dauid securely inioyes his ill-purchased loue and is content to exchange the conscience of his sinne for the sense of his pleasure But the iust and holy God will not put it vp so he that hates finne so much the more as the offender is more deare to him will let Dauid feele the bruise of his fall If Gods best children haue beene sometimes suffered to sleep in a sin at last he hath awakened them in a fright Dauid was a Prophet of God yet he hath not only stept into these foule sinnes but soiournes with them If any profession or state of life could haue priuiledged from sinne the Angels had not sinned in heauen nor man in Paradise Nathan the Prophet is sent to the Prophet Dauid for reproofe for conuiction Had it beene any other mans case none could haue bene more quick-sighted then the Princely Prophet in his owne he is so blinde that God is fayne to lend him others eyes Euen the Phisition himselfe when he is sicke sends for the counsell of those whom his health did mutually ayde with aduise Let no man think himselfe too good to learne Teachers themselues may be taught that in their owne particular which in a generality they haue often taught others It is not only ignorance that is to be remoued but mis-affection Who can prescribe a iust period to the best mans repentance About ten moneths are passed since Dauids sinne in all which time I finde no newes of any serious compunction It could not be but some glaunces of remorse must needes haue passed thorough his Soule long ere this but a due and solemne contrition was not heard of till Nathans message and perhaps had bene further adiourned if that Monitor had beene longer deferred Alas what long and dead sleepes may the holyest Soule take in fearefull sinnes Were it not for thy mercy O God the best of vs should end our spirituall lethargie in a sleep of death It might haue pleased God as easily to haue sent Nathan to check Dauid in his first purpose of sinning So had his eyes beene restrayned Bathsheba honest Vriah aliue with honor now the wisdome of the Almighty knew how to winne more glory by the permission of so foule an euill then by the preuention yea he knew how by the permission of one sinne to preuent millions how many thousand had sinned in a vaine presumption on their owne strength if Dauid had not thus offended how many thousand had despayred in the conscience of their owne weakenesses if these horrible sinnes had not receiued forgiuenesse It is happie for all times that wee haue so holy a sinner so sinfull a penitent It matters not how bitter the pill is but how well wrapped so cunningly hath Nathan conueyed this dose that it begins to worke ere it bee tasted there is no one thing wherin is more vse of wisdome then the due contriuing of a reprehension which in a discreet deliuery helps the disease in an vnwise destroyes nature Had not Nathan bene vsed to the possession of Dauids eare this complaint had beene suspected It well beseemes a King to take information by a Prophet Whiles wise Nathan was querulously discoursing of the cruell rich man that had forceably taken away the only Lambe of his poore neighbour how willingly doth Dauid listen to the story and how sharply euen aboue law doth he censure the fact As the Lord liueth the man that hath done this thing shall surely dye Full little did he thinke that he had pronounced sentence against himselfe It had not bene so heauy if he had knowne on whom it should haue light We haue open eares quick tongues to the vices of others How seuere Iusticers we can be to our very owne crimes in others persons how flattering parasites to anothers crime in our selues The life of doctrine is in application Nathan might haue beene long enough in his narration in his inuectiue ere Dauid would haue bene touched with his owne guiltinesse but now that the Prophet brings the word home to his bosome he cannot but be affected Wee may take pleasure to heare men speake in the clouds we neuer take profit till we finde a propriety in the exhortation or reproofe There was not more cunning in the parable then courage in the application Thou art the man If Dauid be a King hee may not look not to heare of his faults Gods messages may be no other then vnpartial It is a trecherous flattery in diuine errands to regard greatnesse If Prophets must be mannerly in the forme yet in the matter of reproofe resolute The words are not their owne They are but the Heralds of the King of heauen Thus saith the Lord God of Israel How thunder-striken do we thinke Dauid did now stand how did the change of his colour bewray the confusion in his Soule whiles his conscience said the same within which the Prophet sounded in his eare And now least ought should be wanting to his humiliation all Gods former fauours shall bee layd before his eyes by way of exprobration He is worthy to be vpbraided with mercies that hath abused mercyes vnto wantonnesse whiles we doe well God giues and sayes nothing when we doe ill hee layes his benefits in our dish and casts them in our teeth that our shame may bee so much the more by how much our obligations haue bene greater The blessings of God in our vnworthy caryage proue but the aggrauations of sinne and additions to iudgement I see all Gods children falling into sinne some of them lying in sinne none of them maintayning their sinne Dauid cannot haue the hart or the face to stand out against the message of God but now as a man confounded and condemned in himselfe hee cryes out in the bitternesse of a wounded Soule I haue sinned against the Lord It was a short word but passionate and such as came from the bottome of a contrite hart The greatest griefes are not most verball Saul confessed his sinne more largely lesse effectually God cares not for phrases but for affections The first peece of our amends to God for sinning is the acknowledgement of sinne He can do little that in a iust offence cannot accuse himselfe If we cannot be so good as we would it is reason we should do God so much right as to say how euill we are And why was not this don sooner It is strange to see how easily sin gets into the hart how hardly it gets out of the mouth Is it because sinne like vnto Satan where it hath got possession is desirous to hold it and knowes that it is fully eiected by a free confession or because in a guiltinesse of deformity it hides it selfe in the brest where it is once intertained and hates the light or because the tongue is so fee'd with selfe-loue that it is loath to bee drawne vnto any verdict against the hart or hands or is it out of an idle misprision of shame which whiles it should bee placed
may not bee allowed it That roofe vnder which shee came with honor and in obedience and loue may not be lent her for the time as a shelter of her ignominy Neuer any sauage could be more barbarous Shechem had rauished Dinah his offence did not make her odious his affection so continued that he is willing rather to draw blood of himselfe and his people then forgoe her whom he had abused Amnon in one houre is in the excesse of loue and hate and is sicke of her for whom he was sicke She that lately kept the keyes of his hart is now lockt out of his doores Vnruly passions runne euer into extremities and are then best apayd when they are furthest off from reason and moderation What could Amnon thinke would be the euent of so foule a fact which as he had not the grace to preuent so he hath not the care to conceale If he lookt not so hie as heauen what could he imagine would follow herevpon but the displeasure of a father the danger of law the indignation of a brother the shame and out-cryes of the world All which hee might haue hoped to auoyd by secresie and plausible courses of satisfaction It is the iust iudgement of God vpon presumptuous offenders that they lose their wit together with their honesty and are either so blinded that they cannot fore-see the issue of their actions or so besotted that they doe not regard it Poore Thamar can but bewaile that which she could not keepe her virginty not lost but torne from her by a cruell violence She rends her princely robe and layes ashes on her head and laments the shame of anothers sinne and liues more desolate then a widdow in the house of her brother Absalom In the meane time what a corosiue must this newes needs be to the heart of good Dauid whose fatherly command had out of loue cast his daughter into the iawes of this Lyon What an insolent affront must hee needs construe this to bee offred by a Sonne to a father that the father should be made the Pandar of his owne daughter to his sonne He that lay vpon the ground weeping for but the sicknes of an infant how vexed doe wee thinke he was with the villany of his heyre with the rauishment of his daughter both of them worse then many deaths What reuenge can he thinke of for so haynous a crime lesse then death and what lesse then death is it to him to thinke of a reuenge Rape was by the law of God capitall how much more when it is seconded with incest Anger was not punishment enough for so hye an offence Yet this is all that I heare of from so indulgent a father sauing that he makes vp the rest with sorrow punishing his sons outrage in himselfe The better-naturd and more gracious a man is the more subiect he is to the danger of an ouer remissenesse and the excesse of fauour and mercy The milde iniustice is no lesse perilous to the common-wealth then the cruell If Dauid perhaps out of the conscience of his owne late offence will not punish this fact his sonne Absalom shall not out of any care of iustice but in a desire of reuenge Two whole yeares hath this slie Courtier smothered his indignation and fayned kindenesse els his inuitation of Amnon in speciall had beene suspected Euen gallant Absalom was a great sheep-master The brauery and magnificence of a Courtier must bee built vpon the grounds of frugality Dauid himselfe is bidden to this bloody sheep-shearing It was no otherwise meant but that the fathers eyes should be the witnesses of the tragicall execution of one son by another Only Dauids loue kept him from that horrible spectacle He is carefull not to be chargeable to that son who cares not to ouer-charge his fathers stomach with a feast of blood Amnon hath so quite forgot his sinne that hee dares goe to feast in that house where Tamar was mourning and suspects not the kindenes of him whom he had deserued of a brother to make an enemy Nothing is more vnsafe to be trusted then the faire looks of a festered hart Where true charity or iust satisfaction haue not wrought a sound reconciliation malice doth but lurk for the opportunity of an aduantage It was not for nothing that Absalom deferred his reuenge which is now so much the more exquisite as it is longer protracted What could be more feareful then when Amnons hart was merry with wine to be suddenly striken with death As if this execution had bene no lesse intended to the Soule then to the body How wickedly soeuer this was â—one by Absalom yet how iust was it with God that he whom in two yeares impunity would finde no leasure oâ— repentance â—â—ould now receiue a punishment without possibility of repentance O God thou art righteous to reckon for those sinnes which humane partiality or negligence hath omitted and whiles thâ—u punishest sinne with sin to punish sinne with death If either Dauid had called Amnon to account for this villany or Amnon had called himselfe the reuenge had not beene so desperate Happy is the man that by an vnfayned repentance acquits his soule from his known euils and improues the dayes of his peace to the preuention of future vengeance â—hiâ—h if it be not dâ—ne the hand of God shall as surely oueâ—â—ake vs in iudgement as the hand of Satan hath ouertaken vs in miscariage vnto sin Absaloms returne and conspiracy ONE act of iniustice drawes on another The iniustice of Dauid in not punishing the rape of Amnon procures the iniustice of Absalom in punishing Amnon with murder That which the father should haue iustly reuenged and did not the son reuenges vniustly The rape of a sister was no lesse worthy of death then the murder of a brother Yea this latter sin was therefore the lesse because that brother was worthy of death though by another hand whereas that sister was guilty of nothing but modest beauty yet he that knew this rape passed ouer whole two yeeres with impunity dares not trust the mercy of a father in the pardon of his murder but for threeyeers hides his head in the Court of his Grand-father the King of Geshur Doubtlesse that heathenish Prince gaue him a kinde welcome for so meritorious a reuenge of the dishonour done to his owne loynes No man can tell how Absalom should haue sped from the hands of his otherwise ouer-indulgent Father if he had beene apprehended in the heat of the fact Euen the largest loue may bee ouer-strayned and may giue a fall in the breaking These fearefull effects of lenity might perhaps haue whetted the seuerity of Dauid to shut vp these outrages in bloud Now this displeasure was weakned with age Time and thoughts haue digested this hard morsell Dauids heart told him that his hands had a share in this offence that Absalom did but giue that stroke which himselfe had wrongfully forborne that the vnrecouerable losse of
of that wine yet praysed the taste Euery man at the beginning doth set forth good wine and when men haue well drunk then that which is worse but thou hast kept the good wine vntill now The same bounty that expressed it selfe in the quantity of the wine shewes it selfe no lesse in the excellence Nothing can fall from that diuine hand not exquisite That liberality hated to prouide crab-wine for his guests It was fit that the miraculous effects of Christ which came from his immediate hand should be more perfect then the naturall O blessed Sauiour how delicate is that new wine which we shall one day drinke with thee in thy Fathers Kingdome Thou shalt turne this water of our earthly affliction into that wine of gladnesse wherewith our soules shall bee satiate for euer Make haste ô my Beloued and bee thou like to a Roe or to a young Hart vpon the mountaine of spices The good Centurion EVEN the bloudy trade of warre yeelded worthy Clients to Christ This Roman Captaine had learned to beleeue in that Iesus whom many Iewes despised No nation no trade can shut out a good heart from God If hee were a Forrainer for birth yet he was a Domestique in heart Hee could not change his bloud hee could ouer-rule his affections Hee loued that Nation which was chosen of God and if hee were not of the Synagogue yet he built a Synagogue where hee might not bee a Party hee would be a Benefactor Next to being good is a fauouring of goodnesse We could not loue religion if we vtterly wanted it How many true Iewes were not so zealous Either will or ability lacked in them whom duty more obliged Good affections doe many times more then supply nature Neither doth God regard whence but what wee are I doe not see this Centurion come to Christ as the Israelitish Captaine came to Elias in Carmel but with his cap in his hand with much suit much submission by others by himselfe He sends first the Elders of the lewes whom hee might hope that their nation place might make gracious then lest the imployment of others might argue neglect he seconds them in person Cold and fruitlesse are the motions of frends where wee doe wilfully shut vp our owne lips Importunity cannot but speede well in both Could wee but speake for our soules as this Captaine did for his seruant what could we possibly want What maruell is it if God bee not forward to giue where wee care not to aske or aske as if wee cared not to receiue Shall wee yet call this a suit or a complaint I heare no one word of entreaty The lesse is sayd the more is concealed It is enough to lay open his wants He knew well that hee had to deale with so wise and mercifull a Physician as that the opening of the malady was a crauing of cure If our spirituall miseries bee but confessed they cannot faile of redresse Great variety of Suitors resorted to Christ One comes to him for a son another for a daughter a third for himselfe I see none come for his seruant but this one Centurion Neither was hee a better man then a Master His seruant is sicke hee doth not driue him out of doores but layes him at home neither doth he stand gazing by his beds-side but seekes forth He seekes forth not to Witches or Charmers but to Christ he seekes to Christ not with a fashionable relation but with a vehement aggrauation of the disease Had the Master beene sicke the faithfullest seruant could haue done no more He is vnworthy to bee well serued that will not somtimes wait vpon his followers Conceits of inferiority may not breed in vs a neglect of charitable offices so must we look downe vpon our seruants here on earth as that wee must still looke vp to our Master which is in heauen But why didst thou not ô Centurion rather bring thy seruant to Christ for cure then sue for him absent There was a Paralytick whom faith and charity brought to our Sauiour and let downe thorow the vncouered roofe in his bed why was not thine so carried so presented Was it out of the strength of thy faith which assured thee thou needest not shew thy seruant to him that saw all things One and the same grace may yeeld contrary effects They because they beleeued brought the Patient to Christ thou broughtest not thine to him because thou beleeued it Their act argued no lesse desire thine more confidence Thy labour was lesse because thy faith was more Oh that I could come thus to my Sauiour and make such mone to him for my selfe Lord my soule is sicke of vnbeleefe sicke of selfe-loue sicke of inordinate desires I should not neede to say more Thy mercy ô Sauiour would not then stay for my suit but would preuent me as here with a gracious ingagement I will come and heale thee I did not heare the Centurion say Either come or heale him The one he meant though hee sayd not the other he neither sayd nor meant Christ ouer-giues both his words and intentions It is the manner of that diuine munificence where he meets with a faithfull suitor to giue more then is requested to giue when he is not requested The very insinuations of our necessitâ—es are no lesse violent then successefull Wee thinke the measure of humane bounty runs ouer when we obtaine but what wee aske with importunity that infinite goodnesse keeps within bounds when it ouer-flowes the desires of our hearts As he said so hee did The word of Christ eiâ—her is his act or concurres with it He did not stand still when hee said I will come but hee went as hee spake When the ruler intreated him for his sonne Come downe ere hee dye our Sauiour stird not a foote The Centurion did but complaine of the sicknes of his seruant and Christ vnasked saies I will come and heale him That he might be farre from so much as seeming to honor wealth and despise meanenesse he that came in the shape of a seruant would goe downe to the sicke seruants pallet would not goe to the bed of the rich rulers sonne It is the basest motiue of respect that ariseth merely from outward greatnesse Either more grace or more need may iustly challenge our fauourable regards no lesse then priuate obligations Euen so ô Sauiour that which thou offeredst to doe for the Centurions seruant hast thou done for vs We were sick vnto death So farre had the dead palsy of sinne ouertaken vs that there was no light of grace left in vs When thou wert not content to sit still in heauen and say I will cure them but addest also I will come and cure them Thy selfe came downe accordingly to this miserable world and hast personally healed vs So as now we shall not dye but liue and declare thy works ô Lord And oh that we could enough praise that loue and mercy which hath so graciously abased thee and