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
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
neuer disappoynted any mans trust Dauid now findes that the eye which waited vpon God was not sent away weeping Dauid therfore and his men are now vpon their march after the Amalekite It is no lingring when God bids vs goe They which had promised rest to their weary limbs after their returne from Achish in their harbour of Ziglag are glad to forget their hopes and to put their stiffe joynts vnto a new taske of motion It is no maruell if two hundred of them were so ouertyred with their former toyle that they were not able to passe ouer the riuer Besor Dauid was a true type of Christ We follow him in these holy wars against the spirituall Amalekites All of vs are not of an equall strength Some are carried by the vigour of their faith through all difficulties Others after long pressure are ready to languish in the way Our Leader is not more strong then pittifull neither doth hee scornfully cashier those whose desires are hearty whiles their abilities are vnanswerable How much more should our charity pardon the infirmities of our brethen and allow them to sit by the stuffe who cannot endure the march The same Prouidence which appoynted Dauid to follow the Amalekites had also ordered an Aegyptian to be cast behinde them This cast seruant whom his cruell Master had left to faintnesse and famine shall bee vsed as the meanes of the recouery of the Israelites losse and of the reuenge of the Amalekites Had not his Master neglected him all these rouers of Amalek had gone away with their life and booty It is not safe to despise the meanest vassal vpon earth There is a mercy and care due to the most despicable peice of all humanity wherein wee cannot bee wanting without the offence without the punishment of God Charity distinguisheth an Israelite from an Amalekite Dauids followers are strangers to this Aegyptian an Amalekite was his Master His Master leaues him to dye in the field of sicknesse and hunger these strangers releeued him and ere they know whether they might by him receiue any light in their pursuit they refresh his dying spirits with bread and water with figs and raisins Neither can the haste of their way bee any hindrance to their compassion Hee hath no Israelitish blood in him that is vtterly mercilesse Perhaps yet Dauids Followers might also in the hope of some intelligence shew kindnesse to this forlorne Aegyptian Worldly wisdome teacheth vs to sow small courtesies where we may reape large haruests of recompence No sooner are his spirits recalled then hee requites his food with information I cannot blame the Aegyptian that hee was so easily induced to descry these vnkind Amalekites to merciful Israelites those that gaue him ouer vnto death to the restorers of his life much lesse that ere he would descry them hee requires an oath of security from so bad a Master Well doth hee match death with such a seruitude Wonderfull is the Prouidence of God euen ouer those which are not in the neerest bonds his owne Three dayes and three nights had this poore Aegyptian Slaue lyen sicke and hunger-starued in the fields and lookes for nothing but death when God sends him succour from the hands of those Israelites whom hee had helped to spoile though not so much for his sake as for Israels is this heathenish Stragler preserued It pleases God to extend his common fauors to all his creatures but in miraculous preferuations he hath still wont to haue respect to his owne By this means therfore are the Israelites brought to the sight of their late spoylers whom they finde scattered abroad vpon all the earth eating and drinking and dancing in triumph for the great prey they had taken It was three dayes at least since this gainefull forraging of Amalek and now seeing no feare of any Pursuer and promising themselues safety in so great and vntraced a distance they make themselues merry with so rich and easie a victory and now suddenly when they began to think of enioying the beauty and wealth they had gotten the sword of Dauid was vpon their throats Destruction is neuer neerer then when security hath chased away feare With how sad faces and hearts had the wiues of Dauid and the other Captiues of Israel looked vpon the triumphall reuels of Amalek and what a change do we thinke appeared in them when they saw their happy and ualiant Rescuers flying in vpon their insolent Victors and making the death of the Amalekites the ransome of their captiuity They mourned euen now at the dances of Amalek now in the shriekes and death of Amalek they shout and reioyce The mercy of our God forgets not to enterchange our sorrowes with ioy and the ioy os the wicked with sorrow The Amalekites haue paid a deare lone for the goods of Israel which they now restore with their owne liues and now their spoyle hath made Dauid richer then he expected that booty which they had swept from all other parts accrewed to him Those Isralites that could not goe on to fight for their share are comne to meete their brethren with gratulation How partiall are wee wont to be vnto our owne causes Euen very Israelites will bee ready to fall out for matter of profit where selfe-loue hath bred a quarrell euery man is subiect to flatter his owne case It seemed plausible and but iust to the actors in this rescue that those which had taken no part in the paine and hazard of the journey should receiue no part of the commodity It was fauour enough for them to recouer their wiues children though they shared not in the goods Wise and holy Dauid whose praise was no lesse to ouercome his owne in time of peace then his enimies in warre calls his contending followers from law to equity and so orders the matter that since the plaintifes were detained not by will but by necessity and since their forced stay was vse-full in garding the stuffe they should partake equally of the prey with their fellowes A sentence well-beseeming the justice of Gods anoynted Those that represent God vpon earth should resemble him in their proceeding It is the just mercy of our God to measure vs by our wills not by our abilities to recompence vs gratiously according to the truth of our desires and endeauors and to account that performed by vs which hee only letteth vs from performing It were wide with vs if somtimes purpose did not supply actions Whiles our heart faulteth not we that through spirituall sicknesse are faine to abide by the stuffe shall share both in grace and glory with the victors The death of Saul THe Witch of Endor had halfe slaine Saul before the battell It is iust that they who consult with deuils should goe away with discomfort He hath eaten his last bread at the hand of a Sorceresse and now necessitie drawes him into that field where he sees nothing but despaire Had not Saul beleeued the ill newes of the
counterfait Samuel he had not beene strook downe on the ground with words Now his beleefe made him desperate Those actions which are not sustained by hope must needs languish and are only promoted by outward compulsion Whiles the minde is vncertaine of successe it relieues it selfe with the possibilities of good in doubts there is a comfortable mixture but when it is assured of the worst euent it is vtterly discouraged and deiected It hath therefore pleased the wisdome of God to hide from wicked men his determination of their finall estate that their remainders of hope may harten them to good In all likelyhood on selfe-same day saw Dauid a victor ouer the Amalakites and Saul discomfited by the Philistims How should it bee otherwise Dauid consulted with God and preuailed Saul with the Witch of Endor and perisheth The end is commonly answerable to the way It is an idle iniustice when we do ill to look to speed well The slaughter of Saul and his sonnes was not in the first scene of this Tragicall field that was rather reserued by God for the last act that Saules measure might be full God is long ere he strikes but when he doth it is to purpose First Israel flees and falls downe wounded in mount Gilboa They had their part in Sauls sinne they were actors in Dauids persecution Iustly therfore doe they suffer with him whom they had seconded in offence As it is hard to be good vnder an euill Prince so it is as rare not to be enwrapped in his iudgements It was no small addition to the anguish of Sauls death to see his sonnes dead to see his people fleeing and slaine before him They had sinned in their King and in them is their King punished The rest were not so worthy of pittie but whose heart would it not touch to see Ionathan the good Sonne of a wicked Father inuolued in the common destruction Death is not partiall All dispositions all merits are alike to it If valour if holines if syncerity of heart could haue beene any defence against mortality Ionathan had suruiued Now by their wounds and death no man can discerne which is Ionathan The soule only findes the difference which the body admitteth not Death is the cōmon gate both to heauen and hell we all passe that ere our turning to either hand The sword of the Philistims fetcheth Ionathan through it with his fellowes no sooner is his foot ouer that threshold then God conducteth him to glory The best cannot bee happy but through their dissolution Now therefore hath Ionathan no cause of complaint he is by the rude and cruel hand of a Philistim but remoued to a better Kingdome then hee leaues to his brother and at once is his death both a temporall affliction to the Sonne of Saul and an entrance of glory to the frend of Dauid The Philistim-archers shot at random God directs their arrowes into the body of Saul Least the discomfiture of his people and the slaughter of his sonnes should not bee griefe enough to him hee feeles himselfe wounded and sees nothing before him but horror and death and now as a man forsaken of all hopes hee begs of his armor-bearer that deaths-blow which els he must to the doubling of his indignation receiue from a Philistim Hee begs this bloody fauour of his seruant and is denyed Such an awefulnes hath God placed in soueraigntie that no intreaty no extremity can moue the hand against it What mettall are those men made of that can suggest or resolue and attempt the violation of maiesty Wicked men care more for the shame of the world then the danger of their soule Desperate Saul will now supply his armor-bearer and as a man that bore armes against himselfe hee falls vpon his owne sword What if he had dyed by the weapon of a Philistim So did his Son Ionathan and lost no glory These conceites of disreputation preuaile with carnall hearts aboue all spirituall respects There is no greater murderer then vain-glory Nothing more argues an heart voyd of grace then to be transported by ydle popularity into actions preiudiciall to the Soule Euill examples especially of the great neuer escaped imitation the armour-bearer of Saul followes his master and dares do that to himselfe which to his King he durst not as if their owne swords had beene more familiar executioners they yelded vnto them what they grudged to their pursuers From the beginning was Saul euer his owne enemy neither did any hands hurt him but his owne and now his death is sutable to his life his owne hand payes him the reward of all his wickednesse The end of hypocrites and enuious men is commonly fearefull Now is the blood of Gods Priests which Saul shed and of Dauid which he would haue shed required requited The euil spirit had said the euening before To morrow thou shalt be with mee and now Saul hasteth to make the diuell no lyer rather then fayle he giues himselfe his own mittimus Oh the wofull extremities of a dispayring Soule plundging him euer into a greater mischiefe to auoyd the lesse Hee might haue beene a patient in anothers violence and faultlesse now whiles hee will needs act the Philistims part vpon himselfe hee liued and dyed a murderer The case is deadly when the prisoner breakes the Iayle and will not stay for his deliuery though wee may not passe sentence vpon such a Soule yet vpon the fact we may the Soule may possibly repent in the parting the act is haynous and such as without repentance kills the Soule It was the next day ere the Philistims knew how much they were victors then finding the dead corpes of Saul and his Sonnes they begin their triumphs The head of King Saul is cut off in lieu of Goliahs and now all their Idoll temples ring of their successe Foolish Philistims If they had not beene more beholden to Sauls sinnes then their Gods they had neuer carryed away the honor of those trophees In steed of magnifying the iustice of the true God who punished Saul with deserued death they magnifie the power of the false Superstition is extemely iniurious to God It is no better then theft to ascribe vnto the second causes that honor which is due vnto the first but to giue Gods glory to those things which neither act nor are it is the highest degree of spirituall robbery Saul was none of the best Kings yet so impatient are his subiects of the indignity offered to his dead corps that they will rather leaue their owne bones amongst the Philistims then the carcasse of Saul Such a close relation there is betwixt a Prince and subiect that the dishonor of either is inseparable from both How willing should wee bee to hazard our bodyes or substance fo the vindication either of the person or name of a good King whiles he liues to the benefit of our protection It is an vniust ingratitude in those men which can endure the disgrace of
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