That the motto of the most afflicted soule may be The mercies of our God are great The rather for these reasons following In the act of punishing God punisheth a little and pardoneth a great deale not suiting his plagues according to our deserts for then wee should be consumed but as a louing and mercifull Creditor when the debtor owes an hundred bids him take his pen and write fiftie or at the most foure score nay indeede not taking so much as fiue in the hundred of his debtors cutting off onely the hemme of our garment or the skirt of our rayment when we owe vnto him our soules as forfeit by reason of our transgression Any sinne committed against our infinite God deserues an infinite punishment If God therefore shall abate eternitie and send vs punishment is not his mercy great If when we deserue many stripes he giues vs but stripes is not his mercy great for man in this kind would haue had the vtmost farthing In the end of punishing farre is it from God to ayme at the destruction of his people nay hee aymes at their instruction that they might learne to keepe his Statutes and Commandements And whereas an enemie would funditus delere nocentem that his name Esa 55.8 nor the name of Israel might be had no more in remembrance Gods wayes are not as mens wayes God indeede sometimes destroyes the body that he may saue the soule he punisheth his children with the world that they may not be condemned with the world Others take vengeance out of hatred God out of his loue Castigans non quod odio habeat sed quod amet The originall of this action being so farre different must of necessitie suppose a contrary end A great Armada preuailing kills vp all A Powder-treason vndiscouered blowes vp all Ab vno intenditur ruina ab altero doctrina God meanes good man meanes mischiefe In the manner of punishing Gods mercies are great Albeit the iustice of God be mooued and his patience prouoked and though with men Laesa patientia vertitur in furorem Patience prouoked turnes to furie and yet not furor breuis a short furie but an irreconcileable hatred Yet God though offended will not alwaies be chiding Psal 103.9 neither keepeth he his anger for euer yea although he whet his sword and bend his bow and make ready his arrowes yet a poore soule may haue a present appeale a Deo irato ad Deum placatum being so appeasable and facile vnto such as shall vpon the bended knees of their soules sue out grace and pardon by renouncing of their sinnes and relying vpon his great mercies Nay the Lord himselfe of himselfe in this present plague without any intreaty to the comfort of penitent sinners I speake it did commaund the destroying Angell to hold his hand as grieuing to see the misery of his people and that so soon that Dauid had not time to offer any sacrifice propitiatorie but at the ceasing of the plague a free-will offering gratulatory for the remouall of so heauy a iudgement In this very punishment the Lord is more then iustifiable in all his wayes and holy in all his works and had he now decreed that whatsoeuer was left of the famine the sword should destroy and whatsoeuer was left of the sword the pestilence should destroy and so haue sent althose three furies of hell at once to haue assailed Israel what cursed Atheist durst haue said or thought but the Lord is iuste but now hehold him also mercifull he opens but one Seale sends but one punishment Nor is that positiuely set downe or cald out by name to enter combat with Israel but left arbitrary to Dauid Chuse one It is much if beggers may be chusers more if sinners Traian intending the death of Seneca bade him make choyce of the manner of his death Traian was cruell in his decree though kind in such a proffer God not cruell but mercifull vnto all his workes makes Dauid heere pronounce the sentence of iudgement Chuse one Is not heere great mercy Now Seneca in his wisedome chose the easiest to bleed to death in a bath and Dauid now hauing considered the mercies of God great of themselues but yet greater if compared with the mercies of men chuseth to fall into the hands of God who is iust and mercifull in the act of punishment gracious and mercifull in the end of punishment patient and merciful in his manner of punishment and lastly exceeding mercifull in this very punishment As the great mercies of God may iustly prouoke our admiration so Dauids wise choyce may be iustified as Christ did that of Mary he chose the better part Luk. 10.42 to fall into Gods hands whose mercies are great Can we now but wonder at Dauids choyce when all things considered ipsa iustitia Dei sit misericordia Foolish and vnfortunate was the ingresse into this sinne but most prudent and happy the euasion out of it Obiect But how was it so happy seeing the Apostle to affright from Sinne determines and defines It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God Heb. 10.31 After that I haue serued necessity in the reconciling these two places I must obey the time Thus then briefely Resp 1 Two things must here be considered First of what maner of sinne and sinners the Apostle speaketh Willet vbi supra namely of those that tread vnder foote the Sonne of God that count the bloud of the Couenant wherewith he was sanctified an vnholy thing and haue despited the spirit of grace as appeareth verse 29. But Dauids case and theirs are not alike his was a Sinne but of a child of God it was a Sinne but of infirmity Theirs are Sinnes but Sinnes of reprobates theirs are Sinnes but of that nature that the first is intolerable the second is like vnto it abhominable and the third as Christ the truth it selfe hath pronounced impardonable either in this world or in the world to come That is sauing Bellarmines patience they shall not haue any sense or feeling of pardon in this world Explic. locus Mat. 12.32 or benefite of remission of sinnes in the world to come or as our Church in shorter termes neuer Here then is the case It is one case to appeare before a temporal Iudge as a malefactor in wrong or violence to my neighbour which may be answered and auoyded by some legall meanes or if not the punishment may extend to losse of goods or good name and not touch life It is another case when a man shall appeare as guilty of that roaring sin of Treason against his Soueraigne a monstrous sinne worthy ten thousand deaths if a malefactor had so many liues what a wofull and fearefull case is this So it is one thing to sinne and another thing to sinne with so high an hand and herein it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God The Apostle speakes not of
the Parable wherein the thornes are said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now if these thorny and soule-wounding sin be remoued from the heart and affection and placed in the memory it will proue in some sort good to Gods children to haue sinned for hauing felt the chastisement by rods they will tremble to thinke vpon Scorpions and finding Sathan so cruelly tyrannizing vpon a small sinne so vnfaithfull in a little they will be loath to trust so bad a Counsellour or for a great matter commit their soules to so bad a Steward Can we thinke but Dauid was now growne more cautelous or that if he had againe his former freedome that Satan should againe so haue inueigled him Surely the bought wisedome of the Saints proues good if not the best Oh that we could be made so wise by our sins and the fruits of them as by one to auoid many by smaller to auoid greater by the pinch of a weesel to auoid the pawes of a Lyon 2 Tim. 2.7 Consider here what I say and the Lord giue vs vnderstanding in things Vse Salomon passing by the field of the Sluggard obserued nettles and thornes vpon the face of it and he learned instruction here is multiplicity of learning What came you hither to learne humility then behold what thou art without the preuenting grace of God or if charity iudge here of thy falling neighbour as subiect to infirmity or if further instruction Phil. 2.12 for the remainder of thy dayes learne here to walke wisely and worke out thy saluation with feare and trembling S. Paul 1 Cor. 1.20 glorying in Gods mercy and power demands Where now is the Scribe where now is the disputer of this world And hoping that I may glory likewise in the truth of this proposed and proued Theorem I demand where now is the Papist where the Pelagian what is become of the Saints perfection in this life This heresie was bred in North-Wales there was this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first hatcht afterward bred vp at West-Babylon Pestifero vomuit coluber sermone Britannus Whereunto I may adde Pestifero docuit coluber sermone Quirinus For the Church of Rome hauing lickt vp the vomit of this Arch-hereticke as the Poets are fained to haue done Homers haue spit forth the same againe to the infection of many a soule Grant we to the Church of Rome a thing which they can neuer euince that Peter was head of the Church as Pilate said to the Iewes Behold your King so say I to them Behold your Peter if his faults and falls were not like vnto other mens Surely the foundation of the Church being thus shaken and the vaile of the Temple rent asunder I may easily coniecture what betides the rest if the case goe thus with the greene tree what shall become of the dry tree What cost Peter so many teares what was the cause of this strait of Dauid was perfection then God is vniust No it was imperfection let God be iust and the Church of Rome a lyar Dangerous then and damnable is their opinion causing men so much to dreame of perfection that they neuer labour for it procul hinc If we maintaine the bond-woman wee must keepe her son if we maintaine perfection then also merits and not onely that but another monstrous bastard with sixe fingers on a hand workes of supererogation certainly for perfection of Romish Iesuites thus much and no more will I euer grant that they are perfect in the Popish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 absolute Machiauilians absolute traytors monsters of men and matches for the Diuell I grant them also to be meritorious but for all the paines they haue taken in our English vineyard their wages haue beene such as that the Hangman hath beene their pay-master Gretserus Yea but the Pope saith Gretserus must needs be holy Si non sanctitate propriâ sanctitate tamen officii and so taller by head and shoulders then his fellowes But if deposition plucke this stoole from vnder him where lies his Holinesse then Sure their knowledge is no more then other mens all knowing but in part Indeed some Popes knowledge was not in part Alphons de Castro for Alphonsus de Castro affirmes that some of them knew nothing at all Their sanctification no more then others for though Alexander the sixt were holy by vertue of his office yet as he was Alexander he gaue his soule to the diuell and so by the Schoole-mens helpe was damned with a distinction Whatsoeuer the pride of the Church of Rome may conceiue or their insolency dare maintaine God let me euer be a member of that Church while I haue any being which though reformed in other things may seeme deformed in this that it acknowledgeth no particular member of it to be exempt from humane frailty and though not subiect to the dominion of sinne yet falling many times vnder sinnes vsurped gouernment and haue daily need to be renewed by repentance Holy Dauid though in the generall course of his life a man with whom God was wel pleased suo laborat naeuo and the best that liues may semel in anno nay septies in die fall into a great sinne and so by the iust iudgement of God into a great strait I conclude this Theorem with this corollary That if all the diuine and admirable gifts and graces of Gods holy Spirit as wisdome knowledge sanctification c. were doubled vpon the head of one man be he no more then a man may sinne of weaknesse though not of wickednesse and offend as grieuously though not so frequently as his brethren Thus haue we seene Dauids entrance into this strait now see we the nature of it and the manner how he apprehends it How Dauid apprehended it As all misery and sorrow of it selfe is grieuous vnto flesh and blood so some aboue the rest by the iust iudgement of God is more heauy and grieuous then other and doth more perplexe the mind of man Principally these two 1 For the matter if it be such as is intollerable 2 For the manner if it be such as is ineuitable Iaacobs seruice of seuen yeares for Rachel was ineuitable yet being but a seruice and such a seruice it was tolerable Israels seruitude in the iron fornace was intolerable yet in regard of Gods promise to visit them it proued euitable But the things here propounded to Dauid in their nature were 1. intolerable Famine Sword Pestilence Secondly God that propounded them makes them ineuitable Chuse one Dauid is onely left happy in this that though he cannot chuse but hee must haue one yet hee may chuse which one he will haue That we may the better apprehend the Strait of Dauid Apoc. 6. I will briefely open three Seales where wee shall see the three Furies which Gad the Seer presents to Dauid to take a hard and haplesse choise of either of them First comes Famine riding vpon a pale Horse killing with hunger and with death Sometimes
clad in a roabe of immoderate raine and showers drowning the worlds plenty and the earths prouision Sometimes bearing on her shoulders heauens of brasse and treading vnder her feete the earth of iron Sometimes attended with Caterpillers innumerable to eat vp the fruits of the earth Pale and leane she is more then the picture of death Mors in illa as well as mors in olla and which is more genus miserabile lethi When God who giues to man the breath of life shall denie bread to maintaine life when Winter shall be turned into Summer and Summer into Winter Psal 127.2 when a man shall rise earlie and eate the bread of carefulnesse and at night be to care for his bread when men shall Sow much and bring in little Hag. 1.6 when the haruest shall be little and the labourers many when one shall plant another water and God shall denie increase is not this a great Strait And yet all these are but initia dolorum Ah my Lord now thinkes Dauid shall these eyes behold my poore Israel running and whining like dogs Psal 59 and cannot be satisfied Shall I see cleannesse of teeth and leannesse of body in all my Land Can I endure to see an Asses head sold for 80. pieces of siluer and a cab of doues doung for 20 pieces Shall I see a birth-right bidden for a messe of pottage and will not be taken Shall I behold my poore people like Pharaohs leane kine Shall I heare them crie Oh giue vs bread or we perish for hunger Shall I see mothers re-womb and re-entomb the fruit of their body for want of food Three yeeres Famine haue we felt already and a second siege will turn flesh and bloud into skinne and bone my people must become meat for wormes as hauing none for themselues This punishment is greater then can be borne This is too great a Strait The second Seale being opened forth comes Warre riding vpon a red Horse and he vnbridled A time when all things are carried by force of Armes and not of Reason A time wherein Pyrrhus regards not the aged head of Priam nor yet the sacred Altar whereto he flies A time wherein old Iacobs head is sent with sorrow to the graue and that not sine caede vulnere A time wherin Rachel may weepe for her children and will not be comforted because they are not A time Paradoxall vnto nature wherein Parents burie their Children A time when men must either fight and so runne vpon a sodaine death or flie and so lead a tedious life A time of out-cries of Fathers for their Children their liuely images when Widowes weepe for their second selues their husbands when Orphanes lament the losse of Parents their onely stayes when old men are comfortlesse widdowes helplesse children haplesse men women and children all hopelesse Dauid himselfe had been a Man of warre from his youth and had been eye-witnesse of the lamentable euents of Warre 1. Sam. 17. That he feared it not witnesse two hundred foreskinnes of the Philistines witnesse the fall of Goliah witnesse the sons of Ammon whom he put vnder axes sawes and harrowes Wheresoeuer he marched death and destruction mustered in his face Saul hath slaine a thousand but Dauid his ten thousand this was Vox populi and very true Well then thinkes Dauid I will fight three months with the proudest enemie that dare set foot vpō the land of Israel thus hauing thought he speakes Nay but Gad replies Dauid thou must not fight but flie three months Now then he is in a wonderfull Strait now his troubled soule cannot but presage much euill He vsed to pursue Psal 18.42 and now must he be pursued He did 〈◊〉 his enemies as small as the dust before the wind and now he must flie as dust before the wind If it were for a day hee might the better beare it though the Sunne should stand still to lengthen that day Ios 10. but three months will make the streetes of Ierusalem streame with bloud the people made a heape of dead bodies and the Citie a heape of stones God despited the people destroyed the Temple defiled Oh then I cannot endure this wondrous Strait Pone tertium O man of God let mee heare the third euill that though I haue done wickedly I may chuse wisely The third Seale being opened Pestilence issues forth vpon a blacke Horse killing with sicknesse and death This seemes to be the fairest choice as proceeding from the immediate hand of God and being but for three dayes and so shortest of continuance But yet it is a grieuous punishment Storehouses may serue against a Famine Dauids Citie wals or if not those his liuing walls his Souldiers his Worthies may meet his enemies in the gate but Pestilence flieth by night and killeth at noone day One cries Oh my brother come not nigh me for I am infected Another barr'd in by command shut vp by sicknesse and worse pend in by sorow cries out at a window O my Father O my brother either now breathing their last or by this time dead Some going if any so dare to the sad funerall of their friends before they returne to their owne home finde their long home O bellum Dei contrà homines The house may shield men and cattell from the hayle flight may saue from the Sword soiourning in another country may preserue from Famine but in this contagion at home our houses stifles vs abroad the ayre infects vs. Behold now beloued Dauids Strait If I should say no more oft his subiect this Citie knowes what kind of misery it is Etenim pars magna fuit How was it almost made desolate and her marchandize whilome like that of Tyrus almost decayed When hee that had walkt by night was in more feare to haue met the dead then the liuing A wofull time when there shall be more neede to weede the pauement then to mend it more cries of the Vespillo Who is here dead then of the Trades-man What doe ye lacke O time of desolation dulnesse and discontent Now I beseech you againe haue a regard of Dauids Strait and consider if euer sorrow were like vnto his sorrow wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his wrath Lam. 1.12 Neuer could the irons enter so neare to the soule of Ioseph as this sorrow to the heart of Dauid See we now these three things propounded as Salomon said of the pleasures of the world Vanitie of vanities and all is vanitie so may Dauid say of the fruit of sinne death of deaths and all is death Saint Paul was in a wonderfull Strait betwixt two life and death Dauid is betwixt three and each is death Famin a pinching death Warre a cruell death Pestilence a noysome death Surely a most wonderfull Strait Now in the next place that which is vltimus aerumnae cumulus 2. Ineuitable and makes Dauid absolutely miserable that now he is like the Israelites